At the start of Galaxy Quest, there are four quirky teenagers at a science fiction convention. These teenagers come to represent the true heart of the film. They have studied episodes of the Galaxy Quest television serial, a show (within the film) that resembles Star Trek in more than one way, and have determined what should have and what should not have been possible in the confines of the show. Unfortunately for the teens, the actors of their favorite television show are less than receptive of their attention to detail; as one actor puts it to the teenagers: "It's just a television show." But, in a true testament to how the filmmakers feel about that which they are lampooning ever so well, these same four fanatics show up to save the day in the film's final act. Such unabashed celebration of all things geek is what makes Galaxy Quest one of the best science fiction comedies of all time.

In the film, Galaxy Quest was a popular series, but has been cancelled for nearly two decades, and time has not been kind to the careers of its stars, Jason Nesmeth (Tim Allen), Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver and her cleavage), Fred Kwan (Tony Schaloub), and Tommy Webber (Daryl Mitchell). Reduced to convention appearances and electronics store openings, the actors tire of their post-Galaxy Quest lives, with the exception of the energetic and egomaniacal Jason, who thrives on the attention. During one particular convention, Jason meets Mathesar (Enrico Colantoni), the leader of the Thermians, a real alien race that has intercepted broadcasts of Galaxy Quest and believes them to be documentaries. To the Thermians, Jason is the Captain Taggart character he portrays in the show, so he is invited onboard to be their honorary leader in their war against the evil Sarris, an alien dictator bent on the Thermians' complete annihilation. At first Jason believes the whole ordeal to be a stunt and reacts as so (he launches an attack at Sarris, thus ending the war ... or so he thinks), but after realizing that the Thermians aren't just fans, he enlists the help of the rest of the Galaxy Quest actors (as well as Guy, played by Sam Rockwell, who had an expendable bit-part in one episode of the show) to assume their roles onboard the Thermians' ship, which has been modeled to look and function exactly like its television counterpart.

Though the Thermians act as the film's catalysts to bring the main characters into space onboard a freakishly familiar spacecraft, there is also much symbolism in their appearance in the film. In his earliest dialogue, Mathesar mentions that his people have modeled their lives off of the Galaxy Quest television series and that that is the reason they're able to escape Sarris' evil dictatorship. Although the characters treat the Thermians as an alien race, it is David Howard's script that sees their true purpose as an analogous connection to fandom. Much like the Thermians, fans devote their lives to a singular cause -- in this case, a television show -- in order to escape a daily oppression, which is often a mind-numbing life grounded in reality. Some might frown on such escapism, but Howard does not. He writes the Thermians as successful, smart, generous, and kind, and without a place in their dialect for negative words like "hate." Howard isn't just supporting escapism; he's promoting it.

But don't think the film is just a 102-minute service to fandom because director Dean Parisot propels the material much farther than that, turning the film into a full-fledged sci-fi action-adventure. Parisot's camera swoops in the middle of the action sequences that frequent the film, the most compelling of which is the battle on a distant planet between Jason and a towering rock monster (that is, a monster made of rock, not a rock 'n roll monster). It is up to Parisot to convince the audience, just as the characters have been convinced, that what they are experiencing is real. He does this by taking the camera in the middle of the battles and the gunfire, giving the audience an up close and personal window into this universe that he and his special effects crew have created. We as an audience know, of course, that Sarris doesn't actually exist, but being up that close, we aren't going to be the ones to tell him that.

In addition to being well-written and -directed, Galaxy Quest is well-acted, with a slew of actors giving the best comedic performance of their careers. This is particularly the case for Tim Allen, who not only gives his best comedic performance, but his best live action performance ever. Like most of the actors in the film, Allen's Nesmeth character is based humbly off of his counterpart from Star Trek, who in his case would be, of course, Captain James T. Kirk. It is relieving that Allen does not resort to phoning in a cheap impersonation of William Shatner, which could have been potentially dreadful and would have dragged down the excitement of the film. Instead Allen elevates his character past a simple imitation while still maintaining a few Shatner-esque qualities that act as a wink to Trekkies. Alan Rickman and Tony Schaloub bring an original dynamic to their parts, amplifying their own unique qualities as actors (Rickman's seething voice and Schaloub's all-around quirkiness) to bring their characters to life. Even Sigourney Weaver, best known for her butt-kicking role as Ripley from the Alien series, handles her part well even though she is out of her element as the eye-candy blonde bombshell. In supporting roles, Sam Rockwell and Justin Long (as Brandon, an uber-geek at the convention that winds up saving the crew), work from the other actors and deliver their punch lines with impeccable timing, especially Rockwell, who supplies the most laughs as the expendable crewman that is constantly declaring his own impending doom. Star Trek fans will think of him as a vocal "red shirt."

Galaxy Quest possesses one minor flaw, a plot device that most comedies unfortunately fall back on: convenience. While the first two-thirds of the film succeed in enveloping the audience in the alternate reality of the Thermians and Sarris, the final act of the film seems so desperate to bring us (and its heroes) back to Earth that convenience almost becomes its own character. For instance, what are the chances that the Omega 13, a super-weapon housed on the Thermians' ship (from a concept mentioned in a cliffhanger episode of Galaxy Quest that never concluded), will do exactly what the geeky convention nerds hypothesize that it does, and furthermore, what are the chances that the crew will need it to do exactly what it does at an opportune time? Though this seems like a likely conclusion for the cliffhanger episode referenced in the film, it just feels too handy, especially since up until this point the movie had been convincing its audience that this is the real thing, not a television show.

Nevertheless, there is no doubt that Galaxy Quest excels in its finely-tuned script, action-packed directing, and well-timed comedic performances. At its heart, Galaxy Quest serves as a humorous but sincere look into the life of fandom, offering complete understanding and utter admiration for such devotion. No matter what the devotion, fanaticism is a universal subject, and here is a film that defines what it means to be a universal subject.