Never Give Up, Never Surrender

I'm a big fan of Galaxy Quest (1999). It's both a parody of Star Trek and its fans, and a well done, semi-straight comedy-action film. My main complaint is I don't quite buy Tim Allen as a former romantic lead in an action series. (Then again, I didn't buy Bill Murray as an action star in Lost In Translation, but no one seems to mind that.) Another slight problem is one a friend of mine has--that it shows the geeky fans as believing the show is real, which misses what true geekdom is like.

The movie didn't flop, but it wasn't quite the hit they were looking for. (This explains why you haven't seen Galaxy Quest II:The Return Of Sarris.) I guess the stars weren't big enough and the idea seemed too small--who needs to see a movie that's just a parody of a TV show? Yet, I'd guess its reputation has grown over the years, and it's considered, if not a classic, a fine comedy.

I also hear the original version was darker, but it was recut to play up the light side. The same thing happened to another dark story--3000--that turned into Pretty Woman. Why? Because screenwriters like dark more than audiences, and producers prefer audiences.