History Film / GalaxyQuest

* MischiefFace: The Thermians are being suffocated. The controls that can save them are being guarded by a score of Saris's armed troops. Guy Fleegman tells Fred Qwan and Laliari that he will perform a HeroicSacrifice, lure the troops away, and allow them to access the controls, saying he's just an expendable extra. Fred stops him, suggesting that he's the PluckyComicRelief, and then he gets a sly grin on his face and begins chuckling, saying he has a much better idea; [[spoiler:teleporting a giant rock monster into the control room to thrash the {{Mook}}s.]]

* AndYouThoughtItWasReal: The aliens have no concept of fiction and take all media from Earth as honest, "historical documents".

* AliensStealCable: Half of the movie's whole premise, the other half being AndYouThoughtItWasAGame. The Thermians approach Jason because he's the star of a TV show they were monitoring, on the mistaken assumption that everything that happened in the show was ''real''.

** Early on the movie pulls a gag about AnalProbing when the protagonists are transported up to an alien ship and approached by tentacled monsters carrying CowTools, one of which looks like a speculum - until the aliens apologize for not having turned on their disguises and take the humans for a tour around the ship. The prospect of being anally probed never comes up again - until the end, when Fred (the only one unperturbed by the scene in the beginning) is getting it on with his [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe alien love interest]] Laliari and she shoves a [[NaughtyTentacles tentacle]] ... some place that makes the watching Guy react with disgust.

* AnalProbing: The crew believes this to be happening to them after their arrival at the star port, when three of the Thermians approach them in their true forms with probing tools in their tentacle hands. Gwen seems to want to cover all bases, as it were, since she reacts by taking a firm grip on her breasts.

* CeilingCling: Quellek uses this in combination with the Mak'tar stealth haze to hide from the {{Mooks}}.

-->'''Emcee:''' ALEXANDER DANE!... he's British!

* MischiefFace: The Thermians are being suffocated. The controls that can save them are being guarded by a score of Saris's armed troops. Guy Fleegman tells Fred Qwan and Laliari that he will perform a HeroicSacrifice, lure the troops away, and allow them to access the controls, saying he's just an expendable extra. Fred stops him, suggesting that he's the PluckyComicRelief, and then he gets a sly grin on his face and begins chuckling, saying he has a much better idea; [[spoiler: teleporting a giant rock monster into the control room to thrash the {{Mook}}s.]]

* CasualDangerDialog: Fred calls up to the bridge when Tommy holds the turbo button down too long. While the ship is tearing itself to pieces all around him, he manages to sound ''bored''.

* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Jason's outburst to Brandon and his friends after he hears the non-fans mocking him. Gwen brings up to Alexander how worried she is because he ALWAYS is good to his fans.

Released in 1999, ''Galaxy Quest'' is an AffectionateParody of the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' franchise, and to a lesser extent of {{fandom}} in general. The film was directed by Creator/DeanParisot and written by David Howard and Robert Gordon.

In 1982, ''Galaxy Quest'', a series [[WhereNoParodyHasGoneBefore very much like]] ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'', was cancelled. Eighteen years later, its [[AdamWesting washed-up stars are fixtures on the fan circuit]], though most of them despise the show, its fans, and each other. Only Jason Nesmith (Creator/TimAllen), the egomaniac actor who played TheCaptain, is still enjoying himself -- and the rest of the cast think he's a total jerk (again, very much like the original series).

** By contrast, Sarris' own defeats tend to come because he has zero chance of knowing something ([[spoiler:Omega-13, or that the Thermians had based their beliefs on another culture's entertainment]]), or because he's an actual military leader, not merely pretending ([[spoiler:and thus didn't expect a deft manoeuvre that'd be suicide for any but the best pilots, from a pilot who nearly crashed the ship as they disembarked. Plus said manoeuvre was CrazyEnoughToWork but would never be tried in real life; the actors did it because that would be the TV method of doing it]]). Sarris does succumb to it himself after finding out the cast's true nature, leading him to [[BondVillainStupidity toy with his victims]] rather than just kill them outright. He also learns from his mistakes, and deliberatelysucker-punchess the crew later on.

** Mathesar's crutch is [[spoiler:[[CaneFu used as a weapon late in the film]].

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The opening [[MultiPartEpisode Two-Part Episode]] ends with Cmdr. Quincy Taggart ordering the activation of the Omega-13 device. Then the scene [[FadeToWhite fades to white]]. Unfortunately, [[LeftHangin we never get to see the second part of the episode]] and find out what the device does (the nerds aren't sure either, implying the show was CutShort).

** As the cast starts to actually rise to the occasion and turn the tables on Sarris, it looks like it's going to be laughs again. Then...

* ComingInHot: The ''Protector'''s shuttle arriving at the convention crashes through an entire parking lot and then into the side of the convention center.

* ConvenientlyEmptyBuilding: The parking lot at the end was empty because otherwise a lot of people would be squished by the falling space ship.

* {{Defictionalization}}: InUniverse example (essentially the whole main plot of the movie is a sci-fi show brought to real-life by aliens who don't understand fiction).

* DudeWheresMyRespect: The cast of ''Galaxy Quest'' [[IAmNotSpock tends to suffer from this]]. For example, Alexander Dane, who was once a respected Shakespearian actor, now reduced to his initially hated television role, while Gwen [=DeMarco=] is a good enough actress like anyone else, but is viewed as a MsFanservice by the public to her dismay nonetheless.

* ExcessiveSteamSyndrome: A wall of steam comes from the ship when it crashes into the convention center during the finale.

* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: The Thermians in their natural form are pink, squid-like entities. However, with "appearance generator" technology, they are able to change their appearance to appear less foreign to the humans.

** Jason mistakes the Thermians as fans, even after seeing how well-designed their "set" is and how impressive the enemy race's makeup is. He seemingly forgets his own show's shoddy production values, and clearly doesn't grasp that Sarris' people are too monstrous for a TV show. (Of course, he is severely hungover during the entire sequence, having spent the previous night [[DrowningMySorrows Drowning His Sorrows]].)

** By contrast, Sarris' own defeats tend to come because he has zero chance of knowing something ([[spoiler:Omega-13, or that the Thermians had based their beliefs on another culture's entertainment]]), or because he's an actual military leader, not merely pretending ([[spoiler:and thus didn't expect a deft maneuver that'd be suicide for any but the best pilots, from a pilot who nearly crashed the ship as they disembarked. Plus said maneuver was CrazyEnoughToWork but would never be tried in real life; the actors did it because that would be the TV method of doing it]]). Sarris does succumb to it himself after finding out the cast's true nature, leading him to [[BondVillainStupidity toy with his victims]] rather than just kill them outright. He also learns from his mistakes, and deliberately suckerpunches the crew later on.

* GlassSmackAndSlide: This serves as a BrickJoke when it happens to a {{Mook}} that was just thrown out of an airlock by the ''Galaxy Quest'' cast after avoiding the same fate themselves. Just as Sarris learns that they escaped custody, said soldier smack against a nearby window into space with a dull sound before sliding away.

* IKnowMortalKombat: Tommy Webber at the helm and Fred Kwan on the Digital Conveyor. They are both justified because the controls were designed by the Thermians replicating them from the "Historical Documents". In Weber's case, he had worked out in his head what the controls did and applied that consistently throughout the original television show. Also a ShoutOut to Creator/WilWheaton, who played [[CreatorsPet Wesley Crusher]], as he did the same thing on the set of ''Next Generation''. Does double ShoutOut duty; George Takei did the same thing on the original series, according to his autobiography. Inverted with digital conveyor. Teb's line saying the conveyor is more "art than science" implies that Fred didn't try to put any consistency in his movements.

* InTheNameOfTheMoon: Spoofed in the film, where ClassicallyTrainedExtra Sir Alexander Dane (played by Alan Rickman) is tired of his character's CatchPhrase "By Grabthar's hammer...", even though the fans can't get enough of it. Until at a tragic moment, he bursts into THE WORDS before he can stop himself.

* IronicEcho: In the opening scene of the lost episode 92, a computer voice announces "Systems register functional". But the ''Protector'' was LuredIntoATrap. This scene is echoed [[{{Bookends}} at the end]], when a similar situation occurs after Sarris' ship explodes. The computer voice mentions again "Systems register functional". And again, a trap is laid in the form of Sarris disguised as Fred.

* IsThisThingStillOn: Jason makes a "cut transmission" gesture to Gwen, then turns around and describes Sarris as being "as stupid as he is ugly", and trying to think of a way to trick him. Unfortunately, [[NonVerbalMiscommunication Gwen misunderstood the gesture to mean "we're dead," and the transmission kept running]] (even had she interpreted the instruction correctly, she still wouldn't have known how to follow it).

* LastVillainStand: Sarris, after his army has been destroyed, takes on the crew himself.

* LiarRevealed: A truly heartbreaking example when Jason has to explain the true nature of the show to Mathesar. It's like watching a kid learn that Santa isn't real.

* SexSlave: Laliari tells Jason that Sarris has "captured our females for his own demented purposes"; it might not be this trope, but that's the obvious implication. And condidering that the Thermians are rather unsettling OctopoidAliens and Serris' people are [[InsectoidAliens grasshopper-like]] RubberForeheadAliens, it'd be pretty odd.

** Sarris calls Cmdr. Taggart, demanding surrender and a powerful device the ship carries. The captain agrees, cuts the comm and plots to ambush the enemy with a surprise attack. Only in ''Film/StarTrekIITheWrathOfKhan'', Uhura knew where the "hold" button was.

* TeleporterAccident: On his first attempt at using the "digital conveyor", Fred Kwan tries it on a pig-lizard. [[spoiler:It turns the pig inside out... and then the poor creature explodes.]]
* TemptingFate: Laredo's line "I'm glad I ain't the commander" comes rolling back on him immediately when Jason orders him to "take her out".

* WasntThatFun: The friendly aliens' method of transporting the protagonists to their ship can be described roughly as "fly them into orbit (and through a SwirlyEnergyThingy) at high speed with nothing but a huge blob of jello to shield them". Everyone looks thoroughly traumatized and nauseated by this experience, except for the engineer... who just remarks "That was a hell of a thing."

* AccidentallyCorrectWriting: In-universe example. The prop for the Protector's power core is a lumpy silver ball. Unlike the majority of the ship's technology which was engineered by the Thermians to match the show, by some cosmic coincidence "beryllium spheres" actually exist and are capable of powering a starship: the crew snaffles one from a desert planet and pops it in the engine room without a hitch.
* AccidentalMisnaming: At one point Jason calls the Thermians ''termites''. And ''dalmatians''.

** The Thermians construct a fully-functional, spaceworthy Starship, complete with WarpDrive, holographic communication, and {{Teleportation}}, all based on designs they saw in "Historical Documents" (read: episodes of ''Galaxy Quest''), not realizing that the show was fictional and that none of the technologies portrayed existed. The Omega-13 takes it up to eleven; it's a piece of fantastic {{Phlebotinum}} that can [[spoiler:rewind time.]] It was never shown on-screen what it could do because the original show got canceled. Which means the Thermians built it with no clear idea of what it was ''supposed'' to do, and no idea what it would do ''even after they built it''.
** Jason, before he realizes that everything is real and while he's still hungover, [[CuttingTheKnot "simplifies"]] the negotiations with Sarris by ordering the ship to attack him. While the Thermians freak out at the order, Jason walks off the bridge and asks to be sent home all while the Thermians point out that they would have no chance to win the fight due to being greatly underpowered and outclassed. Jason casually assures him that they'll be fine. Rest assured, the next we see Sarris, he's lost an eye ''and'' hand while his ship is shown to have lost badly because the first officer failed to raise the deflector shield in time to counter Jason's rash order, possibly out of shock of the [[RefugeInAudacity audacity of the whole thing]].

** Creator/TimAllen once again plays [[Franchise/ToyStory a spaceman -- only this time, it's for real]].

* AliensStealCable: Half of the movie's whole premise (the other half being AndYouThoughtItWasAGame). The Thermians approach Jason because he's the star of a TV show they were monitoring, on the mistaken assumption that everything that happened in the show was ''real''.

* ArtisticLicenseChemistry: The beryllium sphere -- there's really no sane way that raw beryllium could be used as spaceship fuel, and it doesn't form massive blackberry-looking balls in any natural fashion. It's also quite brittle and its dust is highly toxic when breathed in, which means rolling a big ball around would not be a good idea. Obviously, they made all of its properties up. Doubles as a MythologyGag -- the ''Enterprise'' uses "dilithium crystals", which were originally called "lithium crystals" until someone remembered that lithium is a real element.

* AspectRatioSwitch: This film used three aspect ratios when it was originally shown in theaters. The opening scene, depicting the ShowWithinAShow is in 1.33:1 (or 4:3), the standard for TV shows of the time. When it shifts to "the real world", it expands to 1.85:1 (or 16:9). Then when Nesmith gets his first glimpse of the wider universe, and realizes his trip with the Thermians wasn't a game after all, it widens again to 2.35:1 (or Cinemascope). This was simplified for the home video releases, where the ShowWithinAShow is 1.33:1 and everything else is in 2.35:1.

-->'''Tommy:''' Go for the eyes, like in episode 22!\\
'''Jason:''' It doesn't have any eyes, Tommy!\\

'''Jason:''' It's a ''rock''! It doesn't have any vulnerable spots!
* AuthorAppeal: Sigourney Weaver ''jumped'' at the chance to do a comedic role as a {{Fanservice}} DumbBlonde. She was really interested in playing against type, but Weaver's intelligence still peeks through anyway.

** The scene from the ShowWithinTheShow at the beginning has Tech. Sgt. Chen deliver this warning to the captain with an over-dramatic head snap to the side afterward.
--->'''Tech. Sgt. Chen:''' It's a core meltdown! It can't be stopped!

* BathroomStallOfOverheardInsults: Jason overhears himself badmouthed as a delusional hack, which shocks and demoralizes him so badly that he lashes out at his fans and gets [[DrowningMySorrows very drunk]].[[note]]This was based on a real-life incident that happened to William Shatner, overhearing in a bathroom what everyone else (including his castmates) thought about him. Although it's not known if he got drunk afterwards.[[/note]]

** Watch Gwen's mouth when she sees the chompers and exclaims "Well ''screw'' that!" Clearly the filmmakers had a different second word in mind, which got altered after filming.

* BuffySpeak: Happens during the first fight against Sarris when Guy talks about "the red thingy heading toward the green thingy."

** "Never give up, never surrender!" is a line embraced by its speaker, the Captain.
** "By Grabthar's Hammer!" is now hugely despised by its original user, especially since fans constantly [[PhraseCatcher repeat it to him]].

* CatchphraseInterruptus: Alex can't stand his own catchphrase, and interrupts Quellek quoting it. He also preemptively shuts up a fan who attempts to quote it during the convention.

** The Omega-13, a mysterious alien device that nobody is entirely sure what it does. [[spoiler:Jason ends up having to use it, hoping that Brandon's theory is correct and it will save the day, rather than the other common theory that it will destroy the entire universe.]]

** [[spoiler:[[CaneFu Mathesar's crutch.]]]]
** [[spoiler:A gun taken from Sarris himself.]]

* {{Cliffhanger}}: The opening [[MultiPartEpisode Two-Part Episode]] ends with Cmdr. Quincy Taggart ordering the activation of the Omega-13 device. Then the scene [[FadeToWhite fades to white]]. Unfortunately, we never get to see the second part of the episode and find out what the device does (the nerds aren't sure either, implying the show was CutShort).

* ComedicWorkSeriousScene: This is fun romp that is an AffectionateParody of ''Franchise/StarTrek'', which Creator/GeorgeTakei once called "a frighteningly realistic documentary." There are, however, a few somber scenes.

** As the cast start to actually rise to the occasion and turn the tables on Sarris, it looks like it's going to be laughs again. Then...

* CommandRoster: Done in classic tradition, with the actors slowly becoming these roles for real.
** TheCaptain: Jason Nesmith sits in the big chair and give orders.

** RedShirt / (later) Chief of Security: Guy Fleegman. He's convinced his only role is to die, but gets a lot of action.
* ComputerVoice: The ship's computer has one, which makes Gwen's role reporting what it says entirely gratuitous.

** Sir Alexander Dane spends most of his time [[DeadpanSnarker complaining]], about the degeneration of his career from [[ClassicallyTrainedExtra classically trained Shakespearean actor]] to being most famous for his role as the token alien in a cheesy space opera. But when [[spoiler:an alien trooper shoots his biggest fan, who dies in his arms while saying that he always thought of Dane's character as a father figure]], Dane utters the alien vow his character is known for (which he had utterly hated up to this point), swearing vengeance, and ''lunges'' out of cover. The alien trooper takes aim at him but he charges, bare-handed. The alien's gun fails just in time for Dane to leap on top of him and start beating him to death bare-handed -- which in turn gives the rest of the Thermians the courage to join in the fight.

** Gwen's character's interactions with the computer, subsequently enforced by the Thermians designing their replica to work the same way.

** The show's main catchphrase: "Never give up, never surrender!"

** Line said by Jason to Gwen when they pass over a giant spinning duct deep inside the underbelly of the Omega 13.
** Also Jason tells everyone not to look back while they are escaping with the berylliums sphere from the mine. Gwen does of course and [[ScreamingWoman screams]] when she sees the hordes of miners coming after them.

** The Thermians, constantly. It's intentional since they're merely imitating humans and have only the vaguest idea of how to act.

* EpicLaunchSequence: PlayedForLaughs. The ''Protector 2''[='s=] launch receives rather less than the gravitas it deserves, because Tommy has no idea how to actually fly the thing and ends up veering into the side of the spacedock, producing a horrible nails-on-chalkboard screech until they finally clear it.

* ExcessiveSteamSyndrome: Wall of steam coming from the ship when it crashes into the convention center.

* FanDisillusionment: Flirted with, but ultimately averted for Brandon. Despite his poor treatment from Jason at the convention, he remains a loyal fan in the end. Good thing for the crew of the ''Protector'', too.
* FanDisservice: In-universe and PlayedForLaughs when Fred and Laliari make out--Laliari's [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith human form]] starts shifting to [[StarfishAliens her real form]], and Fred seems to ''like it''.

* FantasticShipPrefix: The NSEA before the ''Protector'''s name apparently stands for National Space Exploration Agency. The registry starts with "NTE". It's never mentioned what this means in the movie, but behind the scenes it stands for "Not The ''Enterprise''".

** Gwen Demarco is definitely Counselor Troi and Commander Uhura. She's a BridgeBunny in a tight suit like them, and her job is completely pointless, like Uhura's (answering the phones, more or less) and Troi's (which mostly boiled down to looking concerned and being a CaptainObvious saying "Captain, I'm sensing something" whenever bad stuff was happening). Other female leads had more active roles and this was before Linda Park. The bit about the interview references a real interview with Creator/JeriRyan, the actress playing Seven of Nine. Troi also [[http://www.thegeektwins.com/2014/06/7-bizarre-facts-about-deanna-trois.html had a lot of attention paid]] to her assets. In some ways she also has some element of Dr. [=McCoy=] as being the heart of the Big Three.

* FlyingCutlerySpaceship: The BigBad's ship. This was probably intentional parody though. It was really big, and it looked like a sea urchin with engines and a giant ominous maw in front.

%%* FreakOut: Alexander's panic attack at every convention. You can set your watch by it.

* VideoCredits: The closing scene shows the opening credits of the renewed Galaxy Quest series with the faces and names of the main cast.

* VideoCredits: The closing scene shows the opening credits of the renewed Galaxy Quest series with freeze frames and names of the main characters.

* WeNeedADistraction: Discussed by Guy as he offers to go into the control room and [[HeroicSacrifice distract Sarris' mooks long enough]] for the Thermians to escape. Fred calls it a SuicideMission and suggests another approach which involves digitally conveying the Rock monster up from the planet to attack the villains.

* SlashFic: The one somewhat unrealistic element in the convention scenes was the fangirls desperately hoping Taggart and Madison had or would have a "thing". A very few years after ''Star Trek'' went off the air, the majority of its fandom had vectored off in the direction of Kirk and ''Spock'' having a "thing". Of course, you couldn't show that in a 1999 film, so they went with Roddenberry's original idea of hinting that Kirk and Rand had a "thing".

** When the cast finish rescuing Jason from the planet, they find that Saris has taken over the ship. He forces them to watch as he tortures Mathezar, then, to really twist the knife, forces them to reveal that they are actors.

* CoquettishLipBiting: After Fred teleports up Garignack to deal with Saris' troops aboard the Protector, Laliari looks at him, biting her lower lip for a moment before she launches into a BigDamnKiss.

--->'''Saris:''' He doesn't understand. Explain to him as you would a child.\\

** As the cast start to actually rise to the occasion and turn the tables on Saris, it looks like it's going to be laughs again. Then...
--->'''Qwellic:''' [[DullSurprise I've been shot.]]

* AluminumChristmasTrees:
** Guy offers to sign autographs alongside the main cast, and while some may question how in the world some background RedShirt could ''possibly'' have people who would even know who he is have never been to a ''Star Trek'' convention where, indeed, anonymous Red Shirts ''have'' been autographers ''and'' celebrated. Just ask actors like Vince Deadrick and Mal Friedman.
** As mentioned under "Technobabble," it is possible to move a spaceship just by making parts of it really hot. It's called a "Black-Body Radiation Engine." However, this provides a tiny ammount of speed in exchange for a staggering ammount of power, so the ''Protector II'' moving at rocket speeds is unrealistic.