Awesome / Galaxy Quest

• The moment the Thermian ship opens up to space and Nesmith realizes he isn't just on some television set; the shot alone is incredible, but those lucky enough to see Galaxy Quest in theaters were also treated to an actual Aspect Ratio Switch timed with the opening doors to maximize the effect; some cinemas even timed their curtains to open wider with this shot.
• The crew of the Protector defeating Sarris’ ship by doing what they do best: doing something so off the wall that it can’t help but succeed.
  Jason: Tommy… could you get us closer to these mines?
  Tommy: Closer?! (Beat, followed by a smile as he realizes what Jason is thinking) …I can try!
  • And then the payoff as the Protector and Sarris’ ship play a deadly Game of Chicken:
  Sarris: Let me remind you, sonny! I am a general! If you are counting on me to blink, then you are making a deadly mistake!
  Jason: Well, let me tell you something, Sarris: it doesn’t take a great actor to recognize a bad one. You’re sweating!
  Gwen: (explosion as another missile hits the Protector) Armor almost gone, Jason!
  Sarris: You fool! You fail to realize that with your armor gone, my ship will tear through yours like tissue paper!
  Jason: And what you fail to realize is that my ship is dragging mines!!
  (pan out to show that the Protector is dragging an entire fleet of mines directly toward Sarris)
  Sarris: Oh, NO!! Turn! TURN!!
• "By Grabthar's hammer... by the suns of Worvan... you shall be avenged." Followed shortly by Dane killing an alien soldier with his bare hands, and kicking prodigious amounts of ass in what can only be described as a berserk fury. Think about that for a moment. He's an actor, armed with nothing more than his fists and whatever he can get his hands on, up against a horde of battle hardened alien soldiers who have directed energy weapons and body armor. When we see him later, all evidence shows that he's winning. Add to this the fact that he's inspired the Thermians to join him in the fight, and they start earning their ass-kicking credentials quite nicely.
• Fred Kwan taking down a room full of alien baddies by beaming a rock monster up from the planet's surface. Made even better by his line as he watches with unmistakable glee.
  Fred: It's the simple things in life you treasure.
  (meanwhile, Rocky's throwing the soldiers around like toys)
• The self-destruct override apparently failing only to kick in just before the timer reaches zero. Cue a moment of bewilderment for both characters and audience before Gwen hangs the metatextual lampshade: "It always stops at one on the show." Payoff!
• Sarris gets one after he appears to be defeated, albeit a horrifying and dark one. He teleports onboard the Protector disguised as Fred and starts simply gunning down the crew (except Guy). The Reset Button undid it, but he deserves credit for sheer vileness.
• Brandon (the fan who accidentally got the communicator) has one fairly late in the movie. When Captain Nesmith calls him to ask some technical questions about the ship, Brandon tries to explain that he knows it's not real, that it's only a show. The Captain cuts him off to tell him it's all real, to which he responds "OH I KNEW IT!!!!" And every Star Trek fan in the audience had a CMoA of "If only...".
  • Don't forget Brandon and his friends' coordinated effort to guide Jason and Gwen, as well as providing visual landing markers for the incoming ship.
• Mathesar beating up Sarris with a cane despite being put through brutal torture not too long ago.
  • Mathesar taking command of the Protector.
    Mathesar: On, Teb, on!
  • Or how about Jason bowing before Mathesar in respect.
    Jason: Mathesar... I think your people have a great Commander.
  • Technically, not even part of the movie. After the credits, there's no teaser scene, just Mathesar echoing the motto of the crew of the Protector:
    Never give up, never surrender!
• In real life, the highly positive reactions of the Star Trek cast members, who saw it for the Affectionate Parody that it was instead of as a Take That!.
  Patrick Stewart: I had originally not wanted to see [Galaxy Quest] because I heard that it was making fun of Star Trek and then Jonathan Frakes rang me up and said "You must not miss this movie! See it on a Saturday night in a full theatre." And I did and of course I found it was brilliant. Brilliant. No one laughed louder or longer in the cinema than I did, but the idea that the ship was saved and all of our heroes in that movie were saved simply by the fact that there were fans who did understand the scientific principles on which the ship worked was absolutely wonderful. And it was both funny and also touching in that it paid tribute to the dedication of these fans.
• In-universe: the fans were surprised seeing Sarris come out of the ship; more amazed that Jason killed him.
  • Some of the fans point their fake laser guns at Sarris, including one kid who fired off a shot from his Nerf gun.
• Most of the score is just a variation on the Galaxy Quest theme, but it is absolutely glorious!
• The Reveal of the NSEA Protector, to the awe of both the actors and the audience.
  Alexander: Oh my God. It's real.
• In a deleted scene, Alexander uses all of his theatrical talent to try and figure out what could be the rock monster's motivation. Later on, it's revealed through subtitles that he was actually right!
• Jason defeating Sarris once and for all - and this time, the rolling really does work!
• A minor moment of in-universe awesome- the writers of the original show were so internally consistent that not only were the Thermians able to recreate all of the technology, but fans were able to figure out how the ship would work as well! Yes, they had silly things like the ducts or the Crushers that led to a pit of fire, but fans of the show were able to model it accurately enough to guide real people through the ship.

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