I always marvel at the writing in Galaxy Quest. I think the dialog is brilliant. Sometimes clever dialog can kill a good story. See any of Arnold's movies as an example. Cleverness doesn't seem to do so in this movie. Even the one-liners ("Never give up; never surrender." "By Grapthar's hammer, you shall be avenged.") are used well. The fact that the one-liner has become a cliche in movies is embraced by Galaxy Quest and is used as comedy. It's brilliant! But there's so much more. There is always the challenge of trying to figure out exactly what sub-reference is being made. For example, as Gwen and Jason are running through the bowels of the ship and have to crawl through a duct, Gwen says, "Ducts. Why is it always ducts?" Is she referencing her role in the Aliens series, or is she mimicking Indiana Jones' classic lament about snakes? Both most likely, but that's what makes it both fun and funny. I still think that my favorite line in the whole movie is when Gwen defends her job repeating what the computer says by exclaiming, "Look, I have one job on this ship, it's stupid, but I'm going to do it." Too funny.
Anyone else have a favorite line or scene?
at February 11, 2007 9:27 PMMy favorite line is when they're on the planet, and they come across the cute--but vicious--little blue creatures. Sigourney Weaver (Gwen) says, "Let' get out of here before one of those things kills Guy!" Guy is Sam Rockwell's character, the classic "red shirt" whose only appearance on the original series was an anonymous crew member who gets killed. I also love almost every line that comes out of Alan Rickman's mouth.
Posted by: Jill at February 17, 2007 10:39 AMI've only seen it once.
I'm just tickled that the "I'm a Mac" guy is in it. :D