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"Galaxy Quest" isn't just a hilarious sci-fi riff on "Three Amigos," it's also respected by longtime fans of "Star Trek" as a loving parody of the original series created by Gene Roddenberry, not to mention a positive portrayal of passionate fandom. In the movie, Tim Allen, Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, and Daryl Mitchell play the cast members of a cheesy sci-fi series called "Galaxy Quest" that looks eerily like the original iteration of "Star Trek" on the small screen. At this point in their careers, all the actors are washed up, relegated to appearing at sci-fi conventions and answering nerdy questions about the show from their most passionate fans. But they're about to get a chance to become real heroes.

When a race of aliens appear in Los Angeles and ask the "Galaxy Quest" crew to help them...

A “Galaxy Quest” series is in early development, this time at Paramount+.

Variety has learned that Paramount+ and Paramount Television Studios are in the nascent stages of adapting the cult classic comedy film into a television show. At this time, the only member of the creative team officially attached is Mark Johnson, who produced the original film and would serve as an executive producer on the potential series.

Paramount Television Studios and Paramount+ declined to comment.

This is the latest attempt to adapt “Galaxy Quest” for the small screen. It was previously reported in 2015 that Amazon was developing a series version that would have reunited the film’s cast, but those plans ended upon the death of Alan Rickman. There have since been various writers attached to the project, though none of their versions have ultimately gone forward.

“Galaxy Quest” was originally released in 1999. The film parodied franchises like “Star Trek...

And thus, a new era began.

Buffy Season Four is a controversial Season amongst fans. To put it simply – it’s not the favourite for many. This was a bit of an interesting year for the show – for one thing, it lost two of its principle cast members to a newly launched spin-off, the familiar high school location was no more and the characters were officially adults. Times were moving on for Buffy, and the things that we had gotten used to were going to have to change.

Thus, the show moved onto the life of a Slayer at College, and the adventures that ensued. Adventures that are a little, well, daft at times. Don’t get me wrong – Season Four is by no means a failure, and does hit some serious heights on occasion. If anything, it lacks the consistency of Season Three and the brilliance of Season Two.

Once upon a time, there was a goofy little show called Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It’s first TV outing, a mid-season replacement that only contained 12 episodes, premiered to mixed responses. Whilst the potential was clearly there, it was easy to write it off as just a little too silly, a little too… odd. Nevertheless, it was granted a Season Two, which premiered on September 15th, 1997.

And this is where shit got serious.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 2 is truly a remarkable season of television. This is the year when the writers realised that not only were they making something special here, but that they were capable of producing some incredible content. Whilst the first half does maintain some of the less than impressive traits of Season One, such as poor quality filler episodes (containing mummies) and some rather rubbish bad guys (the zombie from episode 2 and literally everything to...

The worlds of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Hellboy, and Alien have been intriguingly explored by Christopher Golden on the printed page, and the prolific author has delivered just as many thrills for readers in his original works over the years, including the adventures of occult detective Joe Golem. With Joe Golem: Occult Detective — The Outer Dark #1 out now from Dark Horse Comics, we had the immense pleasure of catching up with Golden for our latest Q&A feature to discuss Joe Golem, his work on the upcoming Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen film, and much more, and we've also been provided with the exclusive cover and preview pages for The Outer Dark hardcover that's due out in 2018.

Thanks for taking the time to answer some questions for us, Christopher. For those who are unfamiliar, when did you and Mike Mignola first come up with the idea to collaborate on...

It's only mere weeks into the new millennium and already Rupert Giles is finding it a massive drag. The 21st century is promising big things and greater possibilities, and yet Giles is finding that he's about as relevant as an eight-track cartridge.

He may only be in his mid 40s – not approaching codger-dom by any means – but Giles hasn't really got much to show on his life CV. His only known job is to stamp books in a school which now no longer exists. His love life isn't exactly busy, given that Olivia's since gone back to Blighty with Gentleman-experience doubts in her head (we only see her in a dream sequence in Restless, so I guess that's another relationship over for Rupert). And his once close circle of friends seems to be sliding away from his reach. What with Xander looking to make ends meet and Buffy and Willow...

Galaxy Quest

Written by David Howard and Robert Gordon

Directed by Dean Parisot

USA, 1999

“Never give up. Never surrender.” Truer words have never been spoken. In 1999, the science fiction genre was shaken up a bit by a movie so smart and so funny that no other film has managed to duplicate its greatness ever since. That film is Galaxy Quest, a hilarious satire of all things sci-fi, most specifically the Star Trek franchise. Galaxy Quest isn’t simply a parody of Star Trek, though. It’s a parody of a show within a movie that bears an extraordinary resemblance to Star Trek, and this goofy send-up is the perfect recipe for intelligent humor, dazzling special effects, and pure movie magic.

The film follows a group of semi-washed up actors who starred in Galaxy Quest, a Trek-esque TV show from the early 1980s.Led by Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen), this band...

“There's no point in being grown-up if you can't be childish sometimes.”

Even in his first story, Tom Baker's Doctor hit the nail on the head thanks to his talent for intergalactic insight. All grown-ups feel this way. The brain's telling you that you're still a youngster even if the mirror's laughing at you with its brazen display of grey hairs, receding hairlines and chubbier jowls.

But I'm channel surfing, and having already reviewed the Doctor Who story, Robot, let's switch over to the Buffy The Vampire Slayer channel. As luck would have it, I've reached the episode where Tom's Doctor's mantra is scribbled everywhere in thick colourful kiddy wax crayon. Yes, it's Band Candy, an episode that carries on finding the fun, as Faith would so eloquently put it. Principal Snyder's latest Davros-esque order to his worthless subjects – sorry, pupils – involves selling box-loads full of candy in order...

Rupert Giles. Champion of the piping hot, meaty drink and tweed suits. The archetypal Brit abroad, complete with Hugh Grant-esque clucking when embarrassed and a confused frown at American colloquialisms.

Even his friends are queuing up to poke the fun, on today of all days. Buffy scoffs that he wore tweed diapers (that's nappies to the Brits); Xander is reeling from the horror of mentioning Giles and orgies in the same sentence; even Giles' beau, Jenny calls him a fuddy duddy. Such a rock solid square clearly isn't capable of harbouring a dark past.

You would have thought so, anyway, but as it turns out, Giles is no stranger to the dark side. His shady history has happened to have caught up with him in a big way in the latest episode called The Dark Age. You know how some people just turn out to be unwanted acquaintances rather than friends?...

Here in Blighty, Halloween seems to be the runt of the litter when it comes to annual celebrations. Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day...they're shoo-ins for making lots of pounds from cards and gifts, but when it comes to Halloween, what is there? The local costume hire place may make a moderate sum: ditto the local farm shop with its vast quantities of putrefying pumpkins. But overall, Halloween isn't embraced as warmly over here as it is in other countries. Even the youth of today would rather be tweeting about school crushes, the latest kiddy tantrum from Viley Sinus, or who's about to get the boot from waxwork dummy music hunt, The X Factor.

Halloween, the latest Buffy escapade, represents a purer age: in the days when recording your every move via phone or mini-computer wasn't mandatory, kids used to go out and have fun dressing up as ghouls or ghosts.

In this past week, the fourth instalment of the Jurassic Park franchise has finally been given a title – intriguingly “Jurassic World” – and will be released on the 12th of June 2015.

This got me thinking about the previous three Jurassic Park movies and how much (or how little, in the case of Jurassic Park III) I enjoyed them.

In doing so, I started to think about the great moments in each film (and yes, even Jurassic Park III had a few) and started to rank them in order.

And on that note, here are 25 dinotastic (sigh) moments from the Jurassic Park saga (so far) ranked in order of how memorable they are…

25. The Beach Scene (The Lost World: Jurassic Park)

A family are holidaying on their luxury yacht and just happen to stumble across the island of Isla Sorna (known as Site B), which is one of the natural breeding grounds...

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Read More...

Where were Andy Griffith, Larry Hagman and other well-known celebrities in this year's Oscars In Memoriam montage? They were online at Oscar.com.

Every year it's one of the more reliably ridiculous award show controversies: Who didn't make the cut for In Memoriam?

When it comes to the Oscars, these "snubs" are particularly sensitive given the prestige and viewership of the show, and the fact that the montage inevitably leaves out names and faces of recognizable stars -- usually those known far more for their work in television than their work in film, which is the medium that the Academy Awards actually celebrate.

However, the Academy is hip to the annual controversy and this year produced a supplemental slideshow on their website featuring 114 names and photos of entertainers and film craftspeople who passed away in the past year.

Among the late greats included in the slideshow but not on the...

Michael Winner was among the stars who were not honoured at last night's Academy Awards (February 24).

The late Death Wish director - who died last month aged 77 - did not feature in the ceremony's annual In Memoriam tribute.

New York Times reporter Michael Cieply has claimed that snubs may occur if the family of a deceased filmmaker or actor does not campaign for the inclusion as much as others.

Cieply said that "there's no shortage of input from out there in the community", adding that the full list of the deceased is expanded on the Oscars website.

Dallas actor Larry Hagman, actress Phyllis Diller and actor Robin Sachs were also among the stars not featured in the tribute, which saw Barbra Streisand perform 'The Way We Were'.

Cieply also quotes late Mash actor Harry Morgan's son Charley talk about his father's snub at the tribute in 2012.

He...

Robin Sachs, a British actor who is probably best known for his role as Ethan Rayne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has died. He was 61.

In Buffy, Sachs played the small but pivotal role of Giles's former friend-turned-nemesis Ethan Rayne. But Buffy wasn't his only genre role. He got his start in 1972 with a small role in Hammer's Vampire Circus. He also appeared in Lost World: Jurassic Park, Galaxy Quest, Megalodon, and was a voice in the 2012 animated Resident Evil: Domination game. 

Sachs died suddenly on February 1st, four days before his 62nd birthday. A cause of death has not been announced.

Source: Deadline...

Robin Sachs, best known for his role in the long-running TV series Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has died at age 61. He passed away on February 1st, four days before his 62nd birthday, according to his website which announced his death on Tuesday. “This is a post we never thought we would have to write,” the post reads. “It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs.” Born in London, Sachs’ first role was with the British Hammer film studio in the movie Vampire Circus. His other feature work includes The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Oceans Eleven, North Fork and Ravager. Sachs appeared in numerous TV series over the years, but his most memorable role was as Ethan Rayne, arch rival to Giles, Buffy’s mentor in Buffy The Vampire Slayer starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. His other TV work includes the role...

Farewell, Robin Sachs. The British actor who played Ethan Rayne on Buffy the Vampire Slayer has died, according to his official website. Sachs was 61, and the cause of his death has not been disclosed. "It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs," his website reads. "Please join us in raising a glass to Robin — goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much." As Ethan Rayne [...]...

Robin Sachs, the British actor who portrayed the evil Ethan Raynes in Joss Whedon's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" TV series, has died in Los Angeles. He was 61. Details surrounding his sudden passing are scarce, his representative told TheWrap on Wednesday that Sachs was in good health and that no cause of death has been identified. Also read: 'Star Wars' Makeup Artist Stuart Freeborn Dead at 98 His official website first reported the  news on Tuesday. "It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs," the...

News Louisa Mellor Feb 6, 2013

Robin Sachs, the English actor known and loved for roles in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Galaxy Quest, and Babylon 5 has passed away...

Inspiring warmth and devotion from viewers on the basis of just four appearances in a television programme is quite something, and that’s exactly what Robin Sachs was to fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

In the role of Buffy’s Ethan Rayne, Rupert Giles’ mischievous, dark arts-dabbling friend from his ‘Ripper’ days, Sachs made such an impression that many of the tributes following the news of his death have focused disproportionately on the role. It’s hard not to. It would however, be selling Sachs’ extremely short not to place those four episodes of Buffy in context of a forty-year screen and stage career.

Working backwards, Sachs spent much of the last decade providing voices for video games for franchises including Star Wars,...

Acclaimed actor and Mass Effect voice actor Robin Sachs has died aged just 61. 

Announced via his website, tributes poured in for the late actor following the unspected and tragic news.

Best known throughout the gaming community for voicing Lord Pyral Harrowmont in the original Dragon Age, as well Zaeed from the Mass Effect series, Robin also featured in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5 and Torchwood: Miracle Day.

More recently Robin enjoyed perfoming in theatre.

Our thoughts are with his family and friends.

Source: RobinSachs.com 

Robin SachsMass EffectGAME NEWSdragon age...

Chris Pratt, Andy on the brilliant NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation, has landed the role of Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord, for Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Quill was born of a human mother and alien father, and is a master strategist and combat expert who wears an ability-enhancing suit and pilots a psychically-linked ship. While many actors were rumored for the role, in the end, it appears, it went to an actor that appeared on no one’s list. Pratt has comedic talents, which shine on Parks&Rec, but he can be dramatic as well, with his appearances in the Oscar nominated films Zero Dark Thirty and Moneyball prove. However, the casting of Pratt –on the heels of rumors that Marvel was looking to comedic actors as Jim Carrey or Adam Sandler- does seem to indicate that director James Gunn plans on adding more humor to the film.

Robin Sachs has died at the age of 61, reports BBC News.

The British actor died last Friday, but news of his death was announced on his official website on Feb. 5:

"Please join us in raising a glass to Robin - goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much."

Further details about the actor's death have yet to be revealed.

The actor (who was just four days shy of his 62nd birthday) is best known for playing villainous character Ethan Rayne on the hit series "Buffy The Vampire Slayer," but boasts a full resume and will also be remembered for his roles on "Babylon 5" and "Star Trek: Voyager."...

Robin Sachs, a British actor best known for playing the slippery, mercenary mage Ethan Rayne on Buffy The Vampire Slayer, has died, according to the BBC. Sachs’ death is described as “sudden and unexpected” on his official website, though no cause is given. He was 61. Though two of his earliest roles were in the miniseries Brideshead Revisited and Dynasty: The Reunion (where he replaced Gordon Thomson as Adam Carrington), Sachs was far more suited to science-fiction and horror stories than lavish costume dramas, beginning with his screen debut in the Hammer-produced Vampire Circus. Over the years he had numerous ...

A bit of sad news has come in regarding the passing of an actor who's very familiar to fans of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" along with gamers. On his 62nd birthday, word has come that Robin Sachs has died unexpectedly.

According to Sachs' official fansite:

It is with great sadness that we have to announce the sudden and unexpected passing of Robin Sachs. Please join us in raising a glass to Robin – goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for all the laughter and the cookies. We will miss you so very much.

Sachs is best known for portraying Giles' old friend Ethan Rayne in "Buffy." He also appeared in such films as Vampire Circus, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Megalodon, and the animated Resident Evil: Damnation and voiced roles in numerous video games such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Chaos Bleeds, Mass Effect 2/3, and Resident Evil: Outbreak - File...

Director: Makoto Kamiya. Writer: Shotaru Suga. Cast: Courtenay Taylor, Matthew Mercer and Robin Sachs. When the live-action Resident Evil movies feel like one giant bio-hazard, maybe turning to the owners of the franchise, Capcom, for their help is required. Shinji Mikamise created this universe and his series bible should be followed. Along with one of the original video-game programmers, Hiroyuki Kobayashi, the team has gone on to create more magic in one front while the set of films by Paul Anderson are ailing. Quite often, the cut-scenes in this series of video games are more fulfilling in exploring the world that the Umbrella Corporation has devastated. By playing through all the video-games, fans of this series will get to see how truly methodical the mega-corporation truly is and how the people affected by the horror manages to survive. Instead of one central figure, the games look at the lives of...

Resident Evil: Damnation

Voice cast: Matthew Mercer, Courtenay Taylor, Robin Sachs, Carolyn Lawrence, Wendee Lee, Salli Saffioti, Dave Wittenberg, Val Tasso, Patrick Harlan, Dave Wittenburg | Written by Shotaro Suga | Directed by Makoto Kamiya

Written by Ghost in the Shell: Solid State Society and Resident Evil: Degeneration screenwriter Shotaro Suga and directed by his Resident Evil: Degeneration compatriot Makoto Kamiya Resident Evil: Damnation is the second CG animated feature in the Resident Evil series. Unlike their live-action counterparts, both animated features are considered canon to the franchise and take place in and around events seen in the video games.

Taking place between Resident Evil 5 and 6 (and after the 3Ds game Revelations), Resident Evil: Damnation follows United States Special Agent Leon S. Kennedy as he sneaks into a small Eastern European country to verify rumors that Bio Organic Weapons (B.O.W.s) are being used in war. Right after his infiltration,...

In an interview with THR, Paramount Film Group President Adam Goodman talked about various upcoming movies from the studio. On the subject of animated films, he said, "We feel we have the ability to make these kinds of movies as well as any company does. I can't talk about the project, but Robert Gordon [Galaxy Quest] is writing an original story for us."

For fans of the cult 1999 sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest, directed by Dean Parisot, with a story by David Howard and a screenplay by David Howard and Robert Gordon, this is great news.

Though the writers don’t have many film credits to their names (with David Howard only credited for Galaxy Quest, and Robert Gordon credited for a couple of other things, including Men in Black II and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events; though IMDb says they both have a project called Bizarro Superman in development...

Editor's Note: Jane Espenson is one of those very rare Hollywood creatures — a television writer who needs no introduction to the smart folks who know their television. And even quite a few who don't. After all, Espenson has played a key part on a number of TV shows that have gone on to become classics including Buffy the Vampre Slayer and Battlestar Galactica. All of which explains, why Torchwood creator Russell T Davies was smart enough to grab Espenson when Torchwood made the jump to American shores with Torchwood: Miracle Day. (If you haven't already, be sure to read Heather Hogan's hilarious recap of episode one "Torchwood in Ten Minutes."

And now we've got her. Yes, we can hardly believe it either. Every Monday for the duration of Torchwood, Jane will be sharing her thoughts about the previous Friday's episode. Sometimes it will be from her perspective as a writer of a particular episode.

So, as the music builds to its inevitable crescendo, the camera slowly pans heavenwards and the credits duly roll on yet another year a legion of movie lovers loyally raise their glasses, stare wistfully into the middle distance and thus share fond, warm and altogether welcome memories of the last twelve months of movie making magic.

And with the curtains already beginning to close on us, the foyer slowly emptying and the hulking behemoth that is 2011 looming ominously on the aspect ratioed horizon what better opportunity is there to jump in our DeLoreans and take a nostalgic look back at the past ten years of cinematic splendour in order to pick out ten films that shone like precious jewels from the cavernous depths of 2001 to 2010.

Indeed, you needn’t look too far to stumble across a proliferation of end of the year “Best Of” lists literally bulging at the seams...

In the hilarious, Star Trek-spoofing sci-fi comedy classic Galaxy Quest, Sam Rockwell gave one of the all-time great cult performances as the seemingly expendable Guy, or Crewman Number Six, arguably standing out in a movie filled with memorable roles from the likes of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Justin Long, Robin Sachs, Tony Shaloub and Enrico Colantoni.

Despite having the genre credibility of parts in Charlie's Angels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Iron Man 2, G-Force and Moon under his belt, Galaxy Quest remains one of his most cherished roles.  Now, talking to io9 on the set of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens, Rockwell has revealed that he based the entertainingly panicky character on... Hudson from Aliens (incidentally, another Sigourney Weaver movie).

After describing his Cowboys & Aliens character, Doc, with "I kind of serve as the Jimmy Stewart, Bill Paxton of the piece.  I'm sort of like...

In the hilarious, Star Trek-spoofing sci-fi comedy classic Galaxy Quest, Sam Rockwell gave one of the all-time great cult performances as the seemingly expendable Guy, or Crewman Number Six, arguably standing out in a movie filled with memorable roles from the likes of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Justin Long, Robin Sachs, Tony Shaloub and Enrico Colantoni.

Despite having the genre credibility of parts in Charlie's Angels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Iron Man 2, G-Force and Moon under his belt, Galaxy Quest remains one of his most cherished roles.  Now, talking to io9 on the set of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens, Rockwell has revealed that he based the entertainingly panicky character on... Hudson from Aliens (incidentally, another Sigourney Weaver movie).

After describing his Cowboys & Aliens character, Doc, with "I kind of serve as the Jimmy Stewart, Bill Paxton of the piece.  I'm sort of like...

In the hilarious, Star Trek-spoofing sci-fi comedy classic Galaxy Quest, Sam Rockwell gave one of the all-time great cult performances as the seemingly expendable Guy, or Crewman Number Six, arguably standing out in a movie filled with memorable roles from the likes of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Justin Long, Robin Sachs, Tony Shaloub and Enrico Colantoni.

Despite having the genre credibility of parts in Charlie's Angels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Iron Man 2, G-Force and Moon under his belt, Galaxy Quest remains one of his most cherished roles.  Now, talking to io9 on the set of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens, Rockwell has revealed that he based the entertainingly panicky character on... Hudson from Aliens (incidentally, another Sigourney Weaver movie).

After describing his Cowboys & Aliens character, Doc, with "I kind of serve as the Jimmy Stewart, Bill Paxton of the piece.  I'm sort of like...

In the hilarious, Star Trek-spoofing sci-fi comedy classic Galaxy Quest, Sam Rockwell gave one of the all-time great cult performances as the seemingly expendable Guy, or Crewman Number Six, arguably standing out in a movie filled with memorable roles from the likes of Alan Rickman, Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Justin Long, Robin Sachs, Tony Shaloub and Enrico Colantoni.

Despite having the genre credibility of parts in Charlie's Angels, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Iron Man 2, G-Force and Moon under his belt, Galaxy Quest remains one of his most cherished roles.  Now, talking to io9 on the set of Jon Favreau's Cowboys & Aliens, Rockwell has revealed that he based the entertainingly panicky character on... Hudson from Aliens (incidentally, another Sigourney Weaver movie).

After describing his Cowboys & Aliens character, Doc, with "I kind of serve as the Jimmy Stewart, Bill Paxton of the piece.  I'm sort of like...

It would not be inaccurate to call Galaxy Quest slight, airy, and lacking in ambition, but it would be beside the point. Like with most mainstream comedies, your ability to buy into it depends greatly on how generous you're feeling when you're watching it; but unlike most mainstream comedies, Quest makes no apologies or excuses for what it is, wholeheartedly buying into its own vindication of fandom while still lampooning with great accuracy.

Galaxy Quest is a television show that has been off the air for twenty years, but still maintains a huge, devoted fan base that continuously organizes conventions devoted to memorabilia, re-enactments, and greeting the original actors (think it's a reference to any other show). These conventions would be the absolute bane of the existences of the lead actors, being James Nesmith (Tim Allen), Gwen DeMarco (Sigourney Weaver), Alexander Dane (Alan Rickman), and Fred Kwan (Tony Shalhoub), were...

"Galaxy Quest" has a fabulous comic premise and a cast totally in sync with the gag that generates the laughs. The special effects whizzes have also done their job to create a world in which the comedy can unfold.

But "Galaxy Quest" still feels like a near miss. The problem with a great premise is that it demands a great payoff, and here the payoff is a tad weak.

Nevertheless, "Galaxy Quest", with a cast headed by Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver and Alan Rickman, should attract sizable holiday audiences looking for cheerful entertainment during a season in which poverty, prisons and sociopaths are filling theater screens.

"Galaxy Quest" is the name of a cult science-fiction television show (1979-82) that might remind you of a similar series where brave humans and near-humans trekked among the stars. Two decades later, "Galaxy Quest"'s cast, forever typecast and unable to sustain acting careers after the show's cancellation, live off their fictional personas at sci-fi conventions, where legions of faithful fans line up to get autographs at $15 a pop.

At one convention, a group of Thermians, an alien race from a distant world, comes to recruit the "GQ" crew to help defend the extraterrestrials' planet from an evil adversary. It seems the Thermians long ago intercepted telecasts of "Galaxy Quest" and, lacking any understanding of TV or entertainment, believe the episodes to be "historical documents" of real events.

When the "GQ" cast gets whisked off to this distant planet, they discover that the Thermians have copied their space ship, the NSEA Protector, and the "GQ" world to such a remarkable degree that the actors find themselves back on their old set -- only this time everything is real.

Allen's Jason Nesmith, the only cast member to still get a kick out of his series persona, plunges into this new mission without any qualms over having no director or script. But Weaver's Gwen DeMarco, the blond bombshell whose only job was to repeat information supplied by the ship's computer, is often terrified, and Rickman's cranky Alexander Dane, a British stage actor unable to return to Shakespeare after his role as the half-humanoid, half-reptilian Dr. Lazarus, is mostly baffled.

The rest of the "cast" includes Tony Shalhoub as a non-Asian who goes by the name of Fred Kwan; Daryl Mitchell, who was a 10-year-old gunner/navigator when the series was in primetime; and a new member, played by Sam Rockwell, the sci-fi convention's host, who did appear briefly on "Galaxy Quest" before being killed by a lava monster.

The byplay among the "GQ" cast and their encounters with the real terrors of space are mildly amusing, but writers David Howard and Robert Gordon seem content with obvious jokes and never dig any deeper into the various levels of reality -- and unreality.

Elements bring to mind the 1942 film "To Be or Not to Be", though light years removed in style, substance and seriousness. In the classic, Ernst Lubitsch played wonderfully with the idea of actors using their thespian skills to outwit an enemy. In "Galaxy Quest", the threats from the evil Sarris (Robin Sachs) needed to carry real weight and the gimmicks from the old TV series should have created more interesting reverberations in the cast's real battles.

Instead "Galaxy Quest" gets by with broad physical gags and nifty effects, such as a CGI-produced band of cannibalistic blue children and a giant monster comprised of rocks and boulders. Alien makeup and creature effects by Stan Winston are first rate. And director Dean Parisot keeps the pace brisk, which also helps.

"Galaxy Quest" is certainly a bright entertainment. But the satire falls a little short.

GALAXY QUEST

DreamWorks Pictures

A Mark Johnson production

Producers:Mark Johnson, Charles Newirth

Director:Dean Parisot

Writers:David Howard, Robert Gordon

Story by:David Howard

Executive producer:Elizabeth Cantillon

Director of photography:Jerzy Zielinski

Production designer:Linda DeScenna

Music:David Newman

Costume designer:Albert Wolsky

Editor:Don Zimmerman

Alien makeup and creature effects:Stan Winston

Visual effects supervisor:Bill George

Color/stereo

Cast:

Jason Nesmith:Tim Allen

Gwen DeMarco:Sigourney Weaver

Alexander Dane:Alan Rickman

Fred Kwan:Tony Shalhoub

Guy Fleegman:Sam Rockwell

Tommy Webber:Daryl Mitchell

Mathesar:Enrico Colantoni

Sarris:Robin Sachs

Running time -- 102 minutes

MPAA rating: PG...