The Quarantine Stream: ‘Galaxy Quest’ Documentary ‘Never Surrender’ Celebrates The Cult Classic
By Ethan Anderton/May 4, 2020 7:00 am EST
Director Jack Bennett has assembled all the key cast members and filmmakers involved with the making of Galaxy Quest to provide an oral history of the road the movie took from pre-production right through the film’s release and onto the film’s enduring legacy in the years since. There’s not an ample amount of behind the scenes footage from the making of the movie, so production photos, concept art, and talking heads have to suffice, but they all provide a detailed, fascinating and entertaining look at how the film came to be. And the production quality is impressive too.
The early days of the film’s development are chronicled, including the development period when Ghostbusters director Harold Ramis was still attached, and the various alternate casting choices for the lead role of Jason Nesmith, which eventually went to Tim Allen (who is surprisingly a big sci-fi nerd). I won’t give the other contenders away here since it’s fun to learn by watching the movie, but suffice it to say that some of the names are baffling, while others are rather intriguing. The film also doesn’t shy away from some of the creative clashing that happened throughout production, from Alan Rickman having rather clear disdain for Tim Allen’s on-set antics to the studio forcing the movie to veer away from its PG-13 roots all so it can be more easily geared towards younger kids and families.
Adding another layer to the documentary is a series of interviews with fans, both from filmmakers and pop culture figures from Hollywood and from conventions of cosplayers and hardcore fans, all interspersed throughout the movie. Each of them offer reverence and love for a movie that allowed fans to step up and be heroes, long before geek and nerd culture became mainstream. Galaxy Quest arrived before it was cool to love comic books, Star Trek, fantasy role-playing, etc. It gave fans a presence on the big screen that wasn’t merely a punchline, and the movie really paved the way for not just a growing passion for all things geeky, but a future where this kind of fandom took the box office charts by storm. The film also hones in on the all-important influence of decades of Star Trek, and the embrace Trekkies have given Galaxy Quest as an honorary Star Trek movie.
Never Surrender acts as a love letter to Galaxy Quest. Fans, both on the ground level and in the annals of modern Hollywood, have an appreciation for this movie that goes beyond just entertainment. It serves as a record of how a movie can go from a simple idea to box office disappointment and somehow still become a mainstay of pop culture. For some it inspired a new wave of nerdy programming in movie theaters and on television screens that has dominated the pop culture conversation for years now. But for others, it provided hope and comfort, and it gave them new communities to proudly celebrate their passions. We’re just glad that movies like Galaxy Quest end up getting their due diligence, even if it takes people years to come around.
