1999, 1 hr 44 min., Rated PG for some action violence, mild language and sensuality. Dir: Dean Parisot. Cast: Tim Allen (Jason Nesmith/Commander Taggart), Sigourney Weaver (Gwen DeMarco/Lt. Tawny Madison), Alan Rickman (Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus), Tony Shalhoub (Fred Kwan/Tech Sergeant Chen), Daryl Mitchell (Tommy Webber/Lt. Laredo), Enrico Colantoni (Mathesar), Sam Rockwell (Guy).

It's pretty easy to make fun of sci-fi geeks. And most of them are good-humored about it, knowing that they're easy targets. I'm not a hard-core sci-fi fan, but I do enjoy many, especially anything Star Trek related, which made Galaxy Quest a fairly good journey.

Their lawyers won't let them tell you, but Quest is a direct rip of the Trek franchise, from the sets to the similar officers and terms, and most notably the immense conventions that still celebrate the show years after its initial run.

I'm not sure, though, if people who don't watch Star Trek will appreciate Galaxy Quest. In my sizeable audience, there were few real laughs, except for those who love science-fiction. I say this because many times there were maybe ten of us laughing at certain scenes. The other 100 members of the audience either didn't get it, didn't think it was funny, or were asleep.

PLOT: A 70' sci-fi show, "Galaxy Quest," is still widely popular despite being off the air for 20 years. Except for Jason Nesmith (Tim Allen) who loves being the big-wig Commander Taggart, the actors, though, are a bit tired of portraying the characters they play at conventions and grand openings where fans seem to worship the crew of the NSEA Protector. Until, that is, a race of aliens mistakes their TV show as a "historical document," and ask for their help in preventing their extermination by an enemy race.

The cast is perfect, fitting the mold of a Star Trek-like diverse crew. Allen is a winner as the Captain Kirk-like Taggart, the ego-crazed actor who is both humourous and sympathetic. Sigourney Weaver's character may be nothing more than great cleavage on the television show, but overall shows some range from her horror-schtick in the Alien film series.

Alan Rickman and Tony Shalhoub steal the show as Alexander Dane/Dr. Lazarus and Fred Kwan/Tech Sergeant Chen, respectively. Rickman's character is the Worf and Spock of the show, with the fake alien forehead and "ancient customs." The actor, Alexander, however, is on the verge of a nervous breakdown after portraying his character for 17 years, longing for his youth when he was actually acting in theater.

Shalhoub's Chen is the engineer on the TV show, and the least affected by the fact that the cast is actually in space fighting for their lives. He takes it all in stride, and provides the best comic relief in his brief appearances.

I would be dumb not to mention two other cast members who deserve great credit for making Galaxy Quest a fun journey. Daryl Mitchell portrays Tommy Webber, who on the show was a child prodigy (the Wesley Crusher role) and gets to pilot the real spaceship.

Sam Rockwell, as Guy, provides the most inspired laughs as the "extra" crewman, the one who doesn't have a last name because he died in the first five minutes of landing on the forbidden planet on the show. Despite being in a real life situation, Guy believes he will surely die as he did on the show. It one hilariously poignant moment, when the real-life crew lands on the planet Shalhoub opens the hatch while Guy freaks out, asking how he knows the planet has air suitable for breathing.

A few more pluses: the special effects weren't bad, the aliens were suitably campy and the plot is long overdue to be on screen.

In the end, even though I am a Trekkie I didn't laugh as much as I hoped. So don't expect slapstick. It was an amusing movie and I would definitely recommend it to any other Trekkies. Those who cringe when someone mentions science-fiction should see something else.