Jack Bennett’s documentary Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary opens with a David Mamet quote that once you read it, it weirdly makes sense. He wrote, “The Godfather, A Place in the Sun, Dodsworth, Galaxy Quest—these are perfect films.” Galaxy Quest is one of those comedies that I’ll play over and over and over again (others include Airplane!, Top Secret, Blazing Saddles, Young Frankenstein, ugh I could go on). But what Never Surrender shows is that the film’s comedic brilliance was more of a mistake or a series of unintended serendipitous occurrences.
“…many consider Galaxy Quest to be the best Star Trek movie ever made.”
Never Surrender: A Galaxy Quest Documentary is probably one of the most comprehensive behind-the-scenes movie docs ever made. It also helps that it was made about one of the greatest sci-fi comedies on celluloid. Let’s also add that many consider Galaxy Quest to be the best Star Trek movie ever made.
Look, you need to see the documentary if you’re a fan of Galaxy Quest or a fan of how movies are made. I’ll just list a series of high points as a convincer. First and most important, the entire cast: Tim Allen, Sigourney Weaver, Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, and Daryl Mitchell take part in the documentary talking about how much fun they had making the film…as you’d expect. Sadly, Alan Rickman passed away, giving way to a tear-inducing tribute. Also, included are some supporting actors that are now well-known actors in their own right, like Missi Pyle, Rainn Wilson, Justin Long, and I’m also adding Enrico Colantoni, even though he’s probably the most famous of the supporting characters at that time.
"…what a great experience it was making the film and how it jumped started many careers."
