‘By Grabthar’s Hammer . . .what a savings’: An Oral History of ‘Galaxy Quest’

Thanks to the loyal 5FF reader who sent this in, knowing that this movie makes me cry every time.

“By Grabthar’s Hammer…” but also “It’s real.”

And when they torture the little alien.

Oh, man. I’m tearing up just typing that.

If Star Wars had been this good, I’d have been a fan.

One day people will realize that Galaxy Quest is the better movie, like they’ll realize that Goodfellas is better than The Godfather and Psycho is better than Vertigo.

Anyway:

“By Grabthar’s Hammer” was a temp line. It was basically the Hammer of Thor, but Grabthar just sounded so silly. I kept meaning to change it, but around the production offices, they started to make t-shirts, it started to sink in a little bit.

Harold Ramis was initially supposed to direct.

He wanted either Alec Baldwin or Kevin Kline for the Tim Allen role. But Allen being a recovering alcoholic f-up in real life really adds to his performance.

Also:

“Galaxy Quest” is the seventh greatest “Star Trek” movie ever made, according to Trek fans [who voted at] this past weekend’s Star Trek 2013 Convention in Las Vegas.

The director:

I was a huge “Star Trek” fan. My brother took my mother’s gray station wagon and wrote NCC-1701 on the door. We put two tubes on the roof rack that shot rockets off the top.

How are you not bawling your eyes out?