Script To Screen: “Galaxy Quest”

A fun early scene from the 1999 movie Galaxy Quest, screenplay by David Howard and Robert Gordon, story by David Howard.

Plot summary: The alumni cast of a cult space TV show have to play their roles as the real thing when an alien race needs their help.

Here is the scene from the script:

THE CAST TABLETommy, Alexander and Fred sign autographs at a row of tables near
Jason, but significantly lower than his perch.TOMMY
Is it me or does his table get higher every convention?One of many fans dressed as "Dr. Lazarus" steps up to Alexander
and salutes him with crossed fists.FAN
"By Grabthar's hammer, by the suns of Warvan, I shall avenge
you!"Alexander ignores this, grabs the photo from his hand, signs it,
thrusts it back. The next fan steps up.FAN
"By Grabthar's hammer, by the-"He signs and thrusts it back before he can even finish.ALEXANDER
Next!Guy (the MC) approaches the actors at their tables.GUY
Hi everybody.TOMMY
Hey. Thanks for one nice intro... uh.GUY
Guy... You probably don't remember me do you? (They stare
blankly) I was on the show in '82. Episode 31? Got killed by
the lava monster before the first commercial? "Crewman #6?"The actors pretend that they remember him. "oh, right! Guy!"GUY
Listen, I was wondering, would you guys mind if I sit in today?
See if anybody's interested in an autograph? Never know.GWEN
Sure, Guy, If you can stand the excitement.Two more FANS dressed as Alexander's character approach him,
proudly CHATTERING at him in the Mak'tar language.ALEXANDER
Don't make me get a restraining order.ACROSS THE ROOMTHE PECULIAR FANS are making their way through the crowd toward
Jason. We suddenly notice something very strange; THE LEFT HAND
of the tallest one is flickering between a normal hand and A HAND
WITH SEVEN LONG BLUE TENTACLES FOR FINGERS. The LEADER notices
and motions to the afflicted man who raps sharply against a metal
blinking box on his belt. The hand becomes normal again. He looks
up, nods at the leader. From now on we'll refer to these 5 as THE
ALIENS.AT THE CAST TABLE - Guy now sits with the others, forlorn. No
fans are in line for his autograph. He watches as Fred fields
questions from the group or fans led by BRANDON.BRANDON
Mr. Kwan? In episode nineteen, when the reactor fused, you used
an element from Leopold Six to fix the quantum rockets. What was
that called?FRED
Bivrakium.BRANDON
The blue sheath it was encased in-?FRED
A bi-thermal krevlite housing.Brandon makes a note, thanks him and exits with his group.GUY
How do you remember this stuff?FRED
Oh I make it up. Use lots of "k"s and "v"s.A male FAN moves up to Gwen, hands her a picture to sign.FAN
I'm a big fan Ms. Demarco.Gwen looks at the photo, nonplussed.GWEN
You really expect me to sign a naked picture of myself? This
isn't even my body!FAN
Yeah, normally with fakes it's like, recycle bin. But.. This
one's really good.
(Gwen sighs, starts to sign)
Could you not write over the... Thanks.A fan finally approaches Guy who looks up eagerly. The fan looks
at him quizzically, trying to place him.GUY
Episode 12. (gets no reaction) Killed by the lava monster?..FAN
(turns to Tommy)
Laredo, could I get an autograph?Guy shrugs, disappointed. Gwen gives him a comforting look, then
looks across atJASON ON HIS PERCHTalking dramatically to a group of fans. A YOUNG BOY watches WIDE
EYED.JASON
... on one hand, if I had moved an inch, the beast would have
killed me. On the other hand, my crew was in danger...YOUNG BOY
How did you know what to do?JASON
Without a crew, I'm not a Commander.He pulls down on the kid's cap.JASON
And we all know what happened to that beast on Enok 7...The fans make happy nerdy "we sure do" noises.CASTMEMBERS TABLEGwen shakes her head appreciatively.GWEN
You gotta admit, they do love him.TOMMY
Almost as much as he loves himself.They watch as Jason fields another question from a fan.JASON
I'm glad you asked... To me the most important qualities of a
Galaxy Explorer are loyalty...ALEXANDER
... to camera center no matter whose shot you're blocking...JASON
Leadership....TOMMY
... to make sure craft service keeps those little butter cookies,
and plenty of them-JASON
And determination.GWEN
... to playing scenes shirtless because the ladies do love
Commander furry.Gwen, Alex and the others try to contain their laughter.CLOSER ANGLE - JASON'S TABLEBored with the constant queries of his fans, Jason glances over
to see Gwen smiling at him. She quickly looks away, self-
conscious. Jason doesn't even take his eyes off Gwen as BRANDON
steps forward, his brow knit with serious matters.BRANDON
Commander, please settle a dispute that my crew and I are having.
In "The Quasar Dilemma", the Sentient had taken control of the
ship's guidance systems, however-JASON
Excuse me guys.Jason exits. Brandon turns to his friends, frustrated.BRANDON
I hadn't even gotten to the relevant conundrum...THE CAST TABLE - Gwen answers a question from a shy GIRL.GIRL
Miss Demarco?... In episode 15, "Mist of Delos 5?" I got the
feeling you and the Commander kind of had a thing in the swamp
when you were stranded together. Did you?GWEN
The Commander and I NEVER had a thing.JASON (O.S.)
That's her story.Gwen looks up to see Jason. The girl giggles and exits. Jason
smiles at Gwen.GWEN
What?JASON
You smiled at me.Rolling her eves Gwen rises and walks off. Undaunted, Jason
follows, but runs into the five ALIENS. Their leader MATHESAR
bows respectfully, then follows along as Jason pursues Gwen.

Here is the scene in the movie:

This is an example where what was shot was edited differently in terms of its order. Can you spot the changes?

Such a wonderful movie. Check out this video which tracks the metamorphosis that takes place with the character Alexander Dane, played by Alan Rickman, the touchstone a specific line of dialogue: “By Grabthar’s Hammer”:

If you’re a fan of the movie, you can check out a week-long analysis we did on Galaxy Quest here including the transcript of a live Tweet-Cast that included several professional screenwriters.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a weekly series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

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