Tim Allen, Commander Taggart of the hit TV series "Galaxy Quest," is mistaken for a real space captain by Aliens desperately in need of his courage. After reviewing the "historical documents" (broadcasts of the TV show), the aliens beam him aboard bowing happily to his reluctant leadership. Allen and crew of actors eventually decide to honor the misguided recruitment and help defend these goofy aliens from the nasty Sarris, a "A Bug's Life" grasshopper-like space bad guy.

It's pretty darn funny; though, you might be expecting a spoof, and while elements of Star Trek mockery appear, they don't dominate. In fact, they seem almost out of place in this stand alone space-comedy.

Since this alien race virtually worships "Galaxy Quest" they've built their ship to the specs of the show's NSEA Protector. Therefore, pilot Daryl Mitchell, though only an actor, should be able to step on board and do what he does on the show 26 half hours a year. In a hilarious scene where he first takes control, de-docking the ship from the star port, Mitchell drifts a bit from center, the huge vessel screeches, scrapes and sparks against the side walls.

Then there's crew member six, ever afraid of being killed off since his character isn't important enough to have a last name. He mans the radar after Sarris fires on the ship, "Uh Commander, there's this red thingee moving closer to the green thingee - I think we're the green thingee."

Tony Shalhoub, the ship engineer, is awesome, "I'll get someone to spray that with WD-40." Alan Rickman packs a whole lot more acting power than his Spock-mock character demands; but that in itself is rather funny. Still, it's the overly-friendly aliens themselves that keep this film rolling, translating their shrieks into perpetually pleasant English for their idols, "We've prepared some of your more Esoteric dishes, we hope you enjoy these Monte Christo Sandwiches."

Focusing on fun, the direction of this film steers like a spaceship through a mine field, dodging in and out from strong to "Dr. Who cheesy" and back. Of course, the film doesn't take itself seriously, but should it have, while maintaining its current level of fun, this could have been one of the finer films of the year. Still, a good solid fun time. You'll laugh a lot.