Space Opera

 Benny Davis

Space Opera

There are quite a few great space operas out in the world of cinema. Some of the best are already obvious, such as “Star Wars” and “Dune” and “Star Trek” and “Flash Gordon” and most recently “Guardians of the Galaxy”.

One of the most underrated space epics though, is a little film called “Galaxy Quest”. Also falling under the category of a hero’s journey film, “Galaxy Quest” is about a group of washed up TV show actors from a show of the same title, who are miserable and can’t stand the numerous nerd conventions they are forced to go to. All of them but the captain character, who loves every minute of it. He’s a self-righteous, full-of-himself bastard who won’t admit he is a bad actor. When he and the rest of the gang are roped into a REAL intergalactic space battle, things turn serious.

I saw this movie when I was about 12 years old I believe. I remember the night I saw it because I had an unfortunate hair gel incident when I put and entire tin of hair gel in my hair, thinking that that was the proper amount to use. It took a few days to wash out of my hair.

-Benny Davis