61Galaxy Quest (1999)

The original draft of the script, by David Howard, was called Captain Starshine, which evolved, over subsequent revisions by Robert Gordon, into Galaxy Quest. The comedic premise is somewhat ingenious: The cast of a once-popular Star Trek-like show, years into their has-been fame of opening car dealerships and fan conventions, find themselves beamed up into an actual galactic battle to save a benevolent alien race. Can they summon the courage – not to mention recall the technical mumbo-jumbo – that was once just play-acting? The film came out more than a decade after William Shatner parodied Trekkie conventioneers on Saturday Night Live. But in Galaxy Quest, which blended real sci-fi with comedy, the actors find their better selves believing in their roles like never before, with help from the sci-fi geeks back on Earth.