The Last Starfighter (1984)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Nick Castle

Writer:

Jonathan R. Betuel (written by)

Release Date:

13 July 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Adventure | Family | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In his wildest dreams Alex never suspected that tonight he would become...The Last Starfighter

Plot:

A videogaming boy, seemingly doomed to stay at his trailer park home all his life, finds himself recruited as a gunner for an alien defense force.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Trailer Park | Arcade Game | Space Battle | Planet

Awards:

4 nominations

Cast

Lance Guest	...	Alex Rogan / Beta Alex
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Grig
Catherine Mary Stewart	...	Maggie Gordon
Barbara Bosson	...	Jane Rogan
Norman Snow	...	Xur
Robert Preston	...	Centauri
Chris Hebert	...	Louis Rogan
John O'Leary	...	Rylan Bursar
George McDaniel	...	Kodan Officer
Charlene Nelson	...	Rylan Technician
John Maio	...	Friendly Alien
Robert Starr	...	Underling
Al Berry	...	Rylan Spy
Scott Dunlop	...	Tentacle Alien
Vernon Washington	...	Otis

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Iceland:10 | Iceland:12 (video rating) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:11 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

9411 Soledad Canyon Rd., Canyon Country, California, USA

Company:

Lorimar Film Entertainment

Trivia:

Atari actually programmed games for its 5200 SuperSystem and 400/800 series home computers as a tie-in with this movie. The games never went past the prototype phase (though extant copies do survive). Also, the game was nothing like the arcade machine Alex played in the film - the technology did not exist at the time to produce real-time 3-D polygonal graphics on a home machine. Rumor also has it that Atari produced one prototype Last Starfighter arcade machine, but it since has been lost. An early Atari 2600 program was revamped into the game released as "Solaris".

Goofs:

Continuity: When the Centauri-Creature takes its face off, the glow of its eyes does not reflect either off the inside of the star-car's windshield or off the star-car's passenger partition.

Quotes:

Centauri: I must congratulate you on your virtuoso performance, my boy. Centauri is impressed. I've seen 'em come, and I've seen 'em go, but you're the best, my boy. Dazzling! Light years ahead of the competition! Centauri's got a little proposition for you. Are ya interested?

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in Team America: World Police (2004)

Soundtrack:

Red Eyes

A "gem" from the 80's

This is a lost gem of a movie from the generation of "E.T.", Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc...

When a friend showed it to me on VHS in 1984 I loved it for its originality, warmth & humor, as well as being impressed with the first-time computer-generated special effects for this kind of sci-fi film.

When I saw the 'special edition' DVD in Widescreen I snatched it right up and found that I enjoyed it as much as I did 20 years ago! The movie's special effects still looked good to me, especially the "Star Car" (my personal favorite).

But the special effects are not the centerpiece of this film. It has plenty of charm of its own to offer in plot, story, warmth, humor & good performances. Craig Safan's music score for this film is one of my all-time favorites. It almost outsizes this movie but it fits just the same.

"Starfighter" is a real gem from the 80's I will treasure in my movie collection.