Amazon.com video review:
At the time of its original release in 1984, this modestly
budgeted sci-fi excursion had the distinction of offering some of the
first examples of purely computer-generated animation, an apt (and
frugal) special-effects solution for a movie with a plot line rooted
in computer games. Both the computer-generated visuals and the arcade
game now look quaint, but writer-director Nick Castle's affable, good-
hearted adventure holds up nicely, thanks to a clever premise--the
title game is actually a test for prospective starship pilots, planted
by embattled aliens under siege from an evil invader. When a restless
teenager (Lance Guest) racks up an impressive score, he finds himself
spirited away to the besieged planet and thrust into the midst of an
intergalactic war. Apart from Castle's skill at contrasting his
extraterrestrial settings with the mundane details of his hero's
earthbound life, the movie gets lift-off from two thorough pros,
Robert Preston, who makes the alien recruiter, Centauri, a
planet-hopping cousin to The Music Man's
Harold Hill, and Dan O'Herlihy, the alien copilot, who suggests a
scaly Walter Brennan. Older fans will snicker, but kids and young
teens will find this rite of passage absorbing, while their folks will
savor Preston's brash charm. --Sam Sutherland
