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
Peter Nelson	...	Jack Blake
Peggy Pope	...	Elvira
Meg Wyllie	...	Granny Gordon
Ellen Blake	...	Clara Potter
Britt Leach	...	Mr. Potter
Bunny Summers	...	Mrs. Boone
Owen Bush	...	Mr. Boone
Marc Alaimo	...	Hitchhiker
Cameron Dye	...	Andy
Geoffrey Blake	...	Gary
Kimberly Ross	...	Cheerleader II
Wil Wheaton	...	Louis' Friend
Bob Kenaston	...	Uncle Bob
Ed Berke	...	Cop #1
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Kay E. Kuter	...	Enduran
Dan Mason	...	Lord Kril
Bruce Abbott	...	Rylan Sargent (uncredited)
Suzanne Snyder	...	Cheerleader (uncredited)
Lee E. Stevens	...	Bogati (uncredited)

Directed by
Nick Castle

Writing credits
Jonathan R. Betuel		(written by) (as Jonathan Betuel)

Produced by
Gary Adelson	....	producer
Edward O. Denault	....	producer
John H. Whitney Jr.	....	associate producer
Robert Swanson	....	consulting producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Craig Safan

Cinematography by
King Baggot		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Carroll Timothy O'Meara		(as C. Timothy O'Meara)

Casting by
Irene Mariano
Barbara Miller

Production Design by
Ron Cobb

Art Direction by
James D. Bissell

Set Decoration by
Linda Spheeris

Costume Design by
Robert Fletcher

Makeup Department
Lance Anderson	....	mechanical effects makeup
Werner Keppler	....	technical makeup
Audrey Levy	....	key hair stylist
Terry Smith	....	design makeup
Gerald Solomon	....	assistant hair stylist (as Gerald Salomon)
Rick Stratton	....	makeup lab sculptor (uncredited)
Brian Wade	....	makeup effects technician: Greg Cannom (uncredited)

Production Management
Kim C. Friese	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Richard Denault	....	second assistant director
Brian E. Frankish	....	first assistant director
Sharon Gerhard	....	dga trainee

Art Department
Carl Aldana	....	illustrator
Richard J. Bayard	....	construction coordinator
Beverli Eagan	....	set designer (as Beverli Egan)
Tracy Farrington	....	property master
Don High	....	set designer
Robert Inklekofeer	....	leadman
John L. Jensen	....	production illustrator (as John L. Jenson)
William James Teegarden	....	set designer (as Jim Teegarden)
Michael Wiegand	....	assistant props
Lee N. Sforza	....	propmaker foreman (uncredited)
Michael Walsh	....	set dresser (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bub Asman	....	sound editor
Fred J. Brown	....	supervising sound editor
Juno J. Ellis	....	assistant sound editor
David W. Gray	....	stereo sound consultant: Dolby (as David Gray)
Robert L. Hoyt	....	sound re-recording mixer
Margie O'Malley	....	foley artist (as Margie Denecke)
Lauren Palmer	....	adr editor
B. Tennyson Sebastian II	....	sound re-recording mixer
Michele Sharp	....	sound editor
Jack Solomon	....	production sound mixer
John J. Stephens	....	sound re-recording mixer
James Thompson	....	cable person (as James E. Thompson)
Al Yaylian	....	boom operator

Special Effects by
James Camomile	....	special effects (as James Dale Camomile)
Michael Lantieri	....	special effects
Kevin Pike	....	special effects supervisor
Darrell Pritchett	....	special effects (as Darrell D. Pritchett)
Joseph C. Sasgen	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Peggy Baker	....	digital post-production coordinator: Digital Productions
Fred Bradford	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Allison Brooks	....	digital editorial: Digital Productions
Michael Busch	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Philip Chen	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Andy Davidson	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Brad deGraf	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Gary Demos	....	technical executive: Digital Productions
Ken Dozier	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Tom Earnist	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Michelle Feraud	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Kathleen Fisken	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Noah Gans	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Gordon Garb	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Walter Gish	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Jack Green	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Erin Rae Hoffer	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Brad Hunt	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Paul Isaacs	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Bob Kensinger	....	digital editorial: Digital Productions
Michael Kory	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Shelley Lake	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Beth Leitner	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Larry Luther	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Stephanie Mardesich	....	assistant to production executive: Digital Productions
Sherry McKenna	....	production executive: Digital Productions
Malcolm McMillan	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Mary Ann Morris	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Ron Moszkowski	....	technical manager: Digital Productions
Emily Nagle	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Jeffrey A. Okun	....	visual effects coordinator
Kevin Rafferty	....	senior drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
David Ruhoff	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Jim Rygiel	....	senior technical mananger: Digital Productions
Stephen Skinner	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Donald Smith	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Claudia Sumner	....	visual effects supervisor: Digital Productions
John Tilton	....	drafter/encoder: Digital Productions
Larry Yaeger	....	software developer: Digital Productions
Roger Dorney	....	optical supervisor (uncredited)
Christopher Dusendschon	....	Vistavision scan plate cinematography: Kenimation/Digital Productions (uncredited)
Rexford L. Metz	....	visual effects director of photography (uncredited)
Dennis Michelson	....	visual effects: Digital Productions (uncredited)
Michael Douglas Middleton	....	visual effects still photographer (uncredited)
John Scheele	....	visual effects consultant (uncredited)

Stunts
Glenn R. Wilder	....	stunt coordinator (as Glen Wilder)

Camera and Electrical Department
Richard J. Beban	....	second assistant camera (as Richard Beban)
Stephen E. Bridge	....	camera operator (as Stephen Bridge)
Roger Gebhard	....	first assistant camera
Marlin Hall	....	key grip
Charles Hatcher	....	dolly grip (as Chuck Hatcher)
George Holmes	....	gaffer
Larry Keys	....	best boy electric
Rodney Veto	....	best boy grip
Richard Clark	....	video playback supervisor (uncredited)
Wynn Hammer	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Joe Kelly	....	grip (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dan Bronson	....	wardrobe: men
Maritza Garcia	....	wardrobe: women
James Linn	....	costumer

Editorial Department
Conrad M. Gonzalez	....	assistant film editor
Frank E. Jimenez	....	apprentice film editor

Music Department
David Franco	....	music supervisor
Daniel J. Johnson	....	music editor (as Dan Johnson)
Ken Johnson	....	music editor
Alf Clausen	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Wayne R. Campbell	....	transportation captain (as Wayne Campbell)
Bill Cresant	....	transportation coordinator

Other crew
Bea Blondell	....	production auditor
Faye Brenner	....	script supervisor
Linda Foster	....	assistant: Nick Castle
Gary Gero	....	animal handler
Don Hamblen	....	craft service
Gwen Johnson	....	animal handler
Susan Kobata	....	secretary to E. O. Denault
Jack Lyons	....	unit publicist
Linda Poster	....	assistant: Nick Castle
Geoffrey Ryan	....	location manager
Carole Sherman	....	secretary to Gary Adelson
Debbie Smith	....	production coordinator
Maureen White	....	production liaison
Craig Miller	....	marketing consultant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Lorimar Film Entertainment
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• Scotia International Filmverleih (1985) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Universal Pictures (1984) (USA) (theatrical)
• Cinema Classics (video)
• Lorimar Home Vídeo (19??) (Brazil) (VHS)
• Warner Bros. Television

Special Effects

• Apogee Productions
• Digital Productions
• Pacific Titles & Optical
• Van der Veer Photo Effects

Other Companies

• Apogee Productions  titles
• Gene Winfield Special Projects  "Star Car" builder

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:

This was Robert Preston's last movie appearance.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Grig is trying to restore power shortly after using the Death Blossom, there is a cable for a 9-volt battery attached to the circuit board in his hand.

Quotes:

Alex Rogan: [Referring to Grig] Great! A million miles from no-where and I'm stuck with a gunho igauna that tells me to *relax*.

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "South Park: Best Friends Forever (#9.4)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Never Crossed My Mind

War Beyond the Stars.

With the original "Star Wars" trilogy still fresh in the public's mind in 1984, "The Last Starfighter" was produced. Commercially the film did only fairly well at the box office, but that is not saying that this is not a more than adequate little science fiction entry. High-schooler Lance Guest is approached by a couple of aliens (Robert Preston and an unrecognizable Dan O'Herlihy) to go to a galaxy far, far away and fight an evil empire. Sound familiar? He is recruited for his mission via an arcade game of all things. Catherine Mary Stewart shines as Guest's love interest. Nothing spectacular and somewhat dated, but still a pleasant surprise that you will not regret watching. 4 stars out of 5.