When a young man dreams of escaping his dreary life an unexpected trip to the stars leads to adventure and heroism. Sound familiar? It should for this is a cheesy, formulaic, and derivative movie. Yet it is easy to forgive this due to an excellent cast, endearing characters, and a complete lack of pretention. Combining all of the above with cutting edge effects that changed the industry resulted in one of the best B-movies of the 1980s. UPDATED March 2013 with HD screen captures and Blu-ray details.
These days we are accustomed to seeing photorealistic computer generated images (CGI) in everything from commercials to major motion pictures. It wasn’t always like this and somebody had to pioneer the field. This is the movie that dared to attempt what was then thought impossible. Without The Last Starfighter we would not have had the Lord of the Rings, Pixar, or Marvel superhero movies.
Greeted by a stately symphonic score and a planet that is clearly not Earth, we zoom away from it while the title and credits roll. After going through what appears to be a wormhole in space, the camera pans down to a small trailer park in the hills of California. It’s a run down place that has seen better years, but the park is filled with a variety of people happily living their lives.
Well, maybe not all of them. Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) may have a beautiful girlfriend who live next door named Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart), but he has big dreams of getting away from the area. He’s determined to go to a decent college while toiling away as the local fixit guy at the park. When a group of teens come to pick him and Maggie up for a trip to a local lake, work prevents him from coming along.
All work and no play frustrates Alex and his only solace is the arcade game at the trailer park store. For those of us who grew up in the 1980s, this is a very nostalgic thing that rings true. I can remember pumping quarters or tokens into all sorts of games back then at stores and arcades. It was a great way to burn off the aggravations of the adolescent years.
Without realizing it, Alex breaks the high score on the Starfighter game and is approaching the all time record. This attracts the attention of the eccentric denizens of Starlite Starbrite trailor court, since they apparently don’t have a lot of entertainment. Maggie returns in time to smooth her boyfriend’s jealousy ruffled feathers and cheer him on.
Later on, a shared kiss between the two is observed by his mother (Barbara Bosson) who makes an odd face. It turns out she has opened the college loan letter sent to Alex and has reason to be concerned. Finding out his dream has been crushed sends the teen out to get fresh air and vent his frustration at the trailer park sign. He doesn’t notice the shooting star go by in the night sky.
However, he does notice his favorite game making weird noises while rocking back and forth like it’s possessed. Before he can investigate that strange event, an odd car pulls up that looks like a Delorean crossed with a minivan. From inside comes a voice inquiring as to who broke the high score.
Alex’s reply nets him an invitation into the car by occupant and inventor of the game, who sounds and looks a great deal like Harold Hill from the Music Man. The smooth talker identifies himself as Centauri (Robert Preston), before introducing him to his colleague, Beta. Beta seems to be carrying the mother of all joy buzzers and gets out of the car after a shocking handshake.
Without ever missing a verbal beat, Centauri takes Alex for a wild ride through the night time countryside that suddenly gets a lot wilder when the car transforms into a spaceship. More than a little surprised, Alex gets a bigger shock when his kidnapper removes his face to wipe his fake eyeballs. I hate it when people do that in public.
It is this ride through space that gives the audience their first extended view of computer generated special effects. For the time, it was a totally new experience and while it looks bad compared to what we now have, it was a big success. The novelty of CGI was an attraction to filmgoers rather than a detriment, in fact. Hyping it being made with a Cray supercomputer got the attention of all the budding nerds who read Byte because the home PC market was just starting to get going.
The effects of the ride were a mixed bag in execution. In the screenshots above you can see a pretty good render of the Starcar over the planet Rylos and a much less impressive one of the base they land at. Could the rocky cliff have looked better given the primitive tech of the day? Actually, yes. Due to time and money constraints full quality renders were not possible because a lot of money had already been put into the production. Such is the reality of movie production.
Alex is overwhelmed and Centauri is more concerned about being paid by the locals then explaining what is going on. Handed a uniform by balding aliens who look like Star Trek rejects, he’s in a state of severe culture shock. Being unable to understand what any of them say only makes it worse for the stranger in a strange land.
Back at home, Maggie is concerned about her boyfriend after hearing the bad news about the loan. His obnoxious little brother, Louis, is not much help and Alex won’t emerge from under his blankets. Wait, Alex?!
Not exactly. It’s the other occupant from the Starcar undergoing a gross metamorphosis. I can use the word “gross” because it is an ‘80s film, right? Anyway, the Beta Unit is a replacement for Alex while he is off world and right now he isn’t looking too good.
Speaking of the main character, he finally is outfitted with a translator device and slowly begins to realize what is going on. The first big clue is stumbled upon when he walks past an open door to a hanger filled with Gunstar fighters like in the Starfighter video game. The second clue would be the fact everyone keeps calling him “starfighter.”
Slow on the uptake, Alex is ushered into a briefing filled with a group of various aliens wearing flight suits. The comic timing of their reaction to his entrance is spot on and reflects the gentle nature of the movie. In fact, all his interactions are amusing rather than unsettling because he is just another sentient being to them.
I did learn one valuable lesson from the scene, though: never step on the tentacle/foot of any alien that looks like the spawn of Cthulhu. It is not wise to mess with a… oh, wrong movie.
Once the briefing gets going, it dawns on Alex that he has been shanghaied into fighting for Rylos in a war against their enemies Xur and the Ko-Dan armada. It is just like in the video game, except it is all very real. When they begin chanting “Victory or death!” over and over, he decides it is time to get out of there. He may a bit dim, but at least he has some survival instincts.
However, the teen’s sneaking skills need a lot of work. Bumping into a lizard man named Grig (Dan O’Herlihy), Alex finds out a little more about Centauri. He’s shocked to find out the alien is a conman with a record of messing about with the backwoods planet called Earth. In fact, a reference to a rather famous weapon is made that hints Centauri has been running cons on Earth for a very long time.
All of this is rendered moot when a giant floating head manifests in the control center of the base. Xur (Norman Snow) the traitor has a live link and can’t wait to overact, err… threaten the Rylans with total destruction. He also has very poor taste in entertainment that we get to see in graphic detail.
Well that’s that and Alex demands to go home. I don’t blame him, the alien babes are nowhere near as hot as Star Trek ones and he’s got better waiting for him at home. Oh my mistake, he’s objecting to fighting in a war that doesn’t concern him. I suppose that’s a valid reason too.
Time to meet the bad guys and boy are they bad. You can tell that because they are very ugly, wear armor, and deliver every line with an over the top fervor straight out of old movie serials. They are also very boring.
Actually, they are boring a hole in the Frontier, a galactic sized force field generated by lots of green satellites that protects the good guys from outsiders. Immigration laws appear to be very strict in outer space and there is no way to hop over the fence.
The leader of the Ko-Dan or Kodan armada (choose your spelling) is Lord Kril (Dan Mason) whose life apparently consists of putting up with the pompous idiot Xur and making his eyepiece flip for dramatic effect. Then there is crushing the Star League to set the idiot Rylan traitor up as puppet emperor of Rylos as well. If he can tolerate the man child long enough to do so, that is.
How much of an annoyance is the not so favored son of Rylos? He’s the kind of guy who has scepters made for him. Not just any kind, but a knock off of someone else’s that he’s added a giant switchblade to and likes to wave around. That really inspires loyalty, doesn’t it?
Despite his swanning about, a dastardly betrayal and a surprise attack are pulled off successfully, leaving the Star League without their secondary line of defense. Now dependent on the Frontier only to save them, time is running out for Rylos. With the starfighters out of commission, everything is going according to Xur’s plan.
With the bad guys having been met and established as a threat, it is time for Alex to return home to be slapped by his girlfriend. Dazed and confused, the young man returns to his trailer to find someone is sleeping in his bed. More confusion follows along with exposition from his now exact duplicate, Beta. The robot is there to impersonate Alex while he is away fighting the war, so now there is a little bit of a problem. His lack of understanding of human interactions has also thrown a wrench into Alex and Maggie’s relationship.
What could have been a dumb scene turns out to be one of the better moments of the movie, including some tart comments from Beta about Alex’s motivations. “Save the whales, not the universe…” was particularly barbed if you notice the poster over the bed. Beta is terrific fun in the movie and a chance for Guest to show some comic skills.
Alex may be home, but not all is well. The enemy knows about him now and his life isn’t going to return to normal. Danger is close and some hard decisions will have to be made. Can Alex become a hero and get the girl? Or will he sit things out and watch the universe burn?
I think we all know what will happen.
Thoughts
This is such a good hearted movie that all its flaws are easily forgiven. It may not be great cinema, but it is great fun. You can tell a movie will be good when the cast looks like they are putting their hearts into their roles or are obviously having a good time. The Last Starfighter’s cast appears to have done both.
I can see why they were able to attract stars like Robert Preston and Dan O’Herlihy to the project for it is a sweet story built on characters far more than the simple plot. Each of the good guys has a distinct and, more importantly, believable personality. It is this that carries the movie, not the plentiful first generation CGI effects.
The story has been called a copy of the original Star Wars with both featuring a young man from a backwater planet going off into space to save the day. That’s if you consider Star Wars an original story in the first place – which it emphatically is not. Tales of King Arthur, Perseus, Flash Gordon, and many more are all pretty much the same story with the settings and trappings varying a bit.
So what is important is execution. In this film’s case, it is the normalcy and likeability of the main characters which is focused on the most, turning it from a run of the mill action sci-fi flick to something special. You will feel good after having watched The Last Starfighter and won’t sit there thinking, “That was a waste of my time.”
One thing that made this movie rise above the normal B-movies of that time (or even now) is the outstanding soundtrack composed by Craig Safan. Evocative and lovely, it elevates nearly every scene whether it be a space battle or a quiet moment between the lovers.
As for the CGI effects pioneered in the movie, they won’t pass for even the cheapest SyFy channel dreck that is put out. They are far too clean and smooth in movement, but at the same time they don’t yank you out of the movie. At the time, they were a definite wow factor for audiences and I appreciate the immense amount of hard work that went into making them. The CGI does succeed in bringing an arcade video game to life and in some ways the unreality of the visuals works today because of it capturing the gaming spirit of the time.
A PG rating was given to the movie for violence, mild swearing (mostly by the bratty Louis), and teenage making out. Kids will enjoy the film as will most adults if they give it a chance. It’s nothing deep, but there is a place for sweet and fun movies even yet. I recommend it for a rainy afternoon or evening when you need something light hearted.
Technical
The copy I have is the 2009 The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray + DVD put out by Universal. It has extra content beyond the original 1999 DVD release made for this edition.
Video is anamorphic widescreen in 2.35:1 ratio and is a high quality remaster, or so they say. It looks good, yet there are dirt specs and other blemishes in multiple scenes. All in all it is a decent transfer, but not fully restored quality. However, the difference in detail between the DVD and the Blu-ray is night and day so go for the BD release if you have an HDTV.
Audio is English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 for the Blu-ray and Dolby Digital 5.1 surround only on the DVD. Subtitles are available in English SDH, Spanish, and French. It sounds good and is clear without any muddiness, so the excellent score come through beautifully. To my ears the Blu-ray sounds significantly better than the DVD.
Extras are many and well worth checking out, though some are redundant in content. They are:
Crossing the Frontier: Making The Last Starfighter – This is a DVD quality (480i)letterboxed 4:3 ratio video from the 1999 release and goes into great detail about how the story and production came about. Lance Guest hosts this and it is broken into multiple parts or can be watches as a whole.
Looks at filming, makeup, and design are interspersed with interviews of the director, writer, and production designers. Also of interest is the financial issues that had to be dealt with to get the film completed on time.
It turns out that the digital effects were taking far too long and would cost too much to complete, so a lot of work had to be done just to figure out how to cut expenses and shorten render times. This was all unexplored territory, so it wasn’t easy.
Heroes of the Screen – A look back at the movie by the cast and crew after a quarter of a century it is shown 16:9 anamorphic video in 1080i resolution. Containing lots of good stories, it concentrates on the personal reminiscences more. It is clear everyone loved working on this movie and still hold great affection for it.
More glimpses of production work by Digital Productions are fascinating and include some of the concept art for the Gunstar. In the end, their pioneering work influenced Industrial Lights and Magic among others.
Image Gallery – Stills of behind the scenes, cast, props, and sets are featured in this slideshow.
Teaser Trailer – Frankly, not good.
Theatrical Trailer – This is as good as the teaser was bad. It captures the emotional tone of the film well.
Feature Commentary with Director Nick Castle and Production Designer Ron Cobb – This dates from the first DVD release and was the first time the two had seen the movie in its widescreen theatrical cut since 1984. You will find a lot of insights and motivations into why scenes were filmed and the story presented as it was. It turns out part of the intent was to make a musical without the music!
BEWARE! HERE BE SPOILERS!!!
One of the things that test audiences liked were the scenes with Beta. As a result, extra scenes were shot after principle filming concluded and were intercut throughout the movie. When Louis wakes up to see his brother decapitated and working on his own head it results in a very amusing scene. Messing with kid’s heads can be fun especially by messing with your own.
The Gunstar is up there with the best in science fiction fighter designs in my opinion. It is very practical in layout for space based fighting and showed a great deal of thought was put into it. Even the cockpit made a lot of sense with a mobile seat to track with the multiple turrets. It’s also a fairly good looking bird.
This was an artistic shot of the Gunstar that I had to throw into the review just because it struck me as attractive. It comes from a part of the movie that reminded me of old WWII submarine movies when they had to run silently to avoid being detected.
If you ran a poll of people who watched the movie, I suspect Grig would come out on top as the most popular character. O’Herlihy conveys great dignity in his performance as the “gung-ho iguana” navigator who teaches Alex about responsibility and combat at the same time. The scene where he shows off photos of his wifeoid and 6,000 griglings is both funny and touching at the same time. It also puts what they are fighting for in perspective.
As pretty as the Gunstar is, the Ko-dan fighters are just not impressive looking. For that matter, neither were the Xurian rebel ships. Ah, they are just cannon fodder anyway, so I suppose it doesn’t matter.
Mary Catherine Stewart’s favorite scene she was in is delightfully hokey, sweet, and believable. Maggie emotionally stating her love for Alex after Beta’s suicidal sacrifice simply works.
I loved how Lord Kril turned on Xur as soon as Kodanly possible. The way the petulant traitor was easily disarmed and hauled off the bridge made me like the Kodan to some degree. Sadly, Alex’s attack on the command ship gave the upper class twit a chance to escape by killing one drone and knocking the helmet off another. Not very pretty, those drones.
The Death Blossom gimmick was fun and made more sense than Luke using the Force as a McGuffin to win the big battle. This might be the most remembered scene in the movie.
Visually speaking, the Death Blossom was worth the build up. Seeing the Gunstar spin like a top in every axis blasting away looked truly like a video game made real.
The Ko-Dan command ship was interesting looking if ugly. It had a hard science fiction aesthetic that I liked. The ramming speed command was another tribute to naval warfare films of the past and led to memorable last words by Lord Kril when asked what they can do after the navigation is shot out. I actually liked him, he seemed reasonable for a bad guy, though he really needed to stop flipping that eye piece.
Yes, the movie gets a little Star Wars like after the battle. But hey, celebrations always happen in stories like this. The reveal of Centauri still being alive was a feel good moment that removed the sting of the one death that had any weight to it. This guy was probably Merlin, so he has more than a few tricks up his sleeve.
What would normally be anticlimactic in an action film is absolutely necessary in this one. The real story was always about Alex and Maggie, so his dramatic return to the trailer park becomes the high point of the movie.
It is also one of the best effects sequences in the entire film showing the ship landing and lighting up the area while blowing things around.
The reactions of the locals to Grig was also a lot of fun. What a gentleman he is and how easily he won them over makes for a charming scene.
Then at the very end, the story finally pays off. Though frightened to leave the park and change her life, Maggie joins Alex to go to the stars. It is a flight to their future and the unknown which is all part of growing up.
I liked the imagery of the Gunstar with the Starlite Starbrite sign in the foreground. Shoot for the stars and you just might reach them.
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