The Last Starfighter (Collector's Edition) (Widescreen)

 

 

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Hot on the heels of the then-defunct Star Wars franchise came The Last Starfighter. There had been other copycat films before (see: Battlestar Galactica) but none were as successful as The Last Starfighter. The theme that they both have in common was the young boy, stuck in the doldrums of his daily life, aching to get away and make something of himself. The Last Starfighter wore its theme on its sleeve. Like Otis says in the opening scenes, "When life gives you a chance, you gotta grab on with both hands and hang on tight!"

I recently re-watched my old DVD and was shocked to see how bad that 1998 release looked. Certain frames had sections that were washed out, I could see a hair on the film, and there were plenty of scratches that begged for digital restoration. I immediately went out and bought the blu-ray. Suddenly, everything was crisp and clear in glorious 1080p hi-def. All the defects I noticed before had been cleaned up. The film looks great!

Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) is your average American teen living somewhere in the southern states (Arizona? New Mexico?) in a trailer park. His application for a loan has been rejected and it looks like he's going to be stuck going to city college with the locals. His dream of finally getting out has been quashed. However, Alex has a talent -- more accurately, "the gift" -- to be a Starfighter. Only he doesn't know it yet. All he knows is that he just scored 1,000,000 points on a video game called "Starfighter".

Light years away, the peaceful planet of Rylos is about to be invaded by the traitor Xur, who has declared himself Emperor (Star Wars?), and the deadly Kodan armada. Rylos' best hope are the Starfighters: an elite group of fighters who have mastered the gunnary station aboard the powerful Gunstar starships. And that video game was more than a game. It was simulator, planted there by the alien Centauri (Robert Preston in his final role), and designed to find someone with "the gift" to be a Starfighter.

In short order, Centauri appears, as a 70 year old man in a (then) futuristic car. He whisks Alex away across the lightyears to Rylos where the whole situation is explained to him. One problem though: Alex doesn't want to go. He doesn't want to die for a war he'd never heard of before, far from home. Will he eventually remember Otis' advice? Will he grab hold of this chance with both hands and hold on tight?

What made The Last Starfighter unique was that it had a dual plot. While Alex has been swept away to the stars, he has been replaced back home with a Beta unit that looks exactly like him. These scenes ground the movie and provide much of the comedy relief, as Beta tries to understand Alex's girlfriend Maggie (Mary Catherine Stewart). Beta also doubles as a a target, a decoy. Once Xur learns that there might be a Starfighter on Earth, he sends a (really cool looking) Zandozan assassin to eliminate him.

Humour, action, cool looking aliens and fascinating early CG animation all make The Last Starfighter an interesting viewing. Although now it looks horribly dated, it is easy to overlook the primitive CG and just get into the story and characters. The only way this movie could work, then and now, is if you can suspend your disbelief and get into the characters. Thankfully, some stellar performances make that easy to do.

Bonus features are excellent. The original DVD documentary from the 90's is included, as well as a brand new one in 1080i hi-def. Both Lance Guest and Mary Catherine Stewart appear and provide fascinating insight. As a kid, I always suspected that the Beta version of Guest was wearing a wig as the hair never looked right. Guest confirms this: Many of the Beta scenes were added as an afterthought, and he had already cut his hair. Stewart is good humoured about her awful Michael Bay moment ("I love you Alex Rogan").

The Last Starfighter, while looking dated, is still a timeless story and it should still grab the imaginations of kids today. It certainly still holds mine.

5 stars.

One of the fondest memories of my childhood was watching this movie while eating a Chef-Boy-Ardee sausage pizza. (remember those?) Many hot summer days were spent enjoying the adventure of Alex Rogan travelling to Rylos and realizing his dreams and his destiny as a Starfighter with his navigator, Grigg. This is one of those inexplicably optimistic films that popped up in the 80's. Despite the fact that the special effects may look dated now, the story is timeless and well written for this genre. The video presentation on this DVD is rather crisp and clear but the audio could be a "little" better. Still, this is a wonderful film for kids and nostalgic adults alike. Oh, the extras are nice as well. I hadn't seen the "Making of" documentary since it appeared on HBO when I was a kid. This is a wonderful film.

An interesting little film of how a dead-end kid is forced to become a galactic hero, because of his facility at a computer game, which is a secret recruiting station for starfighter pilots. The computer-generated graphics, advanced for their time, now look ridiculously crude, but it somehow adds to the quaintness of the whole thing, with marvellous performances from Lance Guest as the reluctant hero, Robert Preston as the likeably roguish Centauri who is prepared not so much to bend the rules as to smash them into very tiny fragments and Dan O'Herily as Grigg, the lizard co-pilot whose dream is to go down fighting against impossible odds!

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5.0 out of 5 stars last starfighter
The last starfighter is a classic 80's sci-fi movie one of the
first to use cgi. I highly recomend it for people who enjoy sci -fi movies.

Published 20 months ago by Kealey Crossan

3.0 out of 5 stars Delightfully cheesy
Lots of fun. 25-some years-old space battle special effects, but lots of great characters. My favourite scene is still when the entire trailer park population gathers around to... Read more

Published on Jan 16 2010 by N. Tamblyn

5.0 out of 5 stars A classic!
The only ways I've seen this movie before now was on tv or video. I've always enjoyed it and what teenage boy in the early 1980's didn't dream of being a Starfighter - either from... Read more

Published on Nov 6 2009 by David W. Wildeboer

5.0 out of 5 stars Formulaic Fun.
If you're looking for a masterpiece film that rewrites the sci-fi genre with intense drama and gritty characters, this isn't the movie for you. Read more

Published on Jan 23 2004 by C D. McLeod

4.0 out of 5 stars "You have been recruited by the Star League!"
In 1984, Lorimar Film Entertainment and Universal Pictures joined forces to create a very engaging and entertaining sci-fi film entitled "The Last Starfighter"... Read more

Published on Jan 10 2004 by M. Hart

4.0 out of 5 stars "You can still go to City collage with your friends."
In the tradition of "TRON" (1982), we have the classic challenge. This formula movie is a bit technically challenged due to being released in 1984. Read more

Published on Nov 9 2003 by bernie

5.0 out of 5 stars "FACE IT, ALEX: YOU'RE A BORN STARFIGHTER!"
The Movie:
When I was young, "The Last Starfighter" always held my attention with it's awesome CG effects. Read more

Published on July 13 2003 by Steven Hancock

5.0 out of 5 stars Robert Preston's Final Bow
One of the first major Sci-Fi movies with computer drawn special effects, but the real star is Preston as something like a Star Trek/Harold Hill. Read more

Published on July 10 2003 by J. Martin

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this movie
Ok, havne't read anyone's review before writing this so I'm going to just assume someone overviewed the plot.

I grew up around the time this came out. Read more

Published on Jun 19 2003 by W. Couch

5.0 out of 5 stars What a blast...
It's dated, the production is OK, but rather old, the whole thing is kind of cheesy. Which explains nothing. Read more

Published on May 19 2003 by Mark Grindell

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