Starman: Amazon.ca: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Richard Jaeckel, Charles Martin Smith, Ted White, John Carpenter, Larry J. Franco, Columbia Pictures Corporation: DVD

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Amazon.com Essential Video

While most movie buffs are likely to call Halloween the best movie from John Carpenter, others--die-hard romantics and anyone who cried while watching E.T.--might vote in favor of the director's 1984 hit Starman. It's easily Carpenter's warmest and most beguiling film, and the only one that ever earned an Oscar nomination. That honor went specifically to Best Actor nominee Jeff Bridges for his performance as an alien visitor to Earth who is knocked off course and must take an interstate road trip to rendezvous with a mothership from his home planet. To complete this journey he assumes the physical form of the dead husband of a Wisconsin widow (Karen Allen) who responds first with fear, then sympathy, and finally love. Carpenter's graceful strategy is to switch the focus of this E.T.-like film from science fiction to a gentle road-movie love story, made believable by the memorable performances of Bridges and Allen. It's a bit heavy-handed with tenacious government agents who view the Starman as an alien threat (don't they always?), but Carpenter handles the action with intelligent flair, sensitivity, and lighthearted humor. If you're not choked up during the final scene, well, you just might not be human. --Jeff Shannon

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Customer Reviews

60 Reviews

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (60 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars "Starman" is STAR QUALITY, Oct 4 2003

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DECODAWN "sugarplum6266" (SC United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starman (DVD)

I SAW THIS MOVIE YEARS AGO.AND TRIED TO LOCATE IT FOR PURCHASE FOR YEARS, AND FINALLY FOUND AN OLD BEAT UP COPY OF IT AT THE FLEA MARKET, AND GLADLY PAID THE ASKING PRICE, NO QUESTIONS..THERE IS NOT ONE SINGLE PART OF THIS MOVIE I DONT LOVE. THE STORY, IS BEAUTIFUL, THE MUSIC IS HAUNTINGLY BEAUTIFUL, AND THE ACTING IS CAPTIVATING. I WOULD PUT THIS IN MY "GEMS OF THE PAST" CATEGORY..IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR A MOVIE THAT TRANSCENDS TIME, AND IS FILLED WITH ALL THE NECESSARY ELEMENTS THAT MAKE A MOVIE GREAT, THIS IS ONE, YOU CAN NOT GO WRONG WITH. I KNOW, I KNOW, YOU SEE IT IS MADE IN THE 80'S, AND YOU THINK, "OH, IT IS ONE OF THOSE 80'S POP CULTURE CHEESY MOVIES.." NO...THIS ONE COULD BE RE-RELEASED TODAY, AND STILL BRING IN A BUCK..GET THIS ONE YOU WILL NOT REGRET IT..IT HAS ACTION, ADVENTURE, LOVE AND SADNESS..EVERYTHING REQUIRED FOR AN EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT..GUYS, GET THIS ONE FOR THAT DATE, AND SCORE BIG POINTS..TRUST ME..THIS ONE'S A KEEPER!!!!!!

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Beware of mislabeled DVDs, Aug 5 2009

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Timtu Ink "Futurist" (Rancho Santa Margarita, CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starman (DVD)

Although this film is one of the most intelligent and imaginative of its genre, with brilliant acting and a superb storyline, Columbia/Tristar has completely bungled the labeling and formatting of its multiple and differing releases of this great movie. Even Amazon.ca, the prime seller of the film for which this review is written, remains oblivious to the mislabeling of the DVD, despite my personal return of the product for a full refund, and my informing the company of the bogus, misleading nature of how the movie is described on Amazon.ca's own web-page. So I'll try one more time to explain to all potential customers, that this film is not the "Widescreen/Full Screen" version Amazon keeps insisting it is. It is not. What it is, in actuality, is the inferior Full Screen, pan & scan version that no real fan of any film ever wants by choice. The movie is virtually ruined with one-third of its image chopped-off of each side, and a five-star film is quickly reduced to a one-star rip-off of the original. That being said, the widescreen version of Starman is simply not available for any price from any seller that I could find. If you simply must have this otherwise outstanding gem, settle for the Full Screen version. A Blu-ray version is due soon, and that's the one to get, which is the one I'll be getting. Since almost all Blu-ray discs are widescreen, I needn't worry about a mislabeling problem. Don't bother writing Columbia, either; they're not interested in hearing how some great films are mishandled and virtually destroyed by marketeers who obviously know little or nothing about the film business.

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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Perhaps the most awe inspiring and humanly sensitive movie, Feb 25 2003

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stillbillythekid (Naples, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Starman (DVD)

Though made almost 20 years ago, this incredible movie never fails to move me every time I view it. John Carpenter has shown his multi talents and ability to create a masterpiece outside of his traditional genre and the stars Karen Allen and Jeff Bridges gave Oscar-deserving performances (at least the community had the smarts to nominate Bridges for Best Actor). A somewhat implausable theme of an alien visitor assuming the body of a deceased man allows Bridges to enchant his audience with his "becoming human". His teacher (Ms Allen) exemplifies the purity of the true human spirit in all of its kindness and truth. Starman is able to appreciate the purity of spirit and in the supporting cast we see our foibles mixed with what makes humankind so special in it's purest form. This is a love story that transcends all others and a masterpiece that might make you feel good about being a member of the human race...Bridges sums it up when comparing humans to other life forms he has observed in the universe with "what makes humans different is... that you are at your very best when things are at their worst" So true...so thought provoking! We owe Ms. Allen's Jenny Hayden character much thanks for showing us at our best and Mr. Bridges for showing us how to acknowledge the heart and grow to feel human love.

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Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Retro but Great
Who doesn't love old sci-fi? Predictable but well done. Jeff Bridges was so young and expressive. Great for those of us who loved the eighties.

Published 4 months ago by Renee Chandler

5.0 out of 5 stars "What ever happened to good manners? We invited him here!"
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"Do you seriously expect me to tell the president that an alien has assumed the identity of a dead house-painter from Madison, Wisconsin and is presently out... Read more

Published 7 months ago by Stephen Pletko