140 Character Movie Review – #140RVW
Not to be lost in the plethora of great 1984 films is this groundbreaking film that’s every bit as enjoyable as it was when I was a kid…
Spoiler-free Movie Review of The Last Starfighter:
Focusing on reviews of films celebrating an anniversary can be a mixed blessing. Not everything holds up the way you hoped it would, and some things simply are better in your memory than in reality. So I approached this viewing of The Last Starfighter with a little bit of trepidation. I was actually nervous that it seeing it 30 years later might ruin for me one of my favorites from my childhood. I needn’t have worried…
The Last Starfighter came out during a glorious age: when video games and genre films were enjoying a huge popularity and there really was nothing geeky about enjoying any of it. Later on, genre pictures were considered fringe and people who enjoyed them were geeks, but at this point it seemed that everyone was in on it.
This film doesn’t get as much recognition as 1982’s Tron for advancing the use of computer generated imagery, but frankly neither of them are acknowledged anywhere near as much as they should be. The Last Starfighter may be the first, certainly the best early use of three dimensional photo real computer graphics used in a photographed feature film. It really is amazing how advanced this was for 1984. I know the effects look a bit primitive, but compared to what was out there at the time it was groundbreaking.
And even without the “for the time” qualifier, I think the film looks great. While there are a great many digital elements in certain scenes, the space battles in particular, there is always an effort to blend them with the photo elements. It may not always have been successful, but the film never has those completely digital scenes that are little more than animation, such as Tron‘s lightcycles.
But the movie is really a lot more than the effects, or we wouldn’t need to watch it; we’d simply refer to it as an important step in the process and move on. The effects really are there to enhance the story, not tell it, which is exactly how it is supposed to go. It is a wonderful picture with a good message and a ton of heart. Possibly too much for some people, as it can seem a bit corny or naive, I’m sure. If I was seeing it for the first time today it may not have the same resonance as it did when I was 11. But when I screened it for my daughter, who was also seeing it for the first time at 11, she LOVED it!
The concept behind the story is simple and effective: the arcade game that the protagonist has been mastering is in actuality a recruitment test that has been duplicated throughout the world (universe? this part is a little unspecific) and when the young man beats the game, the alien inventor knows he’s found his hero. Great idea, no? Even if the movie stunk, it would still be a great jumping off point for a reboot.
The setting for the story is a trailer park, which is a nice location to really show how trapped Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) is. They moved the setting from the suburbs to a trailer park so it doesn’t feel too much like E.T. or Close Encounters. It’s not entirely the filmmakers fault that this attempt doesn’t totally succeed. Lucas & Spielberg owned the decade, and everything else feels derivative, no matter how hard you try not to copy them. It’s like being an English rock musician consciously trying not to sound like The Beatles. The movie is set (partially) in space – of course it reminds you of Star Wars. You try making a space film that avoids that comparison.
The actors are really quite effective, anchored by Robert Preston in his final film role. Preston is absolutely perfect as Centauri, the flim-flam man who invents the game and recruits Alex to help defend the Frontier from the Ko-Dan Armada. (I just love saying that.) Most genre pictures cast an old farmhand to lend gravitas; in this case Preston is adding mischief – it’s perfect.
The Last Starfighter isn’t the greatest film to come out of the summer of 1984, and as a result it had kind of a weak turnout. But it is a film that deserved much better and truly should be viewed not just as a time capsule or a stepping stone to CGI’s conquest of the film industry. It is a fun, well written and executed film with a good heart and that’s not a bad thing. When virtual reality finally is ready for prime time, look for my avatar to be cruising the galaxy in a Gunstar.
Odds & Ends:
- Director Nick Castle played Michael Myers in the first Halloween
- Noticed in the closing credits that Wil Wheaton was in the picture as “Louis’ friend”. Went back and found him near the beginning of the picture playing soccer – you won’t recognize him – it’s that fast.
- Not in the closing credits but found on Wikipedia credits is Heather Locklear as “Rylan Indoctrinator”. I can’t confirm this.
- The movie was made into an off-Broadway musical ten years ago…
- These guys have made a freeware playable version of the game, since no one seemed able to get the game to market back in the day: http://www.roguesynapse.com/games/last_starfighter.php
Poster:
Trailer:
Bechdel Test:
Pass
The Representation Test Score: C (4 pts)
(http://therepresentationproject.org/grading-hollywood-the-representation-test/)
| Main Cast | Lance Guest Alex Rogan/Beta Alex, Robert Preston Centauri, Kay E. Kuter Enduran, Dan Mason Lord Kril |
| Rating | PG |
| Release Date | Fri 13 Jul 1984 UTC |
| Director | Nick Castle |
| Genres | Action, Adventure, Family, Sci-Fi |
| Plot | A video-gaming boy, seemingly doomed to stay at his trailer park home all his life, finds himself recruited as a gunner for an alien defense force. |
| Poster |  |
| Runtime | 101 |
| Tagline | In his wildest dreams Alex never suspected that tonight he would become… |
| Writers | Jonathan R. Betuel (as Jonathan Betuel) (written by) |
| Year | 1984 |
