The Last Starfighter [Blu-ray]

If you were around in the 80's "The Last Starfighter" was one of those sci-fi hits that mesmerized a generation. It is a cult classic that was often times shown on cable TV during Thanksgiving and other holidays. This version of the film is a nice upgrade, visually, and really brings that nostalgia factor back hard.As far as plot goes it revolves around a young man stuck doing tasks for neighbors in a tight knit trailer park community. His only reprieve is time spent trying to get a highscore on an arcade cabinet, and the hopes that he will get accepted into a certain prestigious college. It turns out though that the arcade cabinet with which he wastes away time is an intergalactic recruiting tool for star fighters, and will soon shape his destiny. The young man in question ultimately meets the requirements by breaking the top score one night, and is met by an alien traveler who wastes no time in getting him suited up for the fight. Things fall apart quickly though as the young man is reluctant to take on the job, but eventually he answers his calling as the would be hero, and even nabs himself a girlfriend to take along for the ride.

This was one of the first, first computer generated movies that was so great. I absolutely enjoy the story and the actors in this movie. It is one that I just had to have in blue-ray. If you are as old as I am or as young as you may be, for a 8 buck blue-ray it's worth the watch.

I had a hard time tracking this movie down. Now I finally have it, and in 4K too. Love It!

Campy and fun. A feel-good movie. Teens would love it and I did too.

Ahhh, the early to mid 80's...seemed like there was a video game arcade on nearly every corner, filled with kids with sweaty palms, pockets full of quarters, and calluses on their hands from excessive joystick manipulation. Sure we had home systems back then, but if you really wanted the full-on audiovisual experience, you had to go with coin-op machines as the home consoles were good, but they couldn't match what was in the arcades. Why am I talking about video arcade games? Well, if you've seen The Last Starfighter (1984), you'll know the crux of the story revolves around the main characters affinity for one such game. Written by Jonathan R. Betuel (My Science Project) and directed by Nick Castle (Delivering Milo), the film stars Lance Guest (Halloween II, Jaws: The Revenge), Catherine Mary Stewart (Night of the Comet, Mischief), and Dan O'Herlihy, who recently passed in February 2005, but many probably know as `The Old Man' from the Robocop movies but whose actually had a lengthy film career dating all the way back until the late 40's. Also appearing is Barbara `Fay Furillo' Bosson (Hill Street Blues), Norman Snow (Manhunter), Chris Hebert (Invaders from Mars - the 1986 version), and Robert Preston (The Sundowners, The Music Man).As the film begins we meet Alex Rogan (Guest), a somewhat typical soon to be out of high school kid with lots of ambition for traveling and seeing far away places, but not a lot of hope of leaving the `flea-speck trailer park in the middle of tumbleweeds and tarantulas' Alex, his mother (Bosson), his brother Louis (Herbert), and his girlfriend Maggie (Stewart) call home....that is until Alex breaks the record on a video arcade game which is actually a recruiting tool used by an alien called Centauri (Preston). Turns out there is a war going on across the universe, one between the peaceful planet of Rylos and aggressors called the Ko-dan. At first Alex balks at the `opportunity', but eventually accepts the offer to pilot a `Gunstar' (that's what they call the high tech alien ships) with the aide of his reptilian navigator Grig (O'Herlihy). Turns out, due to a initial attack by the Ko-dan armada, all the other pilots have been killed, and now Alex is the last of the starfighters, hence the title of the film. Will Alex be able to stop the advancing Ko-dans, or will all beings that yearn to be free suffer under the yoke of Ko-dan tyranny? I think, at least for Alex, this possibly falls under the category of `be careful what you wish for, as you just may get it'...Okay, the first thing I want to know is how in the world did they ever get Dan O'Herlihy, who was pushing 65 at the time, to don all that `alien' prosthetic material to create reptilian character of Grig? That old man must have been sweating bullets the entire time...well, it should be know that this was the first film to exclusively use computer generated special effects with the exception of the make-up and a few other minor elements. Being the very early days of CGI, this gives the spaceships and such a sort of unreal feel, but this was state of the art at the time, so I think one can afford a little leeway in judgment. While the CGI visuals may seem a little phony, the real glue that holds this entertaining film together is the combination of a decent story, better than average acting, and slick direction. I thought most all the actors did very well and seemed cast about as well as anyone could, especially Robert Preston as the slick, schmoozing, scheming Centauri. His character is very much like that of his Harold Hill character from the film The Music Man (1962). I also thought the direction very strong as Castle keeps things moving along relatively well and played of the serious nature of the story well with a good dose of humor, a lot of it supplied by Guest himself playing the dual role of not only Alex, but also the beta unit, or `simuloid' left on Earth to cover for Alex's absence. As far as the non-CGI effects, the aliens looked really cool, featuring more animation within the prosthetics that I would have thought. I would have liked to seen a more extensive battle sequence at the end (was it me, or did the makers of the film introduce the `Death Blossom' element a little too soon in the story?), but I figure the CGI work was probably pretty expensive and ate up a lot of the modest budget of the film. Also, I think the soundtrack is worth mentioning as it felt really appropriate, if not familiar (sort of a mix between Superman and Star Wars). All in all, everything adds up to a humdinger of an sci-fi adventure/fantasy film worth watching more than once.The picture, presented on this DVD in widescreen anamorphic (2.35:1), looks pretty good, but I did notice some minor flaws and the clarity wasn't as crystal clear as I would have thought. The audio fares much better in Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround. As far as extras, there is a documentary titled Crossing the Frontier: The Making of the Last Starfighter (32 minutes), cast and crew bios, a commentary track featuring the director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb, production photos and notes, am insert booklet, and a teaser and theatrical trailer.Cookieman108By the way, I learned Wil Wheaton, of Star Trek: The Next Generation, was in the film playing a character cast a Louis' friend (Alex's little brother), but those scenes involving his character were removed, probably in a effort to reduce the running time and maintain a more effecting pacing throughout...even though he doesn't appear in the final cut, his name is still listed in the credits...it would have been cool to see those scenes in a deleted scenes feature, but perhaps they weren't available.

Great product and excellent movie.

Loved this movie

Good