In 1984 a new phase in film making special effects was well on its way to dominance. The invention was using the computer to create images and effects in ways never before imagined. While today’s movies almost all feature some form of CGI (computer generated images), in 1984 we were just stepping into that world. No film better displayed that then THE LAST STARFIGHTER.
Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) feels like he has no hope of going anywhere. Living with his mother running a trailer court, Alex is the handy man there. The people living in this court though are more family than clients. Alex dream is to go to college and move away, taking his longtime girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary-Stewart) with him. But things don’t go as planned and his application for a loan for school is denied.
Alex finds solace in one item at the court, an arcade game called Starfighter. He’s been hitting the top scores on the game and one night he begins to achieve the impossible, beating the game. As the trailer park denizens cheer him on he beats the game and all go home singing his praises. Left standing alone at the game a futuristic car pulls up and the driver, Centauri (Robert Preston), gets out to congratulate him. He offers to take him for a ride in his car for winning but has more in store than Alex bargained for.
It seems that Centauri is actually an alien and he created the game to recruit potential warriors to help battle an evil that is spread across the universe. This conflict between the Rylan Star League and the Ko-Dan Empire, the same depicted on the game, is real. The Ko-Dan Empire is on the move aided by a traitor from the Rylan Star League. Now the newly appointed Starfighters are the last thing to stand between them and annihilation.
But Alex wants none of it. For him it was nothing more than a simple arcade game. Centauri takes him back home and lets him know that he will only fulfill his dreams if he chooses to take a step forward rather than sit in the trailer park for the rest of his life. Alex finally agrees and they return to the base only to find the Starfighters have all been wiped out. The only one left is Alex and his pilot Grig (Dan O’Herlihy). Now they set off to defend the Universe and save it from being completely overrun by the K-Dan Empire.
What amazed me while watching this film was to see how
fantastically it has stood up to time. It still presents a great story, special
effects and a hero for the times. The acting is above par for a movie of this sort,
more often limited to Z-grade performances and direction. Here every member of
the cast is allowed to shine, especially Preston in what was to be his last
feature film performance. Director Nick Castle, who actually starred as Michael
Myers in the first of the HALLOWEEN films, went on to direct movies like THE
BOY WHO COULD FLY, TAP, DENNIS THE MENACE and MAJOR PAYNE.
There is a sense of wonder to this film, that joyous feeling one gets when seeing the fantastic explode before their eyes. Watching it I wondered how youngsters seeing it for the first time back in 1984 were probably marveling at what they were seeing and wanting to join forces as a Starfighter. I though I wonder if my great great nephews would get as much out of this film as those youngsters did having grown up with the modern CGI there is today. I know I’ll have to find out soon.
Arrow Video is releasing the film and as tired as you might be of my saying it they have done an amazing job here starting with a brand new restoration from a 4K scan of the original 35mm camera negative. And for a movie this old the amount of extras they are including is phenomenal. They include a new audio commentary with Guest and his son Jackson Guest, a new commentary with Mike White of The Projection Booth podcast, an archival commentary with Castle and production designer Ron Cobb, MAGGIE’S MEMORIES: REVISITING THE LAST STARFIGHTER a new interview with Catherine Mary Stewart, INTO THE STARSCAPE: COMPOSING THE LAST STARFIGHTER an interview with composer Craig Safan, INCREDIBLE ODDS: WRITING THE LAST STARFIGHTER a new interview with screenwriter Jonathan Betuel, INTERSTELLA HIT-BEST: CREATING SPECIAL EFFECTS a new interview with special effects supervisor Kevin Pike, EXCALIBUR TEST: INSIDE DIGITAL PRODUCTIONS a new interview with sci-fi author Greg Bear on Digital Productions the company responsible for the CGI on the film, GREETINGS STARFIGHTER! INSIDE THE ARCADE GAME an interview with arcade game collector Estil Vance on reconstructing the Starfighter game, HEROES OF THE SCREEN an archival featurette, CROSSING THE FRONTIER: MAKING THE LAST STARFIGHTER an archival 4 part documentary, image galleries, the theatrical and teaser trailers, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Ferguson and for the first pressing only a limited edition O-Card, reversible poster with original and newly commissioned artwork and a collector’s booklet featuring writing by Amanda Reyes and sci-fi author Greg Bear’s never-before-published Omni magazine article on Digital Productions.
This movie is beyond fantastic. I was pleasantly surprised by how much fun I had watching it again, how much I thoroughly enjoyed seeing it. I know I’ll keep it handy and pull it out to watch again and again. My guess is once you watch you’ll do the same.
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