Movie-A-Day #207: The Last Starfighter

[Chaplin]

You must be registered for see images attach

The Last Starfighter

Cast[/i}
Lance Guest, Robert Preston, Dan O'Herlihy, Barbara Bosson, Dan Mason, Marc Alaimo, Ed Berke, Al Berry, Ellen Blake, Geoffrey Blake, Owen Bush

Synopsis
Millions of light-years ago, a great frontier was constructed in the universe to protect the Star League of Planets from its enemy, the evil KO-DAN. But now a defector has given the key to the frontier to the KO-DAN, and Starfighters from throughout the galaxy are needed to defend the peace. One recruiter, the alien scalawag Centauri (Robert Preston), visits Earth to fill his quota of recruits and finds Alex (Lance Guest), an 18-year-old Earthling with an extraordinary talent for video game wizardry. Alex is quickly propelled into the regions of outer space to join others from planets throughout the Star League to fight a war to save the universe.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Harkening back to our youth...

I used to love this movie, but of course it's gotten a little dated due to its effects, which at the time were actually pretty good--now they look extremely computer-generated, "Tron with a story".

The movie itself is pretty fun, once you get past some of the cheesy aspects of it--especially the annoying little brother and the fact that a whole trailer park is invested in how good somebody does in a video game.

Underneath the cheesiness though, is a pretty solid story and a terrific soundtrack that is instantly recognizable to anyone that has seen this movie more than once. The creature designs on the aliens aren't Star Wars-like, but they are certainly well done, especially the KO-DAN.

The nice thing about it is that the fact that all this is based on a video game is pretty much hidden after Alex is recruited--it then becomes what you might call a "sci-fi epic", so to speak, with a great climax.

This is one of those movies that if you like it you love it, but if not, you're simply indifferent. I definitely am in the latter and it's definitely a great movie to just turn off your brain for 2 hours and be entertained.

 

[Chaplin]

Trivia:

* The first movie to do all special effects (except makeup and explosions) on a computer. All shots of spacecraft, space, etc were generated on a Cray X-MP computer.

* Although Wil Wheaton's scenes were cut, his name still appears in the end credits.

* During the pilots briefing, when Lance is exiting the room, you can hear Slim Pickens describing the contents of the pilot's survival kit. This is an audio clip taken from Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964).

* A lot of the scenes with the Beta Unit were shot after main filming was complete because the test audience liked the comic relief of the Beta Unit scenes and the director decided they added more originality to the "boy gets to go to outer space" story. This is why in many of the Beta Unit scenes Lance Guest is obviously wearing a wig - he had cut his hair by the time those scenes were shot.

* Atari actually programmed games for its 5200 SuperSystem and 400/800 series home computers as a tie-in with this movie. The games never went past the prototype phase (though extant copies do survive). Also, the game was nothing like the arcade machine Alex played in the film - the technology did not exist at the time to produce real-time 3-D polygonal graphics on a home machine. Rumor also has it that Atari produced one prototype Last Starfighter arcade machine, but it since has been lost. An early Atari 2600 program was revamped into the game released as "Solaris".

* The alien script seen on the computer screens in the movie is actually Hebrew with some variations.

* In addition to the major "Star Trek" roles later played by "Starfighter" cast members Wil Wheaton and Marc Alaimo, several others in the movie's cast guest starred in various "Star Trek" franchises. They include Dan Mason, Barbara Bosson, Norman Snow and Geoffrey Blake. But notable among them is Meg Wyllie ("Granny Gordon") who played one of the Talosian "keepers" in the "Star Trek" (1966) pilot, "The Cage".

* King Baggot, (Cinematographer) stood in as Alex's father in a family photo used in the movie.

* The voice of the video game that Alex plays at the trailer park is done by Robert Preston, who also played Centauri.

* The "Star Car" that Centauri drives is based on the DeLorean automobile, including its gull wing doors and its stainless steel construction.

 

[Chaplin]

Goofs:

* Continuity: The interior set of the Star Car does not match the exterior shots.

* Crew or equipment visible: When Alex and Centauri return to Rylos the second time, and as the Star Car is about to stop, you can see the ceiling of the set reflected on the side of the Star Car.

* Continuity: In the end scene just as the Gunstar starts to lift off, Louis disappears and reappears between shots.

* Plot holes: Alex needs an implant so he can understand the language, but when he returns to earth, his copilot can make himself understood to Alex's neighbors without implants.

 

[vince56]

I loved this movie as a kid and always watch it whenever it's on TV. The poor man's Star Wars

Greetings Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada.

 

[Mike Olbinski]

I think I saw it one time, and probably never really all the way through...

Was it really that good a movie?

Mike

 

[JPlay]

Loved this movie when I was a kid also. That robot that replaced him freaked me out when he was still forming. That was weird.

 

[Assface]

http://www.arizonasportsfans.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39139&highlight=starfighter

I love this movie! I'm going to have to unpack it and watch it again now.

 

[Brown_Blood]

Great movie! A bit juvenile for today's genre of sci-fi movies, but a good family flick.

 

[CardsFan88]

I loved that movie as a kid.


I remember thinking...I WANNA PLAY THAT VIDEO GAME.

It was so cool looking. It looks old by today standards, but still it had pretty dang good graphics for what 1984..of course I'm sure it wasn't a playable game, just like a demo running or something.

 

[SouthNZoneFan]

This movie ROCKED...

What kid did not use to think that someone was watching him or her play and would come to them for help because THEY were the best...

Awesome movie...

And that chick was HOT....

 

[UncleChris]

Top notch, for its time..... Saw it on cable the other day.... It was still fun!

 

[Shane]

Love the movie Chap! Great choice. I loved all the trivia you put in as well!

 

[Bada0Bing]

Loved this movie when I was a kid also. That robot that replaced him freaked me out when he was still forming. That was weird.

Just watched it. That thing freaked me out too! I was expecting it to be his dog or something. It's nice to see that my kids can appreciate these old movies even though the effects are silly compared to today's standards.

 

[Linderbee]

I bought this a few years ago. Need to bust it out & make the kids watch. Loved it when I was younger.

 

[Ryanwb]

Wasn't a good portion of this movie filmed in AZ or am I think of Starman?

 

[abomb]

Wasn't a good portion of this movie filmed in AZ or am I think of Starman?

IMDB makes me think the latter;

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088172/locations