THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984)

4 stars

Arrow Video. Limited Edition 4K UHD. Limited Edition Blu Ray. 29th July

Here’s one for nostalgia fans of the 80s – a sci fi adventure featuring early examples of the CGI which would explode in filmmaking in the subsequent years.

Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) wants to do something with his life and escape from the trailer park where he lives, though he does have a cute girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) to keep him distracted. He spends much of his time helping out, fixing the electrics or what not for the various residents that live there. More often than not though, he can be found playing video arcade game Starfighter.

He loses himself in the space battles, and becomes really good at it – so much so that, much to the excitement of the other folks, he goes for the record and aces it! That night a flashy car pulls up and the driver introduces himself as Centauri (Robert Preston in his last theatrical movie appearance). Invited to take a ride (Alex had presumably never been told “don’t talk to strangers”), he is whisked away to the alien world of Rylos. Having proven his abilities via the video game, the youngster has been recruited to be part of Starfighter Command to try and defeat Xur and the Koran Armada. Seems fair enough! Meanwhile on earth, a simulant – Beta Alex – has been left to take his place so no one realises he has gone.

Directed by Nick Castle (The Shape in several of the HALLOWEEN movies), this is a fun if corny and sometimes derivative escapade. Preston is clearly having fun in his role and Dan O’Herlihy is good value as the reptilian alien Grig. Echoes of films like STAR WARS abound, however the film doesn’t take itself too seriously, even if it is a bit cheesy. There are some good practical effects, and the computer graphics may be crude by today’s standards but were a revelation back in the day.

EXTRAS

4 stars

A comprehensive set of extras –

Audio commentary with star Lance Guest and his son Jackson Guest

Audio commentary with Mike White of The Projection Booth podcast

Maggie’s Memories: Revisiting The Last Starfighter – interview with actor Catherine Mary Stewart (9 mins)


Into the Starscape: Composing The Last Starfighter – interview with composer Craig Safan. Safan talks about writing a big orchestral score plus using synths. (12 mins).

Incredible Odds: Writing The Last Starfighter – interview with screenwriter Jonathan Betuel. Betuel talks about writing the script whilst he was working as a taxi driver. (9 mins)

Interstellar Hit-Beast: Creating the Special Effects – interview with special effects supervisor Kevin Pike. This was Pike’s first big show, as he talks about the on set effects work. (10 mins)

Excalibur Test: Inside Digital Productions – interview with sci-fi author Greg Bear on Digital Productions, the company responsible for the CGI in The Last Starfighter. Bear was able to see the computer effects being created first hand and the huge Cray X-MP computers needed to bring them to life (7 mins)


Greetings Starfighter! Inside the Arcade Game – an interview with arcade game collector Estil Vance on reconstructing the Starfighter game. About how Atari never brought out the promised game, so he wrote it himself to match what appeared on-screen, plus new levels as well.

Theatrical and teaser trailers

Plus

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Ferguson; Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring writing by Amanda Reyes and sci-fi author Greg Bear’s Omni magazine article on Digital Productions, the company responsible for the CGI in The Last Starfighter; Limited Edition slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Matt Ferguson