When it comes you gotta grab it with both hands and hold on tight.
One of the most unassuming but also most important films in the history of motion pictures,
The Last Starfighter signaled the beginning of a new era of Hollywood filmmaking much
in the same way that The Jazz Singer or The Robe
revolutionized the industry. A wholesome and exciting little tale of a nobody trailer park resident
finding himself whisked away to fight a battle for an ally in desperate need of his skills and against
an aggressive and dangerous enemy he never even knew existed, The Last Starfighter
mixes humor, action, romance, and an underlying sweetness to the entire experience that makes
it one of the more pitch-perfect movies to come along in some years. Still, it's The Last
Starfighter's groundbreaking use of digital special effects that have come to define it. There's
no denying the film's importance to the history books, but it's a shame that the great movie
behind the effects seems lost in the pomp and circumstance of the more evident -- but not
necessarily more impressive -- achievement that has allowed The Last Starfighter to
withstand the test of time.
Alex Rogan dreams of something more for his life.
Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), handyman extraordinaire, dreams of doing more with his life than
repairing broken down appliances in the Starlite, Starbrite trailer park. He hopes to go to college;
hang on to his longtime girlfriend, Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart); and escape the doldrums of
small-town life. Though he's well-liked
around town for the good he does, he finds both reprieve from the daily grind and minor celebrity
status amongst his neighbors for his expertise at the "Starfighter" video game that has found its
way into
town. Alex, surrounded by a throng of townsfolk, one night breaks the game's all-time high
score, earning not only the adoration of his friends but the attention of the game's developer,
Centauri (Robert Preston). Alex soon learns that neither Centuari nor the game are of this world;
the game was designed as a test of skill for the purpose of recruiting the best potential
starfighters in the galaxy to join the war efforts of the Star League to defend the Frontier against
the rebellious Xur (Norman Snow) and the venerable Ko-Dan Armada. Alex rejects the offer to
become one of the Star League's warriors, but circumstances lead him to reconsider his options
and take on a desperate fight in the gunner's seat of a prototype starfighter alongside his alien
navigator, Grig (Dan O'Herlihy).
There are plenty great things to say about The Last Starfighter even before getting
around to a discussion of the film's then-groundbreaking and, more importantly, trendsetting,
special effects. Considering the film's lack of a true star performer in the lead role, the acting in
The Last
Starfighter is uniformly excellent. Lance Guest delivers a fun but also enthralling and
somewhat moving effort as a teenager in search of his place in the world; one key sequence sees
him in a dream-like trance of sorts as he marvels at a model solar system hanging from his
bedroom ceiling. There's a palpable sense of not necessarily awe at the model itself, but rather at
what it represents -- the unknown, adventure, purpose, destiny -- and the moment is brilliantly
captured by Director Nick Castle (Major Payne) whose quality of leadership is evident
throughout as he brings together both the primary components necessary to make any film a
success but also completely succeeds at incorporating smaller details that make a good film great.
He lends a tenderness to the picture in the midst of all the large-scale goings-on; from the
peril-strewn universe to the incorporation of the special effects, there's always a sense of
passion to the characters that lends to the audience a desire to cheer wholeheartedly for them
even though the outcome of the film is never at all in question. The Last Starfighter's
characters make the film; they are to a person lively and lifelike, each one with a unique heart
and soul that brings their small community to vibrant life. The film paints its characters with a
tender compassion; they each have real agendas, real hopes, real dreams, and real loves, with
each performer capitalizing on the well-written script. Tying it all together is one of the finer
scores in the history of cinema; Craig Safan's (Stand and Deliver) music is uplifting,
robust, and slightly militaristic while at the same time playing as friendly and inviting. It's a near
pitch-perfect Science Fiction score, and one that's wholly appropriate and perfectly tuned for
The Last Starfighter.
Despite the many positive attributes that make The Last Starfighter a
well-above-average
film, such observations obviously play second fiddle to its groundbreaking,
trendsetting, and even still today entertaining and visually appealing digital effects. Though
1982's
Tron is packed with computer-generated visuals mixed with live action footage, The
Last Starfighter took what Tron accomplished and greatly improved upon it by
creating
a series of photorealistic effects that seamlessly integrated into the real-world action around it.
Its
series of visuals -- the Gunstar, the Starcar, the enemy armada, and several interior and exterior
shots of Rylos, for instance -- give to the objects a sense of dimension, weight, and realism that
was never
before so expertly and broadly integrated into a motion picture. Though the effects now appear
as
primitive at best by today's lofty standards, they retain a charm that fits wonderfully with the
film's
themes and setting and, far more importantly, remain memorable for what they represent.
Perhaps just as fascinating is not only the visuals themselves, but the continuously evolving and
innovating computer work employed to make them a reality at a time where there was no
template on which to lay the groundwork. Lastly, The Last Starfighter's impact on the
world of motion pictures both in the previous decade of the 1990s, in the first years of the 21st
century, and no doubt well into the future, cannot be denied. The untold billions of dollars that
have been generated thanks to the radical advances in computing and moviemaking technologies
have redefined the business while simultaneously thrilling the moviegoing public like never
before. Mega-blockbusters like Terminator 2,
Jurassic Park, Toy Story, The Lord of the
Rings, Transformers, and
Star Trek owe their
success in part to the innovators and groundbreakers that made The Last
Starfighter possible. Talk about stimulus.
The Last Starfighter debuts on Blu-ray with a disappointing 1080p, 2.35:1-framed
transfer.
A mediocre-at-best presentation, The Last Starfighter appears to be the victim of
rigorous
digital scrubbing; plenty of fine details appear to have been washed away. The transfer lacks a
sense of vibrancy and appears rather flat and drab throughout. Trees and bushes around the
trailer
park look like blobs of green mass with absolutely no definition to be found. There's little-to-no
grain to be seen throughout, though spots and other debris do pop up from time to time over the
image, and not just over the most extreme effects shots such as Xur's holographic appearance at
Star League command. Detail appears appreciably higher in space than it does on Earth; the
lines,
ridges, and other features that make up the many alien faces, for instance, look fairly good, as do
the varied alien uniforms that feature a high level of texture. It's a mixed bag to be sure, but
The Last Starfighter never takes on a true film-like appearance, instead looking overly
manipulated and artificial. Black levels are inconsistent at best, but flesh tones appear rather
stable. In a way, the lack of absolute
definition reflects the minimal graphical
nature of the video game and, later in the film, the special effects, but it's still a rather
disappointing
visual experience.
Unfortunately, The Last Starfighter's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack doesn't fare much
better than the video presentation. The clear-cut highlight here is Craig Safan's amazing score;
fortunately, it sounds rather good all things considered, each glorious note pouring into the
soundstage with a fair level of definition and clarity. Sound effects throughout the film do scatter
about the soundstage nicely with the front right and left speakers carrying the load of
center-channel support. On the downside, there's absolutely no sense of immersion into the
experience. The lack of a strong rear-channel presence -- for instance during Alex's initial flight to
Rylos with Centauri -- leaves the listener feeling cold and detached from the film. Explosions and
general action scene mayhem don't pack much of a punch, the track delivering the basic necessities
to move the film along but never truly engaging the listener and placing him or her in the midst of
the excitement. Dialogue ranges from acceptable to muddled and harsh. The Last
Starfighter's lossless soundtrack isn't a total loss, but it's far from exemplary at the same time.
The Last Starfighter lands on Blu-ray with several bonus features, headlined by a
commentary track with Director Nick Castle and Production Designer Ron Cobb. An interesting
and
well-spoken track, the duo discusses how the film was influenced by the video game craze of the
mid-1980s, the easily identifiable nature of the characters and story, shooting locations and the
trailer park in particular, the cast, the design of the game and the
starfighter,
making use of three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional space, the film's groundbreaking
effects, and much more. Both fans of the film and anyone interested in learning more about an
important slice of motion picture history should definitely give this one a listen from beginning to
end. Heroes of the Screen (1080i, 24:19) is a solid retrospective piece that looks back
on the standard the film set for the future of motion pictures in its special effects. The feature
also looks at the movie's sweet and emotional core in which the action and effects are built, the
construction of the script, setting the standard for acting against objects that aren't on-set, the
budget, and more.
Crossing the Frontier: Making 'The Last Starfighter' (480p) is a four-part documentary
that delves even further than the previous piece into the film's place in history.
Segments include Introduction (1:27), Filming the Movie (10:33), A New
Era of Visual Effects (18:08), and Reflections (1:52). Also included is the film's
teaser trailer (480p, 1:33) and theatrical trailer (480p, 2:47) and nine image galleries presented
in 480p standard definition: The Cast, 'Starfighter' Arcade Game, Starfighter
Command, The Starcar, The Gunstar, Ko-Dan Armada,
Alternate Ending, Anatomy of a Starfighter Computer-Generated Image,
and Promotion and Merchandise. This disc is also BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) enabled
and D-Box equipped.
What's truly amazing about The Last Starfighter is that it's not just a test vehicle for a
radical new breed of visual effects that would transform Hollywood forever. The filmmakers
smartly told a story well worth telling and worked their magic into the story, rather than simply
tacking a story onto the effects as a mere afterthought. The Last Starfighter is a great
movie, and would have been equally great had it used models and miniatures or had it been made
in the past several years where near-seamless effects now find their way into most any Science
Fiction picture. Exciting, emotional, well-written, wonderfully acted, and boasting one of the finest
scores of the past several decades, The Last Starfighter is simply one of the best of its kind.
Universal's Blu-ray release, unfortunately, doesn't quite do the film justice. Boasting a
problematic 1080p transfer, a mundane lossless
soundtrack, but a solid collection of extras, The Last Starfighter nevertheless comes with a
recommendation solely on the strength and historical importance of the film.
Universal Studios Home Entertainment has announced that they will bring 'The Last Starfighter: 25th Anniversary' to Blu-ray on August 4th. This former HD DVD high definition exclusive title will be presented in 1080p VC-1 accompanied by a 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio ...
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