The Last Starfighter
THE LAST STARFIGHTER (PG)
D: Nick Castle
Universal/Lorimar (Gary Adelson & Edward O.
Denault)
US 1984
101 mins
Science Fiction/Adventure
W: Jonathan Betuel
DP: King Baggot
Ed: C. Timothy O'Meara
Mus: Craig Safan
Lance Guest (Alex Rogan), Robert
Preston (Centauri), Dan O'Herlihy (Grig), Catherine Mary Stewart (Maggie Gordon) Barbara Bosson (Jane Rogan), Norman Snow (Xur)
The success of Star Wars in 1977 saw a glut of pretenders to
the throne come into production, most of which were cheaply financed, tacky rubbish. The Last Starfighter can't be counted amongst them, as its storyline, for the time, is rather genius. If it
had any weakness, it's probably that it came out too early, and would have been best waiting a decade or so.
A
teenage video game expert is abducted by a race of aliens and recruited into their intergalactic war, becoming an ace starship pilot to thwart their enemies.
Though the technological aspects of the movie are dated and
video game arcades are very much a thing of the 1980's, the story for this film still works, and not just through nostalgic eyes. Far more entertaining than the similar themed Tron
(qv).
6/10
