Classic Films - Episode 4

Another round of discussion on film. I think my husband has really been enjoying watching these movies with the kids. 

Episode 4 – The Last Starfighter

Another geeky pleasure this week. After Star Wars showed the world that science-fiction films could make money there were a plethora of similar films that hit the market. Some were good (Bladerunner), some were bad (Dune) and some were just plain weird (Ice Pirates and Krull). The film for this week sort of falls in the middle. The Last Starfighter also features video games in a unique way.

Essentially the film is a nerd wish fulfillment story. Beat a video game, save the world, become a hero, and get the girl. It’s all pretty textbook in terms of the story.

It certainly seemed big budget. My kids commented on the special effects which are pretty dated now but still amazingly good for 1984 when the film came out. Our main character is Alex. He lives in a trailer park and is pretty much striving to get into a university and by extension get himself to a better place. He spends a lot of the time helping his mother and the other residents because he’s basically the fix it guy. They need help and they go to him. He spends so much time helping that he doesn’t get to go hang out at the lake with his friends. Otherwise, he plays a lone arcade game called “Starfighter.”

One night Alex beats the game. The same night he gets a rejection letter from the university. I teach at a university now and this rejection notice for a clearly bright kid who has good grades is a little funny now. Most universities are desperate for smart students unless maybe his grades stink or he applied to an ivy league college. It’s not really clear but Alex is devastated and feels that he will waste away in nowhereville.

Robert Preston, an incredible classical actor by the way, shows up as Centauri the maker of the game. His car has had lovely little gull wing doors like a Delorean. Cantauri says he is impressed and wants to give Alex an offer he can’t refuse. Vague promises aside, Centauri takes Alex into space and reveals himself to be an alien version of a car salesman except that Alex is the one for sale and the intergalactic space force are the buyers. Alex is offered the job of Starfighter, an apparently coveted position, which he promptly refuses and demands to go back home.

Alex travels back and learns he has been replaced by an android doppelganger. Admittedly, the doppelganger part was probably the funniest aspect of the whole movie and the best acting Lance Guest makes since he has to play Alex and the socially inept android. Long story short, the other starfighters are killed. Bounty hunters that look like Star Wars background extras show up. Alex is convinced to return and help the interstellar space hero group. Alex gets into a ship, shoots the bad guys, and saves the day. He’s heralded as a hero and goes back to the trailer park to show off his new spaceship and invite his hot girlfriend to come live with him in space.

One of the main villains escapes so it kind of seemed like they were setting things up for sequel. It was never made. Rumor has it that Steven Speilberg and Seth Rogan both tried to get another movie made or at least a remake but apparently the guy who owns the copyright wasn’t interested. Either way, the film probably did sell a good number of the “Starfighter” video games.

My kids found the film mildly entertaining. The youngest liked the star battle. The eldest giggled with embarrassed laughter as the android doppelganger mishandled his date with the love interest. I was more intrigued by the special effects. Apart from some computer graphics that would look like a cheap indie video game today, the film hasn’t aged too badly. Overall, a fun movie but really not one with a deep message.