The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition
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DVD details
Actor: Al Berry, Catherine Mary Stewart, Ed Berke, Ellen Blake, Lance GuestBrand: NBC Universal
Cinematographer: King Baggot
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 101 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2009-08-18
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Universal Studios
DVD Reviews of The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition
DVD Review: 80's CGI Fun
Summary: 4 Stars
The Last Starfighter is essentially a space opera hinged on the fantasy that video game skills will save the day. Obviously this movie was made for the young teen crowd (essentially 13 yr old boys with Ataris/ Intelivisions/ColecoVisions/etc) and has its share of action and comedy that, like most space operas in the 80's, has more than one similarity to Star Wars (but then again Star Wars was a homage to the classic space operas of the golden age of television). So it's not high caliber sci-fi, but it's not B-movie fodder either.
The story is pretty simple: Evil leader of evil aliens wants to attack good aliens, so in walks a single hero who is the last hope for freedom. That's about it. The movie doesn't deviate too far from this premise other than to further flesh out the fish-out-of-water scenario of an 80's Earthling thrust into space (as well as a little fun with an alien in 80's Earth) as well as the inner battle of said Earthling to stay and fight for a Star League he doesn't know or stay home and go to community college. A serviceable story, if not deep.
The acting does make the simple story enjoyable to watch. Lance Guest seems to have fun with the role, which works for the character. Biggest props go to esteemed Robert Preston's Centauri, who plays the role with the style of a magician and the charisma P.T. Barnum. Another esteemed actor, Dan O'Herlihy, does a surprisingly good performance. Especially when you consider he is wearing full prosthetics with less facial mobility than the costumes from the original Planet of the Apes. Yeah there is a bit of theatrical "drama", but that works with the whole space opera motif.
Special effects are a benchmark here because this is the first film to incorporate live action elements to computer generated animation. The CGA is pretty barbaric by today's standards and even back then was noticeable. The biggest glare in this are the scenes flying in around asteroids, which look pretty "plastic" CG-wise. However the CG ships looked awesome and you can't beat the camera angles and fly-byes that computer animation affords. Plus back then this was pretty state of the art.
Not a lot of details have come out regarding The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary DVD, but this is what I found out so far:
- Digitally remastered video (finally!) so it should be MUCH cleaner than the first DVD release. Anamorphic wide screen.
- It will have the same commentary with director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb as in the first DVD release.
- It will have the documentary Crossing the Frontier: Making The Last Starfighter. This also was on the previous DVD release and as far as 30 minute featurettes are concerned it covers all the bases well.
- A new featurette, Heroes of the Screen, will be included. Will post more information when I found out.
- Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround in English and subtitled in English (SDH), Spanish and French.
- Theatrical and teaser trailer.
- Image gallery is likely, but not confirmed to be the same as the original release. This includes images from an alternate ending.
Now they are releasing a Blu-Ray version too and as far as features are concerned will be identical to the DVD release. The differences are of course 1080p high def picture, 5.1 DTS-HD audio and BD-Live.
This movie is definitely a time capsule for 80's science fiction. If you like that sort of charm then by all means pick this one up. If you already have the original DVD you may still want to grab this for the remastered picture surround sound more than just to have the one new featurette.
Description of The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition
?Greetings, Starfighter! You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Kodan Armada.? So begins an adventure of galactic proportions in The Last Starfighter. After Earthling Alex (Lance Guest) conquers the Starfighter video game, he is recruited by alien Centauri (Robert Preston) to be part of an elite legion of fighters. Leaving behind his trailer park home for the outer regions of space, Alex becomes the last hope for the beleaguered Star League and hundreds of worlds ? including Earth. Loaded with out-of-this-world bonus features and digitally remastered for optimum picture quality, The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition is the ultimate video game fantasy come true!At the time of its original release in 1984, this modestly budgeted sci-fi excursion had the distinction of offering some of the first examples of purely computer-generated animation, an apt (and frugal) special-effects solution for a movie with a plot line rooted in computer games. Both the computer-generated visuals and the arcade game now look quaint, but writer-director Nick Castle's affable, good- hearted adventure holds up nicely, thanks to a clever premise--the title game is actually a test for prospective starship pilots, planted by embattled aliens under siege from an evil invader. When a restless teenager (Lance Guest) racks up an impressive score, he finds himself spirited away to the besieged planet and thrust into the midst of an intergalactic war. Apart from Castle's skill at contrasting his extraterrestrial settings with the mundane details of his hero's earthbound life, the movie gets lift-off from two thorough pros, Robert Preston, who makes the alien recruiter, Centauri, a planet-hopping cousin to The Music Man's Harold Hill, and Dan O'Herlihy, the alien copilot, who suggests a scaly Walter Brennan. Older fans will snicker, but kids and young teens will find this rite of passage absorbing, while their folks will savor Preston's brash charm. --Sam Sutherland
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