#57: The Last Starfighter (1984) (dir. Nick Castle)

Greetings Starfighters, I mean subscribers! Allow me to nerd out over one of my favorite science fiction films that I saw when I was 7 years old and have seen more times than I can count.

The first weekend of August I’m going to Flashback Weekend so there will be photos, nerding out with other horror fanatics and more to come, I’m sure. The reason why I bring up Flashback Weekend is that’s where I met Catherine Mary Stewart (Maggie) and told her how much I adore this particular film. Not to mention the fact that I’m co-hosting a screening of this on Wednesday, July 31st, 2024, at 7pm!

The Last Starfighter is a better movie than Star Wars. I say this with conviction but also with a caveat - I saw this movie about four times before even finally catching up with Star Wars. That original trilogy I always liked, never loved. But if there were Starfighter conventions, action figures, collectibles and Christmas specials, I would want of all of it. Rarely have I found the majority of fan-driven IPs to be that exciting or interesting, especially in the recent comic book universe that has been embraced (the exception being the Raimi Spiderman franchise) but let me tell you, as a kid, I wanted to be Alex Rogan and this is still a special movie to me. This was the science fiction film of my childhood and holds up as a favorite to this day.

This simple story unfolds in a quiet, suburban setting of a trailer park, where we are introduced to our protagonist, Alex Rogan (Lance Guest). A young man with dreams bigger than his rural hometown, Alex finds comfort in playing the arcade game "Starfighter,” located outside the local convenience store. Little does he know that his exceptional skills at the game will soon catapult him into an intergalactic adventure that every little kid dreams about (though it could involve victory or death). Who cares if the college he wanted to get into just rejected him? Something more exciting is about to happen! The Music Man shows up only this time he’s a well-intentioned greedy conman from outer space! He’s not there for cigarettes or bubble gum. He wants Alex Rogan to accompany him to another planet in order to save the galaxy.

Centauri (Robert Preston), a mysterious stranger, arrives and reveals that "Starfighter" is more than just a game; it's a recruitment tool used by the Rylan Star League to identify talented individuals capable of piloting starships to defend the galaxy against the evil Ko-Dan Empire. Alex's life is irrevocably altered as he leaves behind Earth to train as a starfighter, leaving his friends and family behind, including supportive, loving girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart). He also has a loving mom, a community he’s grown to help time and time again and a hyper little brother who is preoccupied with his Playboy collection.

Once Alex goes into space, he undergoes rigorous training and confronts the challenges of becoming a true starfighter, all while forming a friendship with his navigator, Grig (Dan O’Herlihy, unrecognizable). Together, they embark on a perilous mission to save the Rylan Star League and protect the galaxy from Xur and the Ko-Dan threat. The Joseph Campbell-inspired narrative explores themes of heroism, destiny, and the transformative power of belief in oneself. Much like Luke Skywalker, much like many stories of this ilk. Some may say Alex is a bit of self-righteous teen at times, but I certainly find him less whiny than Luke. He’s determined to grow up and make something of himself. Dream bigger, aspire for more, “grab onto it with both hands, hold on tight.”

Boy plays a video game. Boy beats videogame. Boy goes to space and beats aliens using techniques learned in that video game all with the support of a mentor (Centauri). You know the drill; you know what to expect. Fantasy becomes reality. It’s similar to what I experienced with Cloak & Dagger which came out in theaters the same weekend. As a kid who was enjoying Atari and beginning to love movies, this was another case of the right time, right place, right movie. I know it happened with a lot of folks when it came to certain Spielberg titles or the aforementioned George Lucas spectacles, but this was also another example of a movie my father and I loved and rewatched together whenever it was on cable (though we also had a dubbed VHS copy). 

The Last Starfighter is one of those films that seems to exist near the outer fringes of '80s nostalgia, in the same stratosphere as Tron (also about a video game that becomes real, albeit in a much different way), or Flash Gordon (another space adventure). Having underperformed in theaters, the movie has a smaller pop culture footprint than some of its contemporaries (even the Atari video game advertised in the credits, an obvious tie-in if there ever was one, never actually materialized), although fans of the film could find shout-outs on fellow cult-audience favorites like "Community" and the "Clerks" animated series (or, for better or worse -- I'd argue worse -- Ernie Cline's novels Ready Player One and Armada). What's interesting is that the elements that make The Last Starfighter fun are not especially obscure: this is pretty straightforward popcorn entertainment that all kinds of audiences should enjoy - Tyler Foster

There is still so much to appreciate here even today. The production designer is Ron Cobb, known for his design work on Star Wars and Alien (not to mention the DeLorean in Back to the Future), so the set design and attention to detail are both top-notch. Centauri’s “Starcar” was built by Gene Winfield, who also made the cars in Blade Runner and Robocop as well. The score by Craig Safa reminds you how much legitimacy the old school orchestral scores could add to any movie. It doesn’t entirely ape the work of Williams and it’s so catchy. Again, if this were shown with one of those live orchestras playing, I’d be there front and center.

The dialogue between all the characters never falls into overly hokey science fiction speak thankfully and it never goes so far down that rabbit hole that you’re wondering what they’re even talking about. This is the kind of movie where that could happen especially when it comes to this era of science fiction since there’s a fine line between being cheesy but endearing and downright painful to sit through. There wasn’t anything in this film that made my eyes roll as an adult.

It was also good to see again a movie where the bad guys are not the coolest characters onscreen and did not have any legitimate points. It’s clear Xur is just a whiny, insecure little child who betrayed his father and only cares about his phallic-like scepter while ruling the galaxy with an iron fist. Way too often we are given movie villains are so much cooler than the heroes, or whose genocidal obsessions are tempered by their own traumas or underlying well meaning, that it takes a lot of the steam out of their eventual undoing. Every character (even a robot) is dimensional here, no pun intended.

The Last Starfighter is remembered fondly by those who loved it in the 1980s and very much stirs up a sense of unabashed nostalgia for the arcade and videogame culture of the era. It is also remembered for being one of the first films to incorporate groundbreaking 3D CGI visual effects in a way that looks dated but still fully realized. Imagine taking three months on a computer back then just to render certain sequences. There are many shots of spaceships and so on done digitally that do stand out a lot more than they would today, but in the context of a 1984 sci-fi film, they look fantastic and actually add even more charm to the film, despite the way look a bit too sanitized and shiny in comparison to the rest of the film. The Arrow 4K release sure makes the visuals pop in a way that made recent rewatches such a treat for someone who used to experience this world on a dubbed VHS copy.

There's actually a pretty amusing reference to the Excalibur legend in Starfighter with the possible implication that Robert Preston's Centauri (an alien video game designer trying to recruit outer space fighter pilots) might have actually been Merlin a dozen or so centuries ago. Preston is so charming as the hustling alien that it certainly seems possible, he was also the world's greatest magician at one point, and it's an excellent final performance from the Hollywood legend. Lance Guest also deserves some serious props for carrying this movie in a performance that at one point has to do double duty, and he does so brilliantly.

The performances are boosted at every turn by one of the better 80's grand adventure orchestral scores, but what really sends the film out of this world is the revolutionary CGI usage for the outer space sequences, including spaceships designed by Ron Cobb (Alien, Star Wars). Despite the technology being incredibly new, the computer animation blends in well with the environ and never feels out of place. Overall, the visuals of the film are frequently captivating and sometimes even a bit disturbing, with Starfighter at times walking a fine line between Sci-fi and Horror remarkably well for a PG movie. - DBC

There is never a moment that all of this doesn’t seem quite possible, accompanied by plenty of building questions about what’s going to happen next though you still know the good guys will win, the bad guys will lose. The hero’s journey remains intact. I’ve always wondered why this film in particular has such strong emotional resonance and a lot of it has to do with the camaraderie between Grig and Alex in the final act. Yes, I am guaranteed to cry when Maggie decides to leave with Alex and that score crescendos, but I truly think Dan O'Herlihy and Lance Guest created two very distinctive characters who team up to “fight against incredible odds.” It’s such a joy to see reluctant Alex finally believe in himself, “maybe I can do this after all” thanks to Grig’s combination of reverse psychology and personal conviction.

Perhaps it’s because my dad believed in me too and our mutual love of this film felt like a real bonding experience between us. Once I entered high school and started loving horror films and Nine Inch Nails, we began to agree less and less but there were certain cable staples like this and Back to the Future that we would constantly go back to. Maybe the tears I experience at the end come from gratitude that even happened. I feel so blessed and grateful to have had a positive relationship with my dad; there’s not one sour memory. A movie like The Last Starfighter is a reminder of that so hearing the score alone is enough to move me in a way that words can’t unravel.

As for the film itself, there are undeniable corny moments especially when Maggie looks to the sky and declares, “I love you, Alex Rogan.” Or Starman-esque comic relief sequences like when the beta unit is removing his head right in front of his younger brother Louis. There is also nightmare fuel like the removal of the blankets to show that Alex isn’t the one under there and the melting of the master spy by our main villain. This isn’t entirely a PG movie even if that was the rating given at the time. A little bit of darkness seeps in but this is mostly family friendly entertainment as its best.

It’s wild to think of director Nick Castle’s career starting out as “the shape” in the original Halloween film, undoubtedly learning a lot from John Carpenter. The aforementioned Starman came out later the same year and share similar DNA. What’s wild is that Starman is a movie I associate strongly with my mom while The Last Starfighter is truly a Jim and his dad connection. I also think both of these films have two of the greatest musical scores ever composed to where I’m sure they inspired me as an instrumental songwriter over time.

Castle went on to direct quite a few features after this including the underseen, underrated The Boy Who Could Fly. But there’s something truly special about this era of filmmaking for me. Probably because I was 7 years old and just discovering what I enjoyed the most: watching movies, playing my dad’s records and writing silly songs/stories. What else can be said about the incredible cast and what they brought to a mostly conventional story about a hero learning to self-actualize? Not to mention nearly every reaction to the film at the time being, “well it isn’t Star Wars, but it sure tries!”

The Last Starfighter is my Star Wars. I like Alex more than Luke and the trailer park setting grounds this in a reality that I could relate to. I knew people like Granny in my neighborhood (sans shotgun) and I had a friend like Louis. Sometimes it’s hard to look past the fact that the reason some movies become favorites is because I relate to them more strongly. This is why I struggle a lot with certain mean-spirited stories with no redemption, growth, character arc or a sense of hope in the end. There are definite examples of films that I love that fall under that category of “humanity is doomed,” but the purity and joy that comes from the Spielbergian 80s is unmatched. After all, sometimes we want to feel uplifted when capitalist daily life tears us down.

The Last Starfighter is all about escaping to a better place, doing something positive and meaningful that helps humanity at large (or an alien race) and learning to believe in yourself. Everyone involved with this production went above and beyond especially when it came to the effects. The screenwriter was just a taxi driver with a vision and managed to write something timeless. They all had big dreams, they reached for the stars, believed in this story and you can feel all of the love poured out on screen. As a kid that needed to escape reality, movies like this were exactly what I needed. As an adult, they serve that exact same purpose. They’re also more than just comforting; they now feel like home. And yes, it’s better than Star Wars.