Today's audiences will rarely see a movie that doesn't contain some sort of CGI effects. But back 1984 they were just taking the first steps into this age of effects. Both The Last Starfighter and Tron took the leap, and both made the most of it. While the effects of Starfighter are certainly dated, the movie isn't. Simply because it doesn't make the mistake that so many effects-heavy movies do...it never loses sight of character. The characters and the story are the most important elements here, and that's what makes timeless. Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) is a young man that, like Luke Skywalker, dreams of his life becoming more than what it seems he is destined for. In Star Wars, you can feel the dreams that Luke has as he looks out over the Tatooine desert at the twin sunset. There is a similar moment in Starfighter when Alex sits in his room, and stares at the mobile of the solar system on his bedroom ceiling being blown about by the wind coming through the window. When he breaks the record on the Starfighter game, he is recruited by a mysterious visitor named Centauri (Robert Preston), who is in fact an alien that reveals to him that the Starfighter game is a test sent out across the universe to find the few with the "gift" to become true Starfighters. Whisked away to the planet Rylos, Alex finds that he is needed to defend the universe against the villains he defeated in the game. Back on earth, Alex is replaced by a "simuloid" called Beta who looks like Alex, but has no idea on how to be him. Especially when it comes to matters of the heart with Alex's girlfriend Maggie (the stunning Catherine Mary Stewart). But heart is what this movie has in abundance. It's light hearted, exciting, funny, and moving. It's literally the kind of movie you don't see anymore, and that's a shame. In today's age, the characters in movies similar to this, are as phony as the CGI worlds they inhabit. But Starfighter never lets us forget that no matter how spectacular a visual effect is, it's an empty thing without people to care about. Another element that cannot be ignored is the musical score by Craig Safan. It's one of the best of the 80's. Similar to John Williams' Star Wars and Superman themes, it change in tempo can make it exciting or romantic. I really wish I could find it on CD. I saw this movie for the first time in 1984, and today I shared it for the first time with my two kids, ages 9 and 7. They LOVED it. My son wanted to know if there was a REAL video game for it, or if there were action figures for it. It was really special to share this movie with them. It proves it's multi-generational, and worthy of a place in movie history, for more reasons than just it's ground breaking visual effects. A classic.
Review of The Last Starfighter
