For one reason or another, movies based off of video games rarely work. It's hard to say why they're almost always such dismal failures, but I think it's because video games are interactive and movies aren't. The film's audience most likely won't care about the game's plot because the movie doesn't give them the option of playing it anyway. Maybe that's why The Last Starfighter has been forgotten about for so long. It came out around the same time as things like ET and Terminator, but was passed up in favor of those because they're just made better. Still, this movie isn't a total disaster because like I said, video game films are typically trash. This one manages to be enjoyable at least, and isn't an eyesore to look at (like Tron for example) due to its sparse use of vibrant colors. Tron's color palette was so bright and intense that it gave me several headaches before I was able to finish it. The Last Starfighter's plot is pretty simple, but still manages to be interesting because most of it doesn't take place on earth. The story starts with Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), an adolescent kid living in a trailer park who has dreams of escaping his bleak life. One day, he comes across a video game arcade cabinet called Starfighter. The game allows you to take control of a spaceship and defend a place called the Frontier from an alien race called the Ko-Dan and their leader, Xur. Alex turns out to be extremely skilled at the game, managing to achieve the highest score in its history. This gets him noticed by Centauri (Robert Preston), the game's creator, who essentially abducts Alex in his spaceship/car and takes him to a military base on another planet. An android that looks identical to Alex is placed on earth so his family doesn't suspect a thing. Meanwhile on the base, Alex is told that the video game he's so good at was actually a test designed to find future candidates for Starfighter training who are aggressive enough to succeed. Xur, the Ko-Dan, the planet Rylos, and all the other things from the game are all real, and it's up to Alex (and the other Starfighters) to try and stop the Ko-Dan. Unfortunately, Alex wants no part of an interstellar war and tells Centauri to take him back to earth. In Alex's absence, the military base is attacked and all the aircraft the Starfighters were supposed to use against the Ko-Dan (Gunstars) are destroyed. Back at the trailer park, Alex is hunted by an alien with a laser pistol, and though Centauri manages to rescue him, he ends up getting hit himself. He manages to successfully convince Alex that even if he chooses not to be a Starfighter, the Ko-Dan will find and destroy earth eventually, so he may as well fight. Centauri transports Alex back to the destroyed base, and then dies. Alex and a reptilian alien named Grig (Dan O'Herlihy) find that one Gunstar has survived the Ko-Dan assault, and seize the opportunity. While Grig trains Alex on how to fly the Gunstar, Alex's clone back on earth is having a hard time accurately portraying who he's supposed to represent. The real Alex's girlfriend Maggie notices that he's been acting strange lately, but can't figure out why. Eventually, the clone reveals to her he's not actually Alex, and crashes a pickup truck into a large device the Ko-Dan had placed on earth as a type of beacon. Alex's clone sacrifices himself in the process. The real Alex then fulfills his destiny by destroying waves of Ko-Dan spacecraft, eventually coming up against their massive command ship. After managing to destroy its guidance system, the ship crashes into the moon of Rylos, but Xur manages to escape in a lifepod. Even so, Alex is praised as a hero on Rylos and the inhabitants now want him to stay and help rebuild the squadron of Gunstars that were destroyed. It's also revealed that Centauri is still alive, and his body just needed to repair itself. Before finalizing his choice, Alex takes the Gunstar (along with Grig) back to earth and lands near his home. Alex tells everyone he must go back to Rylos, and Maggie, remembering he said they'll never be apart earlier in the movie, agrees to go with him to Rylos. What a strange movie. I find it odd how movies from the 80s and 90s typically don't have complicated plots, but I always seem to have more to say about these ones. While this might sound like heresy to many people, I actually think this movie is better than Tron, as both are focused on video games, but Tron is just unappealing to look at (in my view). This movie does feature some 80s CGI that has that awkward and bright look to it, but at least it's not like Tron where the whole environment looks like that. The action scenes are probably the best thing about this movie, but they get old fast, especially if you're like me and play video games already. It feels like you've seen it all before countless times. I do have to hand it to them for coming up with a cool story though, and of course, the movie uses a lone hero cliche in that Alex is all that stands between earth and the Ko-Dan. It's also interesting to note that a real video game called The Last Starfighter is alluded to in the credits, but never got made. It was to be programmed by Atari.
Review of The Last Starfighter
