The Last Starfighter

The Last Starfighter

Man, I just got done watching this movie again after all these years.  I remember actually watching it in the theaters on its first run back in 84.  My family loved it as much as I did.  I remember coming out the theater pumped about the movie.  I think every kid that’s played a space fighter game wanted to go up in a real ship and fight bad guy aliens.  This movie showed us what would happen in that situation.

This movie certainly brings back memories of a better time for me. 

-Wil Wheaton?:  I’ve read that Wil Wheaton had a few scenes filmed, but the director deleted them from the final cut.  I guess it was to make room for the added scenes of the Beta Alex.  You can still see Wil in a few shots, check them out here.  He's in the red shirt.  

-Beta Alex:  I remember loving the concept of the android Alex replacing the real one as he goes on his mission.  I loved every minute of the “fish out of water” story of this android. I read that test audiences loved the Beta character so much that they added more scenes with the character after filming completed.   

-Sequel preparing?:  The movie clearly ends with an open-ended conclusion.  The main villain gets away, and it ends with the main hero training other fighters to join the war.  It is completely open for another movie…and not a remake.  How about one 25 years later?  I have to wonder why there never was a sequel made to the movie, considering it was at least a modest hit. 

-The Score:  It is pretty good, if a little bit too Indiana Jones in some parts. 

-Early CGI:  For the 80s, the CGI is pretty amazing.  And, it lends itself to the VG feel that the early portion of the movie was trying to convey. 

-The StarCar:  I loved that car, and I remember wanting one.  While it isn’t as epic as the time machine in Back to the Future, it was a cool car. 

-Robert Preston as Centauri:  He’s like the grandfather to the main character.  Centauri is a bit of a trickster/conman.  While he likes Alex, he’s always putting on over on the character the whole time.   Preston passed away a few years after filming this movie. 

-I keep hearing about a remake to this movie, but I’d prefer a sequel instead.  How about a story about Alex coming home and wanting to retire, but a new enemy shows up and he has to recruit a new group of gamers from today’s hardcore gaming world?

It could work. 

 Guilty. Guilty. Guilty.

Why did every sci-fi movie have a floating holographic head in it in the 80s?  It looks goofy today.

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 See what happens when you get the special at Waffle House? 

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 Can you get ESPN on that thing?

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 They sound like Cylons, and they look like them too.  Hmm.  I always wondered what the story behind these background aliens had.  Were they cyborgs?