The Last Starfighter is a bit clichéd and overly reminiscent of other science fiction movies, particularly Star Wars: A New Hope, but according to the makers is historically significant in terms of special effects as the first movie to use CGI to create photo-realistic images, as opposed to the stylistic images of Tron.
The Last Starfighter tells the tale of Alex (Lance Guest), a young man trapped in a small-town trailer park where he works as a handyman for his mother, who serves as park manager and holds a second job as a waitress to support him and his younger brother. He dreams of getting away with his girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart), whether it being going off to college or even farther.
One night, he sets the record on a Last Starfighter video game, which the residents surprisingly gather around to watch and celebrate like he won the Super Bowl, revealing how uneventful the town is. Soon after, a car similar to Doc Brown’s from Back to the Future pulls up and a man named Centauri (Robert Preston in his final role) pulls up looking for the person who broke the record. Turns out Last Starfighter was not a game, but a secret recruiting tool to help the Star League find recruits in their battle against Xur and the Ko-dan Armada. So no one will know of Alex’s absence a look-alike robot named Beta will take his place, although he has trouble assimilating.
Like the Green Lantern, the other starfighters Alex meets are aliens. During the mission briefing on Rylos, Xur (a hammy performance by Norman Snow) appears via hologram and informs when the Ko-Dan Aramda will strike. Alex wants no part of this, so Centauri takes home. However, he is not safe on Earth because a Zan-Do-Zan assassin has been sent to kill him. Centauri saves Alex’s life by shooting off the creature’s arm, bringing to mind the Star Wars cantina scene. Understanding the danger involved, Alex agrees to return to Rylos where they discover he has become the title character after an attack by the Ko-dan Armada has killed all the other starfighters. It’s up to Alex, along with star-navigator Grig (Dan O'Herlihy), to defeat the Armada and save the people of Rylos.
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Article comments
1 - Josh Hathaway
I liked this movie when I was a kid. It's not surprising it hasn't aged well but I'm disappointed they couldn't make a better modern go of it.