Last Starfighter

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Some movies do not age well. Yet, we still hold them close to our hearts. One such film is the 1984 computer generated effects pioneer "The Last Starfighter." With its primitive special effects, Eighties´ hairstyles and clothing, thin characters and even thinner plotlines, "The Last Starfighter" is still a fun film. However, the older it gets, the more its luster diminishes. Capitalizing on the emerging technologies of computer animation and popularity of arcade games, as well as building on the science fiction craze generated by the "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" films, "The Last Starfighter" became one of the very first films to have a majority of its visual effects built from computers and used a Cray X-MP supercomputer to build its spaceships and spacescapes.

Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) lives with his mother and brother in a small trailer park. He spends most of his time fixing up neighbors problems in the trailer park and running odds jobs for his mother. He often must miss out on having fun with his girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and is looked upon as an outsider by many of the others that are his age. His brother Louis (Chris Hebert) looks up to him and cheers Alex as he partakes in one of his few escapes in life, a "Last Starfighter" arcade game that exists at the trailer park. Alex pines to leave the trailer park behind and attend a nice college and not live his entire life in the same geographical area and not make something of himself. He hopes to take Maggie with him and begin a new life.

One night Alex captures an amazing high score on the arcade machine. The entire trailer park rallies as Alex racks up the high score and defeats the mother ship. Later on, a man named Centauri (Robert Preston, in his last film) drives up in an exotic car and persuades Alex to take a ride with him when Centauri tells Alex that he is the creator of the game that Alex has mastered. The ride doesn´t take him to the next town, instead Centauri drives him through space and they arrive at a distant planet many galaxies away. The game Centauri invented was no ordinary arcade game, it was a training simulator and Centauri and others now want Alex to become a Starfighter and pilot one of the starfighters that he controlled in the game. He meets a friendly alien, Grig (Dan O´Herlihy), who would serve as his navigator. Alex simply wants to return home and doesn´t feel he has what it takes to save the galaxy from the evil Xur (Norman Snow).

When Alex returns home, he finds himself slapped by Maggie and also finds an android has taken his place. The ´Beta´ unit explains that he serves as a temporary replacement until Alex is done fighting in the intergalactic war. Alex tells the android to leave, but plans are abolished when an alien assassin attempts to kill Alex. Alex realizes that he is not safe on Earth and must now embark on the journey offered to him by Centauri. During the fight with the assassin, Centauri is shot and critically wounded, but he is able to make the journey home. When they arrive, they discover that Xur has attacked the starfighter hanger and all of the spacecraft and pilots have been killed. Grig had been working on a prototype of a new model and was spared. Together, Grig and Alex must pilot the prototype and that Alex is now the last starfighter.

"The Last Starfighter" is both corny and primitive when viewed nearly a quarter of a century after the film first appeared in theaters. The computer generated imagery lacks the textures and details of modern effects and the entire film now has a video game look and appeal, with graphics that cannot match what is now capable with the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Sony Playstation 3. Whereas this was an impressive film in 1984, it now looks horribly dated and lacks the wow factor it originally possessed. The plotlines of the film have also not held up well. The premise of "The Last Starfighter" is nicely thought out. Unfortunately, the execution falls on the weak side. Alex and countless others are ´volunteered´ into the Starfighter Legion, but when Alex finally defeats the massive armada of Xur, the fleet numbers one relatively non-offensive mothership and a couple dozen starfighters. This mighty armada of evil could hardly make a dent on any of the capital sized starships from "Star Wars" and certainly does not seem like the mighty force it is stated to be in the film.

There are other serious flaws in the plot of the film. However, it still manages to entertain. "The Last Starfighter" does not pretend to be an Academy Award winning film and only the late Robert Preston adds any credence to the production. The characters are not overly fleshed out. They have enough of a story arc to have Alex change his mind a couple of times, but Grig and others are as flat in dimension as the film´s CGI textures. This film was created to embrace emerging technology and surpass the work done with the two year older "Tron." It was intended to capitalize on the popularity of arcade machines such as "Pac-Man" and "Zaxxon." "The Last Starfighter" was not created to rival the work done by George Lucas. It was not intended to become a massive space epic. The film was wholly intended to be innovative and immediately successful. In that regard it succeeded.

"The Last Starfighter" just has not stood the test of time. It is still a fun little romp across the galaxy. The film serves as another solid reminder of the odd decade we commonly call the Eighties. The neon clothing and synthesizer based music are in full display in the film. The sensibilities of the time and the overtones of the Cold War are readily apparent in the film. The Xur aliens wear Communist red, while the Starfighter Legion wears clean and pure whites and light tans. This is a film that is a museum piece of the decade in which it was produced. It is a fun little film to remind us of the times and the days when digitally created effects were primitive and reminded us more of arcade games than they did the dinosaurs of "Jurassic Park." The film did not hold a candle to the physical effects of the seven year older "Star Wars" in 1984 and even less so today. It isn´t the classic that George Lucas´ space opera became, but for many of us, "The Last Starfighter" is still guilty pleasure and a film that is enjoyable in its dated cheesiness.

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