The Last Starfighter (1984)

This is a hybrid of Sci-Fi/fantasy/ and comedy ; dealing with a video-gaming boy, seemingly doomed to remain at his trailer park home all his existence , finds himself enlisted as a gunner for an alien defense force. He is named Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) who lives in a remote trailer court where his mummy (Barbara Bosson) is manager and everyone is like a big extended family and along with his enjoyable girlfriend (Catherine Mary Stewart) . Meantime, Alex turns the top player of Starfighter, a stand-up arcade game where the player guards "the frontier" from "Xur and the Kodan armada" in a space battle ,after getting video game prowess it makes him the main objective from extraterrestrial forces as good aliens as bad aliens. After achieving his best score, he is approached by the Arcade game's inventor, named Centauri (old Robert Preston's last movie). In his wildest dreams Alex never suspected that tonight he would become...The Last Starfighter , a gunner from outland and all sorts of bizarre things begin to happen . Stepping into Centauri's vehicle, he is seemingly doomed to stay at his roulette all in his life ; however ,he soon finds himself recruited as prime pilot for an alien defense force (commanded by Daniel O'Herlihy) to do battle in outer space and take on arch-villains.

This agreeable comedy/Sci-Fi film packs action , comic dialog ,hilarious situations, thrills , a love story and is pretty entertaining . Passable computer generator FX , though nowadays dated , with spectacular dogfighting and innovative by that time of the 80s. Very good and rousing musical score by Craig Safan in John Williams style .

Likable Lance Guest as a videogaming boy living in a trailer park home who undertakes a risked adventure , a gorgeous and enjoyable Catherine Mary Stewart and Dan O'Herlihy who's unrecognizable in lizard-like makeup ; of course , excellent, as always, veteran Robert Preston as Centauri who actually is a disguised alien who whisks him off to another planet . The motion picture is professionally directed by Nick Castle . He is a prestigious writer and filmmaker as ¨The boy who could fly , ¨Tag : assassination game¨ , ¨Delivering Milo¨ , ¨Dennis the menace¨, ¨Major Payne¨ and ¨Tap¨. It's viewing delight and amusing though toothless entertainment that benefits greatly from sympathetic acting and rudimentary but effective special effects.

Fmovies: This video game/ STAR WARS inspired space opera epic is more fun than it probably has any right to be. While there is an instant or two where the film suffers greatly from a case of the "cutes", the great casting here makes this one remain worthwhile. In particular Dan O' Herlihy, with his performance as Alex Rogan's alien friend Grig, absolutely steals this movie and gets to deliver most of the best lines. And when he's not stealing the picture, another veteran character actor named Robert Preston (Centauri) is. Good stuff especially suitable for teenage sci-fi fans but even as an adult I cannot help but have a soft spot for this cast...even Lance Guest and Catherine Mary Stuart do alright here.

With the original "Star Wars" trilogy still fresh in the public's mind in 1984, "The Last Starfighter" was produced. Commercially the film did only fairly well at the box office, but that is not saying that this is not a more than adequate little science fiction entry. High-schooler Lance Guest is approached by a couple of aliens (Robert Preston and an unrecognizable Dan O'Herlihy) to go to a galaxy far, far away and fight an evil empire. Sound familiar? He is recruited for his mission via an arcade game of all things. Catherine Mary Stewart shines as Guest's love interest. Nothing spectacular and somewhat dated, but still a pleasant surprise that you will not regret watching. 4 stars out of 5.

The Last Starfighter fmovies. Granted, I'm a child of the 80s, so there's some nostalgia at work here, but I'm surprised at how interesting and enjoyable this movie is. It sounds like a turkey when you read the main plot line, but it's very well-done and charming for what it is. Sure, it has its problems, but it never claims to be anything other than teenage sci-fi. A good ride.

When I was a young lad, my parents saw this movie in a bargain bin for about $5, and bought it for me. I must have seen it about a thousand times, and I know all the dialogue by heart (even the parts I didn't understand when i was a kid). This movie is about an unlikely hero, who is picked to fight an intergalactic battle, and how was he found? Well this guy made a video game simulation of the battle that was taking place in outer space, and sent it across the universe. Of course this kid just happened to have the skills needed to defeat the video game, and kill the virtual bad guys. When a guy in a flying car (this is literally where Back to the Future Prt II got it from) he is told that the game is not only a video simulation, but also a test, and now he must leave his family and join the Star League and become a 'Starfighter'.

I enjoyed this movie immensely when I was a kid. For me it holds the same cult status as 'The Blues Brothers', and now when I watch it, it seems as good today as it did 15 years ago.

When compared to today's high-quality graphics and effects, this movie may seem a little lame, and it is, but when I consider that this movie was one of the first to use complete computer graphical effects, it makes me think "Wow, that was a great movie".

So if you see it now, you may not think it's as great as I have made it out to be... but your kids are gonna love it.

Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) lives in a trailer park with his mother Jane Rogan (Barbara Bosson) and his younger brother Louis (Chris Hebert). Alex is a handyman that helps his neighbors in small tasks and he is waiting for a loan to go to the university and move from the camp with his girlfriend Maggie Gordon (Catherine Mary Stewart) to the city. However, Alex receives a letter informing that his request of loan had been denied for his great deception.

When Alex breaks the record of the Starfighter video game, he is visited by a man called Centauri (Robert Preston) that tells him that he works in the company that manufactures the game and invites him to a ride in his car. Sooner Alex learns that Centauri's car is a spacecraft and the Starfighter game is actually a test to find skilled warriors to protect the Star League frontier against Xur (Normam Snow) and Kodan (George McDaniel) armada. Alex arrives in the planet Rylos but he refuses the invitation. Alex returns to his house and finds that he is hunted by alien agents sent by Xur to kill him. He summons Centauri and learns that all the starfighters have been murdered in a treacherous attack to the Rylos' base. Now, Alex and his partner Grig (Dan O'Herlihy) are the last chance to avoid the invasion of the cruel Xur.

"The Last Starfighter" is one of my favorite cult-movies of the 80's. The artless special effects are very poor in the present day but who cares? The delightful story of a teenager that dreams on going away from the trailer camp where he lives and becomes the savior of the universe is highly entertaining and also funny, since the situation of the Beta Alex with Maggie is hilarious. Unfortunately this film has only been released on VHS in Brazil. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Último Guerreiro das Estrelas" ("The Last Warrior from the Stars")