The Last Starfighter
Encyclopedia
The Last Starfighter is a 1984 science fiction
adventure film
directed by Nick Castle
. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (played by Lance Guest
), an average teenage boy recruited by an alien defense force to fight in an interstellar war. It also featured Dan O'Herlihy
, Catherine Mary Stewart
, Robert Preston
, Norman Snow
and Kay E. Kuter
.
The Last Starfighter, in addition to Disney's Tron
, has the distinction of being one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive computer-generated imagery
(CGI) to depict its many starships, environments and battle scenes. This CGI technique, for the time, was a great leap into the future compared to contemporary films such as the previous year's Return of the Jedi
, which still used static physical models shot by moving film cameras.
The Last Starfighter was Preston's final film role. His character, a "lovable con-man", was a nod to his most famous role as Harold Hill in The Music Man
. There was a subsequent novelization
of the film by Alan Dean Foster
, as well as a video game
based on the production. In 2004, it was also adapted as an off-Broadway musical
.
), is a teenager living in the Starlight Starbright trailer park
with his widowed mother (Barbara Bosson
) and younger brother (Chris Hebert
). He learns he failed to qualify for a scholarship, ruining his hopes of going to a university
and leaving the trailer park. Outside of his job of being the handyman
, he relaxes by playing Starfighter, a stand-up arcade game
where the player defends "the Frontier" from "Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada" in a space battle. Eventually he becomes the highest scoring player of the game. Shortly afterwards, he is approached by the game's inventor, Centauri (Robert Preston
) who invites him to take a ride. Alex does so before discovering that the vehicle is actually a spaceship; moreover, Centauri is a disguised alien who whisks him off to the far away planet of Rylos, leaving his family and girlfriend, Maggie Gordon (Catherine Mary Stewart
). So that his absence goes unnoticed, an android named Beta (Lance Guest in a dual role) is left in his stead.
Upon his arrival, Alex discovers that the images and territories in the Starfighter arcade game represent an actual conflict between the Rylan Star League and the Ko-Dan Armada; the latter is led by Xur (Norman Snow
), a traitor to whom the Ko-Dan Emperor has promised control of Rylos itself, in return for showing his forces how to break through the Frontier, an array of planetary-scale force fields that protect Rylos and its surrounding galactic territories (including Earth) from invasion. The game was designed as a test to find those "with the gift"; Alex is expected to pilot an actual Starfighter spacecraft called the Gunstar. The Rylan command is angered with Centauri, as the video game recruitment was unauthorized and it is against Rylan law to recruit from planets that are nonmembers of the Star League. They order Centauri to return Alex to his homeworld and refund the money he spent on the game.
Before Alex can fully understand and dispute his induction, Xur appears (via a holographic projection) inside of the Starfighter base and reveals he has discovered an infiltrator in his ranks and proceeds to broadcast his death by torture to the entire base, including his father, Ambassador Enduran (Kay E. Kuter
), the Starfighter commander. He then proclaims to the people of Rylos that once Galan (Rylos's moon) is in full eclipse, the Ko-Dan Armada will begin their invasion and not even the Starfighters will be able to save them. When Alex asks to be taken back home, Centauri reluctantly does so, but leaves him with a means by which to contact him, should Alex change his mind. After they leave, the Starfighter base is obliterated, after a Rylan loyal to Xur sabotages the base's automated defence system.
Once home, Alex discovers the android who assumed his identity and contacts Centauri to come and retrieve it. When Centauri returns, he kills a Zando-Zan, an assassin hired by Xur to kill Alex. Centauri warns Alex that Xur knows his identity and placed a price on his head, and that more Zando-Zans will keep coming to Earth until Alex has been murdered. Alex now realizes his only hope is to return and defeat Xur to save his own life. Centauri was mortally wounded fighting the Zando-Zan, but manages to survive long enough to return Alex to the ruined Starfighter base. Alex meets up with one survivor named Grig (Dan O'Herlihy
), a friendly reptilian alien whom he met earlier. Centauri apparently dies shortly after arriving, but Grig (who was a close friend of Centauri's) insists that there is no time to mourn. After Grig gives Alex a brief tutorial on the workings of a Gunstar they set out in the Gunstar to battle the Ko-Dan Armada. Just as the ship is blasting off, Grig reveals to Alex that all the other Starfighters perished in the earlier attack and that all the Gunstars were destroyed, save for the one they are in - which Grig explains is a new experimental fighter. Thus, they are flying off to battle the armada all on their own.
Meanwhile, Beta remains on Earth in order to fool Xur into thinking that Alex is still there, despite knowing that this makes him a target. While out on a romantic retreat with Maggie, Beta obliviously spurns her advances and she begins to suspect something is wrong with him. At that moment, Beta is attacked by another Zando-Zan, who realizes his true identity and retreats to warn Xur. Beta reveals to Maggie that he is an android meant to temporarily replace Alex and then chases after the Zando-Zan. Beta sacrifices himself by ramming a truck into the Zando-Zan's ship, preventing it from sending a message to Xur.
A moment of hesitation from Alex when they encounter their first hostile contact leaves him doubting his ability to be a formidable Starfighter, but Grig reminds him that Xur is power hungry and even conquering Rylos is not enough for him; thus Earth is in great danger should the Ko-Dan Armada succeed. Alex devises a plan of hiding inside the caves of a meteor so that they can sneak-up behind the armada after it passes them by and decides it is worth trying.
Alex and Grig attack the Ko-Dan flagship, crippling its communications system; catching the Ko-Dan fighter wings off-guard. The battle reaches a fevered pitch; Alex keeps the upper hand, using the "lone fighter-against-hordes" tactics he mastered by playing the coin-operated video game. Soon, however, his ammunition is depleted. Desperately, he activates a secret untested weapon installed in the Gunstar: "Death Blossom", which destroys all the remaining Ko-Dan fighters. Lord Kril (Dan Mason), captain of the Ko-Dan flagship, blames Xur for this turn of events. After relieving Xur of command, Kril orders him executed. Instead, Xur takes advantage of Alex's attack and kills the sentries escorting him from the bridge. As Alex attacks and disables the flagship, Xur flees in an escape pod, and the gravity of Rylos' moon is too strong for the flagship to evade; thus it is destroyed when they crash on the moon Galen.
Alex is proclaimed the savior of Rylos, only to discover from Enduran (who escaped from the Starfighter base before its destruction) that the Star League is still vulnerable: The Frontier has collapsed and Xur escaped, and will continue to be a threat as long as he still lives. Alex is then approached by Centauri, who had entered a state of deep hibernation while his body healed. Alex agrees to stay and recruit other Starfighters, rebuilding the Legion. He returns to Earth, dramatically landing his Gunstar in the trailer park. Grig tells Alex's mother and the people of the trailer park of Alex's heroism in the Rylan War and that he will be a Starfighter of great potential, who will teach future Starfighters.
After explaining to his friends and family where he was, Alex reveals that his services as a Starfighter are still needed by the Rylan Star League. He then asks Maggie to join him in space. Maggie's grandmother, Granny Gordon (Meg Wyllie
) gives her blessing to her granddaughter, and Maggie returns to Rylos with him. As the Gunstar departs, Alex's brother Louis watches the video game attract mode
the animation of which matches Alex's Gunstar taking off. Louis was delighted to meet Grig and also wanted to join Alex on Rylos, but the Gunstar could only accommodate one passenger. Louis then begins to play the Starfighter game in hopes of one day joining Alex.
for its special effects. In place of physical models, 3D rendered
models were used to depict space ships and many other objects. The Gunstar and other spaceships were the design of artist Ron Cobb
, who also worked on Alien
, Star Wars
and Conan the Barbarian
.
The computer graphics for the film were rendered by Digital Productions
on a Cray X-MP
supercomputer. The company created 27 minutes of effects for the film. This was considered an enormous amount of computer generated imagery at the time. For the 300 scenes containing computer graphics in the film, each frame of the animation contained an average of 250,000 polygons
, and had a resolution of 3000 × 5000 36-bit pixel
s. Digital Productions estimated that using computer animation required only half the time, and one half to one third the cost of traditional special effects. The result was a cost of $14 million for a film that made about $21 million at the box office.
Not all special effects in the film were done with computer animation. The depiction of the Beta unit before it had taken Alex's form was a practical effect
, created out of materials and produced on-set. The Starcar created by Gene Winfield
and driven by Centauri was also a real prop. It was later reused in the film Back to the Future Part II
as a car parked on one of the streets in the 2015 future setting.
A new, digitally remastered version presented in anamorphic wide screen is now available. The new transfer has improved color and sharpness, and is shown regularly on television.
However, the more mundane sequences of the film unexpectedly received more attention themselves. Test audiences enjoyed the comical struggles of Alex's android impostor at the trailer park so much that the producers decided to shoot more of these scenes, which they felt gave this science fiction film a unique flavor.
's score for the film calls for an unusually large orchestra, including six trumpets and six trombones, which are used simultaneously to play the main theme in twelve-part harmony.
Southern Cross released a soundtrack album at the time of the film's release (later reissued on CD in 1987).
Side One:
Side Two:
In 1995, Intrada issued an expanded album, which omitted the songs credited to Safan/Mueller/Magness, and included the complete versions of several cues, including "Into the Starscape" (on the original release it cuts out at the point in the film when Louis whoops at the sight of the Gunstar taking off on the video game screen and in real life; in the film the music continues over the end credits).
Critical reviews have been mixed, but generally positive. Based on 26 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
ranks The Last Starfighter at a 73% "fresh" rating. Roger Ebert
gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that while the actors were good, The Last Starfighter was "not a terrifically original movie [but was nonetheless] well-made".
wrote a novelization
of the film shortly after it was released (ISBN 0-425-07255-X). In the same year as the release of the film, Marvel Comics released a three issue mini-series adapting the film to comics format. In 2004, it was also adapted as an off-Broadway musical
debuting at the Storm Theatre
in New York City.
A real The Last Starfighter arcade game by Atari, Inc. is promised in the end credits, but was never released. If released, the game would have been Atari's first 3D polygonal arcade game to use a Motorola 68000
as the CPU. Gameplay would have been taken from game scenes and space battle scenes in the film and would have included the same controller that was used on the first Star Wars arcade game. Ultimately, it was not released because the arcade machine would have had a sale price of $10,000, which the vice president in Atari considered too high.
Home versions of the game for the Atari 2600
and Atari 8-bit home computers were also developed, but never commercially released under the Last Starfighter name. The home computer version was eventually renamed and released (with some minor changes) as Star Raiders 2
. A prototype exists for the Atari 2600 Last Starfighter game, which was in actuality a game already in development by Atari under the name Universe. This game was eventually released as Solaris
.
In 1984, FASA
, a noted sci-fi tabletop game maker, created a gaming system for The Last Starfighter.
In 1990, an NES
game titled "The Last Starfighter" was released, but it was actually a conversion of Uridium
for Commodore 64
, with modified sprites, title screen and soundtrack.
A freeware
playable version of the game, based on what is seen in the film, was released for PC
in 2007. This is a faithful reproduction of the arcade game from the film and features full sounds effects and music from the game. The creators of this game, Rogue Synapse, have also built a working arcade cabinet of the game.
Science fiction film
Science fiction film is a film genre that uses science fiction: speculative, science-based depictions of phenomena that are not necessarily accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial life forms, alien worlds, extrasensory perception, and time travel, often along with futuristic...
adventure film
Adventure film
Adventure films are a genre of film.Unlike pure, low-budget action films they often use their action scenes preferably to display and explore exotic locations in an energetic way....
directed by Nick Castle
Nick Castle
Nick Castle is an American actor, screenwriter and film director, best known for his role as Michael Myers in Halloween. He also co-wrote Escape from New York with his friend, John Carpenter.-Early life:...
. The film tells the story of Alex Rogan (played by Lance Guest
Lance Guest
Lance R. Guest is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Guest developed a serious interest in acting in the ninth grade, and he majored in theater while attending UCLA. He has starred in many theatrical films including his role as Jimmy alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween...
), an average teenage boy recruited by an alien defense force to fight in an interstellar war. It also featured Dan O'Herlihy
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
, Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Kayla Brady on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1981 to 1983...
, Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
, Norman Snow
Norman Snow
Norman Snow is an American actor who is probably known for his role as the evil tyrant Xur in the science fiction film The Last Starfighter .Snow is acknowledged in the acting community as an accomplished character actor, with the vast majority of his work being...
and Kay E. Kuter
Kay E. Kuter
Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter was an American actor who starred on television and in film. Kay was born in Los Angeles, California....
.
The Last Starfighter, in addition to Disney's Tron
Tron
-Film:*Tron , a franchise that began in 1982 with the Walt Disney Pictures film Tron** Tron , a 1982 science fiction film by Disney, starring Jeff Bridges, Bruce Boxleitner, Cindy Morgan, Dan Shor and David Warner...
, has the distinction of being one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
(CGI) to depict its many starships, environments and battle scenes. This CGI technique, for the time, was a great leap into the future compared to contemporary films such as the previous year's Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi
Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand and written by George Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan. It is the third film released in the Star Wars saga, and the sixth in terms of the series' internal chronology...
, which still used static physical models shot by moving film cameras.
The Last Starfighter was Preston's final film role. His character, a "lovable con-man", was a nod to his most famous role as Harold Hill in The Music Man
The Music Man (1962 film)
The Music Man is a 1962 musical film starring Robert Preston as Harold Hill and Shirley Jones as Marian Paroo. The film is based on the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name by Meredith Willson...
. There was a subsequent novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
of the film by Alan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
, as well as a video game
Star Raiders 2
Star Raiders II is a video game released in for the Atari 8-bit home computers, and later several other home computers and game consoles. The game was originally developed as part of a tie-in with the movie The Last Starfighter, which featured an arcade game of the same name as part of its plotline...
based on the production. In 2004, it was also adapted as an off-Broadway musical
The Last Starfighter (musical)
The Last Starfighter: The Musical is a musical adaptation of the 1984 science fiction film The Last Starfighter. It was first presented at the Storm Theatre in New York City in October 2004...
.
Plot
Alex Rogan (Lance GuestLance Guest
Lance R. Guest is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Guest developed a serious interest in acting in the ninth grade, and he majored in theater while attending UCLA. He has starred in many theatrical films including his role as Jimmy alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween...
), is a teenager living in the Starlight Starbright trailer park
Trailer park
A trailer park is a semi-permanent or permanent area for mobile homes or travel trailers. The main reasons for living in such trailer parks are the often lower cost compared to other housing, and the ability to move to a new area more quickly and easily, for example when changing jobs to another...
with his widowed mother (Barbara Bosson
Barbara Bosson
Barbara Bosson is an American actress who has starred on television and in film.-Biography:Bosson was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania to a tennis coach father. During her childhood, she lived in an American Craftsman Style house on Price Avenue in the borough of North Belle Vernon...
) and younger brother (Chris Hebert
Chris Hebert
Chris Hebert is an American former child actor who has appeared in a number of television series, commercials, and a few feature films.-Early life:...
). He learns he failed to qualify for a scholarship, ruining his hopes of going to a university
University
A university is an institution of higher education and research, which grants academic degrees in a variety of subjects. A university is an organisation that provides both undergraduate education and postgraduate education...
and leaving the trailer park. Outside of his job of being the handyman
Handyman
A handyman is a person skilled at a wide range of repairs, typically around the home. These tasks include trade skills, repair work, maintenance work, both interior and exterior, and are sometimes described as "odd jobs", "fix-up tasks", and include light plumbing jobs such as fixing a leaky toilet...
, he relaxes by playing Starfighter, a stand-up arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
where the player defends "the Frontier" from "Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada" in a space battle. Eventually he becomes the highest scoring player of the game. Shortly afterwards, he is approached by the game's inventor, Centauri (Robert Preston
Robert Preston (actor)
-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
) who invites him to take a ride. Alex does so before discovering that the vehicle is actually a spaceship; moreover, Centauri is a disguised alien who whisks him off to the far away planet of Rylos, leaving his family and girlfriend, Maggie Gordon (Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart
Catherine Mary Stewart is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Kayla Brady on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1981 to 1983...
). So that his absence goes unnoticed, an android named Beta (Lance Guest in a dual role) is left in his stead.
Upon his arrival, Alex discovers that the images and territories in the Starfighter arcade game represent an actual conflict between the Rylan Star League and the Ko-Dan Armada; the latter is led by Xur (Norman Snow
Norman Snow
Norman Snow is an American actor who is probably known for his role as the evil tyrant Xur in the science fiction film The Last Starfighter .Snow is acknowledged in the acting community as an accomplished character actor, with the vast majority of his work being...
), a traitor to whom the Ko-Dan Emperor has promised control of Rylos itself, in return for showing his forces how to break through the Frontier, an array of planetary-scale force fields that protect Rylos and its surrounding galactic territories (including Earth) from invasion. The game was designed as a test to find those "with the gift"; Alex is expected to pilot an actual Starfighter spacecraft called the Gunstar. The Rylan command is angered with Centauri, as the video game recruitment was unauthorized and it is against Rylan law to recruit from planets that are nonmembers of the Star League. They order Centauri to return Alex to his homeworld and refund the money he spent on the game.
Before Alex can fully understand and dispute his induction, Xur appears (via a holographic projection) inside of the Starfighter base and reveals he has discovered an infiltrator in his ranks and proceeds to broadcast his death by torture to the entire base, including his father, Ambassador Enduran (Kay E. Kuter
Kay E. Kuter
Kay Edwin Emmert Kuter was an American actor who starred on television and in film. Kay was born in Los Angeles, California....
), the Starfighter commander. He then proclaims to the people of Rylos that once Galan (Rylos's moon) is in full eclipse, the Ko-Dan Armada will begin their invasion and not even the Starfighters will be able to save them. When Alex asks to be taken back home, Centauri reluctantly does so, but leaves him with a means by which to contact him, should Alex change his mind. After they leave, the Starfighter base is obliterated, after a Rylan loyal to Xur sabotages the base's automated defence system.
Once home, Alex discovers the android who assumed his identity and contacts Centauri to come and retrieve it. When Centauri returns, he kills a Zando-Zan, an assassin hired by Xur to kill Alex. Centauri warns Alex that Xur knows his identity and placed a price on his head, and that more Zando-Zans will keep coming to Earth until Alex has been murdered. Alex now realizes his only hope is to return and defeat Xur to save his own life. Centauri was mortally wounded fighting the Zando-Zan, but manages to survive long enough to return Alex to the ruined Starfighter base. Alex meets up with one survivor named Grig (Dan O'Herlihy
Dan O'Herlihy
Daniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
), a friendly reptilian alien whom he met earlier. Centauri apparently dies shortly after arriving, but Grig (who was a close friend of Centauri's) insists that there is no time to mourn. After Grig gives Alex a brief tutorial on the workings of a Gunstar they set out in the Gunstar to battle the Ko-Dan Armada. Just as the ship is blasting off, Grig reveals to Alex that all the other Starfighters perished in the earlier attack and that all the Gunstars were destroyed, save for the one they are in - which Grig explains is a new experimental fighter. Thus, they are flying off to battle the armada all on their own.
Meanwhile, Beta remains on Earth in order to fool Xur into thinking that Alex is still there, despite knowing that this makes him a target. While out on a romantic retreat with Maggie, Beta obliviously spurns her advances and she begins to suspect something is wrong with him. At that moment, Beta is attacked by another Zando-Zan, who realizes his true identity and retreats to warn Xur. Beta reveals to Maggie that he is an android meant to temporarily replace Alex and then chases after the Zando-Zan. Beta sacrifices himself by ramming a truck into the Zando-Zan's ship, preventing it from sending a message to Xur.
A moment of hesitation from Alex when they encounter their first hostile contact leaves him doubting his ability to be a formidable Starfighter, but Grig reminds him that Xur is power hungry and even conquering Rylos is not enough for him; thus Earth is in great danger should the Ko-Dan Armada succeed. Alex devises a plan of hiding inside the caves of a meteor so that they can sneak-up behind the armada after it passes them by and decides it is worth trying.
Alex and Grig attack the Ko-Dan flagship, crippling its communications system; catching the Ko-Dan fighter wings off-guard. The battle reaches a fevered pitch; Alex keeps the upper hand, using the "lone fighter-against-hordes" tactics he mastered by playing the coin-operated video game. Soon, however, his ammunition is depleted. Desperately, he activates a secret untested weapon installed in the Gunstar: "Death Blossom", which destroys all the remaining Ko-Dan fighters. Lord Kril (Dan Mason), captain of the Ko-Dan flagship, blames Xur for this turn of events. After relieving Xur of command, Kril orders him executed. Instead, Xur takes advantage of Alex's attack and kills the sentries escorting him from the bridge. As Alex attacks and disables the flagship, Xur flees in an escape pod, and the gravity of Rylos' moon is too strong for the flagship to evade; thus it is destroyed when they crash on the moon Galen.
Alex is proclaimed the savior of Rylos, only to discover from Enduran (who escaped from the Starfighter base before its destruction) that the Star League is still vulnerable: The Frontier has collapsed and Xur escaped, and will continue to be a threat as long as he still lives. Alex is then approached by Centauri, who had entered a state of deep hibernation while his body healed. Alex agrees to stay and recruit other Starfighters, rebuilding the Legion. He returns to Earth, dramatically landing his Gunstar in the trailer park. Grig tells Alex's mother and the people of the trailer park of Alex's heroism in the Rylan War and that he will be a Starfighter of great potential, who will teach future Starfighters.
After explaining to his friends and family where he was, Alex reveals that his services as a Starfighter are still needed by the Rylan Star League. He then asks Maggie to join him in space. Maggie's grandmother, Granny Gordon (Meg Wyllie
Meg Wyllie
Margaret Gillespie "Meg" Wyllie was an American actress. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she was the first ever Star Trek villain, the Talosian Keeper in the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot episode The Cage. The character was voiced by Malachi Throne...
) gives her blessing to her granddaughter, and Maggie returns to Rylos with him. As the Gunstar departs, Alex's brother Louis watches the video game attract mode
Attract mode
Attract mode is an arcade game's screen display shown when no one is playing the game. The main purpose of the attract mode is to attract passers-by to play the game, although it might also have the side effect to act like a screensaver.-Summary:...
the animation of which matches Alex's Gunstar taking off. Louis was delighted to meet Grig and also wanted to join Alex on Rylos, but the Gunstar could only accommodate one passenger. Louis then begins to play the Starfighter game in hopes of one day joining Alex.
Cast
- Lance GuestLance GuestLance R. Guest is an American film and television actor.-Biography:Guest developed a serious interest in acting in the ninth grade, and he majored in theater while attending UCLA. He has starred in many theatrical films including his role as Jimmy alongside actress Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween...
as Alex Rogan / Beta Alex - Dan O'HerlihyDan O'HerlihyDaniel O'Herlihy was an Oscar nominated Irish film actor.-Early life:O'Herlihy was born in Wexford, Ireland in 1919. His family moved to Dublin at a young age...
as Grig - Catherine Mary StewartCatherine Mary StewartCatherine Mary Stewart is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Kayla Brady on the soap opera Days of our Lives from 1981 to 1983...
as Maggie Gordon - Norman SnowNorman SnowNorman Snow is an American actor who is probably known for his role as the evil tyrant Xur in the science fiction film The Last Starfighter .Snow is acknowledged in the acting community as an accomplished character actor, with the vast majority of his work being...
as Xur - Robert PrestonRobert Preston (actor)-Early life:Preston was born Robert Preston Meservey in Newton, Massachusetts, the son of Ruth L. and Frank Wesley Meservey, a garment worker and billing clerk for American Express. After attending Abraham Lincoln High School in Los Angeles, California, he studied acting at the Pasadena Community...
as Centauri - Kay E. KuterKay E. KuterKay Edwin Emmert Kuter was an American actor who starred on television and in film. Kay was born in Los Angeles, California....
as Enduran - Barbara BossonBarbara BossonBarbara Bosson is an American actress who has starred on television and in film.-Biography:Bosson was born in Charleroi, Pennsylvania to a tennis coach father. During her childhood, she lived in an American Craftsman Style house on Price Avenue in the borough of North Belle Vernon...
as Jane Rogan - Chris HebertChris HebertChris Hebert is an American former child actor who has appeared in a number of television series, commercials, and a few feature films.-Early life:...
as Louis Rogan - Dan Mason as Lord Kril
- Vernon WashingtonVernon WashingtonVernon Alfred Washington is an American actor who has starred in film and on television. He is best known for his roles in the 1984 science fiction movie The Last Starfighter as Otis and in the 1985 horror movie Friday the 13th: A New Beginning as George.His best known television role may have...
as Otis - John O'Leary as Rylan Bursar
- George McDaniel as Kodan Officer
- Charlene Nelson as Rylan Technician
- John Maio as Friendly Alien
- Robert Starr as Underling
- Al Berry as Rylan Spy
- Scott Dunlop as Tentacle Alien
- Peter Nelson as Jack Blake
- Peggy PopePeggy PopePeggy Pope is an American actress.She was born in Montclair, New Jersey. She has made her many acting appearances memorable—even in the smallest roles—beginning in 1966 with the television show The Trials of O'Brien, starring Peter Falk and Elaine Stritch.Pope is most recognizable as...
as Elvira - Meg WyllieMeg WyllieMargaret Gillespie "Meg" Wyllie was an American actress. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, she was the first ever Star Trek villain, the Talosian Keeper in the first Star Trek: The Original Series pilot episode The Cage. The character was voiced by Malachi Throne...
as Granny Gordon - Ellen Blake as Clara Potter
- Britt LeachBritt LeachBritt Leach is an American character actor. He is best known for his role in the films Goin' South, Fuzz, The Last Starfighter, Weird Science, The Great Outdoors, Baby Boom, and Silent Night, Deadly Night...
as Mr. Potter - Bunny SummersBunny Summers-Film and television credits:Her movie and television credits include the following --* Doctors' Wives * Fuzz * The World's Greatest Lover * Jokes My Folks Never Told Me * H.O.T.S. * Choices * Skeezer...
as Mrs. Boone - Owen BushOwen BushOwen Bush was an American actor. Born in Savannah, Missouri, he went on to have a lengthy career in television and film. His best known roles were on the Soap opera Passions and in the last 2 Prehysteria! films as Mr. Cranston.-External links:...
as Mr. Boone - Marc AlaimoMarc AlaimoMichael Anthony "Marc" Alaimo is an American actor, known for his villainous roles. He is known to Star Trek fans for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.-Career:...
as Hitchhiker - Wil WheatonWil WheatonRichard William "Wil" Wheaton III is an American actor and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Wesley Crusher on the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, Gordie Lachance in the film Stand by Me and Joey Trotta in Toy Soldiers...
as Louis' friend - Cameron DyeCameron DyeCameron Dye is an American actor. He played "Fred" in the movie Valley Girl.Dye was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. Dye's family moved around the United States and in the mid-1970s he attended Sylvania High School in Sylvania, Ohio. Later, Dye moved to California and attended Mills High School in...
as Andy - Geoffrey BlakeGeoffrey Blake (actor)Geoffrey Lewis Blake is an American film and television actor.Blake was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Marjorie Myers and Avery Felton Blake. Blake's film credits include Contact, Young Guns, Forrest Gump, and Cast Away...
as Gary
Production
The Last Starfighter is one of the earliest films to make extensive use of computer graphicsComputer-generated imagery
Computer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in art, video games, films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
for its special effects. In place of physical models, 3D rendered
3D rendering
3D rendering is the 3D computer graphics process of automatically converting 3D wire frame models into 2D images with 3D photorealistic effects on a computer.-Rendering methods:...
models were used to depict space ships and many other objects. The Gunstar and other spaceships were the design of artist Ron Cobb
Ron Cobb
Ron Cobb is an American cartoonist, artist, writer, film designer, and film director.By the age of 18, with no formal training in graphic illustration, Cobb was working as an animation "inbetweener" artist for Disney Studios in Burbank, California. He progressed to becoming a breakdown artist on...
, who also worked on Alien
Alien (film)
Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and starring Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver, Veronica Cartwright, Harry Dean Stanton, John Hurt, Ian Holm and Yaphet Kotto. The film's title refers to its primary antagonist: a highly aggressive extraterrestrial creature which...
, Star Wars
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, originally released as Star Wars, is a 1977 American epic space opera film, written and directed by George Lucas. It is the first of six films released in the Star Wars saga: two subsequent films complete the original trilogy, while a prequel trilogy completes the...
and Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian
Conan the Barbarian is a fictional sword and sorcery hero that originated in pulp fiction magazines and has since been adapted to books, comics, several films , television programs, video games, roleplaying games and other media...
.
The computer graphics for the film were rendered by Digital Productions
Digital Productions
Digital Productions was a computer animation company in Los Angeles, California, that produced advertisements and special effects for films in the 1980s....
on a Cray X-MP
Cray X-MP
The Cray X-MP was a supercomputer designed, built and sold by Cray Research. It was announced in 1982 as the "cleaned up" successor to the 1975 Cray-1, and was the world's fastest computer from 1983 to 1985...
supercomputer. The company created 27 minutes of effects for the film. This was considered an enormous amount of computer generated imagery at the time. For the 300 scenes containing computer graphics in the film, each frame of the animation contained an average of 250,000 polygons
Polygon (computer graphics)
Polygons are used in computer graphics to compose images that are three-dimensional in appearance. Usually triangular, polygons arise when an object's surface is modeled, vertices are selected, and the object is rendered in a wire frame model. This is quicker to display than a shaded model; thus...
, and had a resolution of 3000 × 5000 36-bit pixel
Pixel
In digital imaging, a pixel, or pel, is a single point in a raster image, or the smallest addressable screen element in a display device; it is the smallest unit of picture that can be represented or controlled....
s. Digital Productions estimated that using computer animation required only half the time, and one half to one third the cost of traditional special effects. The result was a cost of $14 million for a film that made about $21 million at the box office.
Not all special effects in the film were done with computer animation. The depiction of the Beta unit before it had taken Alex's form was a practical effect
Practical effect
A practical effect is a special effect in which a prop appears to work in a situation where it obviously could not in real life . They do not use trick photography or post-production artifice. This type of effect is normally found in live theatre.In film, practical effect denotes an effect produced...
, created out of materials and produced on-set. The Starcar created by Gene Winfield
Gene Winfield
Gene Winfield is an American automotive customizer. In the mid-1960s, his designs caught the attention of the film community, resulting in a large body of his work being seen on screen, including in the iconic 1982 film Blade Runner...
and driven by Centauri was also a real prop. It was later reused in the film Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part II
Back to the Future Part II is a 1989 American science fiction comedy film and the second installment of the Back to the Future trilogy. It was directed by Robert Zemeckis, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and starred Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Thomas F. Wilson and Lea Thompson...
as a car parked on one of the streets in the 2015 future setting.
A new, digitally remastered version presented in anamorphic wide screen is now available. The new transfer has improved color and sharpness, and is shown regularly on television.
However, the more mundane sequences of the film unexpectedly received more attention themselves. Test audiences enjoyed the comical struggles of Alex's android impostor at the trailer park so much that the producers decided to shoot more of these scenes, which they felt gave this science fiction film a unique flavor.
Music
Craig SafanCraig Safan
Craig Safan is a Hollywood film composer whose biggest scores include The Last Starfighter, Angel, Fade to Black, Major Payne, Remo Williams, and music to the TV series Cheers, for which he won numerous ASCAP awards.After getting his start in theater, Safan moved to film composing in the 1980s,...
's score for the film calls for an unusually large orchestra, including six trumpets and six trombones, which are used simultaneously to play the main theme in twelve-part harmony.
Southern Cross released a soundtrack album at the time of the film's release (later reissued on CD in 1987).
Side One:
- Main Title (2:30)
- Outer Space Chase (2:52)
- Into the Starscape (3:50)
- The Planet of Rylos (2:04)
- Death Blossom: Ultimate Weapon (3:37)
Side Two:
- Incommunicado (Craig Safan/Mark Mueller) - Clif Magness (3:08)
- Never Crossed My Mind (Craig Safan/Mark Mueller) - Clif Magness (2:45)
- Return to Earth (3:28)
- The Hero's March (2:16)
- Centauri Dies (3:08)
In 1995, Intrada issued an expanded album, which omitted the songs credited to Safan/Mueller/Magness, and included the complete versions of several cues, including "Into the Starscape" (on the original release it cuts out at the point in the film when Louis whoops at the sight of the Gunstar taking off on the video game screen and in real life; in the film the music continues over the end credits).
- Main Title (2:31)
- Alex Dreams (1:44)
- Centauri Into Space (05:59)
- Rylos (2:01)
- Centauri Dies (6:51)
- Target Practice (2:17)
- Alex's First Test (2:51)
- Beta's Sacrifice (6:07)
- Death Blossom; Ultimate Weapon (4:44)
- Big Victory March; Alex Returns (5:44)
- Into the Starscape (7:21)
Reception
The Last Starfighter was a financial success, earning over $28 million on an estimated budget of $15 million.Critical reviews have been mixed, but generally positive. Based on 26 reviews, Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
ranks The Last Starfighter at a 73% "fresh" rating. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, stating that while the actors were good, The Last Starfighter was "not a terrifically original movie [but was nonetheless] well-made".
Adaptations
The Last Starfighters popularity has resulted in several non-film adaptations of the storyline and uses of the name. Alan Dean FosterAlan Dean Foster
Alan Dean Foster is an American author of fantasy and science fiction. He currently resides in Prescott, Arizona, with his wife, and is also known for his novelizations of film scripts...
wrote a novelization
Novelization
A novelization is a novel that is written based on some other media story form rather than as an original work.Novelizations of films usually add background material not found in the original work to flesh out the story, because novels are generally longer than screenplays...
of the film shortly after it was released (ISBN 0-425-07255-X). In the same year as the release of the film, Marvel Comics released a three issue mini-series adapting the film to comics format. In 2004, it was also adapted as an off-Broadway musical
The Last Starfighter (musical)
The Last Starfighter: The Musical is a musical adaptation of the 1984 science fiction film The Last Starfighter. It was first presented at the Storm Theatre in New York City in October 2004...
debuting at the Storm Theatre
Storm Theatre
The Storm Theatre is an acclaimed Off-Off-Broadway theatre company located at 145 West 46th St. , in the administration building of the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Times Square....
in New York City.
A real The Last Starfighter arcade game by Atari, Inc. is promised in the end credits, but was never released. If released, the game would have been Atari's first 3D polygonal arcade game to use a Motorola 68000
Motorola 68000
The Motorola 68000 is a 16/32-bit CISC microprocessor core designed and marketed by Freescale Semiconductor...
as the CPU. Gameplay would have been taken from game scenes and space battle scenes in the film and would have included the same controller that was used on the first Star Wars arcade game. Ultimately, it was not released because the arcade machine would have had a sale price of $10,000, which the vice president in Atari considered too high.
Home versions of the game for the Atari 2600
Atari 2600
The Atari 2600 is a video game console released in October 1977 by Atari, Inc. It is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and cartridges containing game code, instead of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware with all games built in...
and Atari 8-bit home computers were also developed, but never commercially released under the Last Starfighter name. The home computer version was eventually renamed and released (with some minor changes) as Star Raiders 2
Star Raiders 2
Star Raiders II is a video game released in for the Atari 8-bit home computers, and later several other home computers and game consoles. The game was originally developed as part of a tie-in with the movie The Last Starfighter, which featured an arcade game of the same name as part of its plotline...
. A prototype exists for the Atari 2600 Last Starfighter game, which was in actuality a game already in development by Atari under the name Universe. This game was eventually released as Solaris
Solaris (Atari 2600)
Solaris is a game for the Atari 2600 published in 1986 by Atari. The game was programmed by Douglas Neubauer, who owns the copyright to the game and the Solaris trademark.-Gameplay:...
.
In 1984, FASA
FASA
FASA Corporation was an American publisher of role-playing games, wargames and board games between 1980 and 2001. Originally the name FASA was an acronym for "Freedonian Aeronautics and Space Administration", a joking allusion to the Marx Brothers film Duck Soup. This tongue-in-cheek attitude was...
, a noted sci-fi tabletop game maker, created a gaming system for The Last Starfighter.
In 1990, an NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
game titled "The Last Starfighter" was released, but it was actually a conversion of Uridium
Uridium
Uridium is a science fiction side-scrolling shoot 'em up for the Commodore 64 . It consists of fifteen levels, each named after a metal element, with the last level being called Uridium...
for Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, with modified sprites, title screen and soundtrack.
A freeware
Freeware
Freeware is computer software that is available for use at no cost or for an optional fee, but usually with one or more restricted usage rights. Freeware is in contrast to commercial software, which is typically sold for profit, but might be distributed for a business or commercial purpose in the...
playable version of the game, based on what is seen in the film, was released for PC
Wintel
Wintel is a portmanteau of Windows and Intel, referring to personal computers using Intel x86 compatible processors running Microsoft Windows...
in 2007. This is a faithful reproduction of the arcade game from the film and features full sounds effects and music from the game. The creators of this game, Rogue Synapse, have also built a working arcade cabinet of the game.