Posted on 07/15/2014 5:38:22 AM PDT by Jack Hydrazine
As they hurtle into battle with the huge enemy force,
the terrifed Alex says, “It’ll be a slaughter!!”
His alien copilot exults, “That’s the spirit!”
Whoever is the copy editor needs to be “lead” off of a short pier.
Yeah, Centauri being accused of being up to his “old Excalibur tricks” is a reference to the Arthur legends.
It has charm. It’s a graceful little tale that is just fun.
It's a piece of history ... first use of CGI rather than models for the exterior space-battle scenes. Calling it "dated" is like calling 2001 "dated". I think the effects are quite remarkable, particularly considering the state of computer technology in 1984.
I agree. I loved the bit with the device that when worn you had an instant translation of the language the other person is speaking. I think that technology might be right around the corner.
Secondly, you point about hollywood remakes.
My all time fav Sci Fi is The Day the Earth Stood Still. I watch it frequently, maybe not to the end, but whenever I’m overly tired and need to watch something to push sleep.
I looked forward to the remake, only to hear that instead of concern for Earth harnassing nuclear power that might jeopardize the universe...It’s (are you ready) our neglect of our planet.
Never went to see it.
It was escapism designed for kids who played video games. Who didn’t imagine themselves being in Alex’s shoes as they played Star Raiders or one of the other popular space games?
Which is why studio suits frequently over ride the director BS messages. Not enough to overcome California weirdness but enough to be marketable.
It is only when traditional, conservative, non-freakazoid stories sneak past that blockbusters really flower.
Left wing messages fail to make money.
The dumbest plot contrivance ever.
“You’re destroying your planet which endangers intelligent life... So we’re going to exterminate intelligent life to protect it.”
Al Gore was a screenwriter?
I’d like to have seen more of the thunderbolt starfury that came in near the end and was in crusade. I wish crusade would have been allowed to live and not screwed with. Those cosmic bowling bellhop uniforms were comical.
Some aspects of it are obviously dated; special effects, clothes and hair. But IMO, the thing that makes it good is the script and the character interactions. Nice tongue in cheek humor. It was just fun.
“dated” = would like to see a remake in this situation...
Bump to a great movie.
It had an important balance between screenwriting and special effects. Preston was mostly a stage actor, having received two Tony Awards, the most memorable for The Music Man. The director of the film version demanded him, though the studio wanted it to be played by Frank Sinatra. Really.
His performance was outstanding. It has a 7.7 rating on IMDb.
Conversely, the actor who played Xur (flicks stiletto scepter), Norman Snow, has done some TV work, but his picture is hard to find on the Internet.
The first Starfighter I saw was in 1957 at Tyndall AFB. Cigar shaped with razor sharp wings whose leading edges were protected when they were parked.
I like Last Starfighter the way it is. I like Rollerball, 2001, and King Kong just the way they were originally made. I wish George Lucas hadn't meddled with Star Wars.
I LIKE old movies. The changes in the art and science of movie making are themselves interesting to me.
I'm a huge fan of "Starfighter" AS IS and I love the "Flight of Nav." too. "Rollerball" is great also and some movies shouldn't be messed with.
If Hollywood writers would get their noses out of the snow perhaps we could have great original movies again.
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