Review of The Last Starfighter (1984) by Johnathon W — 16 Jul 2018

Nostalgic sci-fi film that, while has aged a bit, still delivers a fun story, especially for those that experienced it as a kid. The cast is solid across the board, with Lance Guest endearing in the lead not just as Alex Rogan, the human plucked into an interstellar war, but as as Beta, the clone sent to cover for him while he's gone (Rogan delivers some great comic moments as an android trying to fit in to human society).

Catherine Mary Stewart is nicely appealing as his girlfriend, Maggie, while Dan O'Herlihly delivers some dry wit as Grig, Rogan's navigator. The scene-stealer, though, is the late, great Robert Preston as Centauri, Rogan's recruiter who is also out to make a few bucks (his character bears some resemblance to his great performance as "The Music Man").

Behind the camera, director Nick Castle delivers a straight forward, though slight story, with a clear good versus evil theme. Granted, as an adult, it doesn't quite hold up, especially the main concept of a video game passing for flight training, along with the CGI effects, which have aged quite a bit.

Nevertheless, there is more heart in this film in most others and the action scenes are still quite exciting. Plus, Craig Safan score remains a classic. A bit dated, but still a fun movie through and through.