Review of The Last Starfighter (1984) by Chris D — 26 Aug 2012
The Last Starfighter's premise may not be totally original (the space sequences are reminiscent of Star Wars), but I really dug the plot of this film, focusing on a boy who reaches a high score on a space simulator game, only to find be approached by an alien race claiming he is worthy of being a starfighter for their fleet against opposing forces.
The special effects work here is quite state of the art for the time, being a total breakthrough in computer generated visual effects just like Tron, and while looking a tad dated, I'm surprised to say some shots hold up quite well! Even in the shots that show their age, it's hard not to appreciate it's cutting edge look for the time, and is certainly some of the best visual effects to ever come out of the earlier 80's along with Tron.
It's not all visuals though, while the story like I said is a bit standard, I enjoyed the makeup work on the aliens and the action is quite fun, and there truly are some great characters in this film not to be simply forgotten.
The Last Starfighter is a very fun blast into the sci-fi adventure genre of the 80's, a worth adventure experience and certainly not my last with this film.
This review of The Last Starfighter (1984) was written by Chris D on 26 Aug 2012.
The Last Starfighter has generally received positive reviews.
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