7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 4.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
An alien recruits a young video game expert into a real live-or-die battle in outer space.
Starring: Lance Guest, Dan O'Herlihy, Catherine Mary Stewart, Barbara Bosson, Norman SnowSci-Fi | 100% |
Action | 79% |
Adventure | 75% |
Family | 24% |
War | 10% |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 4.1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 4.5 | |
Extras | 5.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: Per its
frequent operating
procedure, Arrow is
offering a standalone
4K UHD release of a
title they previously
released on 1080 disc.
For convenience sake, I
am porting over
applicable parts of my
original
The
Last Starfighter Blu-ray
review of Arrow's
1080 release from a
couple of years ago.
1962 had one of the
most competitive races
in the Best Actor
category of the
Academy Awards of
that decade. While
Gregory Peck
deservedly
was
recognized as the
winner that year for his
performance as Atticus
Finch in To Kill
a
Mockingbird,
he had considerable
competition from the
likes of Peter O'Toole as
Lawrence of
Arabia, Burt
Lancaster as the
Birdman of
Alcatraz, Jack
Lemmon's troubling
portrayal of alcoholism
in Days
of Wine and Roses
and the one
perhaps unusual
inclusion, Marcello
Mastroianni in Divorc
e Italian Style
. There's a
perhaps glaring
omission in this list,
one made all the
more glaring due
to the fact that the film
which featured the
overlooked
performance, The
Music Man,
racked up more than a
few Oscar
nominations that year,
including one for Best
Picture. But somehow
Robert Preston, who
had originated the role
of maybe, maybe not
huckster
Harold Hill on
Broadway, taking home
a Tony Award for his
efforts, did not
receive a Best
Actor nomination for his
equally splendid work
in the film version (I'm
sure there are some
fans out there who feel
strongly that Preston
should have replaced
Mastroianni in the "final
five".)
Preston in fact had to
wait until 1983 to score
his one and only
Academy Award
nomination, in the Best
Supporting Actor
category, for his
wonderful performance
in
Victor/Victoria
(he ended up
losing to Louis Gossett,
Jr., for An
Officer and a
Gentleman.
Two years later, there
was quite a bit of
scuttlebutt that Preston
would finally
not just be nominated
for, but might
actually
win, an Oscar
for his turn in The
Last Starfighter,
but, alas, the awards
gods were not with
him, and he was
overlooked yet
again. Even if a
statuette wasn't to be
part of Preston's career,
The Last
Starfighter offers
Preston to strut his
stuff as what might
even
be thought of as a kind
of galactic Harold Hill,
in this instance using
his perhaps lugubrious
charms to recruit one
young man to do a bit
more than
play a trombone.
Note:
Screenshots are
sourced from Arrow's
prior release of the film
on 1080 disc. Per
Arrow's standard
operating procedure,
this release
does not
include a 1080 disc.
The Last Starfighter
is presented in 4K
UHD courtesy of Arrow
Video with an HEVC /
H.265 encoded 2160p
transfer in 2.35:1.
Arrow's
insert booklet
contains the following
information on the
restoration:
The Last Starfighter has been exclusively restored by Arrow Films and is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.39:1 [sic] with 2.0 stereo, 5.1 audio and a 4.1 mix created for the film's 70mm release.I'll only note that there are a couple of interesting differences in the above verbiage from the verbiage that is reproduced in my original 1080 review, culled from that release's insert booklet, the most interesting of which is that version credited EFILM instead of Company 3, which may indicate either a typo (one way or the other), or that this is a whole new scan. The 1080 verbiage also understandably left off comments about HDR and Dolby Vision. This is another 4K UHD presentation where a surplus of old school opticals and composites, as well as some of the digital anomalies in the then groundbreaking computer generated effects I noted in the 1080 review, may not always find a friend in the increased resolution this format offers. That said, some of the practical effects, like the kind of funny "creature" makeup that some characters wear (notably Grig's lizard like head) actually offer some rather excellent and at least relatively believable fine detail upgrades in this version. Grain is very heavy a lot of the time, some of which is due to those aforementioned opticals and composite effects, but it's surprisingly tightly resolved in the brightly lit outdoor moments, if considerably chunkier, splotchier and much more yellow looking in some of the darker material. I frankly wouldn't say HDR and/or Dolby Vision has materially changed the palette, though reds in particular look amazingly vivid in this version. Flesh tones can occasionally look slightly pink and flushed, though never really unnatural. A number of scenes later in the film have an almost peach colored look now, which is one of the few real highlight differences I noted in this version. My score is 4.25.
The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 4K resolution at Company 3, Burbank. The film was graded in HDR10 and restored in 4K at R3Store Studios, London. The Dolby Vision grading was completed by Fidelity in Motion, New York.
Audio remastering on all audio mixes was completed at Deluxe Audio, Los Angeles.
All materials for this restoration were made available by NBC Universal.
As outlined above, there are three audio options on this disc, DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, DTS-HD Master Audio 4.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Marty wasn't especially thrilled with the engagement of the surround channels on the Universal disc, but I found this Arrow rendering to be nicely immersive in its two surround offerings, although admittedly not in the more hyperbolic ways that contemporary science fiction outings can tend to be. That means that, much as Marty mentioned in his review of the Universal version, rear channels may come into play less than might be expected. Despite that sound design element, fidelity is excellent across the board, and there are some fun if subtle differences between the 5.1 and 4.1 mixes. Dialogue and Craig Safan's score both resonate strongly and clearly, and the inventive sound effects offer consistent interest. Optional English subtitles are available.
This 4K UHD release
nicely ports over the
supplements from the
1080 release.
- The Cast (HD)
- Starfighter Arcade Game (HD)
- Starfighter Command (HD)
- The Starcar (HD)
- The Gunstar (HD)
- Ko-Dan Armada (HD)
- Alternate Ending (HD)
- Anatomy of a Starfighter CGI (HD)
- Promotion and Merchandise (HD)
- Theatrical Trailer (HD; 2:47)
- Teaser Trailer (HD; 1:33)
Though I actually have had a soft spot for The Last Starfighter since I saw it in a theater years ago, I may not be quite the fan of it that Marty evidently was, based on our slightly different scores for the film. This 4K UHD release by Arrow offers some subtle improvements in detail, and better suffusion in a palette that maybe isn't always the most spectacular for a supposed sci fi epic, though the old school effects and now rather quaint computer animation may actually look a little wonkier in the increased resolution this format offers. With caveats noted, this 4K UHD release comes Recommended.
25th Anniversary
1984
25th Anniversary Edition
1984
25th Anniversary
1984
1980's Best Of The Decade Collection
1984
25th Anniversary / Warcraft Fandango Cash
1984
Remastered
1984
Limited Edition
1984
1984
1986
1998
The Remastered Collection
1978-1980
2013
2016
1982
2014
2009
1994
20th Anniversary Edition
1996
2013
1991
2016
2012
1984
1996
1966-1969
Budget Re-release
1987-1994
2002
2011