7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 3.8 | |
Reviewer | 3.0 | |
Overall | 3.5 |
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: VC-1
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 24-bit)
English SDH, French, Spanish
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
BD-Live
D-Box
Region free
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 2.5 | |
Audio | 3.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 3.0 |
When it comes you gotta grab it with both hands and hold on tight.
One of the most unassuming but also most important films in the history of motion pictures,
The Last Starfighter signaled the beginning of a new era of Hollywood filmmaking much
in the same way that The Jazz Singer or The Robe
revolutionized the industry. A wholesome and exciting little tale of a nobody trailer park resident
finding himself whisked away to fight a battle for an ally in desperate need of his skills and against
an aggressive and dangerous enemy he never even knew existed, The Last Starfighter
mixes humor, action, romance, and an underlying sweetness to the entire experience that makes
it one of the more pitch-perfect movies to come along in some years. Still, it's The Last
Starfighter's groundbreaking use of digital special effects that have come to define it. There's
no denying the film's importance to the history books, but it's a shame that the great movie
behind the effects seems lost in the pomp and circumstance of the more evident -- but not
necessarily more impressive -- achievement that has allowed The Last Starfighter to
withstand the test of time.
Alex Rogan dreams of something more for his life.
The Last Starfighter debuts on Blu-ray with a disappointing 1080p, 2.35:1-framed transfer. A mediocre-at-best presentation, The Last Starfighter appears to be the victim of rigorous digital scrubbing; plenty of fine details appear to have been washed away. The transfer lacks a sense of vibrancy and appears rather flat and drab throughout. Trees and bushes around the trailer park look like blobs of green mass with absolutely no definition to be found. There's little-to-no grain to be seen throughout, though spots and other debris do pop up from time to time over the image, and not just over the most extreme effects shots such as Xur's holographic appearance at Star League command. Detail appears appreciably higher in space than it does on Earth; the lines, ridges, and other features that make up the many alien faces, for instance, look fairly good, as do the varied alien uniforms that feature a high level of texture. It's a mixed bag to be sure, but The Last Starfighter never takes on a true film-like appearance, instead looking overly manipulated and artificial. Black levels are inconsistent at best, but flesh tones appear rather stable. In a way, the lack of absolute definition reflects the minimal graphical nature of the video game and, later in the film, the special effects, but it's still a rather disappointing visual experience.
Unfortunately, The Last Starfighter's DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack doesn't fare much better than the video presentation. The clear-cut highlight here is Craig Safan's amazing score; fortunately, it sounds rather good all things considered, each glorious note pouring into the soundstage with a fair level of definition and clarity. Sound effects throughout the film do scatter about the soundstage nicely with the front right and left speakers carrying the load of center-channel support. On the downside, there's absolutely no sense of immersion into the experience. The lack of a strong rear-channel presence -- for instance during Alex's initial flight to Rylos with Centauri -- leaves the listener feeling cold and detached from the film. Explosions and general action scene mayhem don't pack much of a punch, the track delivering the basic necessities to move the film along but never truly engaging the listener and placing him or her in the midst of the excitement. Dialogue ranges from acceptable to muddled and harsh. The Last Starfighter's lossless soundtrack isn't a total loss, but it's far from exemplary at the same time.
The Last Starfighter lands on Blu-ray with several bonus features, headlined by a
commentary track with Director Nick Castle and Production Designer Ron Cobb. An interesting
and
well-spoken track, the duo discusses how the film was influenced by the video game craze of the
mid-1980s, the easily identifiable nature of the characters and story, shooting locations and the
trailer park in particular, the cast, the design of the game and the
starfighter,
making use of three-dimensional rather than two-dimensional space, the film's groundbreaking
effects, and much more. Both fans of the film and anyone interested in learning more about an
important slice of motion picture history should definitely give this one a listen from beginning to
end. Heroes of the Screen (1080i, 24:19) is a solid retrospective piece that looks back
on the standard the film set for the future of motion pictures in its special effects. The feature
also looks at the movie's sweet and emotional core in which the action and effects are built, the
construction of the script, setting the standard for acting against objects that aren't on-set, the
budget, and more.
Crossing the Frontier: Making 'The Last Starfighter' (480p) is a four-part documentary
that delves even further than the previous piece into the film's place in history.
Segments include Introduction (1:27), Filming the Movie (10:33), A New
Era of Visual Effects (18:08), and Reflections (1:52). Also included is the film's
teaser trailer (480p, 1:33) and theatrical trailer (480p, 2:47) and nine image galleries presented
in 480p standard definition: The Cast, 'Starfighter' Arcade Game, Starfighter
Command, The Starcar, The Gunstar, Ko-Dan Armada,
Alternate Ending, Anatomy of a Starfighter Computer-Generated Image,
and Promotion and Merchandise. This disc is also BD-Live (Blu-ray profile 2.0) enabled
and D-Box equipped.
What's truly amazing about The Last Starfighter is that it's not just a test vehicle for a radical new breed of visual effects that would transform Hollywood forever. The filmmakers smartly told a story well worth telling and worked their magic into the story, rather than simply tacking a story onto the effects as a mere afterthought. The Last Starfighter is a great movie, and would have been equally great had it used models and miniatures or had it been made in the past several years where near-seamless effects now find their way into most any Science Fiction picture. Exciting, emotional, well-written, wonderfully acted, and boasting one of the finest scores of the past several decades, The Last Starfighter is simply one of the best of its kind. Universal's Blu-ray release, unfortunately, doesn't quite do the film justice. Boasting a problematic 1080p transfer, a mundane lossless soundtrack, but a solid collection of extras, The Last Starfighter nevertheless comes with a recommendation solely on the strength and historical importance of the film.
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
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
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1966-1969
Budget Re-release
1987-1994
2002
2011