Well I guess I will review this because hey it's the 80's and it's sci-fi and I like movies like E.T. and D.A.R.Y.L. so I guess this one should be good. I hope you know how to fly because it's time to review The Last Starfighter.
We start in a trailer park where a boy named Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) lives with is little brother Louis (Chris Hebert) and his mother Jane (Barbara Bosson). He spends most of his time helping out his neighbors instead of doing what he wants like going to the lake with his friend Maggie (Catherine Mary Stewart) and her friends. When he isn't helping his neighbors, he plays an arcade cabinet with a game called The Last Starfighter on it. The game is about defending another galaxy from an evil army. One night Alex is playing The Last Starfigher when someone realizes that Alex might break the high score on the game. So this causes nearly all the people who live there to go and cheer Alex on.....was there really nothing else going on that day? Alex beats the high score and goes to tell his mom who tells him that she got him a loan so that Alex can go to college. Alex goes outside to think about this when a strange man driving the DeLorean from Back to the Future talks to Alex and says that he is the creator of the game and that he wants Alex to come with him.The man introduces himself as Centuari (Robert Preston) and he also reveals that HE IS NOT HUMAN. He is an alien from another planet and his car is a spaceship. Centuari takes Alex to a space station where he tells Alex that since he beat the game he passed the test and he is being recruited as a Starfighter.
Alex talks to a lizard alien named Grig (Dan O'Herihy) who says that Centuari recruited him without permission. Before Alex has a chance to respond someone hacks into the system and sends a message to the Starfighters. The person is Xur an evil overlord who wants to take over the universe. Xur says that there is no hope in defeating him and that he will destroy them all. This scares Alex away and Centuari takes him home. But it looks like Alex left just in time because meanwhile Xur and his friend Lord Kril (Dan Mason) are planning to attack the starfighter base. Now there is a bit of a problem with the movie I would like to bring up here. Xur is not a good villian: he sort of comes off as very whiny and even a bit annoying. Anyway, Xur and Kril kill all The Starfighters. Alex returns home and Centuari gives him a gadget that he can use in case he changes his mind about becoming a Starfighter. Alex finds out that while he was in space a robot named Beta (also Lance Guest) took his place. Alex also finds out that a bunch of alien assassins are after him which means that Xur thinks he is on earth. So Alex calls Centauri and they decide to go back to space where Alex will face Xur. They make it there where it turns out that Centuari was injured and he dies. Bur Grig says that they must move fast so they get in a new prototype ship and plan to take on Xur and Lord Kril.
***SPOILER ALERT STOP HERE IF YOU DON'T WANT THE END RUINED***
They need to make it through the troops of space soldiers and to the turrets to lower their defences. They come up with the idea of hiding in a hollow asteroid and when most of the soldiers pass by, they will jump out at them. Meanwhile back on earth Beta is revealed to be a fake Alex by one of the Assassins and they go to report it to Xur and Kril. But Beta stops him and all Xur and Kril get is "The last Starfighter...." which Xur assumes meant "The last Starfighter is dead". But he isn't dead and Alex ends up using the mega death ray (that's not what it's called but it's basically what it is) to defeat most of the troops. Kril is angry at Xur for assuming Alex is dead and has Xur locked up. Alex and Grig use the weapons to knock out the engine of the enemy ship which locks Kril's ship into the gravity field of a nearby moon which causes them to crash. Alex is declared a hero, Centuari is alive...somehow...and they want Alex to help rebuild the Starfighter league. Alex lands on earth to say goodbye to his friends and family. Alex asks his friend Maggie to come with him but it looks like she isn't ready to go...ah you faked me out with Nim's Island last time but I know that she will come....any minute now....she's going to change her mind....well I guess she is really going to stay...oh wait she's coming with Alex to have many adventures with Alex. The End.
***SPOILERS OVER KEEP READING***
I enjoyed The Last Starfighter. It had some pretty entertaining action and some relatively interesting characters. A lot of the effects are pretty impressive for the time and some characters like Grig, Beta, and Louis are actually pretty funny. Now like I said before Xur isn't a very good villian; he comes off like he got a double scoop of ice cream instead of a triple scoop and he won't stop complaining about it. Also there are quite a few 80's cliches. But I think that if you see this movie at your local video store it's definitely worth a rent. See you next time where I celebrate Christmas with freaky animation.
AND THE GHOST OF ELIAS KINGSTON REALLY IS.....
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