rra
King Koopa
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 1:07:25 GMT -5
THE LAST STARFIGHTER (1984) - ***It's funny how the only good video game-based movie ever produced wasn't actually based on a real video game, but it should have been. I had written in my TRANSFORMERS review that one of my chief problems with the material was that I couldn't relate to the hero at all. I mean, a kid being a wuss over a girl, whatever. I'm sorry, either you ask her out or you don't. If she says yes, worship her. If veto, then be an immature jerk and call her a slut. It's not that hard. God damn complicated Emos. Now THE LAST STARFIGHTER, I could relate to its basic fantasy-premise as a kid. What if my gaming skills, and the endless hours I had spent on refining them, actually was useful? What if my constant button-smashing had a purpose in life? The answer of "Yes" to both questions are the basis for STARFIGHTER, where a trailer park kid breaks the "unbreakable" record of the "Starfighter" arcade unit, and finds out that its not a game, but a simulator used to gauge fighter-pilot skills by the Star League or whatever generic sci-fi label. An intergalactic military recruiter in Robert Preston takes this hot rookie stud out into outer space to join the elite Starfighters, engaged in a real war against real aliens for real survival. Now the plot for STARFIGHTER isn't awful, but its not terribly creative nor remarkable. A young man wants to escape his crappy home, looks out to the stars, happens to have quick reflexes, joins a righteous army up in space and saves the day. That the scriptwriter rehashed STAR WARS doesn't shock me as much as the fact that George Lucas didn't sue the hell out of him and Universal Pictures. What turns STARFIGHTER into something more than a decent STAR WARS rip-off is when Preston appears. Reworking up his THE MUSIC MAN schtick, he's not a wise-mentor like Obi-Wan Kenobi, but a wise-guy. An alien that isn't super-intelligent nor look down upon the backward humans, but more of a hustler trying to fill up his quota in desperate times. For his last movie, Preston gives us magical credibility for a picture that sorely needs it. But what hooks me though is when the big-ass holo-projected head of Xur (Norman Snow) pops up. Giving the standard-protocol speech by villains, he then scowls down at the Starfighters with "...and not even your precious Starfighters can save you now!" Bingo. What proceeds is a video game in itself, when the kid becomes literally the title character, and must blow up alot of enemies. It's a juvenile boy's adventure, but I enjoyed how director Nick Castle successfully pulled off this tiny feat without being condescending to either the kids or the adults. Now though this movie is more remembered for being a technological milestone in its application of CGI in cinema, a decade before TERMINATOR 2 and TOY STORY. For the amount of FX used, the modest budget, and the fact that it came out in the year of Orwell, its still rather impressive considering the circumstances, I must say. Younger kids might laugh at how primitive and simplified the space ships and attack sequences are, but I used to laugh at those rubber monster flicks from the '50s, so payback is indeed a bitch. Re-watching THE LAST STARFIGHTER led me to nostalgia of the old Video Game Arcade days, when stupid kids choked up the machines with their blown allowances. Back when people actually gathered around a player trying to break a record, and rooting to see history made. An era when it was a mark of honor if you could beat down STREET FIGHTER II with a single quarter, or when popular games like MORTAL KOMBAT actually came out to the arcades before the home gaming consoles. A time when we boys dreamed of actually being saviors of the universe, one joystick at a time.
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AriadosMan
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Your friendly neighborhood superhero
Posts: 15,620
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Post by AriadosMan on Dec 16, 2007 1:12:05 GMT -5
Come to think of it, they should probably show this on a double bill with Tron, as I think those are the only two arcade-game themed movies that weren't based on an existing arcade game (the Tron arcade game came later)
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rra
King Koopa
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 1:14:27 GMT -5
Come to think of it, they should probably show this on a double bill with Tron, as I think those are the only two arcade-game themed movies that weren't based on an existing arcade game (the Tron arcade game came later) A good idea, though funny story: I've never seen TRON. I know, shocking. That said, I do think that a remake of LAST STARFIGHTER isn't actually a bad idea. It would probably suck, but the idea in itself could work. Maybe a home console machine instead of say an arcade unit, though it would lack as much magic....or maybe I could be proven wrong.
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Post by Munkie91087 on Dec 16, 2007 1:14:36 GMT -5
I have this movie on DVD, it is seriously one of my all time favorite movies. I agree with pretty much everything you said.
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Post by THE Dinobot on Dec 16, 2007 1:15:47 GMT -5
Glad I requested a review of this classic, and so pleasing to see a lack of negativity. You've said it all, pretty much perfectly, rra. An era when it was a mark of honor if you could beat down STREET FIGHTER II with a single quarter, or when popular games like MORTAL KOMBAT actually came out to the arcades before the home gaming consoles. A time when we boys dreamed of actually being saviors of the universe, one joystick at a time. Amen to that!
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 1:28:54 GMT -5
Glad I requested a review of this classic, and so pleasing to see a lack of negativity. You've said it all, pretty much perfectly, rra. An era when it was a mark of honor if you could beat down STREET FIGHTER II with a single quarter, or when popular games like MORTAL KOMBAT actually came out to the arcades before the home gaming consoles. A time when we boys dreamed of actually being saviors of the universe, one joystick at a time. Amen to that! LAST STARFIGHTER aint perfect. The beta-unit scenes are a good concept, if are hit-and-miss, but even the "miss" aren't that bad...so its not a real problem for me. Or the fact that there is an opening left in the opening for a sequel, with the villain's fate. At least that conclusion/sequel-promise didn't jerk me as bad* as some other cases. Its a good decent, fun flick....and "fun" in a deserving way. *=Why we're getting more SHREK sequels instead of the never-happened follow-ups for BUCKAROO BANZAI, REMO WILLIAMS, and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA...boo!
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AriadosMan
Bill S. Preston, Esq.
Your friendly neighborhood superhero
Posts: 15,620
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Post by AriadosMan on Dec 16, 2007 1:41:41 GMT -5
LAST STARFIGHTER aint perfect. The beta-unit scenes are a good concept, if are hit-and-miss, but even the "miss" aren't that bad...so its not a real problem for me. Or the fact that there is an opening left in the opening for a sequel, with the villain's fate. At least that conclusion/sequel-promise didn't jerk me as bad* as some other cases. Its a good decent, fun flick....and "fun" in a deserving way. *=Why we're getting more SHREK sequels instead of the never-happened follow-ups for BUCKAROO BANZAI, REMO WILLIAMS, and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA...boo! Damn I hate Shrek. That Shrek Christmas special was AWFUL.
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pegasuswarrior
El Dandy
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@PulpPictionary
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Post by pegasuswarrior on Dec 16, 2007 1:47:36 GMT -5
One of the best movie posters/video covers of the 1980s. So many memories were brought back just by seeing this thread.
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Dr. T is an alien
Patti Mayonnaise
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I've been found out!
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Post by Dr. T is an alien on Dec 16, 2007 2:49:59 GMT -5
Glad I requested a review of this classic, and so pleasing to see a lack of negativity. You've said it all, pretty much perfectly, rra. Amen to that! LAST STARFIGHTER aint perfect. The beta-unit scenes are a good concept, if are hit-and-miss, but even the "miss" aren't that bad...so its not a real problem for me. Or the fact that there is an opening left in the opening for a sequel, with the villain's fate. At least that conclusion/sequel-promise didn't jerk me as bad* as some other cases. Its a good decent, fun flick....and "fun" in a deserving way. *=Why we're getting more SHREK sequels instead of the never-happened follow-ups for BUCKAROO BANZAI, REMO WILLIAMS, and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA...boo! I would so have loved a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, Remo Williams, or Big Trouble in Little China.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 9:21:05 GMT -5
LAST STARFIGHTER aint perfect. The beta-unit scenes are a good concept, if are hit-and-miss, but even the "miss" aren't that bad...so its not a real problem for me. Or the fact that there is an opening left in the opening for a sequel, with the villain's fate. At least that conclusion/sequel-promise didn't jerk me as bad* as some other cases. Its a good decent, fun flick....and "fun" in a deserving way. *=Why we're getting more SHREK sequels instead of the never-happened follow-ups for BUCKAROO BANZAI, REMO WILLIAMS, and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA...boo! I would so have loved a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, Remo Williams, or Big Trouble in Little China. Those flicks were so good, they deserved a sequel. I can't say that for most Hollywood fare.
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Post by Paul Servo on Dec 16, 2007 10:13:45 GMT -5
LAST STARFIGHTER aint perfect. The beta-unit scenes are a good concept, if are hit-and-miss, but even the "miss" aren't that bad...so its not a real problem for me. Or the fact that there is an opening left in the opening for a sequel, with the villain's fate. At least that conclusion/sequel-promise didn't jerk me as bad* as some other cases. Its a good decent, fun flick....and "fun" in a deserving way. *=Why we're getting more SHREK sequels instead of the never-happened follow-ups for BUCKAROO BANZAI, REMO WILLIAMS, and BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA...boo! I would so have loved a sequel to Buckaroo Banzai, Remo Williams, or Big Trouble in Little China. There was supposed to be a BANZI tv show on FOX that never surfaced. There was (is?) a comic that shows plots that were to be done there (my local comic shop only had the $0.25 preview copy). I do have to look for that preview copy because it does explain why the show never surfaced A REMO WILLIAMS pilot was filmed and aired during the "we've got these pilots that didn't cut it, so we're going to burn them off" week that networks used to like to do (it was actually the same week TAG TEAM aired. Other shows that week were a K9 pilot starring Richard Caradiene and a show based on I'M GONNA GIT YOU SUCCA which co-starred Issac Hayes)
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Post by Paul Servo on Dec 16, 2007 10:18:01 GMT -5
Oh, about the remake idea above. I think if the updated version was some sort of on-line game (or an X-Box Live type thing) it could work.
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Post by THE Dinobot on Dec 16, 2007 10:33:21 GMT -5
If Starfighter was to get a remake, they've got to keep Alex in his mid-to-late teens and not replaced with a much younger punk kid to be all family friendly or whatever non-sense they like to do.
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Post by Hypnotix on Dec 16, 2007 13:58:10 GMT -5
There was supposed to be a BANZI tv show on FOX that never surfaced. There was (is?) a comic that shows plots that were to be done there (my local comic shop only had the $0.25 preview copy). I do have to look for that preview copy because it does explain why the show never surfaced Actually Banzai did air for about two weeks around 2002, I think. Then it got scrapped. It showed up later on G4 for maybe one season, then got scrapped again. One thing I remember about The Last Starfighter was the little kid who kept looking through his brother's Playboys, and saying "diarrhea."
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rra
King Koopa
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 17:11:26 GMT -5
Oh, about the remake idea above. I think if the updated version was some sort of on-line game (or an X-Box Live type thing) it could work. Sounds good to me.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Dec 16, 2007 19:28:25 GMT -5
If Starfighter was to get a remake, they've got to keep Alex in his mid-to-late teens and not replaced with a much younger punk kid to be all family friendly or whatever non-sense they like to do. Totally agree.
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Post by Palatial Regalia on Dec 16, 2007 20:29:25 GMT -5
Cloak and Dagger
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Post by Aaron E. Dangerously on Dec 16, 2007 21:25:52 GMT -5
I had written in my TRANSFORMERS review that one of my chief problems with the material was that I couldn't relate to the hero at all. I mean, a kid being a wuss over a girl, whatever. I'm sorry, either you ask her out or you don't. If she says yes, worship her. If veto, then be an immature jerk and call her a slut. It's not that hard. God damn complicated Emos. See, I could relate to Transformers for that reason, because I'm an insecure teenager, who doesn't have a good perception of when I should ask out a girl.
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Dec 16, 2007 21:51:31 GMT -5
I loved this movie as a kid.
And yeah, I was too young to go to the arcades, but man...
This movie has a soft spot in my heart, right next to The Secret of NIMH and War Games.
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rra
King Koopa
Posts: 10,145
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Post by rra on Dec 17, 2007 8:44:57 GMT -5
I had written in my TRANSFORMERS review that one of my chief problems with the material was that I couldn't relate to the hero at all. I mean, a kid being a wuss over a girl, whatever. I'm sorry, either you ask her out or you don't. If she says yes, worship her. If veto, then be an immature jerk and call her a slut. It's not that hard. God damn complicated Emos. See, I could relate to Transformers for that reason, because I'm an insecure teenager, who doesn't have a good perception of when I should ask out a girl. Let me guess, you dig HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, right?
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