Last Starfighter

UPC: 025195053587

Studio: Universal Studios

MPAA Rating: PG   Contains:[Mild Violence, Questionable for Children, Adult Language, Sci-Fi Violence, Suitable for Teens]

Summary: Trailer-park teenager Lance Guest regularly escapes from his humdrum existence by playing the video game Starfighter. His expertise at this recreational endeavor attracts the attention of affable stranger Robert Preston. Before he knows what's happening, Guest is whisked by Preston into the outer reaches of the galaxy! It turns out that the Starfighter game is being played in deadly earnest in outer space, and that Guest is expected to join Preston's Star League, then do battle with the wicked Kodan forces. Guest's principal ally is the lizardlike Grig (Dan O'Herlihy--and we didn't recognize him either). His great rival is the traitorous Xur (Norman Snow). The contrast between Guest's earthbound life as the son of single-mother Barbara Bosson and his new position as Starfighter is daunting at first, but soon the boy is manning a spacecraft and zapping the baddies as though he's been doing it all his life. The Last Starfighter was clearly designed with "sequel" in mind: giveaways include the resurrection of a "dead" character and the surprisingly casual escape of the villain. While the film didn't stir up enough business to warrant a sequel, the Starfighter video game remained a much-sought-after commodity by joystick-happy "warriors" all over the country. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Science Fiction

Features: Heroes of the Screen: All-new restrospective documentary with the cast and crew as they revisit the scripting, casting and grounbreaking computer effects

Crossing the Frontier: Making The Last Frontier: An Original documentary on the creation of the film and it innovative visual effects

Image Gallery: Rare production photos, promotional material and an alternate ending

Feature Commentary: with Director Nick Castle and Production Designer Ron Cobb

Last Starfighter

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 08/18/2009

Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Cinemascope

Audio: DD5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 60 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English,Spanish,French

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Disc #1 -- Last Starfighter
1. Main Titles [2:42]
2. A Sparklin' Day [5:28]
3. Sad Starfighter [4:19]
4. Record Breaker [5:51]
5. Recruited [4:08]
6. Stardrive [4:17]
7. What's Goin' On? [3:51]
8. The Ambassador [2:49]
9. Highly Irregular [4:53]
10. The Frontier [4:46]
11. Back On Earth [9:47]
12. Back to the Future [5:19]
13. Last Starfighter [10:41]
14. Hide and Seek [:17]
15. The Command Ship [14:40]
16. An Old Friend [2:00]
17. About Alex [2:55]
18. End Titles [8:09]

Derek Armstrong

At the time of its release, The Last Starfighter attracted a strong following among critics (if not viewers) because it used state-of-the-art effects to create a world separate enough from Star Wars to escape accusations of plagiarism, yet magical enough to inspire wonder. The passage of time has not elevated it to the level of common cultural reference, nor did it result in the franchise the producers clearly wanted. But the film's efforts toward originality are still appreciable. For one, instead of taking place in the future, The Last Starfighter imagines that intergalactic strife and epic gallantry are concurrent with the humdrum lives of American teenagers in trailer parks, and it shifts between these two realms with ease. It provides a satisfying logical leap for those who have dreamed themselves away into video games. It cleverly substitutes a robot doppelganger for the departed Alex Rogan, creating a deft subplot about the infiltrator's attempts to sidestep suspicion. It casts an eternally wise Robert Preston as an interstellar mentor/tour guide, and a boyishly charming Lance Guest in the hero role that should have earned him a lot more film work. The CGI spaceships look crisp, too, even if they stand a little too cleanly against the background. The best explanation for the popular failure of The Last Starfighter is that it caught the audience on a downtrend away from science fiction, which went through a period in which it was box-office poison compared to escapist alternatives like sleek thrillers and action-adventures. ~ Derek Armstrong, Rovi

Cast and Crew: John Maio  Actor 
Bob Kenaston  Actor 
Bruce Abbott  Actor 
Maggie Cooper  Actor 
Charlene Nelson  Actor 
Robert Starr  Actor 
Ed Berke  Actor 
John O'Leary  Actor 
Bunny Summers  Actor 
Ellen Blake  Actor 
Wil Wheaton  Actor 
Geoffrey Blake  Actor 
Britt Leach  Actor 
Kimberly Ross  Actor 
Meg Wyllie  Actor 
Owen Bush  Actor 
George McDaniel  Actor 
Suzanne Snyder  Actor 
Peter Nelson  Actor 
Marc Alaimo  Actor 
Cameron Dye  Actor 
Al Berry  Actor 
Chris Herbert  Actor 
Peggy Pope  Actor 
Vernon Washington  Actor 
Gary Adelson  Producer 
Jonathan Betuel  Screenwriter 
Craig Safan  Composer (Music Score) 
Nick Castle, Jr.  Director 
Edward O. Denault  Producer 
Lance Guest  Actor 
Robert Preston  Actor 
Dan O'Herlihy  Actor 
Catherine Stewart  Actor 
Barbara Bosson  Actor 
Norman Snow  Actor 
Kay Kuter  Actor 
Dan Mason  Actor 

Country: USA