4 Star

Sci-fi Cult Classic.

Those of a certain age rejoice as a 1980s Sci-fi cult classic, the boundary pushing The Last Starfighter, comes to 4K courtesy of Arrow Video. The Nick Castle (Escape from New York (writer), The Boy Who Could Fly) Sci-fi adventure that relied heavily on state-of-the-art computer graphics created by Ron Cobb (Dark Star, Alien, Star Wars) who used a Cray X-MP supercomputer, to bring the spacecraft to life. This is a 1980s geek-fest, and it is a must-see for any Sci-fi fan, whatever your age. We also wanted computer games to look like this in the 80s, no hope of that back then.

Starlite Starbrite Trailer Court is in the middle of nowhere, and that is the best thing going for it. The residence are mostly elderly, except the Rogan family, they are mother Jane (Barbara Bosson, Hill Street Blues (TV Series), Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (TV Series)), College hopeful Alex (Lance Guest, Halloween II, Jaws: The Revenge), and young brat Louis (Chris Hebert, Otherworld (TV Series), Murder, She Wrote (TV Series)). Alex spends all his time doing odd jobs around the Court as he awaits news of his scholarship.

The rest of his time he spends up by Otis’s trailer, where there is the second love of his life, the Starfighter arcade machine. The first love is his girlfriend Maggie Gordon (Catherine Mary Stewart, Night of the Comet, Weekend at Bernie’s), they have promised to be with each other what ever happens.

Greetings, Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada.

After a bad day Alex decides to take out his frustration on the Starfighter game, his state heightens his senses, and his score is stratospheric, Louis alerts the rest of the residence, and they crowd around him as he beats the command vessel, ending the game.

After the adulation, Alex is alone when he hears the arcade machine making strange noises and jiggling about. While he tries to figure out what’s going, on a futuristic car pulls up and Alex tells the driver that they are closed.

I’m not here for cigarettes or bubblegum, my boy.

The driver is Centauri (Robert Preston, The Music Man, Victor/Victoria), he is the creator of the Starfighter game, and he is here to congratulate Alex, with a ride in his supercar. Hesitantly Alex excepts, Centauri takes him on a trip that will change his life, as the Arcade machine was not simply a hard arcade game but a recruitment tool to help save the universe, along with his navigator Grig (Dan O’Herlihy, RoboCop, RoboCop 2)

Save the Whales, but not the Universe, huh!

This film always puts a smile on my face, and now on 4K UHD Blu-ray it should put a smile on the whole families face. A definite own for any self-respecting Sci-fi fan, and one to get the kids involved in the genre.

The Last Starfighter 4K Ultra HD
Collector’s Edition is available now.

4K ULTRA HD BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS

Brand new 4K restoration by Arrow Films from the original camera negative

4K (2160p) Ultra HD Blu-ray presentation in Dolby Vision (HDR10 compatible)

Uncompressed 2.0 stereo, 5.1 DTS-HD MA and 4.1 audio

Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

Audio commentary with star Lance Guest and his son Jackson Guest

Audio commentary with Mike White of The Projection Booth podcast

Archival audio commentary with director Nick Castle and production designer Ron Cobb

Maggie’s Memories: Revisiting The Last Starfighter – interview with actor Catherine Mary Stewart

Into the Starscape: Composing The Last Starfighter – interview with composer Craig Safan

Incredible Odds: Writing The Last Starfighter – interview with screenwriter Jonathan Betuel

Interstellar Hit-Beast: Creating the Special Effects – interview with special effect’s supervisor Kevin Pike

Excalibur Test: Inside Digital Productions – interview with sci-fi author Greg Bear on Digital Productions, the company responsible for the CGI in The Last Starfighter

Greetings Starfighter! Inside the Arcade Game – an interview with arcade game collector Estil Vance on reconstructing the Starfighter game

Heroes of the Screen – archival featurette

Crossing the Frontier: The Making of The Last Starfighter – archival 4-part documentary

Image galleries

Theatrical and teaser trailers

Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Matt Ferguson

Collector’s booklet featuring writing by Amanda Reyes and sci-fi author Greg Bear’s Omni magazine article on Digital Productions, the company responsible for the CGI in The Last Starfighter