1984 was one heck of a year in terms of movies. It gave us Ghostbusters, The Terminator, The Karate Kid, Night of the Comet, Nightmare on Elm Street, and so many
more classic, iconic films. Among these masterpieces of the 80s, the year also gave us The Last Starfighter. Though it was lost in the crowd of great films at the time and a box office flop, The Last Starfighter quickly became a cult classic. Its story revolves around a young man, Alex Rogan, living in a trailer park who wants more out of life. Alex is obsessed with a video game that turns out to be a test sent out across the universe to locate those with the talent to become Starfighters. He’s whisked away from Earth to defend the Star League and soon finds himself to be the only person who can stop the Ko-Dan empire from taking over all of space.
Full of great characters, fun writing, and a novel take on “gamers” and video games, The Last Starfighter is an enjoyable and easily lovable film. Its sole drawback is the extremely dated quality of its FX. Though revolutionary for its time, they are difficult to endure by modern viewers. Still, the film is worth a watch and hopefully will one day be remade. There has been talk of a sequel for a few years with several “names” attached to the project but as of yet, nothing has gotten the green light from Hollywood.
