The Last Starfighter

[jdanddiet]

Watched this with my son last weekend. I'd never seen it before and was a bit disappointed after all I'd heard about it. However it is getting a remake so fingers crossed that'll be decent.

At the time it's special effects were amazing, using a Cray computer iirc. Any fans?

[Matt_B]

I thought it was great for its time. Still, that was the 1980s when the best 3D computer graphics we'd seen were in games like Elite or the Star Wars arcade games. They certainly didn't skimp when it came to using the best technology of the day either; the Cray rendered the CGI sequences at 5K resolution - better than a lot of more modern films because 2K was the predominant digital editing standard throughout the 1990s - and the individual frames had polygon counts in the hundreds of thousands. Still, it never looks anything but computer generated as a lot of the post-processing techniques modern games use to make things look more realistic either hadn't been invented or were too computationally expensive to implement. Now that we've had games of similar visual quality - and hardware that can render them in real time albeit not necessarily at 5K - for a couple of decades it all probably seems rather mundane, if not downright minimalist.

I'd be a bit hesitant as to what they could do with an update of the film. Sure, they could make the graphics look more appealing to modern audiences, and update the story to reflect the changes in the games industry - and wider society in general - but I'd hope that they don't mess too much with something that's pretty much pure unadulterated wish fulfillment. On the other hand, if you think the premise could use a grittier and more downbeat take, there's already Ender's Game.

[oldtimer]

I love the film.
Its one of the very few VHS Pre.recorded tapes I still have along with TRON and the Warriors.

[merman]

Love the film, hate the fact it's getting a remake.

[Big Shoes]

I Love The Last Starfighter, seen it too many times to count

[mr jenzie]

..... is AWESOME .....
the last starfighter is AWESOME!!!


seminal favourite, still remember the clip they showed of at at the end of film84!

hell with a remake, i want a proper sequel to it

[The Laird]

Have you played the games though?

[Antiriad2097]

Yes, though not on the full arcade cab.

The movie was ok, but it has dated badly and is por/clunky in places. There are slow sections and some of the comedy moments don't quite work, mostly the earthbound bits. A remake could be very good if handled correctly and updated to fix those elements. Most of the offworld stuff is still enjoyable. The CGI does look terrible now, unlike Tron's stylised visuals.

[Matt_B]

You can get it from here:
http://www.roguesynapse.com/games/last_starfighter.php

Well, it's not the game in the film; that never existed, but some fans put a game together to look like it based on the footage and it certainly looks the part. In terms of how it plays, it's OK but realistically the sort of thing you'd probably only have a go on a few times and then forget about. They also made some other fictional games from films such as Space Paranoids from Tron.

I think the only ever official Last Starfighter game released was a thinly made over port of Uridium to the NES, so it's definitely one for the fans and completists.

Solaris and Star Raiders II were also going to be at some point, but Atari were in a mess at the time and the licensing deal fell through. Star Raiders II still very much looks the part though as much of it resembles scenes from the film - at least as closely as you were going to get with 80s home micro graphics - and they only gave it a minor makeover to avoid intellectual property infringement.

[The Laird]

Yes Solaris and Star Raiders II were both going to be Last Starfighter games. After the film bombed in the cinema Atari decided to let the licence expire so they didn't have to pay any royalties and then renamed both games. You can download a complete version of the Atari 8-bit version online very easily. Both superb games too and the references are clear to see.

[RetroMartin]

I really enjoyed the film back in the day. I had a taped copy off BBC when they aired it randomly in 1990 or so.

I watched it an awful lot back then. Didn't care if the computer graphics were iffy, it was super cool for a young kid!

[kiwimike]

Enjoy this movie, despite having to forgive a bit of dated 80s cheese now.

Would prefer Ernest Clines Armada to be made into a movie rather than a remake of this though....similiar sort of thing, and seeing Ready Player one is a month or two off now!

[Timothy Redux]

Watching it a christmas, I can imagine with a bit more skill behind the camera how it could have been a great film and a big hit. The old CGI FX now have a nice date charm to them too

[Greyfox]

Wasn't there a rumour that this is getting a remake?

[Matt_B]

Wasn't there a rumour that this is getting a remake?

It was a bit more than a rumour.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/04/rogu ... er-reboot/

That said, there's a long way to go between some people working on a script and it going into production.