Videogamer wish fullfillment

Watched a relic of the 80's film Saturday with my dad. It was an unexpected find for my dad when he bought it on noticing the "Collector's Edition" label on the DVD, though bootleg it is. The movie in question is The Last Starfighter.



The awesome looking Gunstar of Rylosian Design, a CG experiment using a Cray Supercomputer for its rendering

The premise of the movie was straightforward and kinda thin, a teenage boy who wanted to leave behind his dull trailer park roots when he graduates high schools gets his hopes dashed but keeps seeking his solace in playing the Starfighter arcade game. Unknowingly, the game happens to be a so-called Excalibrate Test conducted by the game's creator, who happens to be a intergalactic con-artist, Centauri.

Centauri goes about convincing Alex Rogan into the joining the ranks of other starfighters to defend the Frontier from Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada. Alex was bewildered and confused with this reality presented to him and opted to go home. Alex subsequently changed his mind after a brush in with a Zando-Zan Intergalactic hitbeast, courtesy of Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada. Seeing Centauri hurt and prompted by his android stand-in, he returns back to a devastated Gunstar base brought about by Xur's treachery and terrorism. Alex is now teamed up with the remaining navigator to pilot the only operational Gunstar to bring the fight to the Ko-Dan Armada at the Frontier's edge. Alex's Beta Unit stand-in had to keep alert for further assasination attempts on Earth.

Navigator Grig explained to Alex that this prototype Gunstar is slightly different in certain performance respects as well as the inclusion of one particular weapon system yet to be tested. The weapon system in question would be used to full effect for one scene.

Alex, having gotten his fear and performance anxiety out of the way, puts up a good fight on knocking out the communications turret on the command ship to cripple the deck fighters' communications. After sniping away at a couple of deck fighters in some passes, the Gunstar gets really surrounded by the enemy. This is where the best part of the movies shows, *drum roll.* the use of the untested weapon system.

The weapon system in question is called the Death Blossom. As I recall from the dialogue and from the novelization of the movie, the Death Blossom basically allows 60 seconds of overfiring all the weapons available on the Gunstar. Of course, the opening of 4 hatches or petals as it was called, brings in additional weapon arrays and launcher to fling energy beams and ordinance into the fray. Its a visually impressive scene to see the Gunstar gyrate gyroscopically in place while shooting off missiles and energy beams to obliterate the huddled mass of fighters in its firing globe.

Gunstar, though close to nil power, was able to outmanuever the command ship and take a few potshots before the command ship meet its end with a collision course with a moon.

The movie rounds up all in all with Alex being awarded for his bravery and faced with the prospect of teaching a new generation of Starfighters to rebuild the Starfighter Legion. Alex of course, opted to pick up someone back on Earth and say his goodbyes before undertaking the position. He gets to go back to Rylos with his girlfriend and then end credits.

The movie was ground-breaking as it raised the bar more in terms of CG effects with reference to an earlier CG heavy movie, Tron. The Gunstar in question was created as a set of blueprints and subsequently scanned into a CG model using a Cray Supercomputer to do all the animation work and such. This also covers for the other CG objects in the film. The story regarding the CG production called for is located here.

Tron was more of foreshadowing to the cyberpunk genre as compared to Last Starfighter which is a wish fullfillment for a videogamer. I mean this movie has enough allure to the teenager in us to have such a fantasy happen in such wild circumstance. I mean how cool it was then to go to the stars because of your great adeptness with a videogame you play?

I'll review another old 80's movie soonest when I have time.

*Bleeps and other digital sounds emanate from the doghouse.*