The Last Starfighter Re-Watch

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#21

In reference to not trusting people who don’t watch sci-fi, I have another film school story…

We were watching the Woody Allen segment from the anthology film “New York Stories”, in which his character’s overbearing mother dies and then appears to him as a spirit in the sky constantly harassing him (it’s actually pretty funny, from the days before you start realizing he plays the same character in every movie). As we went around discussing it, one lady said she liked the film all right except for the “unrealistic” parts–by which of course, she meant the visions of Woody Allen’s mother.

“Unrealistic.” This was the word she used. Not like the movies where the mousy girl just needs to take off her glasses and smooth back her hair to be pretty and accepted, or heroes only get shot in the shoulder no matter how many bullets fly around them, or the attractive man and woman who hate each other at the beginning of the movie fall in love by the end…I could, obviously go on. Fortunately, my instructor was wiser and more patient than I, and he debunked her complaint by explaining the “unrealistic” parts were a metaphor, and that fantasy is good for that sort of thing (maybe more real than the “real” stuff?).

People who don’t understand the use of imagination in storytelling completely mystify me.

#22

Thank you, thank you, thank you, GWC crew for choosing The Last Starfighter as your first DTA show! This has always been one of my favorite films.

#23

Just found this:

http://www.theonion.com/content/node/28239

You will laugh out loud.

#24

Wow, you’d almost think that was penned by an Alpaca !! Do we have an Onion writer in our midst ??

#25

Wow.

Just, “Wow.”

#26

That was great!

#27

  1. Love this podcast. Finally got around to listening to it and it’s got all the extra stuff of a regular 'cast times 10.

  2. Audra- The cymbal banging monkey might have been from “Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders”, which would become the final new episode of MST3K (and a hilarious one, at that).
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merlin’s_Shop_of_Mystical_Wonders

  3. Sean- Check out this clip from last week’s “My Name Is Earl” for some INSANE H.R. Pufnstuf action. Go to the full episode “Creative Writing” and click on HR’s face. They do a few stupid forced NBC sponsor clips, but it’s totally worth it. It starts around 4 minutes in.
    http://www.nbc.com/My_Name_Is_Earl/video/episodes.shtml

#28

I remember doing that myself! I thought that this couldn’t be a real place that I was in, I someone’s going to tell me that I have to go back to the real world soon… I’m still waiting. :wink:

You are most welcome, we’re just glad to have other people geek out on it with us!

I will check that out, sounds freaky. I aways thought that HR Puff-n-stuff was what tripping on mushrooms must be like. :wink:

#29

Made an appearance in Eurotrip also.

#30

Number 13 - Thanks for the link! I read the Wikipedia entry and discovered what I had been wondering:

“The evident dissimilarity in both the camera quality and story tone of the second act is the result of director Kenneth J. Berton editing scenes from his 1984 film, The Devil’s Gift, into the Merlin story. In the original film, the boy’s stepmother is actually possessed by the evil monkey—these scenes are not included in the Merlin version, so she simply disappears mid-way through the story with no explanation.”

The Devil’s Gift is the movie that was playing on TV that I saw parts of as a kid. It scared me so much the scenes were seared into my memory but I never knew exactly what the movie was…lol

#31

Never go back, never surrender.:cool:

#32

Well hey, I’m deathly afraid of the type of monkey in “Outbreak”. I saw it as a 2nd grade and I’ve been a moderate germaphobe/ hypochondriac ever since!

#33

Guys,

The question was asked “Why doesn’t someone come out with The Last Starfighter” game. Someone has! I’ll leave it to Sean to give the review. The URL is:

http://www.roguesynapse.com/games/last_starfighter.php

Second topic - I know one of the head CGI guys that did The Last Starfighter. His company was also doing CGI based stuff for military flight simulators and other demonstration videos. Eventually, gaming took off and the company became Angel Studios (since purchased by Rockstar), which did mainly car games such as Midnight Run and Smuggler’s Run. Cool Guy … scary smart.

#34

downloaded and tried to play but I couldnt get it past Insert Coin mode and couldn’t find a read me.

#35

So this is pretty late, but I happened to have the opportunity to see the Last Starfighter for the first time last week, then listened to DTA #1. This is absolutely the kind of movie I would have LOVED as a kid, but depending on whether it debuted in the first half or second half of 1984, I was either in utero or veeerrrry small at the time. High five to you guys for putting it on my radar!

p.s. I will always trust Centauri

#36

I dropped a blog post about this with some of the controls. It’s pretty similar to the MAME controls if you’re familiar with those:

http://www.galacticawatercooler.com/2007/10/31/fight-the-ko-dan-armada-for-reals/

#37

I nominate a variation of that brilliant phrase for GWC swag:

On t-shirts, mugs and bumperstickers:

In Centauri We Trust

#38

GWC thanks for the rewatch of the Last Starfighter. I believe I am roughly the same age as most of you, and it was very nostalgic to relive this movie by listening you. I can vividly remember seeing this movie on VHS for the first time. A buddy and I were small enough back then to sit in the same crappy plaid arm chair and watch it. This was only the second sci fi film I had seen up to that time (the other was the Empire Strikes Back) and it made a huge impression on me that has lasted to this day. I hope you all keep up this rewatch business. I am enjoying it immensely.

#39

Santa brought me the Last Starfighter Collectors Edition DVD today. :smiley:

#40

Woot! Go Santa, go santa!!!