First off…one of the best movies ever. I was so glad to hear you guys talk about it on today’s podcast. I don’t think it is “too out there” to be re-watched…this is a classic!
I’ll add more details later (putting daughter down to bed). Who else enjoys this film? Anyone not seen it?
Totally love it – reminds me of high school 
Just picked it up actually in HD and it looks great !!
There are two things that always spring to mind in reference to The Last Starfighter: Another childhood special effects make-up mental scar (Just behind V if you’re counting) and Wil Wheaton!
Was a great movie when I first saw it (when I was in my early teens) and I saw it again a few months ago (i’m 23 now) and I still thought it was a great scifi movie.
Really? That is so good to hear. I have been afraid to re-watch for fear that my mind has made it more than it was. Same story with me and Tron.
This has always been a point of contention between me and my other geeky friends, but I just can’t take this movie remotely seriously.
Like Ultraviolet, the only way I can find any enjoyment in The Last Starfighter is to have my own personal Mystery Science Theater going in my head while watching 
I can’t help it. I love this one.
This movie was, perhaps, a bit cheesy -but it had such a big impact on making who I am that I cannot speak ill of it. It always struck me as the perfect kid turned hero tale. After seeing this when I was but a wee lad, I could make a direct line in my young mind on not only how aliens could come to earth looking for me but why they would travel across the stars looking for little Sean O’Hara. I’d have gone with Centari in a New York Minute.
Yeah, I dunno what everyone’s smoking on this one - saying it’s to obscure…like Buckroo Banzai was “main stream” right? I have a DVD copy of Last Starfighter coming from amazon as we speak and I’m totally stoked about it!
Oh yes my friends, this is a classic.
Frak you, Sean. You sold me. OK, if I end up on the street with a sign saying “Will work for DVD’s,” it’s your fault.
I kind of put this one in the same league as battle beyond the stars, both enteretaining, as for buckaroo bonzai, we never got that here, I sense im somehow missing out
I am having trouble articulating what it is about this movie that resonated with me. Is it feeling like I had a gift and was misunderstood? Perhaps. Stuck in a place where you are needed, but that need weighs you down? Constantly putting others ahead of yourself?
In the end, who knows. This movie arrived at the right time in my life, smack dab in the middle of my teenage years when I was feeling alone and misunderstood. It gave me hope of something more, of a greater purpose.
Anyway, enough waxing. I too have the 20th anniversary edition and will watch it again fondly. Quick piece of trivia: The StarCar from this movie can be found parked on one of the streets in Back to the Future II.
Alex Rogan: One gunstar? Against the whole armada? It’ll be a slaughter!
Grig: That’s the spirit!
Alex Rogan: No, MY slaughter!
I liked it because my name is Alex too… 
Have I mentioned before that I love the internet? With a little snooping around with the new fact that the Starcar was in Back to the Future I was able to find some screen caps from the movie. Lo and behold after going through several there she was:
I would love to think that this is a thoughtful homage and shows new depths to the producers of the Back to the Future series. Unless proven otherwise the pragmatist in me suspects they said, “Hey, go to the studio rental lot and get us some futuristic cars.”
This was one of my favorite kid-plays-with-a-raygun kind of science-fiction movies, and I can’t help but lump it in with Ender’s Game. The one complaint I had was that I’d forgotten some the high-school sexual angst that made it a little bit uncomfortable when I watched it with my then 8-year-old son.
The first-generation computer graphics (done on a Cray, if I remember correctly) are overly clean and crisp, but hold up pretty well for the hooky factor.
— Dismal the bad dad
Oh HEEELLL yeah! I always wondered if that was Centari’s car! Now I can clearly see that the recruiting was going in the future as well. The kodan armada must be busy rebuilding in the future! Maybe I still have a chance to beat the game!
I LOVE this movie! I haven’t bought the DVD (yet!) but I think my husband thinks I’m nuts 'cause every time I find it on cable, I watch it. My favorite part is when the double removes his head to work on his ear and keeps telling Lewis to go to sleep!
This is without a doubt one of my favorite all time sci-fi movies. I bought the DVD when it came out. The funniest thing was I didn’t get a chance to listen to the podcast until today, and not two days ago I ripped the Last Starfighter soundtrack to my computer. According to the copyright, ive had that cd since 95, and the movie was 83 I am starting to feel old!!
My favorite is still the bit about having it all figured out by the time we reach the frontier. I use that almost daily!
Quick thought, if they ever did a prequel they could call it “The Penultimate Starfighter” or “The Next to Last Starfighter”.
Thats funny
Heh. I could see it as a short film. Hmmm…