Back in the day (Read: the 70's and the 80's), Disney went on a huge Sci-Fi movie kick creating some of the most loved Sci-Fi cult classics such as TRON, The Black Hole, Flight of the Navigator, Escape to Witch Mountain, and others using their then state of the art, top of the industry know how of special effects wizardry. The results of which stuck in peoples minds to this day. Recently, Disney has been reviving these said classics in several different ways, TRON is finally getting a full blockbuster movie sequel as well as a Witch Mountain remake with Dwane "The Rock" Johnson along with rereleasing their older counterparts in order to gain interest in these new remakes. Enter the 25th Anniversary Blu-Ray release of The Last Starfighter.
After having much success combining gaming with the Sci-Fi genre two years earlier with TRON, Disney decided to follow it up with The Last Starfighter once again, combining the same two elements and once again trying out the use of the then new technique of CGI in a movie. The plot revolves around a teenager named Alex who lives in a trailer park who's life is going nowhere fast due to the fact he can't seem to get into college due to money issues. In order to take his mind off of his home life problems, he starts playing this arcade game called "Starfighter" and soon plays it enough to become the top player. Soon enough the game's creator comes looking for Alex. Turns out the game is actually a test made by aliens in order to find a hero who could help them in their war against the Ko-Dan Empire! Soon enough Alex is thrown in over his head into this conflict and it is up to him to rise to the challenge and overcome his fears to save the universe.
The movie itself still holds up to this day and looks awesome in this Blu-Ray transfer. Granted the CGI effects tend to look quite dated but you have to remember that this was one of the first films to ever use CGI effects in it along with live action and was considered state of the art back in its time. The sound has also been completely remastered for a nice 5.1 audio mix.
The special features on the disc are very well put together giving us a look at all the technical aspects of putting together a movie like this at the time as well as interviews with the cast and crew. We also get an entertaining commentary from the Director and and Production Designer that is worth a listen.
Special Features:
– Feature Commentary with Director Nick Castle and Production Designer Ron Cobb
– Heroes of the Screen
– Crossing the Frontier: Making The Last Starfighter
– Image Gallery
– BD Live Download Center
– Trailers
Overall, this is a great classic Sci-Fi cult classic that is a must have for lovers of the genre, and with the recent news of a possible revival/sequel movie on the horizon, this Blu-Ray release is completely worth your time!
Comicsonline.com gives The Last Starfighter 25th Anniversary Edition 4 stars out of 5
