From Box Office Bomb to Cult Beloved: The Story of The Last Starfighter

The Last Starfighter is a 1984 American science fiction film directed by Nick Castle and along with Disney's Tron, has the distinction of being one of cinema's earliest films to use extensive "real-life" computer-generated imagery (CGI) to depict its many starships, environments and battle scenes.

One thing it has in common with Tron is that The Last Starfighter was a box office bomb upon initial release, killing plans for any sequels.

Despite numerous comparisons to Star Wars here we are, 35+ years later still talking about it.

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[Faizrider]

I remember thinking this movie was so cool as a kid. Loved the ship design.

[jamesstaggs]

One of the movies that got recorded off those "free HBO" weeks on VHS, it was a constant companion through my childhood. I must have seen this well over 100 times.

[Rockmanxpr]

My favorite line from this movie has got to be "It'll be a slaughter!" "That's the spirit!"

[randallprice]

Showed The Last Starfighter to my son a few years ago (he was 11 at the time.) As the end credits rolled he slowly stood up from the couch, looked at me and said "That is the greatest movie I've ever seen."

[roseknightmare]

My favourite part is that the hero actually understands that his future is elsewhere, and doesn't choose to go back to his old life at the end. So different from modern stories.

[kalron]

I watched this recently again and was surprised that it wasn't just a guilty pleasure but a solid film. The entire trailer park is full a characters that bring heart to the film. Solid '80s flick.

[pravusprime]

Always loved this movie. I remember a documentary where the original cray renders were going to be photo-realistic or at least closer, but it would've taken far too long to render so they went essentially with the basic setting instead. I wouldn't mind seeing a re-release with updated renders to be more in line with modern CGI since the rest of the movie has aged so well.

[ottototo]

"What do we do?"
"We die."
The bad guy generals were tough.

[alexrodriguez]

The Japanese animated feature “Lensman” hit theatres in Japan exactly 6 days before the release of “Last Starfighter”… although Lensman would not get an official release in the US until many years later. The photorealistic space battles in Lensman were also rendered on a Cray supercomputer

[MichaelMartin-qeye]

They could've made a similar movie about me and my arcade skills. It would've been titled, "Let's recruit that kid who is kinda ok at Golden Axe."

[SmokeBreakWithHuck]

I saw the movie as a kid and started picking out arcade games to play for a whole summer based on if would send me to a sci fi world or not. Great video Dan!

[neobluemax]

This movie is cross generational. Kids today get it just as much now as we did in the 80s.

[rikaika]

Oh man, how can you talk about the movie without even a mention of the outstanding score by Craig Safan? The main theme can easily hold it's own against other iconic scores. I've loved this movie since 1984 and I'm one of the people who 3d printed the Gunstar model I was denied as a kid.

[lanceturley]

The movie that dared to ask "What if those countless hours and quarters I spent playing Galaga *wasn't* a waste of time and money?"

[TerranIV]

Man I loved this movie. So many great lines!!!
Navigation officer: "She won't answer the helm! We're locked into the moon's gravitation pull. What do we do?"
Lord Kril: [Looks up and flips his favorite little eyepiece over his eye once more.]
"We die."

[TrueYellowDart]

Hell yeah! This movie still holds up. Some dated 80’s stuff, sure, but the great parts are *still* great!

[mechamanblade]

It's such a crime that The Last Starfighter hasn't had any official toys by now.

[VIPERRED]

"It'll be a slaughter!!!"
"That's the spirit!!!"

[joshpayne]

Robert Preston. What a national treasure. Too bad his awesomeness has been lost on the more recent generations, he was an amazing talent.

[TrueYellowDart]

Also, while the score is good the main theme is DOPE.