The Last Starfighter (1984) First Time Watching Reaction & Review 

"Greetings, Starfighter. You have been recruited by the Star League to defend the frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada." Fun Fact: Cinematographer King Baggot stands in as Alex Rogan's (Lance Guest) father in family photos. CGI Over Practical Fact: All visual effects (not practical effects like make-up and explosions) were made on a Cray X-MP computer. Although horriblely dated by today's standards, they were cutting edge when this movie was made. Automobile Enthusiast Fact: The "Star Car" that Centauri (Robert Preston) drives is based on a DeLorean, including its gull wing doors and its stainless steel construction. It was basically a VW engine, covered with sheet metal. This resulted in a car that didn't move very fast and sounded terrible. Most of the Star Car driving shots were undercranked with additional space-age sound effects. Legendary Prop Fact: Soon after Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) meets Grig (Dan O'Herlihy) for the first time, we see Grig adjusting a device with rotating red beams. This piece of equipment has been seen in many science fiction films and television series (including Star Trek II: The Wrath Of Khan (1982), Airplane II: The Sequel (1982) and an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987)), but its function is never explained. Reshoots Shenanigans Fact: A great number of the scenes with the Beta Unit were shot after the main filming was complete, because the test audience liked the comic relief of the Beta Unit scenes, and director Nick Castle decided they added more originality to the "boy gets to go to outer space" story. This is why in many of the Beta Unit scenes, Lance Guest is wearing a wig. He had cut his hair by the time those new scenes were shot.

This and _Tron_ were the first feature films to use CGI. It’s not really an accident that both of them are about video games.

One of my favorite films! I'm happy you reviewed it! I'm always quoting: "You don't trifle with the Bogati."

A lot of Star Trek connections in this film... 0:37 One of those kids is Wil Wheaton 7:00 the "Hit Beast" is played by Mark Alaimo, who played several characters in TNG and DS9, most notably Gul Dukat. 13:56 Granny is played by the same actress who played the lead Talosian in the TOS pilot "The Cage" and the TOS 2-parter, "The Menagerie." 5:18 The red laser lights are seen all the time in TNG and other Trek series and most sci-fi movies and series, even spoofs. This is one of my top 20 all-time favorite movies. I know a big reason for that is because I saw it in the theater when I was 9 years old, so there's a nostalgia factor. But even when I watch it today, I still think it's a fun story and engaging movie. The CGI effects which were innovative for their time, many people today would say look very bad, but to me they are quaint and charming. A marker for where special effects were at that time. So glad you reacted to this! Best Regards

Night of the Comet (1984) has a small link to this movie, and also Star Trek.

The basic story was based on the rumor that the Air Force recruited pilots based on their video game performance. Yeah ;) Fun facts: * Test audiences loved the Alex Beta character, so more scenes were filmed of him. Hence the wig, because he'd changed his hair *Early (earliest?) role of Wil Wheaton, though it's cut such that he's barely visible I hope they don't try to remake this because it has an extremely 80s oriented plot. I'm not against a sequel though

This Island Earth (1955)

Grig is the 'old man' from Robocop - Dan O'Herlihy. Spaceship design by legendary artist Ron Cobb

This was one of my favourite films back in the 80's.

💛💛💛I used to watch the end over and over, and felt like the little brother. Still get misty.

Did anybody else immediately think of Team America World Police when Alexa compared Centauri's car to Captain Scarlett? Happy to see Alexa doing movie reactions again. Even if she keeps guessing the plot and calling them predictable 😉

Thank you for bringing back some fond memories, Alexa. I love this film. Saw it in the early days of pay-for-view movies on TV. Saw it repeatedly during the month it was available. Your knowledge of sci fi references is impressive. I didn’t know that much and this film at that time was like ‘magic’ to me. Did you recognize Dan O’Herlihy, Alex’s co-pilot and mentor Grig? He was the head of OCP in Robocop. I grew up watching Robert Preston (Centauri) in classic movies. Sadly this was his last film. Norman Snow (Xur) played a Klingon named Torin. Have you seen ‘Enemy Mine’ (1985)? I recommend it.

Centaurii was Robert Preston in his last role before his death basically playing the same character he played in "The Music Man". He elevated this film by his presence. If you watch the behind the scenes clips, you will hear high praise from his younger costars.

Excellent choice. Another 80s movie I think you should check out is Short Circuit (1986).

This takes me back, I hardly seemed to be out of the cinema as a teenager in 1984. Dune, The Search for Spock, Temple of Doom, Streets of Fire. . . and then there were Atari Force comics to read and even the Olympics had a John Williams score!

One of my favorite. The man who designed the gunstar was mr cob of alien fame. Also, the guys who did the CGI offered to do cgi space scenes for Lucas for Empire Strikes Back...he declined, BUT the test footage is online and it looks pretty darn good. If you take reaction requests, PLEASE consider 1953 war of the worlds (EVERYONE does the 2005 Tom Cruise one :P), and the tv series sequel from 1988-1990. I never seen folks react to this movie or the series...you could be one of the first, if not THE first. The series is 2 seasons, about 45 episodes. You'll see some familiar faces. BTW, your take on Star Trek Lower Decks so far?

Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun: 1968 Keep up the good work!

5:05 General George Washington's charge to the Continental army just before the Battle of Trenton (December 1776). 5:33 The same reaction would be seen among the "Galaxy Quest" TV cast a bit later... At this late date, Louis getting a high score on the Starfighter game and getting recruited into the Star League is the best way forward.

Why do those aliens remind me of the Minbari? I didn't know Gul Dukat (Marc Alaimo) was in this! The 'Minbari' being laser tortured gave me nightmares as did the mutating android in bed, but he turned out to be cool. The effects were supposed to be ahead of their time back then. I didn't expect to enjoy this again. "I'm so sorry for treading on your..whatever that is!".🤣👽 Columbo?! I was just watching him on Sunday!

I watched this way back in the '80s, I really liked it. I had also forgot that Fred Savage was in it.

It was entertaining first time around, but not a film I need to see again. But I feel that way about most sci-fi and fantasy film and tv. It's never as good as reading a book. It did make me think of the tv series, Space Above and Beyond. I don't know if anyone else remembers that one? Robert Preston I remember most from The Music Man.

Childhood favorite 😊

A Face in the Crowd (1957). No spoilers, but... Probably more significant now then when it was made. Also, you will not believe Andy Griffith had this performance in him.

While not a film I cared about, I am glad to see you back to doing moving reactions.

The first movie of "modern CGI" After "Tron" and it all starts here...Computer Graphics...And a Fantastic Movie to boot.

Can you please do a reaction video to Flight Of The Navigator (1986), ty. Loved this video you did as well.

This is one of the first films to rely so heavily on CGI for the spacecraft. And I'm in agreement. It's a charming film, about a guy we actually like thrust into a horrible situation, reaching down and winning against nasty people. Grilled cheese indeed.

Predictable but still fun.

Scorchio 🙂

Same views as mine. But was that Peter Falk near the end with the young kid?

4:11 Atari?

"do we have to hear the kissing again?'

These video game still exists.

There is a lot of talk of a sequel...