Synopsis
Video game expert Alex Rogan finds himself transported to another planet after conquering the video game The Last Starfighter, only to find out it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best Starfighters to defend their world from the attack.
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Cast
- Lance GuestAlex Rogan
- Robert PrestonCentauri
- Chris HebertLouis Rogan
- Kay E. KuterEnduran
- Dan MasonLord Kril
- Dan O'HerlihyGrig
- Catherine Mary StewartMaggie Gordon
- Barbara BossonJane Rogan
- Norman SnowXur
- John O'LearyRylan Bursar
Recommendations
- 80
Variety
With The Last Starfighter, director Nick Castle and writer Jonathan Betuel have done something so simple it's almost awe-inspiring: they've taken a very human story and accented it with sci-fi special effects, rather than the other way around. - 75
The A.V. Club
A sweet, unabashedly corny, matinee-friendly science-fiction adventure starring Lance Guest as a trailer-park videogame prodigy, and Robert Preston as the alien who recruits him to save the day from some space-baddies. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
Clever, exciting, and fun, The Last Starfighter boasts good performances by Guest and Preston, and a literate, funny script that highlights the real story: not the space war that only Guest can win but the difficulty of leaving home, family, and security for a totally new life when the opportunity presents itself. - 70
The New York Times
Though it is occasionally talky, and though its plot takes a while to crank up, The Last Starfighter, directed by Nick Castle, is more often than not good-humored, bent on action and even touching. [13 July 1984, p.C5] - 70
Washington Post
At once warmly earthbound and nobly starstruck, it should give receptive spectators a savory pick-me-up. [13 July 1984, p.E1] - 70
Newsweek
Director Castle has studied his Spielberg well. While the movie may be composed of borrowed parts, it remains bouncy and good-natured throughout. Guest has charm and a deft comic touch, and Stewart is lovely as his girl. [30 July 1984, p.80] - 63
Chicago Sun-Times
The Last Starfighter is a well-made movie. The special effects are competent. The acting is good, and I enjoyed Robert Preston's fast-talking The Music Man reprise (we've got trouble, right here in the galaxy) and the gentle wit of Dan O'Herlihy's extraterrestrial. But the final spark was missing, the final burst of inspiration that might have pulled all these concepts and inspirations and retreads together into a good movie. - 50
Miami Herald
Video-game-come-true plot is corny, but somehow it works. [13 July 1984, p.D10]
