The Last Straighter (1984)
1984 was a very crowded year for movies. Ghostbusters, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Gremlins, Star Trek III. So, it was inevitable movies were going to be missed. The Last Starfighter is one that got overlooked at the box office. It’s very 1984 in its plot, where a young man who is great at video games finds out the game he’s playing is actually a test by aliens to find someone to help them beat back an invasion. Lance Guest is charming as Alex, someone who is swept up into a world he didn’t know existed and trying to come to terms with it. The luminous 80s girl MVP Catherine Mary Stewart is his girlfriend just hoping to have a future with him one day. And Robert Preston in his final movie role who is more than meets the eye. It’s a movie with a ton of heart, and some lessons along the way if you are willing to listen to its message. There’s a standout line about grabbing hold of an opportunity with two hands because you never know when that chance would come around again. Actually, it’s a movie full of great quotes. It’s not the first movie to use CGI for the effects, but it’s one of the earliest, and the big space battle shows you how ambitious it was looking to new technology. You’ll have to remember all special effects movies were still chasing Star Wars at this point. It never had a chance at the box office because of all the other blockbusters seemingly being released every week. But once it hit Showtime and HBO, people started to find it. Since then, it’s become a little more than a cult classic and still draws people to conventions today to meet the actors. It’s a shame most people won’t get a chance to see it on a giant movie screen like it was intended. It’s a different experience seeing it that way and brings to life a little more epic scale than your tv screen. The Last Starfighter is the kind of movie 2026 needs, something optimistic, something fun, and something charming. The next time you play a video game, you might be being recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier. Just make sure you know what Death Blossom does before you press the button.
