I adore this movie. It has so much heart that it never gets old. It's a fair assumption that a Gunstar "packs a punch" considering they watched it land and it's 65 feet tall when sitting on the ground. Many movies used computer graphics, but Tron (1982) and The Last Starfighter pushed the technology beyond what was capable at the time, so I will never consider either film to be dated. Fin Fact: The first digitally produced imagery for a narrative motion picture was Vertigo (1958), used for the opening credit animations. The first live action CGI in a narrative motion picture is Westworld (1973), used to create the robots' 2D vision. Coincidentally, the first 3D digital effect in a motion picture was a hand in Futureworld (1976). As long as an honest effort is made, I view special and visual effects purely as tools, not to fool us into thinking it really happened, but to inform us what is happening within the story at that moment.
Special effects always "hold up" because it is understood that the movie was made in the past. Only if effects were cheaply or badly done compared to others of the time do they not "hold up." For many years, I just figured the spaceships and everything else in the space scenes was meant to look like the video game. The DVD special features include a clip of an ILM CGI test of X-Wings flying from 1978, after Star Wars had come out. Being aware of the technology being used for this movie with Cray Supercomputers, ILM invited the director to see that example.
Perfect🤩Excellent🥰and Wonderful!🤭This is one of Many Movies that "defined" My Youth as an 80's Kid🥲I still Love watching it today, and I can Quote every single word of it too!😇I really Hope that Toni Enjoyed this🙏as much as We All do, and a Shout-Out to Dawne👋"Thank You Too, Friend!"
Two tear-inducing scenes: 1. Maggie looks to the stars and says "I love you Alex Rogan" 2. The orchestra swelling when Maggie decides to go, and says "Alex, wait, Alex!"
I kept waiting for Robert Preston to say "You got trouble right her in....". Preston was a Huge Star who mainly did Musicals like "The Music Man" and "Victor/Victoria". In this role he was playing a character very similar to Conman Professor Harold Hill from "The Muic Man".
My favorite parts in this movie are those involving Robert Preston...Centauri...and Dan O'Herlihy, who0 played Grig. Both actors have been in some of my favorite movies of all time. Preston was most famously the star of The Music Man from 1962, and he was one of the best parts of the great black comedy S.O.B....made by the amazing director Blake Edwards. O'Herlihy had an amazing role in Fail Safe made by Sidney Lumet from 1964, and you folks should check him out as the CEO of Omni in RoboCop, among many other roles. As for The Last Starfighter...it is still a really fun movie, but the effects have aged like cow's milk...so it definitely does not grab me like it did when I used to watch it as a kid.
Loved this movie and I saw it in the theaters at 14 years old. The perfect blend of effects and comedy. I learned who The Magic Man was, another of my favorite movies I watched later.
I also loved this as a kid and still do. I also think the CGI isn't "that" bad. For Hollywoods love of remakes, this one deserves it with top notch CGI.
"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.
I watched this movie probably 30 times. One of the few I had on VHS as a kid. The only movies I’ve watched as much are The Man from Snowy River, Chariots of Fire, Glory, and Back to the Future.
This movie has such heart. I credit that to Lewis. Late GenXers and Xennials would have kittens if we heard Craig Safan's Score kick in during an unexpected mysterious trailer at the cinemas. There's been many scripts written for a sequel.
Great review as always!!! Like David, this is one of my favs from that time period. I remember the summer of 84, Showtime was running this show it seemed like everyday, so that is why I remember it so vividly. In fact, I have the DVD of it so I can watch it anytime now, but because of showtime showing it so much in the summer it reminds me of those carefree summer days of my youth. I've heard that the sequel is off, but I found out recently they made a theater musical about the last starfighter. So it is a cult film in many ways. I don't know if it came out at the same time, but I always associate Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes with this too. You both might want to check that out sometime as they also were one of the first to use CG with it. As always looking forward to more!!
Such a great, fun movie. I always loved Grig's line when Centauri dies, "until the next dimension, old friend." Suggestion for you: Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
Great choice. i remember watching this many times on HBO back in the 80s. Another movie from around this same time that i'd love to see you react to is Night of the Comet.
To me, Centauri stole the show. Robert Preston was awesome in his role. I watched this kid almost every day, over and over in the summers playing with my Legos growing up and even then, I loved Centauri.
I wish you reacted to Lorenzo's Oil, it is a movie almost nobody has reacted to yet but it is an incredible true story. Please consider doing that reaction.
if youre looking for some fun 80s movies to watch for Halloween, id recommend The Gate (1987), Monster Squad (1987) , Lady in White (1988) or ET (1982)
Thank you for another great reaction. It is definitely one of my favorites from the 80's. I know I've asked a million times but will you please react to The Perfect Storm? Thank you again!
Catherine Mary Stewart did a few movies in a short period of time…this one as Alex’s MAGGIE…The Night of the Comet…and WEEKEND at Bernie’s..this one was one of the first to explore using CGI…
Besides Robert Preston playing the same character he did in Music Man as Centauri, the other stand out old school actor inclusion in this film is the one playing Grig. Dan O'Herlihy is basically unrecognizable however his voice is very distinctive. He had a long distinguished career but I personally remember him from being the main bad guy in Halloween 3 : Season of the Witch and the head of OCP in Robocop.
The hitchhiker/hitman: Marc Alaimo is an American actor known for his villainous roles. He is best known for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. From his Wikipedia page...
This is an old one I don't mind watching, I grew up with this movie. Though I like reactions to new movies usually. Be fun, been many years I haven't seen it.
I hate that cowboy character so much when Alex said it was a robot that crashed his truck. The cowboy says “yeah right” sarcastically. Meanwhile their is a space ship right in front of him
This was a weird movie with some of the cgi effects 1984 had to offer. I was 10 years old when this movie released and I never liked it much. The general concept, yes, not so much the execution. My parents liked it more than I did. An actually fairly good-quality movie from 1980 you two might like is The Final Countdown.
I’ve watched this movie several times over the years and I’m a fan. I’m worried about the reboot coming out. If it ever comes out! Hollywood today has leaving a bad taste in my mouth with woke politics and all trash that comes with it.
The big problem is that ANY remakes made in the 2020s are full of social agenda and political correctness. The last decent time to make a remake would have been in 2014 with IMAX and 3D or back in 2004 as Sci-Fi movies were strong thanks to The Matrix. They will be changing races and sexes of characters today and somebody will have two mums or fathers and a female character will beat up all the big alien characters... 🤦♂
This movie is right up there with Tron as far as cutting edge for its day, but severely dated compared to modern technology today. Still worth watching though. 😂
I adore this movie. It has so much heart that it never gets old. It's a fair assumption that a Gunstar "packs a punch" considering they watched it land and it's 65 feet tall when sitting on the ground.
Many movies used computer graphics, but Tron (1982) and The Last Starfighter pushed the technology beyond what was capable at the time, so I will never consider either film to be dated.
Fin Fact: The first digitally produced imagery for a narrative motion picture was Vertigo (1958), used for the opening credit animations. The first live action CGI in a narrative motion picture is Westworld (1973), used to create the robots' 2D vision. Coincidentally, the first 3D digital effect in a motion picture was a hand in Futureworld (1976).
As long as an honest effort is made, I view special and visual effects purely as tools, not to fool us into thinking it really happened, but to inform us what is happening within the story at that moment.
Special effects always "hold up" because it is understood that the movie was made in the past. Only if effects were cheaply or badly done compared to others of the time do they not "hold up."
For many years, I just figured the spaceships and everything else in the space scenes was meant to look like the video game.
The DVD special features include a clip of an ILM CGI test of X-Wings flying from 1978, after Star Wars had come out. Being aware of the technology being used for this movie with Cray Supercomputers, ILM invited the director to see that example.
I love how Toni right away asked if she should be looking out for any of David’s girlfriends!!!!!!!!!
Oh I gotta set all kinds of alarms to make sure I'm there for this one! Saw this in the theater when it released!
I have an appointment early tomorrow so I'll watch the repeat. Have fun!
This is a great movie. You guys should watch Iron Eagle and Enemy Mine. Both with Louis Gossett Jr
Perfect🤩Excellent🥰and Wonderful!🤭This is one of Many Movies that "defined" My Youth as an 80's Kid🥲I still Love watching it today, and I can Quote every single word of it too!😇I really Hope that Toni Enjoyed this🙏as much as We All do, and a Shout-Out to Dawne👋"Thank You Too, Friend!"
Two tear-inducing scenes: 1. Maggie looks to the stars and says "I love you Alex Rogan" 2. The orchestra swelling when Maggie decides to go, and says "Alex, wait, Alex!"
Not Centauri dying?
@@cchavezjr7 Yes, and the orchestra emphasized that effectively.
I kept waiting for Robert Preston to say "You got trouble right her in....". Preston was a Huge Star who mainly did Musicals like "The Music Man" and "Victor/Victoria". In this role he was playing a character very similar to Conman Professor Harold Hill from "The Muic Man".
Hi Everyone! Please pray for East Tennessee and North Carolina after the Hurricane Helene! We really need them!🧡🙏
My favorite parts in this movie are those involving Robert Preston...Centauri...and Dan O'Herlihy, who0 played Grig. Both actors have been in some of my favorite movies of all time. Preston was most famously the star of The Music Man from 1962, and he was one of the best parts of the great black comedy S.O.B....made by the amazing director Blake Edwards. O'Herlihy had an amazing role in Fail Safe made by Sidney Lumet from 1964, and you folks should check him out as the CEO of Omni in RoboCop, among many other roles.
As for The Last Starfighter...it is still a really fun movie, but the effects have aged like cow's milk...so it definitely does not grab me like it did when I used to watch it as a kid.
Whenever my mom saw me watching this she would start singing from the music man. Robert Preston really stole the show in this movie. He was awesome.
This is such a great movie. I saw it decades ago when it came out in the 80s. So glad you are reacting to it.😊
Loved this movie and I saw it in the theaters at 14 years old. The perfect blend of effects and comedy. I learned who The Magic Man was, another of my favorite movies I watched later.
I also loved this as a kid and still do. I also think the CGI isn't "that" bad. For Hollywoods love of remakes, this one deserves it with top notch CGI.
I love this movie! I've been a gamer from way back, and the movie reflected a personal fantasy of mine . . .
Yes yes .one of my favorite 80s movies too..great reaction ...good work
The original man with the fast talk
"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.
I watched this movie probably 30 times. One of the few I had on VHS as a kid. The only movies I’ve watched as much are The Man from Snowy River, Chariots of Fire, Glory, and Back to the Future.
Thanks for the video. I enjoyed it.
This movie has such heart. I credit that to Lewis.
Late GenXers and Xennials would have kittens if we heard Craig Safan's Score kick in during an unexpected mysterious trailer at the cinemas.
There's been many scripts written for a sequel.
Great reaction as always guys 🎉🍿❤️🙏
Great review as always!!! Like David, this is one of my favs from that time period. I remember the summer of 84, Showtime was running this show it seemed like everyday, so that is why I remember it so vividly. In fact, I have the DVD of it so I can watch it anytime now, but because of showtime showing it so much in the summer it reminds me of those carefree summer days of my youth. I've heard that the sequel is off, but I found out recently they made a theater musical about the last starfighter. So it is a cult film in many ways.
I don't know if it came out at the same time, but I always associate Spielberg's Young Sherlock Holmes with this too. You both might want to check that out sometime as they also were one of the first to use CG with it. As always looking forward to more!!
Another gathering of nice folks at 8:30 on a Monday.
Such a great, fun movie. I always loved Grig's line when Centauri dies, "until the next dimension, old friend."
Suggestion for you: Rain Man with Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman.
Great choice. i remember watching this many times on HBO back in the 80s. Another movie from around this same time that i'd love to see you react to is Night of the Comet.
To me, Centauri stole the show. Robert Preston was awesome in his role. I watched this kid almost every day, over and over in the summers playing with my Legos growing up and even then, I loved Centauri.
I wish you reacted to Lorenzo's Oil, it is a movie almost nobody has reacted to yet but it is an incredible true story. Please consider doing that reaction.
if youre looking for some fun 80s movies to watch for Halloween, id recommend The Gate (1987), Monster Squad (1987) , Lady in White (1988) or ET (1982)
Filmed in Canyon Country, California outside of Santa Clarita
During spring, when everything is still green.
Toni's most famous quote: "Zzzt."
Thank you for another great reaction. It is definitely one of my favorites from the 80's. I know I've asked a million times but will you please react to The Perfect Storm? Thank you again!
Catherine Mary Stewart did a few movies in a short period of time…this one as Alex’s MAGGIE…The Night of the Comet…and WEEKEND at Bernie’s..this one was one of the first to explore using CGI…
Craig Safan absolutely crushed the score for this film!
Besides Robert Preston playing the same character he did in Music Man as Centauri, the other stand out old school actor inclusion in this film is the one playing Grig. Dan O'Herlihy is basically unrecognizable however his voice is very distinctive. He had a long distinguished career but I personally remember him from being the main bad guy in Halloween 3 : Season of the Witch and the head of OCP in Robocop.
This always makes me think of *Enemy Mine* for some reason, which is an even better movie imo.
orange cat s the best part of the movie
The hitchhiker/hitman: Marc Alaimo is an American actor known for his villainous roles. He is best known for his role as recurring villain Gul Dukat in the TV series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.
From his Wikipedia page...
This movie was a favorite of mine as a kid. However when Centary took off his face, it always weirded me out.
Hey guys! You guys should watch Seven Pounds with Will Smith. The movie is from 2008 i think
This is an old one I don't mind watching, I grew up with this movie. Though I like reactions to new movies usually. Be fun, been many years I haven't seen it.
Don't think you can call the special effects cgi although they used computer graphics. It wasn't quite cgi yet, I don't think.
A great film!
the movie was directed by Nick Castle aka the orginal Michael Myers.
there have been talks of a sequel
Wow, haven't seen this in a very long time.
they didnt spot a young wil wheaton
Please react to Starman & Beastmaster next.
Please watch Enemy Mine with Dennis Quaid and Lou Gossett Jr.
Are you going to watch
My Girl 2 from 1994
Tremors 2 Aftershocks from 1996
Babe Pig In The City from 1998
I hate that cowboy character so much when Alex said it was a robot that crashed his truck. The cowboy says “yeah right” sarcastically. Meanwhile their is a space ship right in front of him
early, early, early CGI! done by the Cray II, at the time the most powerful computer in the world...
today's cell phones are more powerful than that!
This was a weird movie with some of the cgi effects 1984 had to offer. I was 10 years old when this movie released and I never liked it much. The general concept, yes, not so much the execution. My parents liked it more than I did. An actually fairly good-quality movie from 1980 you two might like is The Final Countdown.
Love you Guys 💕😅💕
I’ve watched this movie several times over the years and I’m a fan. I’m worried about the reboot coming out. If it ever comes out! Hollywood today has leaving a bad taste in my mouth with woke politics and all trash that comes with it.
The big problem is that ANY remakes made in the 2020s are full of social agenda and political correctness. The last decent time to make a remake would have been in 2014 with IMAX and 3D or back in 2004 as Sci-Fi movies were strong thanks to The Matrix. They will be changing races and sexes of characters today and somebody will have two mums or fathers and a female character will beat up all the big alien characters... 🤦♂
Agree!
We have to have hope, can't just keep watching old movies.. but I agree
Like every other reboot, it’s going to stink. Look at putrid Disney. Stick to the originals. Can’t go wrong.
This movie is right up there with Tron as far as cutting edge for its day, but severely dated compared to modern technology today. Still worth watching though. 😂