The Last Starfighter (1984) Revisited: Sci-Fi Movie Review

Greetings, Starfighter! Welcome to The Best Movie You Never Saw where, this week, we dive into one of the most revered cult classics of the 1980s, The Last Starfighter. Released in 1984, one year after Return of the Jedi closed out the original Star Wars trilogy, The Last Starfighter was one of the first feature films to use CGI special effects for the majority of starships, environments and battle sequences.

Along with Tron in 1982, The Last Starfighter is widely regarded as ushering in a new wave of science fiction visuals that changed the way movies looked forever. It also influenced everything from video games to books, especially Ready Player One author Ernie Cline whose novel Armada is eerily similar. While we have long awaited a sequel (as well as the promised arcade version teased in the end credits), lets look back at this awesome movie. While generally well regarded by critics, The Last Starfighter was a financial disappointment for Universal, grossing $28 million domestically against a $15 million budget.

Developed to ride the Star Wars bandwagon, The Last Starfighter follows a pretty basic premise: teen video game phenom is recruited to pilot a spacecraft thanks to his skills playing an arcade game that is actually a recruitment tool for an intergalactic army. It’s a fun movie that has a rabid cult following to this day and just might get remade before too long. Lance Guest, Catherine Mary Stewart, Dan O’Herlihy and the great Robert Preston star, with Nick Castle (Michael Myers himself!) directing.

The Best Movie You Never Saw is produced and narrated by Chris Bumbray, written by Alex Maidy and edited by Bill Mazzola. Check out some other episodes below!