a5c7b9f00b Alex Rogan lives in a trailer court where his mother is manager and everyone is like a big extended family. He beats the Starfighter video game to the applause of everyone in the court and later that day finds he has been turned down for a student loan for college. Depressed, he meets Centauri, who introduces himself as a person from the company that made the game, before Alex really knows what is going on he is on the ride of his life in a "car" flying through space. Chosen to take the skills he showed on the video game into real combat to protect the galaxy from an invasion. Alex gets as far as the Starfighter base before he really realized that he was conscripted and requests to be taken back home. When he gets back home, he finds a Zando-Zan (alien bounty hunter) is stalking him. Unable to go home and live, Alex returns to the Starfighter base to find all the pilots have been killed and he is the galaxy's only chance to be saved from invasion. To defeat the invaders, who are paying the bounty on him, he must be victorious. Alex Rogan lives in a trailer park with his mother Jane Rogan and his younger brother Louis. Alex is a handyman that helps his neighbors in small tasks. He is waiting for a loan so that he can attend university and move with his girlfriend Maggie Gordon to the city. However, Alex receives a letter informing that his request of loan has been denied. When Alex breaks the record of the Starfighter video game, he is visited by a man called Centauri that tells him that he works in the company that manufactures the game and invites him to a ride in his car. Soon Alex learns that Centauri's car is a spacecraft and the Starfighter game is actually a test to find skilled warriors to protect the Star League frontier against Xur and Kodan armada. Alex arrives in the planet Rylos but he refuses the invitation. Alex returns to his house and finds that he is hunted by alien agents sent by Xur to kill him. He summons Centauri and learns that all the starfighters have been murdered in a treacherous attack on the Rylos' base. Now, Alex and his partner Grig are the last chance to avoid the invasion of the cruel Xur. I loved this movie as a kid and now that I have two sons of my own, I can enjoy watching it with them. Sure, the story is hokey, but it is very entertaining. I think the effects still hold up quite well. The final battle scene will always hold a place in my heart. This movie is a must see, especially if you have children. You WILL share the same excitement that they are!! This movie gets all my points (+) first real computer animation done (best at that technological age) (+) the plot is not bad. have to remember the limitations of animation, which limits plot too. (+) quite good acting (+) nice sci-fi ideas. not too common stuff. (+) not too pompous sugary sweet pink emotional movie as US stuff, even though this movie might be a one to start that trend...<br/><br/>For some (-) might be that this movie is more like kid stuff or movie for adults wanting to be kids forever \o/. I do not understand the low rating this movie gets within IMDb, but that's probably most of the users do not understand differences between movie genres.<br/><br/>This movie is one of the sci-fi lovers must have in their collection. 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. Yes and no.<br/><br/>The game in the movie was a mock-up. The game cabinet is shown, but the screens were just computer-animated. The cabinet had colored lights for that scene. At the time this movie was made, an arcade game with graphics like that was not possible. There were plans to release an arcade version with vector graphics like the Star Wars arcade game (http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=S&game_id=9773) but this never got beyond early stages and was never finished.<br/><br/>On the home front, there were plans to make an Atari 2600 version but that game was nothing like what is seen in the movie. The game was later renamed and released as Solaris (http://www.mobygames.com/game/atari-2600/solaris_). There was a Last Starfighter game created for the Atari 5200 computer (http://www.atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=789) which was never released, and one for the Atari 400/800 which was renamed and released as Star Raiders II. It was also ported to other systems of the time, like Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, and Amstrad CPC (http://www.mobygames.com/game/star-raiders-ii).<br/><br/>In 2006, a company called Rogue Synapse (www.roguesynapse.com) created a version of the game seen in the movie that is designed to run on Windows, and they provide plans for how to make a replica game cabinet. Centauri wanted his death to motivate Alex to fight Zur and the Ko-Dan armada. Give Alex a reason to help save Rylos and the Star League as well as saving Earth and his own family and friends. Give Alex a reason to fight as a Starfighter. Grig was in the hanger working on the prototype of the advanced Gunstar which was to be Alex's Gunstar, when the base was attacked and destroyed. When Alex and Centauri return to Rylos, they learn that all the Starfighters were massacred in the destruction of Star League Command. Since Alex was away on Earth, he was the only Starfighter left to stand against Xur, as Grig was only a navigator. In 2009, 25 years after the film's release, it was announced that there was to be a long-awaited sequel entitled "Starfighter" which was to take place 30 years after this film. The only original cast member rumored to be returning was Norman Snow as Xur. The sequel was shelved. However, given the current spate of revival shows and reboots, including Paramount's upcoming remake of Joe Dante's 'Explorers', it wouldn't come as a surprise if it made it to theaters. The movie tie-in novel published by Berkley Publishing, an imprint of Penguin Books.
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