Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / July 19, 1984, edition 1 / Page 29
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Page 13B Thursday, July 19, 1984 'The Last Starfighter' for summer sci-fi Take a lot of Star Wars, a dash of Close Encounters, a pinch of Tron and a dose of that Spielberg touch and what do you get? A concoction called The Last Starfighter, a frivilous space fantasy sure to attract crowds of sci fi fans. The main ingredient in this slick flick is Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), a 18-year-old who lives in the Starlite Starbrite Trailer Park run by his mother. When he is not fixing faulty wiring or hanging out with his pick-up truck friends, Alex perfects his skills at the Starfighter video game. Not content to settle for City College like the rest of his friends, Alex and his girlfriend Maggie (Catherine Mary Ste wart) plan a future in the world beyond the trailer park. What they get is a future literally out of this world. Alex breaks the record on the Starfighter game and is excited about the future until his mother (Barbara Bosson of Hill Street Blues) informs him that his college financial aid was rejected. Later that night, a stranger arrives in a car that looks like a Delorean with all the extras, except this one doubles as a space ship, too. Its pilot is an interga lactic hustler called Centuri (Robert Preston) who designed the video game to find a starfigh ter good enough to save the universe from Evil Emperor Zur (Norman Snow) and the Ko-Dan armada. If this sounds silly, it's because the film is silly, but The Last Starfighter never takes itself seriously. The film's tongue-in-cheek style goes a long way toward redeeming the predictable situations and outcome in the film. As a reluctant Luke Sky walker, Lance Guest is a delight ful new actor, who also gets to play the dual roles of Alex and the clumsy Beta Unit replicant, who takes Alex's place on earth. In fact, the Beta, who can't quite figure out how to handle a human girlfriend, is the funniest charac ter in the film. Not unlike Gremlins, Starfigh ter has a little bit of a lot of movies within it. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then there should be a lot of flattered movie makers out there. Starfighter has enough slimly creatures to fill any cantina, plus lots of talking lizards (remember VI), including a "gun ho iguana named Grig (Dan O'Herlihy) who serves Alex with a proper English accent (C3P0?). There is a precocious little brother (a male Drew Barrymore) and a harried, but loving mother (E. T. again) plus a whole slew of THE Daily Crossword byAMoMicci ACROSS 1 Soft drink 5 " Frome" 10 Actor Convy 14 Author of "Mila18" 15 Auto 16 Olive genus 17 Degree 20 Lodge member 21 Passe 22 Concerning 23 Exchange premium 24 Rainbow 25 Degree 33 River of Poland 34 Realtor's offering 35 Table scrap 36 Rotate 37 March king 39 Meat cut 40 Alfonso's queen 41 Sod 42 Cruising 43 Degree 48 Caviar 49 Author Wiesel 50 Rubbish that sounds terrible 53 "Blues" street 55 du tout 58 Scholars' milieu 61 Steak order 62 Ear prom inences 63 Pinnacle 64 Catchall abbr. 65 Heron's kin 66 Kind of express DOWN 1 Rubik's 2 Exam of a kind 3 Defeat 4 Residue 5 Bakery treat 6 Extreme 7 Boar's head 8 Footless 9 Ship-shaped clock 10 Put out by force 11 If not 12 Control 13 Diplomat's forte 18 Advantage 19 MVP of 1960-61 23 Give it 24 Court pro ceedings 25 Changed residence 26 Hersey title locale 27 Glacial pinnacle 28 Down 29 Mayday 30 Running knot 31 News dispenser of old 32 Lab heaters 37 Confident 38 " y Plata" 39 Behind schedule 41 Actor Peter O' 44 Journey 45 Gil Bias creator 46 Draw out 47 Louise or Turner 50 Fee-fo-fum. 51 Campus group 52 "Queen -Day" 53 Court star 54 Remote 55 Squash 56 Final word 57 X-rated 59 Cecil or Agathe 60 Drop bait lightly 14 17 20 25 33 36 40 43 26 27 23 21 15 50 51 52 58 44 48 41 37 38 59 28 34 29 53 54 24 19 22 10 16 11 45 49 46 47 60 12 13 30 35 31 32 55 56 57 neighbors suddenly set upon by a very close encounter via a video game (Tronl). Review Ivy Hilliard Writer Jonathan Betuel's script is also skillful in poking just enough fun at itself to keep the audience chuckling, instead of opting for mucky melodrama that might have them chuncking things at the screen. Most of the performances are fine, including the predictably hissable Zur, but Robert Preston, who is usually good in oddball roles, overplays Centauri in trying to mix too much wisedom (like a Obi-Wan) with too much cuteness (like Yoda). And the highly acclaimed spe cial effects? Well, to tell the truth, they are not all that special. The space battle scenes with the video effects are technically sound, but leave the feeling that if you've seen one space battle you've seen them all. What really works in the film are the human characters with their everyday, if eccentric, lives who are thrust into situations where no man has gone before. It is this fresh face that The Last Starfighter puts on second-hand situations that makes this a pleasant summer flick for kids and kids at heart. COUNTY Mutt o tem&M. amjrmis r bsrDerlxc Bresthsd Afi lit J WHEU0, mo. how e$nms ftrmcoN- m NOT SURE, OMR. eoim CH MTV MP TELL fife HOW ACRDSST0 mow. LV IUL rJ I m -m f i 1 $ I uuseea shotofovs flaying heavy METAL fZXXWSC wrsnot 60 7UKN IT VTAHPIUL MSWHATYOO HEAR. peer emms.-peer srnmspur mams-. KzepcoxcoctfcrwK TWWHrsjBmimr -roNbiX- okay.. eo Form A I m6nTfmieHH Htu-sim, mama, SATAN m mMWi&Messee. THATS 87 votes for Bil WE CAT. MAY WE HEAR FROM WE muss paeGMVN fm IBS (&RT fC05 RZR BAST, H DUSftfhUr sizes en, saw T E X V. 1 Z'WX I sjwsn Mr atumxeovr oforper. get mckioysur seat. V SPOKEH vrr. YES5tfZffl SUM (V LOVE commons t-benwmf REM THE HOtfESMP-. SWH' SOME BOOZSN' AN" FLOOZJN' WTTHPOUTKGSJFfiZZI warnmrmzMST mormiw SUt-WEPOtrT mtriotm vptscifue im'r BUPblH', Yxjume suwo' cow aw. AHPISFVS.'FRm. NONE. LEYS ROPE US S0t? THAFZLP FUSES f'tW O&CnEKfX FRITZ SAYS UfL. VfSHXAL SAYfmf.tR, MJOKtrr. mtrpEi&RWN i Youwtmr Y1T ! 1KNKYM. MP UPS KEEP HZ RCUCM&TIC wrniaiw. A-fVWN'NO FRKmBVRKS fmeentMH DRIFT, YA UTILE I r a I fiWi, LOCK THE PEU6ATE FR0H 'TEXAS IftTO A PfiJOM Closer MH SAM pohalpsoh. mi excuse MEM IE I TMEAFWm. tmjRAwtmmr RDPEUSSOM Fujes'Mm STRICT 3T2UCAL seme, ofcouR- I -FRITZ WO
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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July 19, 1984, edition 1
29
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