The Greatest Video Game Movie Ever Made!

The Greatest Video Game Movie Ever Made!

I’ve listened to the 2OLD2PLAY pod casts where they claim that there have never been any good video game movies. I was in agreement until the other day when I ran across a VHS in the back of my old movie drawer. It was a weird time – my family was gone – so I thought  “What the heck – lets watch this thing”. So I popped it in my VHS and that awesome music started.  I was swept back to 1984 and the Starlite Starbrite Trailer park.  Yup - The Last Starfighter has got to be the best video game ever made.

I still remember going to that movie back in 1984. It was pretty hyped. Everyone wanted another Star Wars type movie experience.  We enjoyed it although it was no Star Wars. It was definitely low budget and the rudimentary CGI graphics, although revolutionary, were a let down.  Having been compared to the Lucas releases, The last Starfighter was given lukewarm reviews.

What the movie did have, unlike most Video Game Movies was a Story. There was the love story between Maggie and Alex, mixed with the standard boy coming of age story, mixed with the space opera, and supported by great characters. Great comic relief was strewn throughout the movie. The little brother Louis spouting “Diarrhea” when Alex was kissing Maggie is spouted frequently in my house. Robert Preston, the music man, was even in the thing. One of my favorite quotes I tell my kids when they bring home marginal grade or when they don’t turn in the paper work for getting in to college is:

Alex’s Mom – “You can still go to City College with your Friends”.  Believe me – my kids didn’t want to go to City College!

The beta of the video game surfaced and was spread across the internet, but the game was never released. I played it and it was a pretty good space shooter for that day.

Of course the movie has a happy ending. Alex shows us that all of us can make a difference in life – no matter where we start from. If you have kids that are old enough – warm up the VHS or grab a copy on DVD and watch it as a family. My 21 year old asked me to loan him it the other day. He was remembering the back yard overnighters in the tent watching this movie and playing board games.

It ain’t Oscar, It ain’t George Lucas, but its plain old fun.

Derf