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This video game/ STAR WARS inspired space opera epic is more fun than it probably has any right to be. While there is an instant or two where the film suffers greatly from a case of the "cutes", the great casting here makes this one remain worthwhile. In particular Dan O' Herlihy, with his performance as Alex Rogan's alien friend Grig, absolutely steals this movie and gets to deliver most of the best lines. And when he's not stealing the picture, another veteran character actor named Robert Preston (Centauri) is. Good stuff especially suitable for teenage sci-fi fans but even as an adult I cannot help but have a soft spot for this cast...even Lance Guest and Catherine Mary Stuart do alright here.

I love this movie, total nostalgia. Before Avengers/Guardians of the Galaxy, there was The Last Starfighter, please add this movie to one's that I would love to have a remake!

With the original "Star Wars" trilogy still fresh in the public's mind in 1984, "The Last Starfighter" was produced. Commercially the film did only fairly well at the box office, but that is not saying that this is not a more than adequate little science fiction entry. High-schooler Lance Guest is approached by a couple of aliens (Robert Preston and an unrecognizable Dan O'Herlihy) to go to a galaxy far, far away and fight an evil empire. Sound familiar? He is recruited for his mission via an arcade game of all things. Catherine Mary Stewart shines as Guest's love interest. Nothing spectacular and somewhat dated, but still a pleasant surprise that you will not regret watching. 4 stars out of 5.

This is a lost gem of a movie from the generation of "E.T.", Indiana Jones, Star Wars, etc...

When a friend showed it to me on VHS in 1984 I loved it for its originality, warmth & humor, as well as being impressed with the first-time computer-generated special effects for this kind of sci-fi film.

When I saw the 'special edition' DVD in Widescreen I snatched it right up and found that I enjoyed it as much as I did 20 years ago! The movie's special effects still looked good to me, especially the "Star Car" (my personal favorite).

But the special effects are not the centerpiece of this film. It has plenty of charm of its own to offer in plot, story, warmth, humor & good performances. Craig Safan's music score for this film is one of my all-time favorites. It almost outsizes this movie but it fits just the same.

"Starfighter" is a real gem from the 80's I will treasure in my movie collection.

I love THE LAST STARFIGHTER... it's a good, fun movie. A matinee type of film. It's not as great as Star Wars or some of the big budget movies of the time... (hmmm, where there any big budget Sci Fi movies other than Star Wars at the time?) The acting, though not great was charming. Lance Guest (brillantly playing Alex and the very naive Beta), Greg O'Herlihy (sp) playing the loveable Lizard creature Grig and of course.... Robert Preston as rascalous Centauri. And something that I forgot for a long time (until I saw it at a local store and had to buy it on DVD) was that this was one, if not THE, first movie to utilize CGI. Yeah, it's a far cry from what filmakers can do now with Apple Rendering software. But when I saw the movie in the Theater, I was impressed and thought that if Computer Graphics were this good in the this first movie... how much it will grow. It's a movie well worth having in your library. And as I'm watching it right now, I'm glad that I have it in mine.