After getting the
high score on a video game, an Earthling gets recruited to be an intergalactic
pilot.
One of my deepest beliefs about movies is that there are some that you need to see before a certain age in order to appreciate them. The movies only work if they get into your consciousness before your brain really knows what the hell is going on. The example I always use is The Goonies. I don't care for that movie. The first time I saw it was in 8th grade. There was a movie day in class and that was what got the most votes. I felt like I was the only one who hadn't seen the movie before. Everyone was so excited. When we finally watched it, everyone was losing their minds over it except me (and probably a few others who don't matter to this story or my point). I didn't see the big deal. I'm pretty sure that if I'd seen it even a couple years before that, I'd enjoy it a lot more. It was too late though. I've run into this many times before. I don't care for Hocus Pocus which I only saw fragments of until a couple years ago. I could take or leave Labyrinth. I'm certain the reverse has happened too: movies that I love from my youth that people don't care for now. I'm pretty sure that's why I'll defend The Phantom Menace to my dying days.
Yes, what I'm
describing is nostalgia. Although, technically, I'm talking about how nostalgia
is made. It's a powerful force that has taken over pop culture thanks to a
confluence of events (the rise of binging and easily accessible content, the
fracturing of the market that puts a premium
on familiar names and brands). I'm not crazy about the nostalgia boom.
Not only does it result in fewer new things. It also hurts the legacy of older
things (Remember when Arrested Development was a gone-too-soon classic
with three incredible seasons? Now it's this show with new episodes sitting in
my Netflix queue that I'm in no hurry to see). When used responsibly, nostalgia
is a really useful tool to appreciate the good parts about something without
getting hung up on the bad parts.
Which brings me to The Last Starfighter. I wish I had nostalgia about The Last Starfighter. It isn't a good movie by any measure that I can find. The effects are dated. The acting is poor. The story is a mess. I can't say I liked the movie. At best, it moves into "so bad it's good territory" but I don't buy into that phenomenon. However, the movie is packed with things that if they were marinating in my memories since I was 8, I'd be very fond of now. It's a simple, silly premise. There are fun costumes and a lot of imagination is on display. While I'm no expert on 80s movies, I really should be able to name at least one person in this cast. Everyone has fun with their roles though. It has some of the most expressive extras and bit players I can remember. This certainly doesn't need to go in the National Archives, but I won't begrudge anyone with fond childhood memories of this.
Verdict (?): Weakly Don't Recommend
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