A cult classic of 80s sci-fi film receives moderately positive reviews from visual effects artists for being one of the first films to use CGI to any great extent. Following the popularity of the original Star Wars Films Starting in 1977, science fiction space operas have become highly popular films to be shown on the big screen. This includes everything from Star Trekthe transition to the big screen in 1979, until the 1999 satirical film Galaxy Mission. The genre's longevity has also been aided by its history, with popular franchises still ongoing at the time of writing.
However, in addition to previously established satires and franchises, there were other space opera films around the same time that have become well remembered in cinema history. This includes 1979 Buck Rogers in the 25th century1980s Battle beyond the starsand the 1984 adaptation of Dunewhich was directed by David Lynch and saw Kyle MacLachlan take on the role of Paul Atreides. But among these memorable entries is a film that revolutionized the genre, alongside many other films that came after it.
The latest Starfighter receives moderate praise for its early use of CGI
The 1984 film paved the way for modern blockbusters
Visual Effects Artists Offered Moderate Praise for 1984 The Last Starfighter for its early use of extensive CGI, especially in its many space battles. The film is about a normal teenager, Alex Rogan (Lance Guest), who becomes involved in an alien war after beating an arcade game that was actually a war games simulation. Considered one of the best films about video games, the film has a 76% critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and spawned a small franchise that includes a novel and a comic book adaptation.
Now, Runner Crew have reacted to The Last StarfighterThe heavy use of CGI in its space battles, which includes characters shooting at various spaceships flying through the sky. From 3:22 pm, the group is moderately impressed with the action sequencewhich Niko explains was made using some of the earliest computer technology for film:
So this is the day when, if you want a cool computer, you go out and buy a piece of furniture, called a computer. And this is like a C-shaped tower, with benches on the sides, where you could take a nap while waiting for your renders to come out! [Laughs] So they bought a Cray mainframe. I basically wrote the software live while they were making the film.
They had a guy who could draw the spaceship as a designer, who could draw it from the top, front and side, in equal proportions with the exact positioning of all the panels... You would have a digitizer and you would talk to them and said, "Okay, here's a spot for this corner." You would pass and put in all your points.
Niko explained how this was all done in a 2D space, using drawing coordinates from multiple angles to create a 3D digital shape for the spaceship and other objects made in CGI. However, due to the lack of ways to fully develop 2D images in a digital space, they used computer vectors to create and move everything on the screen. He also revealed that it was the first use of CGI to replace the background of a scene:
Niko: This is the first film shot on a blue screen with CG background replacement.
Jordan: You compare that to now, obviously it doesn’t “hold up” traditionally. But it's much better than it should be.
Niko also revealed One of the first tests for his brand of CGI involved creating X-Wings from Star Wars and showing them to George Lucas. However, he wasn't a fan due to the clean appearance, which led them to go back to the drawing board and see if they could make them more realistic. Check out the Corridor Crew's full reaction, along with a breakdown of the CGI story, below:
What the latest Starfighter's impressive CGI says about the film
It occupies an important place in the history of cinema
The heavy use of CGI in The Last Starfighter may have paved the way for future films to rely on technology, not just in the space opera genre. Everything from modern day Star Wars for the Marvel Cinematic Universe relies heavily on CGI in all of its films, making the 1984 film the perfect template for everything that came after. Given its importance in film history, it's possible that trust in technology simply wouldn't be the same without this film.
Source: Runner Crew/YouTube