The Last Starfighter on hd-dvd

[ganthc]

This is one of my favorite movies from my childhood. I am hoping that Universal does a good job with the release. I would like to see some effort put into updating the master and making a quality transfer. A TrueHD track would be cool, but it'll probably be DD+. Still, as long as they really do a good job, it will be a must buy for me.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/news/...this_Fall_/724

[Ruined]

This is a cult classic but not a big moneymaker. Its old, too. I'm guessing the transfer will be decent but not A-list.

[ganthc]

That's a shame. As a good sci-fi flick it could use a freshening up. And with the chance to win a new audience, why wouldn't you want it to look the best possible. *sigh* oh well.

[Ruined]

Originally Posted by ganthc

That's a shame. As a good sci-fi flick it could use a freshening up. And with the chance to win a new audience, why wouldn't you want it to look the best possible. *sigh* oh well.

Because "freshening up" the source costs quite a bit of cash. And, when you are talking about a market that is less than 1% the size of the DVD market, its unlikely you are going to make that cash back on a cult title. Even on DVD, "The Last Starfighter" only got one release. No double dips, no remasters, just a single release in 1999. That means sales likely indicated it wasn't worth the cost of reissuing it with more supplements or a new transfer.

Hence, I'd expect a solid encode with no artifacts - but being it was from the 80s and not a blockbuster I'd expect the typical master flaws that you see from films of a similar age that are not restored.

[Taxi]

If that's true then why release it now? Why not go with a more "popular" movie that they can make a decent release out of?

I hope you're wrong and that they do make a decent remaster out of this title, which is one of my favorites as well.

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by Taxi

If that's true then why release it now? Why not go with a more "popular" movie that they can make a decent release out of?

Because Universal is "padding" the HD-DVD catalogue in order to compete with BD.

[snipsnapsappy]

Word on the street is that we are getting TrueHD on this and For the Love of the Game.

But of course, that is not a good thing because Universal believes that their DD+ soundtracks are superior to TrueHD.

I say way to go Universal, start making this a regular habit.

[Wirehed]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

Because Universal is "padding" the HD-DVD catalogue in order to compete with BD.

Yup.

And as marketing goes, that's the correct position to take.

[ganthc]

Originally Posted by snipsnapsappy

Word on the street is that we are getting TrueHD on this and For the Love of the Game.

But of course, that is not a good thing because Universal believes that their DD+ soundtracks are superior to TrueHD.

I say way to go Universal, start making this a regular habit.

Awesome if it's true. A TrueHD track would serve this film well, and hopefully hints at a remastering.

[Pirate]

I thought this transfer was good for a film this old, but Peter did not agree.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/955/laststarfighter.html

I really think he's being hard on the transfer for no reason. Why would he expect "3D pop" from this film? He even points out that the way it was shot deters from the very effect he's looking for. And, furthermore, there are several very clean shots that approach that much sought after "pop."

I still say most HD reviewers have their priorities mixed up.

[videoworx]

It's bizarre that every movie I would buy on HD-DVD (or would convince me to buy a HD-DVD player) are getting absolutely awful reviews..

[Ruined]

The real question is if people actually want studios to remove natural film grain and amp up the colors in an attempt to get "HD pop" at the expense of director's original intention. Its like the OAR of colors/grain.

Based on Universal's past transfers, this disc will obviously be significantly better than the DVD as it will ditch the MPEG2 compression artifacts and increase the detail. Will it look like King Kong? Of course not. IMO, if the studios deliver a compression artifact-free encode of a properly transferred HD master, they have done their job.

[Sehnzeleid]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I still say most HD reviewers have their priorities mixed up.

Yeah. Granted I haven't seen the HD DVD of Last Starfighter, but High Def Digest do seem loopy in their A/V ratings at times with both HD DVD and BD.

Here's a better review at Ultimate A/V:

The Last Starfighter

Posted Fri Sep 21, 2007, 0:35 AM ET — By Tom Norton

I confess to a serious weakness for The Last Starfighter. Even by 1984 standards, the year of its release, it wasn't a great science fiction film. But there is something immensely appealing in its old-fashioned innocence.

Yes, it's derivative. A young man plucked from obscurity to save the universe, together with aliens and space battles, echoes Star Wars. A con man is right out of (literally) The Music Man. And the bittersweet but uplifting ending is reminiscent of E.T.

But The Last Starfighter is clearly not as ambitious as any of those films. It's simply a modest space opera with two highlights: a primitive but effective early use of computerized special effects and actor Robert Preston's final movie appearance.

The special effects won't wow anyone who has been exposed to 20+ years of subsequent, computerized filmmaking, but they were groundbreaking for their day. They still work for me, probably because of my innate fondness for the film. How well they'll work for someone seeing the movie for the first time today is a question I can't answer. But the effects are still nicely done, despite the fact that they never look "real."

Preston revisits his Music Man shtick for the last time here, and it's as endearing as ever. As Centauri, a sort of interstellar, talent scouting bounty hunter, he convinces Alex Rogan, an 18-year old whiz at the Starfighter video game, to help save the Star League, and ultimately the Earth, from the evil Zur and the Ko-dan Armada. If that description makes it all sound a bit silly, so be it.

But it's also a charming, lightweight, coming-of-space-age story that holds up nicely in repeated viewings. Its PG rating is a soft one, and the film is suitable for all but the youngest viewers, who may find some of the aliens scary. And while the movie is never preachy, it has important things to say about growing up, how life often spins us off in unexpected directions, and about accepting responsibility for more than your own little corner of the universe. As Centauri says to a reluctant Alex, who doesn't think he's good enough to be anything but a kid from a trailer park, "If that's what you think, that's all you'll ever be."

This is a solid HD DVD transfer. The dark scenes near the beginning of the film, and occasionally later, look a bit crushed. But despite some unevenness here and there the image often looks startlingly good. It was never an amazing-looking film to begin with, but it's safe to say that its 2.35:1 widescreen images have never looked better than they do here, either in the theater or on any previous video format.

There isn't anything particularly impressive about the sound, however, despite the available Dolby TrueHD audio track. It's perfectly adequate and never distracting, but it's also as dated as you might expect from an early 1980s production. The dialogue sounds canned, and the sound effects aren't particularly ambitious. And while I've always liked the film's appealing music, with its weighty brass, it sounds distinctly left-right oriented here, with little sense of spread across the front soundstage.

Despite these limitations, I strongly recommend this HD DVD to fans of this film. And may it create many new ones.

Picture: 8.5….Sound: 7.0….Film: 8.5 (Maximum: 10)

(Reviewed on an InFocus IN82 1080p projector and Stewart Studiotek 130, 78" wide, 16:9 screen, with a Toshiba HD-A20 HD DVD player, an Onkyo TX-SR875 Surround Sound Receiver (used as a pre-pro) and an Anthem Statement P5 power amplifier. Also a Revel B15 subwoofer with Revel Ultima Studio2, Voice2, and Gem2 speakers.)

[Derb]

Originally Posted by piratehunter

I thought this transfer was good for a film this old, but Peter did not agree.

http://hddvd.highdefdigest.com/955/laststarfighter.html

I really think he's being hard on the transfer for no reason. Why would he expect "3D pop" from this film? He even points out that the way it was shot deters from the very effect he's looking for. And, furthermore, there are several very clean shots that approach that much sought after "pop."

I still say most HD reviewers have their priorities mixed up.

Indeed. Which is why I take each review with a grain of salt. I still believe bias influances their overall judgement. Don't like the film, don't like the transfer. If a film was made 20+ years ago, well if it doesn't pop out at you, its a bad transfer etc etc

[Pirate]

Originally Posted by videoworx

It's bizarre that every movie I would buy on HD-DVD (or would convince me to buy a HD-DVD player) are getting absolutely awful reviews..

I really don't think you'd be that disappointed. You know this didn't get a full restoration, so, regardless of format, it can only look so good. I think Universal did a good job with what they had. I've seen films from the last decade that didn't look as solid as Starfighter.

[ganthc]

I liked the transfer for this film. It obviously wasn't remastered, because there are still dirt marks and such on it, but there is detail that has been improved, and some areas where the colors have been enhanced. It's not perfect, but I am happy with my purchase, and not just because I love the film.