Starman (A)
STARS...
Jeff Bridges,
Karen Allen, Richard
Jaeckel, Tony Edwards, and Charles Martin Smith.
PLOT SUMMARY...
A visiting alien takes the form of a woman's dead husband.
QUICK SCAN...
This film could be compared to "ET." Jeff Bridges, in
an Oscar nominated performance, delivers a fascinating portrayal of
an alien learning about life on earth. Karen Allen is totally convincing
as a woman trying to cope with an alien who looks just like her dead
husband. The FX involving the arrival of an alien mothership are a bit
disappointing.
DIRECTOR: John Carpenter
YEAR & RATING: 1984 (PG)
BEST BETS:
An alien entity visits Earth, taking the form of a woman's dead husband. After inadvertently scaring the hell out of her, they get in her Mustang and go on a road trip.
On the road, Starman and his gal pal are pursued by a bad government guy who wants to dissect him and an alien friendly NASA-type who just wants to talk. Along the way, our Star guy is beat to a pulp by a red neck, resurrects a dead deer and experiments with sex.
Starman's alien buddies, arriving in a huge, spherical spaceship, pick him up at a giant meteor crater in Arizona. The woman, pregnant with an alien superbaby, is left behind to keep the interstellar home fires burning.
Review:
With STARMAN, Director John Carpenter ("The Thing"), working
from a Script by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, has created a classic
of the Sci-Fi genre.
An alien comes to Earth in response to a recorded message we attached
to the Voyager spacecraft. Its ship crash lands in Michigan. Soon a
sphere of light floats across the bay, entering Karen Allen's ("Raiders
of the Lost Ark") home, who is sleeping. After watching home movies
of Karen fooling around with her husband, Jeff Bridges ("Fearless"),
it begins to transform itself into him. First it becomes a hologram,
then a baby, then quickly grows to full adult size. The Special Effects
during this sequence, by Dick Smith and Stan Winston and Rick Baker,
are superb.
Allen wakes up during this process sees Alien/Bridges, pulls a gun and
faints. The fact that her husband has been dead for a while has something
to do with it. While Allen snoozes, Bridges goes outside and uses some
small, mysterious silver spheres he possesses to phone home. When Allen
wakes up from her catnap, Bridges convinces her to take him on a road
trip to Arizona, where his alien buddies will pick him up.
In the meantime, Richard Jaeckel ("The Dark"), a hard nosed
military guy who's aware of the UFO landing, dispatches a NASA guy,
Charlie Martin Smith to investigate. Smith ("American Graffiti",
"Cry Wolf", "The Untouchables") brings a dogged
determination to his role similar to Richard Dreyfuss' in "Close
Encounters of the Third Kind". And with his short stature, hound
dog mug, and plucky spirit, he's an easy character to root for.
A great deal of the fun of STARMAN is watching Jeff Bridges impersonation
of an alien in human form. He has a silly, duck-like walk, awkward gestures,
and an unusual speech pattern. His monkey see, monkey do attitude is
also entertaining. After observing Allen drive for awhile, he takes
a turn behind the wheel. When he approaches a yellow traffic light,
at an intersection, he races through, barely avoiding a collision, Allen
yells at him, accusing him of not understanding traffic lights. Bridges
replies, "Red light stop. Green light go. Yellow light, go very
fast!". He sure learns fast for an outerspace dude!
STARMAN is a chase movie, a road picture, and a love story, providing
something for everybody. The fact that the love story involves a woman
falling in love (and eventually having sex) with an alien who has assumed
the form of her dead husband provides a unique story angle that sounds
ludicrous, but plays very well on screen, thanks to strong portrayals
by Bridges and Allen, who delivers what may very well be her best screen
performance.
Director of Photography Donald M. Morgan ably serves Director Carpenter.
His use of blue lighting, when Bridges performs his miracles, creates
the feeling of being in the presence of a god. The Musical Score, composed
by Jack Nitzche, starts out spooky, and becomes warm and reverent as
Allen, and we the audience, come to know and love Bridge's alien.
My favorite scene is when Bridges brings a dead deer, strapped to a
car, back to life. Illuminated by the lights in the parking lot, Bridges
uses one of his small, silver spheres. First the dear twitches, then
it comes fully to life, scampering off the hood, across the parking
lot, and into the woods. It is a powerful, wonderful scene that involves
no dialogue. The imagery stays with you for a long time.
STARMAN is a delightful Sci-Fi film that should be highly watchable
for most Sci-Fi fans. See it with someone you love. This film is a miracle
worth sharing! STARMAN is out of this world.
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