In John’s recent post about how How Nostalgia affects Memory one of the commenters mentioned The Last Starfighter, and it made me a little nostalgic myself. So I took a look around. And that is when I discovered The Last Starfighter: The Musical.
Yes. Musical.
Even to its ardent defenders, the movie version of The Last Starfighter has always played like a low-rent version of Star Wars, with a thinner, more maudlin story, inferior special effects and a production design no more convincing than the original Star Trek’s. The genius of this new adaptation lies in its recognition that these apparent weaknesses are really strengths when translated to the musical stage. It’s easier, for instance, to accept that all the trailer park’s residents will show up to cheer a kid playing an arcade game when they’re singing a musical number.
There are plenty of things you base musicals on. Heart wrenching war stories, 50s rock defying racial seperation, Operatic love affairs, Monty Python skits and even biopics revolving around the musical library of legendary pop and rock stars.
But that was apparently done to death. Guess it’s time for something new.
In a world where we now see musicals based on Spiderman, Evil Dead, and now Last Starfighter, should I even be surprised??
I saw this! I was in NYC for other things, and when I saw advertised an off-broadway musical about Last Starfighter, well, there wasn’t any way I could pass up something that unique.
It was more clever than visually stunning. The picnic table from the trailer park became the spaceship when he sat on top of it with a steering wheel in his hands. It’s more like when you were a kid and got hold of a refrigerator-sized box: a little imagination to flush out the details, and then you could move on with your plot.
Tron I remember for the special effects. Last Starfighter I remember for the plot, which is probably what made it work on stage. Take of it what you will.
I dont know but I saw Evil Dead the musical and it was great so maybe people should give this the benifit of the douht
You people don’t know what your talking about! This musical is going to be so horrible you have to see it for that reason alone! Take for instance this “Spring Awakening”.
Or a play about reanimator. > http://www.somethingpositive.net/sp07132007.shtml
The Last Starfighter was the first movie to use CGI for the majority of its special effects. It’s worth seeing for that reason alone.
The musical, well, I won’t be seeing that anytime soon, or ever.
that would be the planets worst musical…..worse than the Bleach rock Musical
I feel ill…..