Starman

Columbia Pictures | Release Date: December 14, 1984

8.1	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 53 Ratings

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goggomobileJul 14, 2019

I watched this movie when it first came out on video in the eighties, I rented it expecting a more scifi type movie at the time but still thoroughly enjoyed it for the drama and emotional content.

2 of 2 users found this helpful20

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lasttimeisawFeb 14, 2015

John Carpenter’s STARMAN is a sympathetic star-crossed romance between an alien aka. Starman (Bridges) and an earth woman Jenny (Allen), a rare item in his otherwise horror and action packed works, it is my second film from him, after theJohn Carpenter’s STARMAN is a sympathetic star-crossed romance between an alien aka. Starman (Bridges) and an earth woman Jenny (Allen), a rare item in his otherwise horror and action packed works, it is my second film from him, after the disappointingly topsy-turvy BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA (1986, 5/10).

First of all, it is a cruel joke on our earthlings, we set off a welcome message into the outer space, and some unspecified highly-intellegent species responses by sending an explorer to our planet, however, the first thing humans do is shooting the vehicles down, then hunting down the e.t. in order to put him on the operation table for dissection. But don’t worry, as annoying as the authoritarian NSA chief and the military ostentation and extravagance, things will not descend to that ground. Jenny is recently widowed and still overindulges in the then-sweet-but-now-tormenting memories of his dead husband Scott, so the intrusion of Starman who regenerates himself into a human form of Scott through his hair kept in Jenny’s photo album actually gives an impossible chance for Jenny to fall in love with Scott again, thus despite the initial terror to witness the metamorphosis of an unearthly creature turning into Scott, Jenny accepts him almost instantly as subconsciously she knows that her dream comes true in a supernatural version. The pair drives across the country to reach the picking-up location in Arizona, where a mothership will take Starman back as it has planned.

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1 of 1 users found this helpful10

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Kai82Sep 17, 2022

A hidden science fiction gem and nearly forgotten John Carpenter movie. The unique ideas and story won me over. The story starts with the Voyager 2 probe being discovered by an alien civilization. They were able to understand the message fromA hidden science fiction gem and nearly forgotten John Carpenter movie. The unique ideas and story won me over. The story starts with the Voyager 2 probe being discovered by an alien civilization. They were able to understand the message from the gold disk and send a vessel to establish (first) contact with humanity. Instead of a warm welcome like promised on the gold disk the vessel is shot down and crashes in a rural area in Wisconsin. The sole survivor alien which has the form of a small ball of energy reaches the home of the widow Jenny Hayden who lost her husband a short time before. To better survive he scans the surroundings and uses a hair lock of her husband to create a body for himself. Here I stop to avoid spoilers. The ideas are unique and I like the adventure or better said odyssey of the characters. The story together with the characters / actors create an experience that impressed me and that I deeply enjoyed. I was always invested and cared for the characters which is the hallmark of a good movie and writing. To be fair I can see that this movie is not for everyone which is not the equivalent of garbage this statement has become in modern days. Some people want more science fiction than character driven stories. The cast fully delivers and I praise Jeff Bridges as Starman and Karen Allen as Jenny Hayden. Both have a great chemistry and improve the movie. The side characters are well chosen too. Richard Jaeckel is great as George Fox, Charles Smith won me over as Mark Shermin and I see no misstep in the other roles. I have to praise also the team behind the screen with director John Carpenter and all the others. The special effects were also top notch for the time period and I did not know until recently that ILM was responsible (Should be a no brainer with good effects in movies back then ;-). Sadly it was a failure at the box office making barely more than the production cost and is almost forgotten. It spawned however a TV series that I watched. Overall this is a hidden gem and recommendation if you want to see something unique in science fiction.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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DawdlingPoetNov 25, 2021

This is quite a quirky film - its very much a 1980s sci-fi film (it appears visually quite dated of course and the musical score also makes it quite dated but that didn't entirely put me off) and it has some nice gentle comedy/humour in it. IThis is quite a quirky film - its very much a 1980s sci-fi film (it appears visually quite dated of course and the musical score also makes it quite dated but that didn't entirely put me off) and it has some nice gentle comedy/humour in it. I found the alien character (only known as Starman), quite endearing and thinking about it, aspects of the plot reminded me a little of one of my favourite films, City of Angels, as its the human who is trying to familiarise the other worldly being (aka non-human) with basic human concepts, emotions and things. I suppose its like a combination of ET and City of Angels - what a thought(!).

I any case, I enjoyed this film as the plot intrigued me and as I say there were some amusing moments, when 'Starman' didn't fully understand what he was being told and so on. I liked the naivety of the main character. so overall yes, I would recommend this film.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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