Starman (1984)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

Bruce A. Evans (written by) &
Raynold Gideon (written by)

Release Date:

14 December 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

In 1977 Voyager II was launched into space, inviting all lifeforms in the universe to visit our planet. Get ready. Company's coming.

Plot:

An alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona. The government tries to stop them.

Plot Keywords:

Alien | Crater | Widow | Sex With Alien | Roadblock

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 win & 5 nominations

Cast

Jeff Bridges	...	Starman
Karen Allen	...	Jenny Hayden
Charles Martin Smith	...	Mark Shermin
Richard Jaeckel	...	George Fox
Robert Phalen	...	Major Bell
Tony Edwards	...	Sergeant Lemon
John Walter Davis	...	Brad Heinmuller
Ted White	...	Deer Hunter
Dirk Blocker	...	Cop #1
M.C. Gainey	...	Cop #2
Sean Stanek	...	Hot Rodder (as Sean Faro)
George 'Buck' Flower	...	Cook (as Buck Flower)
Russ Benning	...	Scientist
Ralph Cosham	...	Marine Lieutenant
David Wells	...	Fox's Assistant

Also Known As:

John Carpenter's Starman (USA) (complete title)

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) | Dolby (35 mm prints)

Certification:

Ireland:PG | Australia:PG | Iceland:L | West Germany:12 (f) | Argentina:13 | Chile:14 | Finland:K-12 | France:U | Norway:15 | Sweden:11 | UK:PG | USA:PG | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Arizona, USA

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

When Jeff Bridges walks outside the house naked and uses a 'marble' his hair seems to stand on end. This effect was actually created by shooting Bridges hanging upside-down and then matting the shot onto the background the right way up to give him a surreal look.

Goofs:

Factual errors: The jet that shoots at the UFO was a Northrop F-20 Tigershark, a fighter prototype that never entered military service. Upon close inspection, one can see the civilian aircraft registry number on the rear of the fuselage.

Quotes:

[Starman and Jenny are looking at a dead deer strapped to the hood of a car]
Deer Hunter: Cried when you saw Bambi?
Starman: Define 'Bambi'?
Deer Hunter: Huh?
Jenny Hayden: He doesn't understand, he's not from around here.
Deer Hunter: [laughs] You don't speaking English, huh? Heh-hey!
[walks away snickering]
Jenny Hayden: [to Starman] Steer clear of that bozo.
Starman: Define 'bozo'?
Jenny Hayden: Jerk.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Film Geek (2005)

Soundtrack:

(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction

E.T. for adults

I'm amazed more people didn't point out the similarities in plot to E.T. when this adult version of basically the same tale came out. Maybe it was because Jeff Bridges performance is absolutely mesmerising, that you're much more interested in the characters than the plot, so you don't notice.

Basically, a perfect little movie. Beautifully and simply set up, the characters develop naturally in such a way that keeps you hooked right through to the end of the film. The strength of the central relationship distracts you from little infelicities, such as the fact that "Jennyhayden" seems remarkably incurious about her alien visitor - even after she gets to know him, it's not until he's about to leave that she asks him what his world is like! The film nicely points out the irony of our having extended welcoming greetings to the Universe, while our own mutual distrust causes us to shoot down every unexpected flying visitor. Having established that, however, Richard Jaekel's character seems to be pursuing the violent solution for its own sake without really exploring any motivation. When Charles Martin Smith points out that our behaviour does appear a little rude, Jaekel doesn't even have an answer for him - he's just going to try to kill the alien because that's his role in the movie I guess!

"Do you know what I find most beautiful about you? You are at your best when things are at their worst."

Well, it has been 19 years - I guess that the "boy baby" has grown up. Time for the sequel, methinks!!