There are some films that I view as I'd grab for a blind buy.  At $9, Last Starfighter was absolutely in that category.  It was on Blu, it's a film I loved as a kid, and it had to be a great buy at $9 to replace my previous DVD version.  This BD release is not necessarily "bad", but it is also not one of those releases that really shows off what Blueray is about.

The Story

If you haven't seen the film in a while, this is the quaint story of a boy, living in a trailerpark.  His life just isn't going his way.  Low and behold, he becomes a champion at a video game, and the wackiness ensues!  Swept across the galaxy and destined to be the savior of the known universe, Alex Rogan tries to deal with his new found role.  

 

The movie is cute, light fun and it's the kind of thing I really enjoyed.  Along with Tron, this film is one of those that when released I thought had some incredible special effects and fun moments... which brings us to the heart of the review.

Video Quality

There are times in these forums where I discuss how I would desire some of my favorite TV shows to move their way to Blu.  I'm often reminded that they were edited on video, they wouldn't look good, the cost of redoing the special effects..  If I ever doubted this, The Last Starfighter proves the point.  This film shows clear signs of wear.  Presented in 1080P/VC-1, The Last Starfighter still barely makes a dent in the BD-25 disc it's presented on.  And while it is improved on it's DVD cousin, it lacks significantly in compared to expectations.  Odd discolorations happen frequently in shots, especially in special effects shots.  The film seems "washed" in some areas.  Black simply isn't black but rather a dark gray, and the film obviously looks lacking.  Don't get me wrong, if you've only seen the DVD, this is a superior effort, the aspect ratio is correct, and the film does look better.
 

But that isn't to say it's near what it should be.  For a 25th anniversary edition, you might expect a cleaner, sharper image.  This doesn't really sport that.  Flaws are evident, colors are not solid, and this simply isn't a great effort.

Audio

Present is a 5.1 DTS-HD Audio Mix.  The audio is also lacking, with very little rear channel effects, and the LFE channel rotates between too little and boomy.  It is very hard to grasp this, because it goes between non-existant and heavy handed.  This isn't necessarily bad, The audio mix as a whole is basically the same as present on the DVD, though the LFE channel is different, and not necessarily in a good way.  There will be those who want more LFE, a bigger "boom" effect.  And in some places on this soundtrack that's needed.  But it also could be balanced much better.

Extras

The disc presents very few extras.  Trailers are presented in 4:3 non-HD format. 

Featurette: "Heroes of the Screen" - a featurette done in a comic-book format, presented in SD.  24 minutes.

Documentary: "Crossing the Frontier: Making 'The Last Starfighter' - A making of piece, again in SD, 32 minutes.  

D-Box Motion Controlled Enabler For those viewing on PC for a device I have no idea where you'd get or why you'd use.

There is NO content presented in HD as an extra, outside of commentary tracks to the disc itself. 

Final Thoughts
 
There are some times you buy a Bluray disc because of incredible quality, good picture, a unique look.  This is not that.  As I noted, I paid less then $10 for this title.  At $9, I can't say I feel as though I was ripped off.  The title is a very subpar effort for a 25th anniversary edition.  But it is sold so cheaply that you feel as though you probably got what you paid for it.  This is a lacking product, with significant flaws.  But if you're a fan of the film, this is still your best chance to catch it in it's correct aspect ratio, with a better image then is present on any previous release.

My advice: for less then $10, it's worth it.  But it's not worth much more then that.