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Starman (1984)
01/06/2007 . Source: Geoff Willmetts 
region 2 DVD. pub: Columbia Tristar E-10682-UK-S. 110 minute film with extras. Price: £ 3.97(UK) if you know where to look. stars: Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith and Richard Jaeckel. Buy Starman in the USA - or Buy Starman in the UK  www.cthe.co.uk
'Starman' is perhaps one of the most hidden classics when it comes to Science Fiction films. It certainly gets neglected amongst John Carpenter's other films. From the audio commentary, Carpenter explains that he's rarely given the opportunity to direct romance or SF, being seen principally as 'the horror guy'.
Oddly enough, with 'Starman' he succeeded with both with a great deal of sympathy for the lead characters. A lesson for all producers here is if a director knows what buttons to push to scare you then chances are they also know what to press to make you love the characters as well.
Back in the early 80s, the Voyager satellite is on its way out of the solar system carrying a message disk from Earth when it is intercepted by an alien vessel and a scout is sent to investigate. As he comes into the Earth's atmosphere, he is attacked by military fighters and crashes in Wisconsin. Needing to survive, he clones himself a body from the hair of a dead man, who's widow, Jenny Hayden (actress Karen Allen), is still grieving over. She then becomes an unwilling host to get him to an Arizona meteorite crater within three days to be collected or he will die. Added to this mix is the military who find his spacecraft and determined to track and capture him.
Forgetting the problem of how to get a decent DNA sample from hair which is mostly keratin, one would suppose that the sample also contained some roots which combined with alien know-how could have given enough genetic information to be possible, this is actually very much grounded Science Fiction.
The Starman, who is never actually named in the film, does not have unlimited resources and anything he has is introduced early. He has seven silver balls that allow him for one use only each to contact his mothership, show a map of America and resurrect animals or people. One would suppose that there might have been an eighth ball which he used to clone his body but that's only supposition on my part. As a being of electrical energy, he can switch TV channels and move the tumblers in one-armed bandits at a touch.
Much of the plot is basically a 'fish out of water' as he has a limited amount of time to assess and communicate with people. From the audio commentary, actor Jeff Bridges says that he mapped out how he would develop over the film which made things a lot easier considering how it wasn't made consequentially. As such, a lot of the humorous aspects people remember relates to otherwise normal behaviour. Even when you know the jokes from previous viewings its still fun to watch the comic timing. 'Starman' really does run through the gamut of emotions and if anything, the humour balances out some of the more grim aspects.
I've already mentioned the audio commentary. To this, also add a 'Making Of' feature and a recording of Bridges and Allen performing a song. Given that the price of this DVD has dropped so much, you can't not afford to own a copy and with it now being 23 years old now, a whole new generation of SF fans to get in touch with.
GF Willmetts
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