Trailer-park teenager Lance Guest regularly escapes from his humdrum existence by playing the video game Starfighter. His expertise at this recreational endeavor attracts the attention of affable stranger Robert Preston. Before he knows whats happening, Guest is whisked by Preston into the outer reaches of the galaxy! It turns out that the Starfighter game is being played in deadly earnest in outer space, and that Guest is expected to join Prestons Star League, then do battle with the wicked Kodan forces. Guests principal ally is the lizardlike Grig (Dan OHerlihy--and we didnt recognize him either). His great rival is the traitorous Xur (Norman Snow). The contrast between Guests earthbound life as the son of single-mother Barbara Bosson and his new position as Starfighter is daunting at first, but soon the boy is manning a spacecraft and zapping the baddies as though hes been doing it all his life. The Last Starfighter was clearly designed with sequel in mind: giveaways include the resurrection of a dead character and the surprisingly casual escape of the villain. While the film didnt stir up enough business to warrant a sequel, the Starfighter video game remained a much-sought-after commodity by joystick-happy warriors all over the country. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide