(1984) [Trailer]
Director: Nick Castle (IMDB)
Another gem from my childhood I recently picked up on blu-ray. Like my last review (Tremors), I watched this an awful lot growing. I remember being blown away by the special effects, which were ahead of their time... you're welcome Avatar. Actually, this and Tron were some of the first movies to use CGI, so it's good to have in the collection just for that reason alone.
Some gamer gets in over his head when he beats a video game and later finds out it's a tool used by aliens to recruit new space pilots. He's scooped up and thrown into a galactic war of epic proportions
This movie definitely has it's far share of cheese, but there's some awesomeness in there as well. There's a good deal of Spielbergian notes throughout, especially all the night scenes filmed in and around the trailer park. The score is fantastic and very memorable. Unfortunately the effects don't hold up, especially the explosions. Some of the costumes look pretty bad too, as is the case with the bounty hunter. Even though some of the costumes and effect didn't necessarily stand the test of time, part of me didn't mind it and I still enjoyed the film. It's not the greatest sci-fi film ever made, but still pretty fun. If you can find it on the cheap or get a download, go for it.
Interestingly, Tron lost the Oscar for best visual effects because the academy thought they "cheated" by using CGI. The movie was made, however, without using computers at all. The cyberspace look of the film was achieved using a sophisticated and very manual rotoscoping process.
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