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From: gutfreund%umass-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa@sri-unix.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.sf-lovers
Subject: The Last Starfighter (tLSF?)
Message-ID: <203@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 17-Jul-84 15:41:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.203
Posted: Tue Jul 17 15:41:00 1984
Date-Received: Sun, 22-Jul-84 03:28:26 EDT
Lines: 32

From:      Steven Gutfreund <gutfreund%umass-cs.csnet@csnet-relay.arpa>

Gee, this was a nice film. It was such a simple film, and so superficially
naive and plain, I sorta wonder why it worked. So I thought of a
corrallary contest to the one I thought of earlier, that is:

Name important plot or character items that if missing from a story/movie
would cause it to sink (stink).

** spoiler **

If tLSF did not:

1. have the centurian character to offset the plainess of the rest of
   the cast, we would have had a boring simple film. The sort of river-city
   medicine man huckster was a necessary spice. I have not seen his type
   in SF for quite a while (unlike the Yoda-type who has become so prevelent
   that when he was in the SW movie, he was a big yawn). 

2. Humor. If this film did not occationally let us laugh at its naivette
   we would have gotton sick (those of us over 7 years that is). But 
   things like "you are having a bad dream", or "Gee, it is just like ET",
   lets the filmakers share an inside joke with them. (indeed I think the
   hand-shaking scene at the end was a deliberate spoof on Close Encounters,
   glad to see the director apreciates people who think!)

So, to expand my challange, think up plot and character changes that you
think could either rescue novels/movies that almost worked, or if you
feel the perverse pleasure, think of interesting ways to destroy classic
books or movies.

					- Steve Gutfreund