Starman

Rating:
Summary: worth watching
Review: Definitely worth watching. If there are really aliens out there-and if you are reading this you probably hope there are as much as I do-they should all be like Jeff Bridges. This movie will make you laugh, maybe cry, and just feel good about life. I watch it whenever it's on cable. Maybe God will send aliens like this to save us from ourselves.

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Get No Satisfaction
Review: John Carpenter, horror movie virtuoso, occasionally strays from his more hardcore stylings to make some not so shocking films like his debut Dark Star and later Big Trouble in Little China, Memoirs of an Invisible Man and what I feel is his best film and one of the hundred greatest of all time, Starman. You have to give him a lot of credit for taking the chance of making a movie that fans of his horror movies might be alienated by and might not appeal to the group he was seemingly trying to appeal to, as this appears to be a Sci-Fi "date" movie. And not your traditional late fifties, early sixties kind.

Your English teacher will tell you that there are only 13 credible story lines in literature and if your story, or any story, is to be a good one then it should be able to fall into one of those 13 story lines. They come from the Greeks and from Shakespeare. No problem with Starman, it solidly falls into one the most famous ones and does it as no story has ever done it before, on an interstellar level.

I've never been able to watch Amadeus for more than a few minutes at a time so I'm not really qualified to say but I think I'd be hard pressed to find F. Murray Abraham's performance good enough to beat out Jeff Bridges' for the Oscar. Bridges has had many great performances and I think this is his best. I don't think anyone else could have come close to what he did with this role.

As in most of Carpenter's movies, the score consists of a simple motif that says it all. There are many times in this movie that the score, simple as it is, can in an instant make you well up.

In the end, this is powerful parable that says a lot about us and has a lot for us to think about while being very entertaining thoughout the entire movie. It has many memorable scenes you're not likely to forget. Karen Allen is excellent opposite Bridges.

I always try to not give anything away in my reviews(I think it spoils it to tell what the plot is all about and generally won't read reviews to movies I haven't seen because too many people give it all away)but I will say there is a close-up as good as any ever. As good as Wild Strawberries!!!

And just to be clear, I'm a big fan of Carpenter and love his stronger horror fare, specifically, The Thing, In the Mouth of Madness. Assault on Precinct 13 and Prince of Darkness but I thing Starman is his best.

Rating:
Summary: Bridges at his finest and more
Review: A must-have for all who call themselves romantics. In short: Jeff Bridges brings a magnificent display of sensitivity in portraying our human foils and awkwardness (he absolutely deserved an Oscar for this); Karen Allen is sweet as the widow who realizes her need to help the stranded alien (Bridges); Richard Jaeckel is utterly souless as the director of government operations, and Charles Martin Smith deserves credit for being noble and sincere. Jack Nitsche's score is cosmically inspiring as well. Did anyone notice that Michael Douglas was executive producer? Yes, give John Carpenter the acclaim for making this one of the best honest love stories of our time--Bridges is completely realistic and very child-like as a bewildered visitor to our planet, trying to fathom what makes us unique as a species.

Rating:
Summary: A Bothered Fan of The Film.
Review: Carpenter is a director with great highs and lows in his career. Who has managed to make special editions for just about everyone one of his movies except this one. Recently I just read Christine (The killer car Movie!) is getting special edition treatment as opposed to this great family film. Long time Jeff Bridges fan I realized that he gives an oscar nominated performance here, so I wonder whats the deal. Why no Starman Special Edition or even Superbit it. this film deserves better treatment.

Rating:
Summary: Starman
Review: A moving love story wrapped in an engaging science fiction yarn. This is so good. It even had me reaching for the kleenex once or twice (don't tell anybody.)