Starman, 1984.
Directed by John Carpenter.
Starring Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen, Charles Martin Smith, and Richard Jaeckel.
SYNOPSIS:
Previously found only in the Columbia Classics: Volume 4 set, the 4K Ultra HD version of John Carpenter’s Starman arrives in a standalone Steelbook edition. The pair of discs featuring the single-season TV series are missing here, but you get a code for a digital copy, a 4K Ultra HD disc with the movie in glorious 4K, and a Blu-ray with the movie and some bonus features, two of which weren’t available in a standalone release of Starman before.
If you missed out on any of the previous Columbia Classics collections, don’t worry: Sony seems to be intent on issuing the films found in them as standalone 4K Ultra HD releases, usually as Steelbooks, to boot. This time we have John Carpenter’s minor classic Starman, previously available in 4K Ultra HD only in the Columbia Classics Volume 4 collection, which I reviewed last year.
I’m calling this one a “minor classic” because, you know, not every really good movie can be a bonafide classic. But however you might want to look at it, Starman is a solid entry in Carpenter’s filmography, one that’s worth revisiting every so often.
The premise is simple but powerful: Karen Allen plays Jenny Hayden, a widow whose home becomes the destination for the eponymous Starman (Jeff Bridges), whose spacecraft has been shot down by the US government after his civilization encountered the Voyager 2 probe and sent him to establish contact with us. Yeah, that sounds par for the course for the human race.
The Starman uses a lock of Jenny’s dead husband’s hair to turn itself into Scott Hayden, which, of course, is a mind fuck for poor Jenny. He uses her vulnerability to his advantage by imploring her to drive him to a rendezvous spot where his people, so to speak, will pick him up in three days or he will die.
And now the race is on for the pair to get there while government agents are in hot pursuit. Along the way, Jenny gets to deal with her grief while the Starman gets to understand the kinder and gentler side of the human experience. It’s a nice story that wraps itself up with a bow on top at the end. Like I said, it’s worth revisiting.
Sony’s new Starman Steelbook features a 4K Ultra HD disc, a Blu-ray, and a code for a digital copy. Missing from this edition is a pair of 4K Ultra HD platters that contain all 22 episodes of a Starman TV series that lasted one season on ABC in 1986-87. The premise of that one involved Jenny’s mysterious disappearance and Robert Hayes playing the Starman, who must guide his teenage stepson, Scott Hayden, Jr., to find her.
The movie is the only thing found on the 4K disc, while the Blu-ray has another copy of the movie and all the bonus features. The film looks great, especially in 4K, so fans can rest assured that they have the definitive version of Starman on home video, aside from whatever extras they find important. And speaking of those, here’s what you’ll find:
• Audio commentary: Carpenter and Bridges serve up a fun discussion of the movie. Carpenter in particular is a director who enjoys talking about his films, so you can’t go wrong when he does a commentary.
• Deleted scenes: These were new when the film was part of that Columbia Classics set, so this is their first time appearing in a standalone edition of the film. You get over 20 “scenes” in total, with a running time of about 18 minutes. I say they’re “scenes” because most of the content is really small trims from existing scenes, as opposed to full scenes in their own right. And, yeah, you could quibble and say some of that stuff should have been left in to explain this or that, but I don’t feel strongly about any of it.
• Behind-the-scenes time lapses: Another new extra in the Columbia Classics set, this is a pair of videos running about 10 minutes total and feature time-lapse footage of the crew working on two scenes in the movie. They’re silent, so they’re set to music. I assume they were shot as part of the documentation of the making of the movie, but I’m not sure why they were pulled out of the archives, aside from their purpose as historical artifacts.
• They Came from Hollywood: Revisiting Starman (23:23): Created for the 2018 Blu-ray issued by Shout! Factory, this is a pretty cursory making-of featuring Carpenter, Bridges, and others.
• Making-Of Featurette (11:24): This is one of those old school EPK-style videos that were put together way back when to help sell movie theater owners on upcoming films. As such, this one is light on the nuts and bolts of making the movie and heavy on promotional material, but it’s still a nice little stroll down memory lane.
A music video, a still gallery, and the theatrical trailer round out this release.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
