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1984 – The Last Starfighter

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  • Title: The Last Starfighter
  • IMDb: link

The Last Starfighter

Released 30 years ago, The Last Starfighter is a classic tale of wish fulfillment when a poor trailer park kid finds himself in a world beyond his wildest imagination. Recruited through the use of a video game, Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) is tapped to join the Star League and defend the frontier against Xur (Norman Snow) and the Ko-Dan armada. After an impromptu space trip courtesy of an unscrupulous recruitment officer (Robert Preston), Alex finds himself in deep space where the world of his video game is played out in front of his eyes.

Alex’s refusal to fight saves him the fate of the rest of the Starfighter recruits who are killed in a sneak attack by Xur’s forces. This leaves Alex alone as the last Starfighter pilot and the only one between Xur’s conquest of the galaxy. Casting Catherine Mary Stewart as the girlfriend back home, having her own misadventures with an android left in his place, and Dan O’Herlihy as Alex’s co-pilot and friend Grig, the movie offers a twist on the basic hero’s journey with humor, drama, some early computer effects (which still look pretty damn good 30 years later), and a love story which will eventually lead Alex back home after finally finding his place in the universe.

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2004 – King Arthur

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  • Title: King Arthur
  • IMDb: link

King Arthur

Released in 1981, John Boorman‘s Excalibur remains the standard against which every King Arthur film is measured. Setting itself apart, Antoine Fuqua‘s film (released in theaters 10 years ago today) chose to ignore the more mystical and mythological aspects of the King Arthur legend while providing a more grounded version set during the end of the Roman occupation of Britain.

Here Arthur (Clive Owen) is a half-Celtic Roman cavalry officer in charge of a select group of indentured knights: Lancelot (Ioan Gruffudd), Tristan (Mads Mikkelsen), Gawain (Joel Edgerton), Galahad (Hugh Dancy), Dragonet (Ray Stevenson), and Bors (Ray Winstone). Rome’s withdrawal should mean the end to their service, but the group is tasked with final mission to rescue an important Roman family from the invading Saxon horde. The result of which will spill the blood of Arthur’s knights, introduce him the Welsh warrior princess Guinevere (Keira Knightley) and her father Merlin (Stephen Dillane) – Arthur sworn enemy, and change the course of his destiny.

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The LEGO Movie

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  • Title: The LEGO Movie
  • IMDb: link

The LEGO MovieThe LEGO Movie isn’t the first animated feature to be developed after a toy line but it’s hard to imagine someone doing one better. Centered around the misadventures of construction worker Emmet Brickowoski (Chris Pratt) and his new friends who take on the evil Lord Business (Will Ferrell), The LEGO Movie is a clever tale that not only delivers one of the most fun movies of the year but leaves the audience with a nice message for both children and their parents.

Filled with some amazing GCI effects crafting a world made entirely of LEGO Bricks which don’t necessarily need 3D to be effective, the movie holds up to multiple viewings. In the true definition of a family film, Emmet’s journey from lifeless drone to the most important character in all of LEGO creation is the kind of story which should play just as well for children and adults. For more on the movie check out my original review.

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2004 – DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

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  • Title: DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story
  • IMDb: link

“Nobody makes me bleed my own blood!”

DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story

On or around this date ten years ago DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story opened in theaters. Centered around a slacker gym owner (Vince Vaughn) and group of likable misfits (Justin Long, Stephen Root, Joel David Moore, Chris Williams, and Alan Tudyk a man who dresses as a modern-day pirate) fighting against a ridiculously over-the-top rival gym owner (Ben Stiller) by entering a dodgeball competition, it’s lightweight fare to be sure but surprisingly one of the more entertaining movies of either Vaughn or Stiller’s careers.

Throwing in Christine Taylor as a love interest for Vaughn, Rip Torn as an insane dodgeball coach, and Gary Cole and Jason Bateman as the tournament’s announcers, and camoes from the likes of David Hasselhoff, William Shatner, Chuck Norris, and Lance Armstrong, writer/director Rawson Marshall Thurber‘s first feature delivers its share of memorable scenes and lines which gets the most out of its premise and has aged fairly well over the past decade.

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Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit

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  • Title: Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit
  • IMDB: link

Jack Ryan: Shadow RecruitPulled from it’s plumb Christmas Day scheduled release date to be dumped in the middle of the graveyard of January and February, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit came and went without much fanfare. Although pulling in more than $135 million worldwide the movie underachieved based on its original planned release and met with mixed reaction from both critics and fans.

Rebooting the long-dominant Jack Ryan series, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit cast Chris Pine in the role of Jack Ryan. I enjoyed the film, and found it more memorable than either of Harrison Ford‘s offerings or the Ben Affleck 2002 attempt to reboot the franchise.

Bringing in Keira Knightley as Ryan’s girlfriend, Kevin Costner as his CIA mentor, and Kenneth Branagh to do double duty both as the film’s villain and director, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit offers a solid cast for an old school thriller.

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