Starman (1984)
An alien takes the form of a young widow's husband and asks her to drive him from Wisconsin to Arizona. The government tries to stop them. (imdb)
Cast and Information
Directed By: John Carpenter
Written By: Bruce A. Evans, Raynold Gideon
Starring: Jeff Bridges, Richard Jaeckel, Charles Martin Smith, M.C. Gainey, Karen Allen, David Wells, Tony Edwards, Robert Phalen
Genres: Romance, Drama, Sci-fi, Adventure
Country: USA
Where to Stream
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Starman belongs to 13 collections
1. New York Times' The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made (collaborative: moderated by theficionado - 32 stars)
2. Academy Award - Oscar - ALL Best Picture, Directing, Acting & Screenplay Nominees (collaborative - 22 stars)
3. 101 Sci-Fi Movies You Must See Before You Die (collaborative: moderated by von krogh - 15 stars)
4. Films available in HD (collaborative: moderated by kubricksucks - 13 stars)
5. Aliens (collaborative: moderated by td888 - 12 stars)
6. Alien visitation (collaborative: moderated by djross - 7 stars)
7. Cinemascope (collaborative - 3 stars)
8. NSA (collaborative: moderated by livelove - 2 stars)
9. mwgerb's Netflix Instant Queue (public: mwgerb - 2 stars)
10. Orson Scott Card's Perfect Movie List (collaborative: moderated by BeeDub)
11. Movie Collection (public: BeeDub)
12. Sci-Fi to See (public: CinematicESP)
13. Kennys Recommendations (public: stalebread)
Browse the full list of collections
| Stars | User | Rating | |
| 5 |  |
BeeDub | 85 63rd |
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Pleasant enough, and Bridges and Allen are great, but the pacing is choppy (rushed in the first act, drawn out in the third) and the plot couldn't be more predictable. Still worth a watch, though. Seems to promise a sequel that we never got.
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| 4 |  |
saucyjack | 76 59th |
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Probably the most serious film Carpenter's ever directed, includes a great performance by the highly underrated Bridges.
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| 3 |  |
Luna6ix | 78 66th |
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A solid movie, at the time of it's release "Starman" was the closest that Carpenter had gotten to an all ages type movie. Bridges plays a dufus, I mean alien, and Allen was horrendously underutilized in the 80's, so it's always nice to see her in a movie. But as far as Carpenter movies go, this is about the least important movie in his 80's filmography.
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| 2 |  |
djross | 35 19th |
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My (admittedly distant) recollection is of unadulterated schmaltz.
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| 2 |  |
hellboy76 | 67 58th |
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Bridges and Allen are both solid in this. It does however drag at times.
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| 1 | HunterKing | 52 9th |
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Bawww come on y'all, why is everybody being so nice to this movie? Jeff Bridges plays an alien as a mix between special needs and Frankenstein, spitting out top-shelf cornball cliches such as "Define LOVE". This xeno-fugitive/kidnapper style movie was done with a lot more charm in Short Circuit. It's cool guys, I love John Carpenter too, but this is good as a mockery target and little else
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| 1 |  |
Suture Self | 6 54th |
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A sentimental story about universalizability failing to account for the particularities of the human race. Starman comes from a place of universal unity: everyone speaks the same language, everyone is at peace, everyone is treated as if one individual can be exchanged for the other; everyone and everything is the same. When Starman is thrown into humanity's world, the alien is shocked by how truly different everyone is. I liked the premise, but it relied too heavily on platitudes and schmaltz.
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| 1 |  |
martryn | 70 51st |
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An altogether alright Sci-fi flick. The romance bits suck, and the shit at the end was pretty lame, but that doesn't ruin the film.
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| 1 |  |
Ununnilium | 54 35th |
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Jeff Bridges is always fun, but the plot of this is one hundred percent predictable. If you've seen ET, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, or any other movie with good aliens on modern-day Earth, you can predict the course of this movie from minute one.
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| 1 |  |
fuzzleshnops | 85 72nd |
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Pleasantly surprised. The acting was great, especially from Jeff Bridges. It's aged pretty well, minus a few very 80s special effects. So glad I watched it.
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| 1 |  |
Yiannos | 55 36th |
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Although it was an assignment, Carpenter's trademark use of widescreen is clearly evident, especially in night scenes, and there are several atmospheric shots that rank among his best work of the period. If he sustained the mysterious and oddly intense mood of the opening act, it would have been a winner. Regrettably, it lapses frequently into cheesy melodrama, with only Allen's sincere (too sincere?) performance and parts of Nitzsche's synth score keeping it afloat. Bridges is hit and miss.
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| 1 |  |
Boxcars | 4 12th |
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Despite the possibilities afforded by what is, frankly, a morbid premise, "Starman" is a disappointingly unexplored, predictable, and standard affair; one of Carpenter's least interesting films.
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| 1 |  |
Iamdwg (Interpreting the Stars) | 77 55th |
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Criticker's prediction was exactly right this time. 77%. I grew up with this film, at least in some ways, and watching this again years later, I realize most of it is exactly as I remembered, and Jeff Bridges was a great choice to play this fish-out-of-water alien creature. He's funny, and he's got some pretty decent chemistry with Karen Allen. Overall, a pretty original alien flick that I think everyone should at least watch once.
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| 1 |  |
PianoSama | 70 82nd |
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A sci-fi romance brimming with 80's charm, it features great performances from Bridges- who plays the titular role to perfection- & Allen, as well as the strong supporting cast. The plot is basic, but the dynamic between the lead characters & watching their relationship build is what makes it so fun to watch. There's drama, there's comedy, & there's even some high tension towards the end. All-in-all, it's a super effective & cleverly written sci-fi love story that's definitely worth a look.
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| Average Percentile 51.11% from 1169 Ratings |  |