Starman

Starman Information

John Carpenter's Starman is a 1984 science fiction fantasy film, directed by John Carpenter, that tells the story of an alien (Jeff Bridges) who has come to Earth in response to the invitation found on the gold phonograph record installed on the Voyager 2 space probe.

The original screenplay was written by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon, with Dean Riesner doing uncredited re-writes. Bridges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his role. The film inspired a short-lived television series of the same name in 1986 which starred Robert Hays, Christopher Daniel Barnes and Michael Cavanaugh.

Plot

Launched in 1977, the Voyager 2 space probe carried a gold phonographic disk with a message of peace, inviting visitors to visit planet Earth. The Voyager 2 probe is intercepted by an alien ship. Responding to the invitation, they send a small scout vessel to establish first contact with Earth. But instead of greeting the craft, the government shoots the alien down. Crashing in Chequamegon Bay, Wisconsin, the alien, looking like a blue ball of energy, finds the home of recently widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). While there, the alien uses a lock of hair from her deceased husband, a house-painter named Scott Hayden, to clone a new body which a stunned Jenny witnesses. The starman (Jeff Bridges) has seven small silver spheres which provide energy to perform miraculous feats. He uses the first to send a message about his craft being destroyed and that the environment is hostile. He plans to rendezvous with them at "landing area one" in three days. He then uses the second sphere to create a holographic map of the United States, coercing Jenny into taking him to Arizona.

As the shock wears off, Jenny turns both hostile and frightened of him. After repeatedly attempting to escape, she finally implores the Starman to shoot her with her pistol. But instead he releases the pistol's magazine and tells her he means no harm. As they continue on their journey, the Starman, who had a rough understanding of English syntax from the Voyager 2 disk, learns to communicate with Jenny and Jenny teaches him that humanity is not completely savage.

He explains to Jenny that he has three days to get to the rendezvous point, Arizona's Barringer Crater, or he will die. She teaches him how to drive a car and use credit cards, intending on escaping so he can continue his journey alone. However, as she is about to make her escape, she witnesses him miraculously resurrect a dead deer. Deeply moved, she resolves to help him at whatever cost.

Along the way, the couple is pursued by the United States Army who investigated the crash. The contingent is led by cold-blooded NSA chief George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who is reluctantly assisted by civilian SETI scientist Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith). After finding the Voyager 2 phonographic disk in the Starman's ship, Shermin understands that Earth invited the Starman to visit in peace. Shermin later determines that the alien had taken the appearance of the deceased Scott Hayden.

While staying at a motel, Jenny and the Starman learn that they have been surrounded by the police, who are holding position until the federal government arrives. Employing a distraction, the two fugitives escape, but one of the officers shoots Jenny, critically wounding her. During the escape, the Starman crashes the car into a gas tanker and uses a sphere to protect the two of them from the explosion. They escape the area by taking refuge in a mobile home that is being towed.

The Starman, down to his last two silver spheres, uses one to heal Jenny. Fearing for her safety, he leaves her and travels to the meteor crater alone. Jenny catches up to him and they continue their journey together. While stowing away on a boxcar, the couple make love. Later that night, the Starman tells Jenny "I gave you a baby tonight." Jenny attempts to explain to him that she is infertile, and cannot conceive a child, but the Starman insists, saying, "Believe what I tell you." He explains to the stunned Jenny that the baby will also be the son of her dead husband, because he is a clone of Scott. He also explains that the baby will know all that the Starman knows and when he grows up he will become a teacher. He tells her that he will stop the gestation from going further if she wishes, but the joyful Jenny embraces him, accepting the gift.

The couple mistakenly travel too far on the train and arrive in Las Vegas. To make matters worse, Jenny has lost her wallet. The Starman uses one of their last quarters in a slot machine, which he manipulates in order to win the jackpot. The couple use their winnings to buy a new car to complete the drive to Winslow, Arizona, which is near Barringer Crater.

Meanwhile, Fox hears from NORAD that the Starman's trajectory, prior to it being shot down, was to Barringer Crater. He figures out that the Starman would show up there in the next day or so.

Near the end of the journey, the Starman and Jenny are confronted in a cafe in Winslow, where Mark Shermin interviews the dying alien. The Starman explains to him that his people had previously visited Earth, and are interested in humans, because out of all the many savage intelligent races in the universe, humans are at their best when things are at their worst. At this point, Shermin allows the Starman and Jenny to leave, risking his own career.

The couple reach the crater as Army helicopters buzz. Suddenly, a large, spherical landing craft appears and descends into the crater. Light surrounds the couple, and the Starman is instantly restored to health. He tells Jenny he will never see her again. Jenny confesses her love and begs him to take her with him, but he says she would die on his world. He then gives her his last silver sphere, telling her that their son will know what to do with it. As she watches in silence, the ship rises, carrying the Starman away.

Cast

Jeff Bridges as the Starman/Scott Hayden
Karen Allen as Jenny Hayden
Charles Martin Smith as Mark Shermin
Richard Jaeckel as George Fox
Robert Phalen as Major Bell
Tony Edwards as Sergeant Lemon
John Walter Davis as Brad Heinmuller
Ted White as Deer Hunter
Dirk Blocker as Cop #1
M. C. Gainey as Cop #2
George Buck Flower as Cook (as Buck Flower)
Ralph Cosham as Marine Lieutenant
Lu Leonard as Roadhouse waitress
Mickey Jones as truck driver

Production

Starman spent five years in development at Columbia. The original script by Bruce A. Evans and Raynold Gideon was purchased by the studio at the urging of executive producer Michael Douglas, shortly before it optioned Steven Spielberg's Night Skies. Screenwriter Dean Riesner came onto the project in late 1981 after director Mark Rydell left the project due to artistic differences with Douglas. Riesner worked on seven rewrites of Starman with six different directors, but did not receive screen credit because, according to him, "the Writers Guild, in their infinite wisdom, decided I didn't contribute 50 percent of the screenplay." Other uncredited writers who worked on the script were Edward Zwick and Diane Thomas. Columbia decided to abandon Night Skies, which was similar in plot to Starman, on the grounds that the former story was a more Disney-like story geared towards children, whereas Starman was for a more mature audience. Night Skies was eventually retitled E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, which became the highest-grossing film of all time, upon which Riesner commented, "Goes to show how wrong you can be in this business." According to Riesner, producers at Columbia were concerned at the initial box office returns for E.T., feeling that Starman (on whose second rewrite Riesner was working at the time) was too similar. Adrian Lyne had briefly worked on the project before departing to direct Flashdance for Paramount. He was replaced by John Badham, who then left to direct WarGames as soon as he saw E.T., and concurred that the two projects were too similar. Riesner was charged with keeping Starman essentially the same while simultaneously making it distinct from E.T, and would work with three subsequent directors: Tony Scott, Peter Hyams and finally, John Carpenter. Whereas Scott was more interested in style than narrative drive and wanted to cast Philip Anglim, and Hyams pushed for a more conventional science fiction approach, Carpenter, who was eager to shed his image as a maker of exploitative thrillers, wished to emphasize the cross-country rapport that develops between the two leads a la The Defiant Ones, The 39 Steps, and It Happened One Night over special effects. Riesner dropped the "heavy political implications" from the script in order to comply with this.

Release

Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported Starman earned a 79% rating from the critics it surveyed; some critics consider it one of the best films of 1984.

Starman grossed $2,872,022 in its opening weekend, debuting at number 6. Overall, the film grossed $28,744,356 in its domestic run on an estimated budget of $24,000,000.

Awards and nominations

Jeff Bridges was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor, marking the only film by John Carpenter to receive an Academy Award nomination. Bridges was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor " Drama and was awarded the Saturn Award for Best Actor. Karen Allen also received a nod for Best Actress from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films. The film itself was nominated Best Science Fiction Film. Jack Nitzsche received a Golden Globe nomination for his score.

AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions - Nominated
AFI's 10 Top 10 - Science Fiction Film (Nominated)

Soundtrack

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}} The soundtrack to Starman was released on December 14, 1984.

Jenny Shot - Jack Nitzsche
Here Come the Helicopters - Jack Nitzsche
Honeymoon - Jack Nitzsche
Road Block - Jack Nitzsche
Do You Have Somebody? - Jack Nitzsche
Pickup Truck - Jack Nitzsche
What's It Like up There? - Jack Nitzsche
All I Have to Do Is Dream - Karen Allen, Jeff Bridges
Lifting Ship - Jack Nitzsche
I Gave You a Baby - Jack Nitzsche
Morning Military - Jack Nitzsche
Define Love - Jack Nitzsche
Balls - Jack Nitzsche
Starman Leaves (End Title) - Jack Nitzsche

In popular culture

The City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra covered "Starman Leaves (End Title)" for their 2005 cover compilation album, The Science Fiction Album. The 2010 single "Symphonies" by Dan Black, and its remix featuring Kid Cudi, sampled CoPPO's cover of the song. At the end of the music video the lead character is beamed away by a bright circular spaceship, similar in the manner in which the Starman from the film departs Earth. The music video itself contains scenes which pay homage to several Jeff Bridges films, including Tron and King Kong.