Nick Duguay I expected a lot more out of this movie. For one thing it's John Carpenter. He obviously didn't write the script for this film but even though it was weak and trite I still felt that he could have done something more with it. For one thing the special effects are almost all CGI and bad CGI at that. Lovers of The Thing will be highly disappointed. The story is a simple romantic one at it's core and while I'm not completely adverse to that I can't say that this one ever really drew me in enough to care for what happened between the characters. The beginning especially felt really cobbled together, the story really lacks cohesiveness and it goes beyond believability. Not because it features aliens but that the things that happen don't even make sense within the sphere of plausible credibility within the story. The atmosphere is non-existent, the dialogue is weak and boring. It has some nice cinematography, as always with Carpenter, but it's not enough to save the movie.

Robert J. Maxwell A morality tale with a definite Spielbergian touch. Jeff Bridges is an alien who assume the form of Karen Allen's late husband. Bridges has been brought down by accident from his UFO and must be picked up by the mother ship at Crater National Monument in Arizona. The problem is that he's crash landed somewhere in Wisconsin, so he must more or less kidnap Allen and have her accompany him to the rendezvous site, with the police and the U. S. Army hot on their trail.As a kind of extraterrestrial anthropologist, Bridges must learn the speech and customs of his host country little by little. This leads to the expected but amusing sequences of his learning how to eat in a diner, how to give someone the finger, how to punch back when he's hit, and so forth.Of course Bridges comes to acquire all "the feelings" of her late husband's body, the one he's appropriated, and -- well, I guess I don't have to draw you a picture of what happens after that.It's a feel-good movie with lots of smiles and warmth. The holes in the plot may be the size of the crater in Crater National Monument but who cares? Majestic organ chords strike resonant notes in the viewers' cockles. The clutter of junk at the bottom of the crater -- left a hundred years ago by diggers who thought the meteor might be made of precious metal -- is carefully avoided in all the shots so as to promote the feeling of a pristine natural feature. He's as innocent as a new-born babe which, in a cultural sense, he is. But for no particular reason, the agents of social control are in hot pursuit. They seem to hate him. They're led by a major suit, the reliable and familiar Richard Jaekel, whose character's name is George Fox. I don't know if it was intentional -- probably not -- but in the old military phonetic alphabet "George" stood for the letter "G", and "Fox" stood for "F". "George Fox" was an offhand and polite way of telling someone to get lost.

jcbutthead86 Starman is an excellent and underrated SCI-FI-Fantasy-Romance that combines terrific direction,wonderful performances,an amazing score and great special effects. All of those elements make Starman a great film that is John Carpenter and Jeff Bridges at their best.Starman tells the story of am Alien,a Starman(Jeff Bridges)who's space ship has crash landed on the property of widow Jenny Heyden(Karen Allen)and takes the form of her dead husband. With the government on their trail the Starman and Jenny go on a road trip to take him to Arizona where Starman will be able to get back his planet. While on the trip Starman and Jenny get to know each other and fall in love.During his career,master Director John Carpenter has made five films dealing with Aliens with Horror,Action and SCI-FI,his funny feature film debut Dark Star(1974),the excellent and terrifying The Thing(1982),the brilliant and thrilling They Live(1988)and the underrated and entertaining Ghosts Of Mars(2001). In between those four films came Starman in 1984,a wonderful SCI-FI-Romance that was a modest success at the Box Office,earned an Academy Award nomination for Jeff Bridges,spawned a short lived television series and next to Big Trouble In Little China is Carpenter's lightest film that remains underrated and gives people a different side to Carpenter that wasn't seen before this film. Starman is a movie that is while giving viewers a familiar tale remains re-watchable mixing together elements of not only SCI-FI and Romance but also Road Movie,Fantasy,Adventure with a little bit of Humor that is beautiful and amazing and told in a large scale that grabs viewers from the moment you watch it. Starman greatly mixes together the genres SCI-FI and Romance pretty well. The SCI-FI elements are dazzling leaving you with thrills and awe from a visual standpoint showing from showing how the Starman lands on earth and how he uses his power for good not evil because Starman is one of the nicest Aliens in movie history. One of the main reasons Starman works is the focus on the relationship and love that develops between Starman and Jenny despite being Alien and human. The moments of dialog,interaction and romance between Starman and Jenny keeps the movie going wanting you to see where it's going to go even though the government is after both of them. The love and Romance feels real and genuine with a lot of heart that connects with viewers on an emotional level and you would want Starman and Jenny to be together forever. If you watched Carpenter's other films you should already know he's never been the most sentimental or Romantic filmmaker but he does a great job with the Love and Romance in the movie. As the journey on the road goes along Starman not only starts to fall in love with Jenny but starts to act more human doing things that regular people do and when we see the scenes with Starman being human it's funny as it is touching whether it's winning money on a Casino slot machine or trying to smoke a cigarettes. Starman also tells a character how he feels about the people on earth and one of the reasons he visited Earth. Some have compared Starman with Steven Spielberg's classic ET which came out two years before Starman some calling this movie ET for adults and while the two have similarities without a doubt both stand on their own. The ending of Starman is terrific,beautiful and matches the tone of the movie leaving viewers with optimism and hope. An amazing conclusion.The cast is great. Jeff Bridges is excellent and at his best as Starman,with Bridges being sweet and amusing. Karen Allen is wonderful and beautiful as Jenny Hayden,Starman's love interest. Charles Martin Smith is terrific as Mark Sherman,a scientist. Richard Jaeckel is great as George Fox,a National Security Director. George 'Buck' Flower(Cook),Dirk Blocker(Cop#1),M.C Gainey(Cop#2)and Ted White(Deer Hunter)give good performances as well;.The direction by John Carpenter is amazing,with Carpenter always moving the camera and bringing a great flare and style to the film. Terrific direction,Carpenter.The score by Jack Nlitzsche is fantastic,beautiful and awe-inspiring matching the movie perfectly. Fantastic score,Niezche.The Special Practical and Visual Effects are stunning and truly add to the film. Great special effects.In final word,if you love John Carpenter,Jeff Bridges,SCI-FI,Romance or Fantasy,I highly suggest you see Starman,an excellent,underrated SCI-FI-Romance-Fantasy that you will never forget. Highly Recommended. 10/10.

Spikeopath Mixed notices then and now for John Carpenter's sci-fi love story - cum human warning parable, but the fact is is that if it touches you it's a touch that stays for ever. It's a lovely film headed up by Jeff Bridges' wonderful turn as the alien from outer space teaming up with Karen Allen for a road trip to a Nevada crater, where he will be picked up by his own species and taken home.Taking on human form, that of Allen's deceased husband, much of the humour is derived from how the alien tries to adapt to a human lifestyle. The language, food, customs and romance, but always there is a serious thread running through the narrative. He was invited here by the contents of Voyager One, but now the suits want him for less than honourable research, so the pair, coming together as one after she is obviously in a state of kidnap worry, have to stay one step ahead of the authorities.So there's suspense in the mix via the chase dynamics, as well as some beautiful sequences, one of which has animal lovers of the world punch the air with unbridled joy. The premise is of course flimsy, and cribbing bits from ET and Close Encounters did the film no favours under critical analysis, but the emotional whack is mightily strong, with the lead characters being so easy to root for. While Jack Nitzsche's synth based musical score is a sci-fi great, perfect.A vastly under valued picture on Carpenter's CV, Starman would like to come and see us, if only we would give it the time. 8.5/10