Starman (film): Difference between revisions

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'''Starman:''' "You are a strange species, not like any other... and you'd be surprised how many there are. Shall I tell you what I find beautiful about you?" }}

[[John Carpenter]]'s ''Starman'' is a kind of ''[[ET the Extraterrestrial (Film)|E.T.]]'' for adults, played as a [[Road Movie]] of all things. Fans will argue that it's a beautiful, beautiful love story between [[Alien Among Us|a man from the stars]] ([[Jeff Bridges]]) and an Earthling woman (Karen Allen) while dissenters will argue that it's a mediocre [[~~Cliche~~ Storm]].

[[John Carpenter]]'s ''Starman'' is a kind of ''[[ET the Extraterrestrial (Film)|E.T.]]'' for adults, played as a [[Road Movie]] of all things. Fans will argue that it's a beautiful, beautiful love story between [[Alien Among Us|a man from the stars]] ([[Jeff Bridges]]) and an Earthling woman (Karen Allen) while dissenters will argue that it's a mediocre [[Cliché Storm]].

Starman arrives on Earth as a result of Earth having transmitted welcome messages to any alien life, and clones himself an environment suit -- the [[Naked On Arrival|naked]] form of Jenny Hayden's dead husband. She is very freaked out by this, and at first only wants to get away from the freaky dead ringer for her dead husband. But she (eventually) agrees to take him to Arizona, where he has his only chance to meet up with the other aliens and go home. Naturally, this leads to a long road trip (Starman has gotten dressed by this point) involving a lot of learning about life on Earth, bonding and ultimately romance.

As usual, the military [[We Come in Peace Shoot To Kill|has it in for friendly aliens]]. They are led by the hard-as-nails George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who wants to dissect or kill Starman. His obligatory [[Morality Pet]] Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith) vainly attempts to convince him to do otherwise. {{spoiler|In the end, Starman has sex with Jenny, reveals he gave her a baby (she couldn't have children before he came along) and then he catches his ride home.}}

As usual, the military [[We Come in Peace, Shoot To Kill|has it in for friendly aliens]]. They are led by the hard-as-nails George Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who wants to dissect or kill Starman. His obligatory [[Morality Pet]] Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith) vainly attempts to convince him to do otherwise. {{spoiler|In the end, Starman has sex with Jenny, reveals he gave her a baby (she couldn't have children before he came along) and then he catches his ride home.}}

The movie was followed by a [[Walking the Earth]] television series starring Robert Hays of ''[[Airplane!]]'' fame.

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=== This film provides examples of: ===

* [[Alien Among Us]]

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* [[The Eighties]]: [[Retcon|Retconned]] to [[The Seventies]] in the TV show [[Soap Opera Rapid Aging Syndrome|so that Jenny's kid could be a teen in the contemporary 1980s]].

* [[Fish Out of Water]]: Starman, obviously.

* [[Full Name Basis]]: Starman does this with Jenny.

* [[Full-Name Basis]]: Starman does this with Jenny.

* [[Good Smoking Evil Smoking]]: Shermin blows smoke in Fox's face after arranging for Jenny and Starman to get away.

* [[Good Smoking, Evil Smoking]]: Shermin blows smoke in Fox's face after arranging for Jenny and Starman to get away.

* [[Green Aesop]]: Starman doesn't approve of deer hunting.

* [[Hey ~~Its~~ That Guy]]: [[The Big Lebowski|The Dude]] arives on Earth and falls in love with [[Indiana Jones (Franchise)|Marion Ravenwood]].

* [[Hey It's That Guy]]: [[The Big Lebowski|The Dude]] arives on Earth and falls in love with [[Indiana Jones (Franchise)|Marion Ravenwood]].

* [[Humanity Is Infectious]]

* [[Human Aliens]]: Starman takes on human form while on Earth, his natural form being a floating blob of light.

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* [[Naked On Arrival]]: Starman.

* [[Quizzical Tilt]]: Starman spends most of the movie this way given he is learning the human experience as he goes, and everything is therefore bewildering and confusing to him.

* [[Recycled ~~the~~ Series]]: The aforementioned short-lived TV show.

* [[Recycled: The Series]]: The aforementioned short-lived TV show.

* [[Second Face Smoke]]: Shermin does this to Fox after allowing Starman to escape.

{{quote| '''Fox''': Shermin, you are finished. I will have you ''eviscerated'' for this.<br />

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* [[Super Human Trafficking]]

* [[They Would Cut You Up]]: Jenny and Shermin's concerns of what awaits Starman if Fox catches him.

* [[We Come in Peace Shoot To Kill]]: Played rather [[Anvilicious|Anviliciously]].

* [[We Come in Peace, Shoot To Kill]]: Played rather [[Anvilicious|Anviliciously]].

* [[What Is This Thing You Call Love]]

* [[What Is This Thing You Call Love?]]