DVD Review - John Carpenter's Starman

Click here to learn more about anamorphic widescreen!

Site created 12/15/97.

review added: 1/22/99

John Carpenter's Starman
1985 (1998) - Columbia/Tristar Home Video

review by Todd Doogan, special to The Digital Bits

Enhanced for 16x9 TVs

Film Rating: B+
You couldn't sum it better, than John Carpenter meets ET: The Extra-Terrestrial. Jeff Bridges plays an alien trying to get home, while being chased by black helicopters, deer slaying hicks and the wife of the dead man he's masquerading as.

Disc Ratings (Video/Audio/Extras): B+/B+/C
There's a trailer. The disc sounds great. But the thing that makes the movie for me, is the end sequence, when the mothership comes down. It's so clear and beautiful, that I gave my VHS copy to a friend - I don't need it anymore. This DVD is quite beautiful.

Overall Rating: B+
The most mainstream of all Carpenter's movies. It's touching, full of life affirmation and has a nice love story. Carpenter handled the film well.

Specs and Features

115 mins, PG, letterboxed widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 enhanced, pan & scan, dual-sided, singled-layered, Amaray keep case packaging, theatrical trailer, film-themed menus, scene access (28 chapters), languages: English, Spanish & French (DD 2.0), subtitles: English, Spanish and French, Close Captioned

Bottom line

For Carpenter fans, this is a must own. I'd also recommend it to my sci-fi buddies out there. It looks great, and the effects are nicely preserved throughout the entire DVD. Like I said, this is a beautiful disc.

Todd Doogan
todddoogan@thedigitalbits.com