EDITOR’S NOTE: Starman was on the CBS Late Movie on February 23, 1990.
If you know director John Carpenter only as the undisputed king of synth-laden horror and gritty urban chaos, Starman proves just how versatile the man behind the camera really was. Steering away from pure terror to craft an intimate, cross-country romance, Carpenter delivered a science fiction road movie that pulsates with heart, featuring a towering central performance that remains legendary among genre enthusiasts. Or, as Carpenter said, “Starman is a love story. It’s It Happened One Night. It’s all the classic stories of star-crossed lovers, the lovers who can’t really make it together but have a bond of love, like in Brief Encounter. It really works on that level, because it touches a little thing inside of us. It was easy for me to tap into that, real easy. It’s a departure, because people haven’t seen something like this from me before. But now they have.”
When a friendly alien civilization answers the Voyager II probe’s invitation to visit Earth, the U.S. government responds with characteristic hostility, shooting their scout vessel down over Wisconsin. The lone alien, reduced to a floating ball of energy, takes refuge with recently widowed Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). Using a lock of hair from her deceased husband, Scott, the entity (Jeff Bridges) clones a human body for himself. Seeking to rendezvous with his mothership at Arizona’s Barringer Crater before time runs out, the Starman coerces a grieving Jenny into driving him across the country.
What starts as a tense abduction transforms into an unforgettable cross-country odyssey. Along the way, they dodge an aggressive National Security Agency led by George Fox (Richard Jaeckel), experience the wonders and oddities of American culture, fall deeply in love and leave a trail of miraculous moments in their wake—culminating in a breathtaking farewell at the crater.
Before Carpenter got the directing job, the project spent five years in development hell at Columbia with a revolving door of directors, including Adrian Lyne, John Badham, Tony Scott and Peter Hyams. Early drafts even featured the alien flying around like Superman. A legendary clash occurred behind the scenes when Carpenter wanted to give an on-screen dedication to uncredited writer Dean Riesner—whose story was actually filmed—in the end credits. The Writers Guild of America ruled it a violation of arbitration and briefly threatened to force Columbia to destroy all exhibition prints.
Despite Carpenter’s massive cult following and incredible contributions to cinema with films like Halloween, The Thing and Escape from New York, Starman remains his only film to receive an Academy Award nomination.
