John Carpenter is one of those filmmakers who made such strong influential films, that they still resonate with audiences to this day. In fact, almost half of his movies that were made during his 70s and 80s hey-dey have already been remade or are currently been remade to make them relevant to audiences today as well. And now there is yet another one of his films that is set to be remade, with a Starman adaptation now in the works as well with Shawn Levy (Real Steel) apparently signed on to direct a script from Arash Amel (who is writing another ’80s remake, War Games).
Now, I’ve never seen the 1984 original, as I was more interested in causing my parents all type of grief as a toddler at the stage in my life, but it is considered by many to be one of his best works. The original film starred Karen Allen as a grieving widow who encounters an alien in the woods near her rural home. The alien needs to take the shape of a human, which happens to be that of her recently deceased husband (Jeff Bridges).
The film sounds like a sci-fi horror based on that description, but was actually more of a love story about getting over loss that’s wrapped up in a sci-fi movie with car chases and secret government agents (shouldn’t all good love stories be told like this?).
For your benefit and mine – here are some clips from the original film, which certainly looks like it was a great movie filled with memorable performances by its cast:
At present, no cast has yet been announced for the remake, but the story is certainly a timeless one that I believe will still resonate well with audiences today. Any movie that can appeal to my geek sci-fi side and still satisfy my wife’s desire for a romance movie is okay by my books – as long as they can keep the action strong and up the ante with those car chases.
Last Updated: April 5, 2016
