NOTE: This 4K release is currently only available as part of Sony’s Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4. Since each film comes packaged in its own 4K keepcase, we will first review each film separately, followed by an overall review of the collection and its deluxe packaging.
1984’s Starman arrives on 4K disc for the first time, and the package also includes the follow-up 1986 Starman TV series (presented in HD for the first time).
Starman (1984)
On August 20, 1977, the U.S. launched the Voyager II probe into space, containing audio and video recordings inviting other intelligent species in the universe to visit the planet Earth…and now one has taken them up on this offer. However, when NORAD sees a ship on its radar, they assume it’s some sort of Soviet weapon, and send an Air Force squadron to shoot it down. The alien ship crash lands in Northern Wisconsin, where a glowing blue light exits the wreckage and finds its way to a cabin across the lake.
Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen) is watching old home movies and crying over old photos of her recently deceased husband, Scott. As she heads to bed, the alien presence starts to scan the videos, and gathers DNA samples from a lock of Scott’s hair in a photo album. It uses this data to form a new human body, from baby to adult in a matter of minutes. As the process is happening, Jenny wakes up and doesn’t believe what she is seeing. She is now standing in front of a Starman that looks just like Scott (Jeff Bridges). However, the alien can’t really speak English or understand her, so she tries to run, but he suddenly appears by her car as she plans to drive away. The alien observes Jenny and manages to convey that he needs her to take him to Arizona. (He only has 3 days to get to crater, where a ship will take him home, otherwise he will die if he stays on Earth.)
At first Jenny feels like a hostage, and attempts several times to escape or alert the authorities. But as the pair spend time together on their road trip, the Starman learns to communicate and gathers a better understanding of Earthlings and their culture. He assures Jenny that he doesn’t want to hurt her, and she finally starts to believe it. Jenny sees that this alien creature is caring and kind, and the two of them start to fall in love—even if the alien doesn’t understand what that means, he can feel it in his human body. However, in pursuit of the alien are SETI representative Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith), as well as the much more sinister Federal Agent George Fox (Richard Jaeckel), who is eager to get his hands on the alien to cut it open and study it. The government has troops and helicopters out searching, and has set up road blocks along the highway. But the Starman has a few tricks and abilities up his sleeve.
Starman (1986-87, 22 episodes)
In 1986, the story of Starman continued in a short-lived, single-season follow-up TV series. The series is set 15 years after the events of the film. Jenny Hayden’s 14-year-old son Scott (Christopher Daniel Barnes) is living in an orphanage in Seattle after his step-parents were killed in a firey car crash—one that he miraculously managed to walk away from unscathed. Jenny had left her son in the care of others when Scott was just 3 years old, and disappeared, saying that it was too dangerous for her to be around him. Scott doesn’t know anything about his father, and just has a mysterious metal sphere his mother told him his father had left for him. One night Scott is holding the sphere while he’s having a nightmare about the accident, and the ball begins to glow, which alerts the Starman with a call for help.
As his spaceship arrives on the planet, the Starman comes across a snowy crash site and the deceased body of adventure photographer Paul Forrester (Robert Hays), whose helicopter crashed when he got too close to an active volcano while trying to get the perfect shot. The alien clones Paul’s body from the dripping blood, and assumes Paul’s identity as he heads to the source of the sphere’s distress call. However, he’s surprised to find Scott and not Jenny. He tries to explain to Scott that he’s his father, but Scott wants none of it. Paul eventually manages to convince Scott that he’s telling the truth, and the pair head off on a journey to find Jenny, traveling from place to place, helping people in need at each new location, and getting into trouble along the way as ghosts from Paul Forrester’s reckless past come back to haunt them. Along the journey, Scott helps Paul learn more about what it’s like to be human—much like Jenny did for him in the film—and Paul learns more about what it’s like to be a father of a teenager.
Meanwhile, FSA Agent George Fox (Michael Cavanaugh) had been watching Jenny and her son for the first 3 years of Scott’s life, and he even took a blood sample from the boy to try to prove his father was an alien. However, when Jenny disappeared, he lost track of them and had been desperately searching for proof of the alien for the past 11 years. When one of Paul Forrester’s reporter friends contacts the police about his mysterious survival from the volcano, this alerts Fox, who is now back on the case and more determined than ever to capture Scott and his alien father, along with the help of his sidekick, FSA Agent Wiley (Patrick Culliton). He is constantly hot on their tail as Scott and Paul head out on their quest.
The original Starman movie comes from director John Carpenter, who is usually known for doing horror/thrillers and not romantic comedies. However, the film does have a sci-fi slant to it, which fits into his wheelhouse. Jeff Bridges does an excellent job of playing this naïve and curious alien who is just trying to get home. There is this sweet innocence to his portrayal, and even though he looks perfectly human, his choice of mannerisms helps to sell that fact that he’s an alien. There is also a lot of humor in the role as the Starman observes others to learn Earth customs and language, but doesn’t always use what he learns correctly. He often emulates bad language or behavior, and uses this at inappropriate times, not realizing what his actions really mean. Karen Allen has great chemistry with Bridges. When we first meet Jenny, she is still mourning over the loss of her husband, so when this alien shows up looking and acting like her beloved Scott, she doesn’t know how to react. For a split second she’s happy to see her husband again, but knows this is some kind of potentially dangerous alien creature. At first all she wants to do is get away as quickly as she can, and she tries to set the Starman up with the knowledge and resources he needs so that he can finish his journey without her. However, she soon realizes that he needs her and that she cares about him, and wants to stay and help him. I don’t know how often I will revisit this movie, but I found it to be an enjoyable romantic comedy overall.
The new 4K presentation looks and sounds fantastic. The picture is nearly perfect at times, with clean and crisp video that doesn’t really show much film grain at all. I only really noticed the grain in a couple establishing 2nd unit shots. There is an excellent level of detail throughout, even in the darker nighttime scenes. The colors really pop, thanks to the Dolby Vision encoding. When the ship arrives on the planet there is this bright blue glow, and near the end of the film there is a beautiful scene in shades of blue and red. The colors never bleed or look noisy. The effects look natural and blend in seamlessly. I can’t imagine this film looking much better. The Dolby Atmos audio track is also quite impressive. This is noticeable right from the start as the sound of the probe flying by, and the messages being send into space fill the room, along with a general rumble. Later on, the constant rumble of the wind is also presented in a very immersive way. As helicopters fly overhead or the characters find themselves caught in a rainstorm, the height channel is nicely utilized. And the dialogue also remains clear throughout.
There are no bonus features on the 4K disc, but the feature Blu-ray disc contains a lot of great material. This includes some new features, such as a collection of 21 never-before-seen deleted scenes as well as two time-lapsed behind-the scenes videos, and a music video of Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen performing “All I Have to Do Is Dream”. Other features that have been ported over from Scream Factory’s 2018 Blu-ray release include a 23-minute retrospective featurette, an audio commentary, a vintage Making Of EPK featurette, a still gallery, and the film’s theatrical trailer.
The Starman TV series is a wonderful addition to this release. I found myself instantly drawn into the show from the start. It has the ongoing storylines of trying to find Jenny, and being pursued by George Fox. But it also has that procedural element of heading to a new location each week and helping some person in need (with some recognizable guest stars). This is your classic 80s TV drama setup, but not as violent as something like The A-Team. Robert Hays does a great job taking over the role of the Starman, giving that same kind of fun innocence and humor. And he has great chemistry with Christopher Daniel Barnes. I enjoyed watching the father/son dynamic develop between them. It’s a shame that the series only lasted a single season, but there is some resolution to the initial premise.
The TV series is split across 2 4K discs, but this is just to maximize space. The show is only presented in HD, in its original full frame ratio. The series generally looks and sounds great, with a clean and clear looking picture. The opening title sequence and some 2nd unit establishing shots aren’t quite as clean as the rest, but the show certainly looks better than it has ever looked before. The audio track provides clear dialogue and occasionally makes use of the stereo audio to provide directionality to the onscreen action. The inclusion of TV series with this release is reason alone for fans of the show to pick up this 4K set.
The release comes packed in a standard 4K keepcase, with the film’s 4K UHD & Blu-ray discs stacked on the right side, and the two 4K discs containing the TV series on the left. An insert provides details on the TV show episodes, while another provides instructions for redeeming a 4K Movies Anywhere digital copy of the film.
What’s Included:
Film: (1:54:58)
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4K UHD:
- 2160p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- Dolby Vision / HDR10
- English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Italian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish (Castilian) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Latin American) Mono Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- 1080p / Widescreen 2.39:1
- English 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, English 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio, French 5.1 Dolby Digital, German 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Italian 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio, Spanish (Castilian) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish (Latin American) Mono Dolby Digital
- Subtitles: English, English SDH, Arabic, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish (Castilian), Spanish (Latin American), Swedish, Thai, Turkish
- The complete 1986-1987 22-episode follow-up series, HD episodes included on 4K UHD discs for maximum space
Disc 1: (8:47:18) “The Return”, “Like Father, Like Son”, “Fatal Flaw”, “Blue Lights”, “Best Buddies”, “Secrets”, “One for the Road”, “Peregrine”, “Society’s Pet”, “Fever”, “The Gift”
Disc 2: (8:47:29) “The System”, “Appearances”, “The Probe”, “Dusty”, “Barriers”, “Grifters”, “The Wedding”, “Fathers and Sons”, “Starscape Part I”, “Starscape Part II”, “The Test” - 1080p / Full Frame 1.33:1
- English DTS-HD Master Audio Stereo
- Subtitles: English SDH, French, German
- Deleted Scenes (18:19)
Collection of 21 new, never-before-seen deleted scenes. They are presented in their original aspect ratio and the picture quality is quite good, but dirt and specs still remain. Play All, or select from:- Sleeping Pills (1:45)
- Self-Discovery (1:30)
- “We Must Go” (:43)
- SAC Alert (:37)
- Positive Identification (2:35)
- House of God (1:31)
- The Cloning Question (:43)
- “You Could Take the Car” (:33)
- A Theory (1:09)
- Happy Pills (:26)
- Mating Ritual (:57)
- Learning to Dance (2:14)
- Vending Machine (:32)
- CB Warning (:31)
- ID Verification (:19)
- “We Want Him Aive” (:30)
- Fugitives (:33)
- Colorful Language (:14)
- “Keep Her at 60” (:26)
- “Little Bit Tired” (:43)
- “Take ‘Em Out” (:32)
- Behind-the-Scenes Time Lapses
Two brand new time lapse videos of behind-the-scenes footage. There is no audio, but the clips are accompanied by a score. Select from:- The Light at the Window (4:58)
- Pep Rally Prep (4:46)
- They Came from Hollywood: Revisiting Starman (23:23)
The cast and crew talk about the story, casting the movie, the alien’s movement, working with Karen Allen, the filming locations, the lighting and night shoots, trying to blow up a forest in the rain, the spacecraft, the score, and more. Originally produced for Scream Factory’s 2018 Blu-ray release. Includes behind-the-scenes photos, and interviews with director John Carpenter, script supervisor Sandy King-Carpenter, and stars Charles Martin Smith (“Mark Shermin”) & Jeff Bridges (“Starman”). - Commentary with Director John Carpenter and Actor Jeff Bridges (1:54:58)
Director John Carpenter and star Jeff Bridges provide a thoroughly entertaining and interesting commentary, originally recorded sometime around the year 2000. They discuss the story, talk about the special effects, share lots of fun behind-the-scenes stories about the production and other projects they’ve worked on, and more. - Making-Of Featurette (11:24)
This vintage promotional EPK featurette from 1984 includes clips, behind-the-scenes footage, and interviews with director John Carpenter and stars Jeff Bridges, Karen Allen & Charles Martin Smith. Presented in 4:3 full frame format. - “All I Have to Do Is Dream” Music Video (3:59)
Jeff Bridges and Karen Allen since “All I Have to Do Is Dream” in a recording booth, intercut with clips from the film. Presented in 4:3 full frame format. - Still Gallery (5:44)
Slideshow of international posters and promotional artwork that auto-advances every 7 seconds. - Theatrical Trailer (2:09)
Blu-ray:
TV Series: (17:34:47)
Extras:
All bonus material can only be found on the feature Blu-ray disc.
Final Thoughts:
Starman is a different kind of movie for director John Carpenter, but is still a solid romantic comedy/drama with sci-fi elements. The picture and sound quality of the 4K release is excellent, and the disc contain some really entertaining bonus material, some of which is new to this release. The release also includes the complete follow-up TV series in HD, which alone makes it worth the price of admission. This comes highly recommended for fans of the film or tv series, and must own for fans of both.
Columbia Classics 4K Ultra HD Collection Volume 4 (His Girl Friday/Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner/Kramer vs. Kramer/Starman/Sleepless in Seattle/Punch-Drunk Love) (4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital) [4K UHD]
33% Off $215.99 $139.95 (as of April 27, 2024 07:35 GMT -04:00 – More infoProduct prices and availability are accurate as of the date/time indicated and are subject to change. Any price and availability information displayed on [relevant Amazon Site(s), as applicable] at the time of purchase will apply to the purchase of this product.)
Starman
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