I have to admit I was wrong about The Last Starfighter. In one of my first articles on this website, I mocked that film and said that it was a bad movie with good music. A few years later, I gave it another chance and I discovered something remarkable that has completely changed the way I think about it.
It is an example of Cinematic Chiasmus!
The first half almost perfectly mirrors the second half, creating a wonderfully symmetrical film experience. Let’s find out just how wrong I was to dismiss this film as just another special effects-driven film by crossing the frontier and showing how The Last Starfighter is a cinematic chiasmus.
The Chiasmus
As with all my other articles in this category, let’s begin by showing the chiasmus in all its glory:
A. The camera moves away from a planet called Rylos and goes to Earth
B. Louis Rogan finds his older brother Alex playing the Starfighter arcade
C. Alex’s mom calls to Alex while his girlfriend Maggie leaves him
D. Alex looks up at the planet models hanging in his bedroom
E. Trailer manager Otis tells Alex to follow his dreams
F. Alex breaks the record on the Starfighter arcade
G. Alex and Maggie proclaim their love for each other
H. Alex gets rejected for a school loan and then meets Centauri and Beta
I. Alex goes to Rylos with Centauri, and soon regrets it
J. Louis and Maggie listen to Beta moaning under a blanket as he transforms into a double for Alex
K. Alex sees several Gunstar spacecraft and gets briefed by Ambassador Enduran
L. Xur scares Alex by showing a spy he caught and killed
M. Centauri takes Alex back to Earth
N. Xur kills almost all of the Starfighters after their hangar’s defensive guns are disabled
O. Centauri lectures Alex and leaves him with a communicator if he changes his mind
O. Beta tries to convince Alex to return, and Alex uses the communicator to call Centauri back
N. An alien nearly kills Alex, and Centauri is seriously wounded defending him
M. Centauri takes Alex back to Rylos
L. With his “dying” breath, Centauri convinces Alex to stay and fight
K. Alex enters a Gunstar as Grig briefs him on the controls (Note: K and J take place out of order)
J. Louis is shocked to see Beta take off his head to fix a malfunction
I. Alex goes to the Frontier with Grig, and soon regrets it
H. As Beta serves his purpose by sacrificing himself for Alex, Alex finally accepts his role as a Starfighter
G. Maggie looks up at the stars and says, “I love you, Alex Rogan”
F. Alex destroys the Ko-Dan Armada and the Command Ship for real
E. The ambassador and a revived Centauri convince Alex to stay on Rylos
D. Alex’s friends and family look up as a Gunstar descends on their trailer park
C. Grig calls to Alex while Maggie decides to go with him
B. Louis starts playing the Starfighter arcade as Alex leaves on a Gunstar
A. Alex and Maggie leave Earth for Rylos
Now I’ll go into greater depth on each of these points: Continue reading →
Take the original Spider-Man film. I’ve noted that this film isn’t as well-structured as its superior sequel, but I tried looking at it with my Cinematic Chiasmus lens, and it came so close to making the cut. Here’s the chiasmus, so you can see for yourself. Continue reading 
