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The Last Starfighter

Teenager Alex Rogan lives in a trailer park with his younger brother Louis and their mother Jane. Aside from his girlfriend Maggie Gordon, his only diversion is an arcade game called Starfighter, in which the player is "recruited by the Star League to defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan Armada" in deep-space warfare. One evening, Alex becomes the game's highest-scoring player. The moment is spoiled, however, when he learns that his application for a college scholarship has been rejected.

The inventor of Starfighter, Centauri, arrives in a futuristic car with a proposition. Centauri is a disguised alien, and his car is a spacecraft. Alex is taken to the planet Rylos while Beta, a doppelgänger android, covers his absence. Alex learns of a conflict between the peaceful Rylan Star League and the oppressive Ko-Dan Empire. The latter's armada, poised to invade Rylos, is led by Xur, a would-be-tyrant who has sabotaged the Frontier-forcefield shielding Rylos and other League-worlds from the Ko-Dan. The only hope against Xur and his allies rests with a small fleet of Gunstar spacecraft, operated by "Navigators" and by "Starfighter" gunners. Centauri's Starfighter arcade game is a recruiting tool designed to train Starfighters. Alex meets a friendly reptilian Navigator named Grig, to whom he explains his reservations about being part of the coming conflict.

Xur contacts Starfighter Command as Alex watches. After publicly executing a Star League spy, Xur promises the imminent fall of Rylos. Shaken, Alex asks to be taken home; there, Centauri gives him a means to contact the League should he change his mind. Back on Rylos, a saboteur disables Starfighter Command's defenses as the Ko-Dan command ship attacks with a long-range Meteor Gun. The remaining Starfighters and their Gunstars are wiped out. The saboteur warns Xur of Alex's escape.

Alex's life is saved again when he discovers Beta and contacts Centauri to retrieve the droid. Centauri arrives just as Alex and Beta are attacked by a Zando-Zan, a shape-shifting assassin in Xur's service. Centauri is mortally wounded protecting Alex. He and Beta explain that more Zando-Zans are en route to Earth; the only way for Alex to protect his world is to embrace his calling as a Starfighter. Alex agrees, and Centauri flies him back to Starfighter Command just before dying from his injury. Alex and Grig take off in a custom-modified Gunstar.

While Grig mentors Alex, Beta finds it difficult to maintain his impersonation, particularly with Maggie. Then a second Zando-Zan shoots Beta in front of Maggie, revealing the ruse. Maggie tags along as Beta steals a truck and chases the Zando-Zan. Before the would-be-assassin can warn Xur, Beta sacrifices his life to destroy it.

Believing Alex has been slain, Xur orders the taking of Rylos. Then Alex and Grig ambush the Ko-Dan mothership. As Ko-Dan warlord Kril relieves Xur of command, Alex knocks out the mothership's communications and weapons-targeting system. Xur overpowers his captors and escapes. Outnumbered and overwhelmed by Ko-Dan fighters, Alex activates "Death Blossom": an experimental weapon, developed by Grig, which destroys the remaining fighters. His flagship's batteries still offline, Kril attempts to ram the Gunstar, which evades him. Alex disables Kril's navigation system, and the mothership crashes into a nearby moon.

Alex is proclaimed the savior of Rylos. Grig and a recovered Centauri persuade him to help rebuild the Rylan Starfighter legion. Alex and Grig stop by Earth, landing their Gunstar in the trailer park. Louis is delighted to meet Grig, who speaks of Alex's heroism, while Alex bids his family farewell and invites Maggie along to Rylos. She agrees. Louis throws himself into mastering the Starfighter game so that he too can join the legion.