Starstruck [DVD]

This movie is like all those old movies where the performing kids save the day (you remember...."we've got the barn...gran can make the costumes...we'll put on a show!!"). I LOVE this movie! I scrounged around until I found a copy of it back in the 80's (which wasn't easy to do). The movie is humorous, but the music is great! I especially love "I Want to Live in House" done by Angus and the Wombats, not to mention the song from crashing the Sydney Opera House "Monkey in Me". If you like irreverent humor and 80s semi-punk music as well, this movie is for you. The soundtrack for this movie (although hard to find) is also well worth the price if you can find it as well.

Update 12/31/05: I am thrilled this movie has been re-released with a two disc special edition. It is still a favorite even after all these years. Now, I can stop wearing out the VHS tape I have. However, like other reviewers, I want to know...where is the CD soundtrack?! My album is just about worn out. Bring on the CD!!

09/30/06: STILL waiting for the soundtrack to be released on CD. Who do we have to petition/cajole/threaten to get the soundtrack released on CD?
:-)

04/26/08: Seriously... is there any chance that I will be able to purchase this soundtrack on CD or as an MP3 before I'm eligible for Social Security? (still waiting......) :-)

07/08/09 tap-tap....is this thing on? ...haven't gone away. There simply MUST be a soundtrack released.

12/21/10: Just checking in on my more or less annual rant. What do we want? Starstruck soundtrack on CD or MP3! When do we want it? NOW!

This movie was finally re-released (summer of 2005) on a new two-disc DVD collection with the "extras" it deserves -- interviews with the producer, director, screenwriter; an audio commentary track; and deleted and extended scenes. More importantly, the sound and picture quality on this DVD release are light years ahead of the previous releases that were in the US (both of which I've previously purchased but gave up watching half-way through because the quality was so horrible). In short, the picture looks great, and the sound does the music justice. If you're a fan of Australian cinema in general...or movie musicals...or just want to see an Australian take on movie musicals in (roughly) the same era that the US was putting out "Grease" -- this is definitely worth seeing.

Also, if you're a fan of the movie or of director Gillian Armstrong, you'll enjoy the interviews. Gillian Armstrong talks somewhat wistfully about how she rejected two other "unknown" bands to do the soundtrack (INXS and Men at Work), both of whom went on to be huge hits in America about 6 months after the movie opened to modest business in the US. As she notes in her interview, this movie probably never really caught on with the teen audience in the US because "they don't go to foreign movies" and "at the time they couldn't imagine that there was any new wave music in Australia."

The audio commentary from the producer is an interesting insight on the movie-making business; he spends a lot of his time explaining what it took to get a movie made in Australia at the time (e.g., fund-raising from investors was driven by a mix of government funding and favorable tax laws for investors), and how it affected the creative process. Very different from most of the audio commentary tracks on the other movies.

All in all, a lot of fun.

Starstruck is one of the great forgotten flicks of the 80s.

Its name should be uttered with quiet reverence in the same breath as Valley Girl, Sixteen Candles, and the Breakfast Club, but - sadly - namedrop the film in North America, and you're likely to get a resounding "Huh?," even among 80s aficionados.

I've probably watched my old, decrepit VHS of this movie about 100 times over the last 20 years, and the thing that's always brought me back for more is how the sincerity and quirkiness of the family scenes plays against the spirited and energetic new wave musical numbers - sure, they're amateurish by today's standards, but the complete conviction and enthusiasm with which they're executed is a giddy (not guilty!) pleasure.

The song highlights here are many, but my personal favorites are "Body and Soul," the Split Enz song from the band's best CD, Frenzy, and the irrepressible "I Want to Live in a House," which lays bare the link between punk rebellion and nerdy frustration; Ross O'Donovan and his merry band of misfits "oi, oi, oi" their way through a sarcastic and convincing rave up with more nervous energy than an early Elvis Costello video; if you don't have goosebumps by the key change, or you don't immediatlely watch it again, congratulations: you're clinically dead.

The DVD is a huge improvement on the VHS edition. It's great to finally see the film in all its widescreen glory with much-improved sound and picture quality. I was a bit worried that part of the film's charm lay in the nostalgia of watching it on washed-out videotape, but that's definitely not the case. The greatest sin of the VHS edition, as it turns out, was that it obsured the fantastic production design. I must've paused the DVD 15 or 20 times last night to take a closer look at the background. Bravo!

The extras are interesting, but -- where are the interviews with Jo Kennedy and Ross O'Donovan? It's impossible to watch this film without wanting to find out more about both of them. As Gillian Armstrong notes in the extras, O'Donovan was 17 when he made the film (playing a 14 year old), which would make him 41 today. How does he feel about the film and his performance today? An expanded edition, please.

The discussion with screenwriter Stephen MacLean is interesting, in that he doesn't seem to like the film very much; ahh, the classic grouchy screenwriter who wanted to direct his own work! He cultivates the image, as he's interviewed on the beach getting a leg massage.

Interestingly, MacLean says that he thinks O'Donovan's performance is weak(!), and he wishes he could've chosen the songs himself. He also recalls a time he saw the film in a theatre and found himself sitting next to a six-year-old girl, who attempts to explain what's going on to her two-year-old sister. Good stuff.

All the interviewees say the film did better in the U.S. than Australia, which is hard to believe. However, I do recall Siskel and Ebert giving Starstruck two thumbs up, so that might've done the trick (hey, it worked for My Dinner with Andre).

The deleted scenes aren't so great; they're mostly extended scenes, and by "extended" I'm using the term liberally -- they're about five seconds longer than the originals.

I join the (building?) chorus of fans demanding a CD of the music; and, while we're at it, why don't we also demand the DVD release of Modern Girls, the other great forgotten 80s flick (notable for featuring Depeche Mode's should-have-been-a-hit But Not Tonight)?