Star Kid

Star Kid (originally titled The Warrior of Waverly Street) is a 1997 independent science fantasy-family film directed and written by Manny Coto and starring Joseph Mazzello, Richard Gilliland, and Corinne Bohrer.

Star Kid
Theatrical release poster
Directed byManny Coto
Produced byJennie Lew Tugend
Written byManny Coto
Starring
Music byNicholas Pike
CinematographyRonn Schmidt
Edited byBob Ducsay
Distributed byTrimark Pictures Inc.
Release date
November 13, 1997
(Singapore)
January 16, 1998
(US)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$12 million[1]
Box office$7,029,025[2]

Plot

Spencer Griffith is a shy boy in seventh grade. He has a crush on a schoolmate named Michelle. His life changes one night when a mysterious meteorite crashes into a nearby junkyard. Sneaking out of his house to investigate the site, he discovers the meteorite to actually be a small rocket carrying a "Cyborsuit.", a prototype exoskeletal-suit with AI (short for Artificial intelligence) from another galaxy. He decides to try it on and melds with it, but requires some time to adjust to the experience, including the new speed and strength. He then tests out many of the suit's primary functions and abilities, and decides to call it "Cy". He proceeds to go around town doing whatever he wants, starting with getting back at a bully from school named Turbo, then saving Michelle and her friends from a damaged Rock-O-Plane and ordering food from a fast-food restaurant drive-thru. He also endures the hilarious antics of trashing part of his house after getting his head stuck inside of the refrigerator, discovering the unappealing way that the suit will allow for him to eat his ordered drive-thru food, and finding a way to pee when Cy won't let him out to do it.

During this time, Earth is visited by a Broodwarrior, a member of an alien race of insectoids. They are currently waging a war against the suit's creator, Tenris De'Thar, and his fellow Trelkins, who had created it to develop a weapon to turn the tide of the war, but he was forced to launch it into space due to a Broodwarrior attack. The Broodwarrior's mission is to find and capture it so his race can analyze it. After his first encounter with the Broodwarrior, Spencer escapes, forces Cy to eject him out of the suit, and abandons it telling it he's afraid he might not "live to see his next birthday" if he "engages" the Broodwarrior. Back at home, after he looks over one of his comic books titled MidKnight Warrior and he thinks about what the title character, in his situation, would do, he goes back out to find Cy. He unexpectedly finds himself accompanied by Turbo, now becoming his friend, only to find out Cy has been captured by the Broodwarrior. They head to the junkyard, where Cy is about to be taken off-world by the Broodwarrior, and create a plan to distract the Broodwarrior long enough for Spencer to rescue Cy. Spencer gets Cy back and begins battling with the Broodwarrior.

During the battle, the Broodwarrior gets the upper hand and defeats Cy and Spencer. After getting bashed multiple times by the Broodwarrior's mace and severely damaging the suit, Cy is forced to eject Spencer out of it before going completely offline. Spencer covers it with scrap metal to hide it from the Broodwarrior, takes a piece of it, and continues to fight the Broodwarrior, who was later trying to chase down Turbo. Spencer confronts the Broodwarrior before getting chased himself and is suddenly cornered inside of a junked ice cream truck. Just when the Broodwarrior is about to dispose of Spencer, Turbo finds a control panel and activates the car crusher the truck is sitting in, revealing the chase into it to be part of a trap. Spencer escapes while the Broodwarrior is compressed along with the truck into a solid metal cube, killing him.

With the Broodwarrior now destroyed, the boys return to Cy but it appears that they were too late to save it. Just as Spencer begins to lose hope, Tenris De'Thar and a small group of Trelkin soldiers appear from a giant UFO orbiting Earth and quickly repair it, bringing it back to life. After Cy and Spencer say goodbye to one another, the head alien soldier gives Spencer a badge for his bravery and courage before their departure back to their home-world, and the long, eventful night finally comes to an end. The next day at school, a now confident Spencer, with encouragement from Turbo, starts up a conversation with Michelle.

Cast

Release

The film grossed a domestic total of $7,029,025, making it a box office bomb from its estimated $12 million budget.

Critical reception

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 43% with an average rating of 5.37/10 based on 14 reviews. In his review for the Chicago Sun-Times, Roger Ebert (who gave it 3 out of 4 stars) said "Star Kid, written and directed by Manny Coto, has a sweet heart and a lot of sly wit, and the symbiosis between boy and cyborg is handled cleverly. For kids of a certain age, it pushes the right buttons."[3]

Home media

In the United States, the film was released on VHS and DVD format in 1998. It was also released on VHS in the UK and is now available on DVD.[4]

Soundtrack

All tracks (with the exception of the first two tracks) were composed by Nicholas Pike. The soundtrack was released on compact disc by Sonic Images (January 27, 1998) and further released for download through BSX Records (January 29, 2013) with modified cover art.

Track Listing
No.TitleNotesLength
1."Magic Carpet Ride"Steppenwolf cover by Edgar Winter4:22
2."Shadow in the Shade"Performed by Theresa Musser4:21
3."Battle on Trelkas" 5:07
4."Another Fun Day at School" 1:04
5."Turbo Trouble" 4:19
6."The Cybersuit Arrives" 6:20
7."Turbo Takes a Spin" 3:07
8."In the Fairground" 4:41
9."Mom" 2:03
10."Rearranging the Kitchen" 1:58
11."Broodwarrior Arrives" 1:43
12."On the Bridge" 4:40
13."Anyone for Tennis" 1:31
14."Home Improvement" 6:31
15."Joyride in the Junkyard" 3:35
16."Cy Runs Out of Steam" 6:49
17."Trelkins Arrive" 2:46
18."Farewell to the Trelkins" 2:35
19."Finale" 2:41

Comic

A prequel was released in comic book form, written by Manny Coto with art by John Stokes. It was published by Dark Horse Comics.[5]

See also

References
  1. Star Kid (1997) - Box office / business
  2. Star Kid at Box Office Mojo
  3. https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/star-kid-1998
  4. Star Kid (UK - DVD R2) in News > Releases at DVDActive
  5. Dark Horse Comics > Profile > Star Kid
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