I was writing a whole reply about how I'm guilty of not having seen enough John Carpenter movies, including Last Starfighter, when I realized that's Starman. This is the one about the kid who's really good at video games right? I know I started it but I don't think I ever finished it.. The 80s were sort of a mashup of this, Flight of the Navigator, that one where the kids build the rocket in their back yard and talk to the aliens who all talk like Looney Tunes characters (can't remember the name of that one).. it's like a weird fever dream to think about. Maybe I should revisit this one now that it's been 25 years since I (allegedly) saw it.

I believe the movie you are thinking of is Explorers.

The movie you're trying to remember is "Explorers". It was directed by Joe Dante and had super-young Ethan Hawke & River Pheonix as well as not-so-young Robert Picardo, Dick Miller & James Cromwell. The creature effects were done by Rob Bottin.

It's one of my favorite 1980s sci-fi adventure flicks along with "The Last Starfighter", the 1986 remake of "Invaders from Mars" and "My Science Project."

Yay thanks guys! I was discussing with my gf various movies we liked as a kid; she said Flight of the Navigator, which I mostly remembered because the ship talked like Pee Wee, and Explorers must've somehow gotten mixed up with the voices. But with my vague description I dunno how long I would've had to look. So I texted her "THE EXPLORERS" and she was like "huh?"

Don't forget Flight of the Navigator, another overlooked 80s classic with an amazing CGI spaceship for the times!

I'm not sure if I liked Explorers better than Flight Of The Navigator. I tend to get those two mixed up. But for sure, Starfighter was a pure favorite growing up. Just the idea that the main character got selected to be an interstellar pilot based on his high score on a video game blew my mind then.

does it fuck

Oh yeah? Well, YOU have aged terribly!

I don't remember much about the rest of the movie, to be honest, and I remember not being that impressed as a kid, but the CGI was and is great.

Bullshit, the new stuff today blasts this rancid jizz to fucking buggery.

Death Blossom hadn't been combat-tested and Grig wasn't entirely positive it would work well, if at all. It was only used after all other options had been exhausted.

That's the same reason Gipsy Danger didn't just whip out the big-ass sword immediately in "Pacific Rim", by the way. You'll notice it came out pretty damned pronto in the second battle after they knew it made an effective weapon.

You'll also note the Death Blossom left the ship completely disabled and vulnerable after it was used, so it obviously still had some bugs that needed to be worked out.