Star Kid Review

Star Kid


Release Date: 16th January 1998 - USA


Production Companies
Trimark Pictures
Manny Coto Productions


Genre: Family/Sci-Fi

Rating: G

Runtime: 101 minutes


Budget: $12,000,000

Box Office Gross: $7,803,272 (Worldwide)


Plot Summary
Spencer Griffith is a young boy picked on by other kids. One day, his life will change when a meteor lands in a junkyard, and he discovers a "Cyborsuit", a living exoskeleton that arrived from a distant galaxy. Spencer wears the Cyborsuit and becomes a different person.


Cast
Joseph Mazzello - Spencer Griffith
Arthur Burghardt - Cyborsuit (Voice)
Alex Daniels - Cyborsuit
Richard Gilliand - Roland Griffith
Joey Simmrin - Manfred "Turbo" Bruntley
Brian Simpson - The Broodwarrior
Ashlee Levtich - Stacey Griffith
Lauren Eckstorm - Michelle Ebhardt

Christine Weatherup - Nadia

Yumi Adachi - Mika

Jack McGee - Hank Bruntley

Danny Masterson - Kevin

Bobby Porter - Nath the Trelkin

Larry Nicholas - Tenris De-Thar the Trelkin

Crew
Writer/Director - Manny Coto

Script Supervisor - Jayne Ann-Tenggren

Executive Producer - Mark Amin

Co-Executive Producer - Andrew Hersh
Producer - Jennie Lew Tugend
Co-Producers - Jonathon Komack Martin and Cami Winikoff

Casting Director - Judy Taylor
Production Designer - C.J. Strawn

Art Director - Michael D. Welch

Set Decorator - Irina Rivera
Costume Designer - Ileane Meltzer
Special Makeup Effects Designers

and Creators - Thomas R. Burman

and Bari Dreiband-Burman

Director of Photography - Rohn Schmidt

Stunt Coordinator - Gary Paul

Special Effects Supervisor - Lou Carlucci

Creature Animatronics Creators: Criswell

Productions - John Criswell,

John "Fraz" Frassfand and Ruben Miras

Creature Animatronics Creators: Criswell

Productions/Puppeteers - Chris Stacy,

Larry Finch, George Nigel Smith,

Patrick M. Gerrety and Nir Dary
Creature Designer/Supervisor of Velert

and Tracker Characters - Dan Rebert (Uncredited)

Visual Effects Supervisor - Thomas C. Rainone

Director of Photography: Miniature/Additional

Plate Photography - Christopher Warren

Camera: Miniature/Additional Plate Photography -

Gene Warren III

Effects Supervisor/Animation: ComputerCafe -

Tommy Williamson
Film Editor - Bob Ducsay

Supervising Sound Editor - Dave McNoyler

Additional Sound Supervisor - Glenn T. Morgan

Sound Effects Editors - Gregory Hainer,

Bryan Bowan, Michael A. Reagan and

Jon Title

Re-Recording Mixers - John Boyd,

Ezra Dweck, Robert W. Glass Jr. and

Dan Wallin

Additional Re-Recording Mixers - Gary Gegan

and Matthew Iadarola
Music - Nicholas Pike

Orchestra Mixer - Shawn Murphy


Review
It is another one of those rare and lost childhood films forgotten. STAR KID is, for sure, a family film with a brilliant concept and a lot of comedic value. The plot wasn't as good as I'd been expecting. For example, some aspects of STAR KID appeared to have been taken from The NeverEnding Story because both share the same plot scenario. A young lead hero whose mum is dead, his dad is a workaholic and was picked on by bullies. It still has traces of originality left in the feature. Joseph Mazzello does a decent portrayal as Spencer, and some noticeable CGI effects were in a few scenes. As I previously stated, the concept has brilliance but gets lost in its execution.

Although STAR KID wasn't exactly an exciting and imaginative all-ready movie, it's hardly forgettable. A low budget doesn't mean low value. While it's a family film, children may find the aliens frightening.

Star rating: (3/5) Average

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