Starman - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of Starman or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to Starman

[melinda]

It was speculated that the title of the film was based after the 1972 David Bowie song of the same name.

[christina]

The make and model of the vintage hotrod seen briefly in the movie in a car chase with the cops was a black 1930s Ford V8 Roadster Hot Rod.

[charlie]

Director John Carpenter was extremely enthusiastic about the opportunity to show America at its most beautiful. Producer Larry Franco commented: "There are an awful lot of films today that focus on the things that are wrong in America. We had an opportunity with 'Starman' to show the good side of America . . . its beauty and the beauty and potential of its people".

[veronica]

The travel route of the cross-country journey started near Ashland in Northern Wisconsin and then went south to Madison, Wisconsin and west to the Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona.

[gerald]

The movie spent five years in development at the Columbia Pictures studio.

[kylie]

The picture was in development for four years at the Columbia Pictures studio before it actually started production. Executive producer Michael Douglas had several projects going simultaneously, one of which was his then recent hit Romancing the Stone (1984). Ultimately, the directorial reigns of "Starman" were assigned to John Carpenter, with Larry Franco producing, and Barry Bernardi co-producing, the film began.

[fred]

The movie was released about two and a half years after Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) had debuted.

[mathew]

The movie represents a rare instance where a film from the science-fiction genre received an Academy Award nomination for acting [which was for Jeff Bridges for Best Actor].

[terry]

Actress Karen Allen is seen drinking a can of Coke in her car in this movie. This appeared to be a very deliberate product placement. Columbia Pictures was owned by the Coca-Cola company around the time the movie was made. In 1985, home video cassettes of Ghostbusters (1984) were released with an advertisement for Coke on the tapes.

[jim]

According to director John Carpenter on the film's original 'Making-of featurette', the production on the road in Tennessee was marred by a lot of very difficult conditions whilst the production went cross country. This was mainly bad weather which included rain and mixtures of both fluctuating hot and cold temperatures.

[russell]

This script was being developed at Columbia at the same time as another script about an alien visitation. The studio did not want to make both, so the head of the studio had to choose which film to make; he decided to make this one and let the other script go to a rival studio. The other script was for E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982). After 'E.T.' became such a huge hit, apparently 'Starman' sat on the shelf for almost three years before the Columbia Pictures studio agreed to release it.

[kyle]

According to Nathaniel Thompson in an article at the TCMDb website, the picture was developed "around the same time as E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) . . . (also originally a Columbia project) but took longer to reach the screen due to extensive talent assignments behind and in front of the camera".

[victoria]

'Jeff Bridges' was considered for director John Carpenter earlier work in movies like The Thing (1982) and Escape from New York (1981). Bridges was considered to play both R.J. Macready and Snake Plissken respectively, but the parts went to Kurt Russell who Carpenter was good friends with. Bridges became friends with Carpenter after working together on this picture.

[manuel]

The basketball game Mark Shermin is watching took place during the 1983 NBA season opener on October 28th 1983 between the Philadelphia 76ers and Washington Bullets.

[kyle]

The name of the real life satellite from Earth that was sent into outer space in 1977 to send a message and invitation to possible other life forms was "Voyager II". This probe is known for its fly-by of the four outer planets, which provided a massive amount of information, including indications of possible conditions for supporting life on Jupiter's moon, Europa, which was the basis of the story of 2010 (1984). By sling-shotting around four planets and their moons, Voyager II became the fastest man-made object in history, traveling at a speed of 35,970 mph. Voyager 2 passed into heliopause (the region between the influence of the solar system and interstellar space in 2014. Voyager I, which passed by Jupiter and Saturn, entered the heliopause in August of 2012. The instrument packages are expected to continue to transmit data until their power is depleted some time in 2025. These are the third and fourth probes to achieve the velocity required to leave the solar system.

[marc]

The first of three movies about alien visitation with George 'Buck' Flower. The others were Mac and Me (1988) and They Live (1988).

[marc]

John Carpenter: Uncredited, as a man in a helicopter.

[riley]

Writer Dean Riesner wrote seven uncredited re-writes of the movie's screenplay working with six different directors. Writers Diane Thomas and Edward Zwick also wrote for the film uncredited. According to Riesner, he did not get a screen credit because "the Writers Guild, in their infinite wisdom, decided I didn't contribute 50 percent of the screenplay".

[stephanie]

The only John Carpenter film to have an Academy Award nomination (Jeff Bridges, Best Actor).