CGI

The Last Starfighter (1984)

[7] For a movie that was no doubt jumping on the E.T. and Star Wars bandwagon, The Last Starfighter manages to carve a niche for itself. Teenager Alex Rogan (Lance Guest) wins the high score on a mysterious video game and is suddenly recruited by an alien to defend the universe from some cosmic bad asses. What counts here is charm. The Last Starfighter oozes …

Tron (1982)

[6] Prior to Tron, computer animation appeared in a scene here and there, in films like Star Wars and The Black Hole, but Tron marked the first extensive use of it. So it’s something of a cinematic milestone, the great-grandfather of modern CGI fests like Avatar. Tron looks and sounds like no other movie with its austere digitally-rendered landscapes, the characters in glowing tights, and …