Starstruck (1983)

Such a frustrating disappointment

Lack of good storyline.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

This movie feels like it was made purely to piss off people who want good shows

Am I the only Australian to review this on IMDb? A rapid scroll through the offerings would seem that this is true. Unbelievable ! I saw this film on first release at the cinema in true-blue Sydney fashion. It is still a haunting favourite after all these years and is, in fact a love song to a city and her people and places. Stephen MacLean was a boy from Melbourne, who later wrote the famous 'The Boy from Oz' ~ a bio of Peter Allen - later to become a musical stage sensation. But that's another story...This movie is absolutely fabulous Sydney in all her early 80s glory. A time of innocence and fun, ridiculous clothes, a special cousinhood, 'wannabe-in-show-biz', Mickey Rooney & Judy Garlandesque tribute to the talents and humour of our own people. Who needs Hollywood? Features include, singin', dancin' and horsing around in a variety of great Sydney locations. Every song is wonderful and every star shines. A Classic ~ oft overlooked but remembered well and often, by me, Anne-Maree.

I was fortunate to be standing in a cinema in Sydney city when Gillian Armstrong approached a group of us kids and asked if we would like to see a preview of a new Aussie movie. We didn't know who Gillian Armstrong was we were about 16 at the time. We arranged time and day with her and attended the raw cut of Starstruck. Wow, what a night that was. There was about 15 of us and that was it. We loved it, we left excited and privileged that us teens got to see it before anyone else and gave Gillian a big thumbs up. When we left we were invited to the premier and after party. We met the cast and talked for a long time to come about our chance meeting. This is such a fun movie, great music, JO Kennedy and Ross O'Donovan were fantastic. Typical Aussie humour for the 80's. One of the best musicals of the time, clean, honest, well written, well directed and a wonderful change from the classic Australian period piece.

The director of "My Brilliant Career", the Production Designer of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show", a choreographer working without trained dancers, several script writers and many composers bring a low-budget post-punk vitality to Sydney Australia.As the commentary on the DVD mentions, the prints of Starstruck seem to have been severely cut in different releases, and this print has at least one song hacked out of the release I saw in 1982. Still, the bouncy energy survives. Teenage lust and ambition are tempered with working class family values. The homage to Richard Lester and gay Busby Berkeley routine are still hilarious, and the finale will have your toes a-tapping.

I saw this movie when it was originally released in America in the early 1980's. I enjoyed the film quite a bit and eventually bought the soundtrack. I just rented the film on video and it still holds up for me after all these years. It is still simple, quirky, vibrant and lively just as I remembered it. The characters are well drawn and very unique and the dance numbers are just as quirky as the rest of the movie. The "Body and Soul" number in the pub literally gets everyone in on the act and it is a highlight of the film for me. I read where director Gillian Armstrong said the reason she made the film after scoring with a period piece like "My Brilliant Career" is because she wanted to do something unusual and little unexpected. She (and all involved) very much succeed. The soundtrack has 1980's style new wave influenced pop. Whether you enjoy the rest of the movie will probably depend on whether you enjoy that style of music. If you do, give this movie a look, if you do not, then pass on it.