Starman Plot
In 1977, Voyager II was launched containing a gold phonographic disk with a message of peace and inviting visitors to come to the planet Earth. Aliens, discovering the probe, send a small scout vessel. However, instead of being greeted by its human hosts, the U.S. government shoots down the alien craft. Crashing in Wisconsin, the alien, as a blue ball of energy, finds a lock of hair of the deceased Scott Hayden in a photo album and uses it to clone a new body in the likeness of Scott. The Starman (Jeff Bridges) then sends a message to his people that the environment is hostile and requesting extraction in three days at landing area one.
This occurs in the home of Scott's widow, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). After being awakened by an intense light in her living room, Jenny witnesses the alien clone into her dead husband. The Starman has several small silver orbs which he turns into pure energy to perform miraculous feats. He uses one to create a map of the United States in order to compel the dumbstruck Jenny to take him to Arizona.
As the shock wears off and Jenny discovers the Starman is an alien clone of her husband, she turns both hostile and frightened of him. After repeatedly unsuccessfully attempting to escape, she finally implores the Starman to shoot her with her pistol. But instead, the Starman dramatically releases the pistol's clip and tells her he means her no harm. As they continue on their journey, the Starman, who had a rough understanding of English syntax from the phonographic disk on Voyager II, learns to communicate his presence to Jenny, and Jenny teaches the Starman that humanity is not completely savage.
Jenny understands the Starman needs her help to get to Meteor Crater in three days or he will die, so she teaches him how to drive an automobile and use credit cards intending on escaping so he can cont..MoreIn 1977, Voyager II was launched containing a gold phonographic disk with a message of peace and inviting visitors to come to the planet Earth. Aliens, discovering the probe, send a small scout vessel. However, instead of being greeted by its human hosts, the U.S. government shoots down the alien craft. Crashing in Wisconsin, the alien, as a blue ball of energy, finds a lock of hair of the deceased Scott Hayden in a photo album and uses it to clone a new body in the likeness of Scott. The Starman (Jeff Bridges) then sends a message to his people that the environment is hostile and requesting extraction in three days at landing area one.
This occurs in the home of Scott's widow, Jenny Hayden (Karen Allen). After being awakened by an intense light in her living room, Jenny witnesses the alien clone into her dead husband. The Starman has several small silver orbs which he turns into pure energy to perform miraculous feats. He uses one to create a map of the United States in order to compel the dumbstruck Jenny to take him to Arizona.
As the shock wears off and Jenny discovers the Starman is an alien clone of her husband, she turns both hostile and frightened of him. After repeatedly unsuccessfully attempting to escape, she finally implores the Starman to shoot her with her pistol. But instead, the Starman dramatically releases the pistol's clip and tells her he means her no harm. As they continue on their journey, the Starman, who had a rough understanding of English syntax from the phonographic disk on Voyager II, learns to communicate his presence to Jenny, and Jenny teaches the Starman that humanity is not completely savage.
Jenny understands the Starman needs her help to get to Meteor Crater in three days or he will die, so she teaches him how to drive an automobile and use credit cards intending on escaping so he can continue his journey alone. However, as she is about to make her escape, she witnesses him in the distance miraculously resuscitate a deer that had been shot by a hunter. Deeply moved by the Starman's action, she resolves to help him at whatever cost.
Along the way, the couple is pursued by the United States Army who detected the crash. The Army contingent is led by a cold-blooded NSA Chief Fox (Richard Jaeckel) who is reluctantly assisted by a decidedly more humane civilian scientist named Mark Shermin (Charles Martin Smith) who, after finding a reproduction of the Voyager II phonographic disk in the Starman's ship, understands that Earth invited the Starman to visit in peace.
As they make their way to Arizona, the Starman's understanding of humanity (and being human) increases through direct experience and from some explanations by Jenny, who in turn finds the Starman to be a tender, sincere, vulnerable, and loving being. Jenny asks the Starman about his world, and he explains they are one people with one language and one law, and there is no hunger or hurt or war, but they have lost something. The Starman then expresses his admiration for humanity.
At one point, Jenny is killed by police. The Starman, down to his last two silver orbs, uses one to restore her to life. He then leaves her to attempt to reach the Meteor Crater alone. Jenny catches up to him and they continue their journey together. While hitching a ride on a boxcar, the couple make love. Later that night, the Starman tells Jenny he put a baby inside of her. When Jenny tries to explain she is barren, the Starman tells her to believe him, that the baby will be the son of her dead husband, but also his son, that he will know all that the Starman knows, and when he grows up, he will become a "teacher." Seeing Jenny looking at him stunned, he asks her if she wants him to stop the baby. Jenny then asks him to show her his star so she can show her baby where his father comes from.
By the end of the journey, the Starman is captured by the government in a cafe nearby the Meteor Crater. There, Mark Shermin interviews the dying Starman, where he learns that the aliens had visited Earth, that there are many savage intelligent races in the universe, but the aliens are interested in man because they are a beautiful people: they are at their best when things are at their worst. Confronted with this, Shermin decides to ruin his career to help the Starman and Jenny escape.
The couple reach the crater as Army helicopters buzz them. Suddenly, a large reflective sphere appears in the sky and enters the crater. Substance resembling snow and a blue light surround the couple, and the Starman is restored to health. The Starman tells Jenny he will never see her again. Jenny confesses her love and begs him to take her with him, but he says she would die on his world. He then gives her his last silver orb. When she asks what she should do with the ball, he tells her the baby will know. He then leaves her and she watches on in silence. Less
