BSP 131: Directing Last Starfighter & Writing Escape from New York with Nick Castle

We have today, 80s horror icon Michael Myers, also known as, Nick
Castle. Director, writer, and actor - notable for directing The
Last Starfighter (1984), Major Payne (1995), and Escape from New
York (1981) among others.

Nick’s fictional character, Micheal Myers, in the Box Office $255
million-grossing Halloween film is possibly one of his most
well-known roles that have been strongly supported by fans for
years. He appears in the 1978 Halloween film as a young boy who
murders his elder sister, Judith Myers. The same role is reprised
fifteen years later in the sequel where he returns home to
Haddonfield to murder more teenagers. 

In 1986 he wrote and directed the heartwarming fantasy drama film,
The Boy Who Could Fly which tells the story of an autistic boy who
dreams of flying and touching everyone he meets, including a new
family who has moved in after their father dies.

Filmmaking came naturally to Nick for a host of reasons. For one he
grew up in a showbiz family. His father choreographed musical
comedy films, while an uncle of his worked as a lighting designer
on movie sets. At a tender age, his dad introduced him to
entertainment through smaller roles in front of the camera and
summer internships behind the scenes. 

There he grew a fondness for directing which inspired him to pursue
film school at USC.

Notoriety came quickly for Nick. Along with collegemates,
Carpenter, Rokos, Longenecker, and Johnston, Nick worked
cinematography and co-wrote The Resurrection of Broncho Billy - a
short film they created while still in college that blew up and
entered the academy consideration and won the academy award for
live-action short film in 1970. 

Nick and Carpenter reunited and worked together again on
Carpenter’s 1974 sci-fi comedy, Darkstar, which follows the crew of
the deteriorating starship Dark Star, twenty years into their
mission to destroy unstable planets that might threaten future
colonization of other planets.

In 1984, Nick made his second directorial film which was quite
groundbreaking. The Last Starfighter, became one of the earliest
films to incorporate extensive CGI. The plot centers around video
game expert Alex Rogan who, after achieving a high score on
Starfighter, meets the game's designer and is recruited to fight a
war in space. He’s transported to another planet only to find out
it was just a test. He was recruited to join the team of best
starfighters to defend their world from the attack. Its popularity
resulted in several non-film adaptations of the story in musicals,
books, comics, games, etc

Nick was making innovative films long before most of the more
popular guys came along. It is appropriate to consider his 80s
sci-fi films as pioneering.

Please enjoy my fun conversation with Nick Castle.

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