"Firestar: First Contact" (1991)

by Joseph Perry

Normally here at “The Good, the Bad, and the Verdict,” both Joseph and Mike give their thoughts on a slice of cinema. However, here and there they will be taking the reins in a solo outing. For this installment, it’s Joseph with a solo review of  action/horror thriller Firestar: First Contact by director David Kent-Watson.

Synopsis

On a routine flight a spaceship is attacked by other powers.

The Good

Hang in there for the second half, gorehounds and monster kids! Twemlow and company deliver space-based creature feature action with a topless astronaut and plenty of practical gruesome effects work. I can’t knock the non-practical effects work here because I am too big-hearted, and it looks so cheesy that it is fun. There’s some wacky comedy thrown in with the fisticuffs and gun-shootin’ — the crew must rely on “20th century weapons” to kill the space beast, because of budgetary reasons, which just adds more to the movie’s charm — like a wisecracking computer entity [expletive deleted because we are a family-friendly site]-blocking Twemlow’s character from a certain type of docking procedure, nudge nudge, wink wink.

The Bad

It’s a space-based drama about astronauts in trouble with their authority figures . . . until one of the seemingly main characters disappears for a very long period as others go on a space mission. It then becomes a space monster movie around the halfway mark. It’s a little of both and not a lot of either . . .

The Verdict

If you’re an aficionado of 1980s-era space operas, especially the lower budget ones that followed Star Wars and Alien, you probably haven’t seen Firestar: First Contact yet, so why not give it a shot? Twemlow’s charismatic machismo is on full display — when it isn’t being interrupted by a mischievous computer entity — and there’s plenty of head-scratching confusion to go along with the action.

Firestar: First Contact is available from July 29, 2025 as part of the U.S. nine-disc release BLOODY LEGEND: THE COMPLETE CLIFF TWEMLOW COLLECTION from Intervision Picture Corp. — Severin’s showcase label for shot-on-video classics. The physical set will not get a U.K. specific release, but the set is multiregion and available to buy on import. For British fans, the company has announced that a collection of 10 films including Firestar: First Contact is available to view on U.K. digital platforms as of July 28, 2025.

Firestar: First Contact

Directed By: David Kent-Watson

Written By: Cliff Twemlow

Starring: Cliff Twemlow, Charles Gray, Oliver Tobias

Run Time: 1 hour 34 minutes

Rating: N/R 

Release Date: 1991