History YMMV / TheStarfighters

* HilariousInHindsight: John Witkowski Sr., who previously flew in bombers in the military, wants John Witkowski Jr. to switch to bombers rather than fighters such as the F-104 Starfighter. Junior was played by Bob Dornan, who in congress was nicknamed "B-1 Bob" for his support for the bomber. Dornan, a USAF veteran, also flew fighters. Finally, his character's father was a congressman, while Dornan himself was a congressman from 1977-1983 and 1985-1997.

* HarsherInHindsight: Aircraft serial number 57-923, seen in some of the refueling stock footage, was involved in a formation-flying collision in 1961 (three years before the film was released). Its pilot was killed in the crash.

* HilariousInHindsight: John Witkowski Sr., who previously flew in bombers in the military, wants John Witkowski Jr. to switch to bombers rather than fighters such as the F-104 Starfighter. The latter was played by Bob Dornan, nicknamed "B-1," as in the bomber. The veteran Dornan flew fighters, too. And his character's father was a congressman, while he himself worked after this film in the U.S. Capitol from 1977-1983 and 1985-1997.

** TruthInTelevision: The military is rather cagey about WHY a poopie suit is called a poopie suit, but it seems to have something to do with the scent of pilots marinating in their own sweat for eight hours.

* FridgeHorror: It was mentioned that the unnamed pilots rotated out of the squadron at the beginning of the "movie" to make room for the "main characters" were being sent to Spain. In 1964. Yes, highly-trained American servicemen and million-dollar jets got deployed to protect UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco. (To be fair, it was less to protect Franco and more to keep an eye on Eastern Europe. Even so, Franco got paid by the U.S. to have bases there.)
* HarsherInHindsight:
** Witkowski's training wing (the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing) sent one of its four squadrons to Vietnam in 1965 to fly [=MiGCAP=] missions. The F-104 was a good tactical match for the Russian [=MiG-21=], a similarly stripped-down high-speed fighter with mediocre turning performance.
** Aircraft serial number 57-923, seen in some of the refueling stock footage, was involved in a formation-flying collision in 1961 (three years before the film was released). Its pilot was killed in the crash.

* EarWorm: The incidental music consists of several incongruous slabs of jazzy muzak - including the classic "''baaah, bah-bah-bah''" song - played for minutes on end as the heroes refuel their planes.

* HilariousInHindsight: John's father was in the military and then got himself elected to Congress...much like John's actor Bob Dornan.
* {{Narm}}: "Poopie suit." The major even looks embarrassed and reluctant to say it.

* {{Padding}}: This movie has many, many shots of jets refueling and taking off from the runway.

** Considering UsefulNotes/TheVietnamWar expanded not long after this film, you have some pretty UnfortunateImplications going on here.

* {{Narm}}: "Poopie suit."
** The major even looks embarrassed and reluctant to say "poopie suit".

* CrowningMusicOfAwesome: For such a bad movie, the music is surprisingly catchy.

** Witkowski's training wing (the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing) sent one of its four squadrons to Vietnam in 1965 to fly MiGCAP missions. The F-104 was a good tactical match for the Russian MiG-21, a similarly stripped-down high-speed fighter with mediocre turning performance.

* FridgeHorror: It was mentioned that the unnamed pilots rotated out of the squadron at the beginning of the "movie" to make room for the "main characters" were being sent to Spain. In 1964. Yes, highly-trained American servicemen and million-dollar jets got deployed to protect UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco.

* HarsherInHindsight: Considering TheVietnamWar expanded not long after this film, you have some pretty UnfortunateImplications going on here.

* FridgeHorror: It was mentioned that the unnamed pilots rotated out of the squadron at the beginning of the "movie" to make room for the "main characters" were being sent to Spain. In 1964. Yes, highly-trained American servicemen and million-dollar jets got deployed to protect FranciscoFranco.

** The army sergeant even looks embarrassed and reluctant to say "poopie suit".

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* {{Padding}}: This movie has many, many shots of jets refueling and taking off from the runway.
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!!''[[color:#191970:The Starfighters]]'' provides examples of:

* HarsherInHindsight: Considering the Vietnam War expanded not long after this film, you have some pretty UnfortunateImplications going on here.

* {{Padding}}: This movie has many, many shots of jets refueling and taking off from the runway.

!!The [=MST3K=] presentation provides examples of:
* CrowningMomentOfFunny: One of John's dates ending disappointingly...
-->'''Crow:''' He augers in.
-->'''Servo:''' (radio) I need air support, give me air support, I'm going down...
** Oh, and the "poopie suits".
** This delivery,
--->'''Commander''': (Holds up a toy model of a plane to several pilots) This is the Starfighter.
--->'''Servo''': (As the commander) Get in.
** Realizing about 2/3 of the way in that they've used up every possible sexual innuendo joke.
* HilariousInHindsight: The United Servo Men's Academy singing "we are fans of ColinFirth," who at the time had yet to star in the BBC miniseries of ''PrideAndPrejudice'' and thus go on to wider fame.
** This is then called back to in the series finale, where one of Tom's lines in the song about what awaits them on Earth is "Maybe we'll meet Colin Firth."

* * CrowningMomentOfFunny: One of John's dates ending disappointingly...

* HilariousInHindsight: The United Servo Men's Academy singing "we are fans of ColinFirth," who at the time had yet to star in the BBC miniseries of ''PrideAndPrejudice'' and thus go on to wider fame.

* HilariousInHindsight: The United Servo Men's Academy singing "we are fans of ColinFirth," who at the time had yet to star in the BBC miniseries of ''SenseAndSensibility'' and thus go on to wider fame.