All-star (also, allstar or all star) is a term with meanings in both the worlds of sports and entertainment.

Entertainment

In the entertainment sense (all-star cast), it is used to describe the cast of a movie in which most of the speaking parts, even relatively minor ones, are played by motion picture stars who are generally associated with leading or major supporting roles. Despite the term, the phrase has rarely (if ever) been intended to apply to a film where every cast member is a star.

This practice is generally limited to large-budget, "epic" pictures — usually war movies or biblical epics. However an outstanding example of the genre is a western — the original 1962 version of How the West Was Won.

Other films described as having an all-star cast have included:

• The Hollywood Revue of 1929 (and similar films) (1929)
• Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
• Around the World in Eighty Days (1956)
• The Longest Day (1962)
• The Great Escape (1963)
• The V.I.P.s (1963)
• The Yellow Rolls-Royce (1964)
• The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965)
• The Bible: In The Beginning (1966)
• It's a mad mad mad mad world (1966)
• Casino Royale (1967)
• Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
• Battle of Britain (1969)
• Murder on the Orient Express (1974)
• The Towering Inferno (1974)
• A Bridge Too Far (1977)
• Glengarry Glen Ross (1992)
• True Romance (1993)
• Mars Attacks! (1996)
• Ocean's Eleven (2001)
• Cold Mountain (2003)
• Ocean's Twelve (2004)
• Be Cool (2005)
• Sin City (2005)
• Bobby (2006)
• Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
• Sin City 2 (2010)

The increasing pay demands of major Hollywood actors since the 1970s has largely precluded similar ensemble casts appearing in more recent productions.

All Star Films is a British entertainment and comedy film, television and interactive production company.

Music

In Music, an All-Star band relates to an ensemble in which every member is considered to be of star quality or to have had a career as an artist in their own right, for example Ringo Starr's All Stars or The AllStars, a collective of session musicians based in London.

Sports

"All-star" as a sports term can refer to an "all-star" team selected as the best players at particular positions in team sports, or a list of top participants in individual sports such as golf and automobile racing. Events limited to all-stars in the field of individual sports are referred to as "all-star events"; in team sports the premier all-star games are the Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Pro Bowl, NHL All-Star Game, and the MLS All-Star Game. Many all-star teams, such as collegiate "all-conference", All-America or All-Australian teams, are named on a purely honorary basis with no intent of their ever performing together as a unit.

The British and Irish Lions rugby union team is similar to an all-stars team; they tour to either Australia, New Zealand or South Africa every four years and are a composite team from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland. Being selected for the Lions is one of the biggest honours a player from those nations can receive. The Pacific Islanders rugby union team is a similar team from Samoa, Fiji and Tonga but thus far have only played 3 separate one-off tests against Australia, New Zealand and South Africa in 2004.

The Gaelic Athletic Association chooses GAA All-Stars teams in hurling and Gaelic football every year.

Variations

A variation on this term is used to show that an individual has been honored to be chosen ahead of his or her peers within a certain geographical or other limitation. Hence, All State and All District denotes someone chosen as a top performer within their state or district, respectively.

Sources

• Everything you ever wanted to know about allstar selection