I first saw this cult sci-fi comedy many years ago but would still highly recommend it. I loved it then and recently went out and bought the DVD so I could watch it again. Still enjoyed it even though I'm not a huge sci-fi fan. It is quirky though so may not suit everyone's taste.
John Carpenter made this on a very tight budget and it shows, especially in these days of SFX. In fact, I think it was a student film. Nonetheless he creates a totally believable atmosphere of menace and claustrophobia as the stranded austronauts get through yet another day of craziness in outer space.
Basically, at some point in the future DARK STAR has embarked on a mission to wipe out "unstable planets". The spacemen have been on board for twenty years and each has gone a little mad through sheer and utter boredom. The film is full of hippyish and subversive humour, and is hilariously off the wall.
Perhaps the most sympathetic character is the rather precious Sgt Pinback. Having captured an alien that is effectively a beach ball with little clawed feet, he develops an unlikely bond with it. The chemistry between man and glorified football is strangely touching, very funny - and also, bizarrely, quite menacing at moments, like a forerunner of the Alien films.
The other characters include the cryogenically frozen Commander Powell "I'm so cold", surfer dude Lt. Doolittle and a thermostellar Bomb (no 20) with a serious attitude problem.
Dark Star works at many levels - as a human comedy, as a bleak drama, as a menacing thriller and as a satire on the military and the ultimate madness and illogicality of most organisations and rational systems. Short but very memorable.
Carpenter went on to write and direct many famous films in the horror genre from Halloween and the Fog to LA Gothic. If you like 'Silent Running', or 'Dr Strangelove' then you will probably enjoy 'Dark Star.'
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Comedy - Original Language: English - Classification: 12 years and over - Starring: Tessa Peake-Jones, Buster Merryfield, David Jason, Nicholas Lyndhurst
Comedy - Director: Richard Boden, Mandie Fletcher, Martin Shardlow - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Hugh Laurie, Miranda Richardson, Stephen Fry, Brian Blessed, Tim McInnerny, Tony Robinson, Rowan Atkinson
Re-rated based on Ciao's insistence that such reviews are no longer considered "Off Topic"
Soho_Black 14.10.2008 16:40
I see you've posted this as a DVD review, but you've not mentioned the DVD features. Are there any extras? If so, what are they and are they any good? If you add to this, or if you change it to be posted as a "Film Only" review, which can be done by accessing "edit review" above the review and changing the drop down menu under the "Which format are you reviewing?" question at the bottom, please let me know and I'll re-rate.
anonymili 17.09.2008 15:50
If you're reviewing just the film then you should really choose "film only" as the format you're reviewing. You say you have the DVD, if so, you should mention the extras on the DVD and your opinion of them :)
The crew of the spaceship Dark Star are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets ... more
and make way for future colonisation by using smart bombs which zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike the orderly inhabitants ofStar Trek's Enterprise, ...
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In the mid twenty-first century mankind has reached a point in its technological advances ... more
to enable colonization of the far reaches of the universe. Dark Star is a futuristic scout ship traveling far in advance of colony ships. Armed with Exponential ...
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The crew of the spaceship Dark Star are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets ... more
and make way for future colonisation by using smart bombs which zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike the orderly inhabitants ofStar Trek's Enterprise, ...
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John Carpenter's pulp science fiction classic - this brilliantly clever and funny parody ... more
of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey' follows a warped intergalactic mission to blow up unstable planets. Four bored astronauts fill in time between mission...
Advantages: Sureal, unique, sometimes hilarious, often thoughtful, the only sci-fi film I know of with a giant beechball alien... Disadvantages: Probably all of the above if you just don't get it...
CaptainDisaster 11.06.2005 (11.06.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dark Star (DVD)
Advantages: Sureal, unique, sometimes hilarious, often thoughtful, the only sci-fi film I know of with a giant beechball alien... Disadvantages: Probably all of the above if you just don't get it...
CaptainDisaster 11.06.2005 (11.06.2005)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of Dark Star (DVD)
Advantages: An excellent piece of live comedy, the live show is much better than the TV series Disadvantages: The dark humour might not appeal to all tastes
![Dark Star [1974] [DVD]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78531006.jpg "Dark Star [1974] [DVD]")
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![John Carpenter's Dark Star [Collector's Edition]-DVD](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/99221364.jpg)
