Dark Star (1974)

Director:

John Carpenter

Writers:

John Carpenter (writer) and
Dan O'Bannon (writer)

Release Date:

9 February 1979 (West Germany)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

What would you be like after 20 years aboard DARK STAR the spaced-out spaceship. The ultimate cosmic comedy!

Plot:

Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised...

Plot Keywords:

Musical Performance | Computer | Cryogenics | Switchblade | Space Travel

Awards:

1 win & 2 nominations

Cast

Brian Narelle	...	Lt. Doolittle
Cal Kuniholm	...	Boiler
Dre Pahich	...	Talby
Dan O'Bannon	...	Sgt. Pinback

Runtime:

83 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:6 (f) | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:12 | Norway:11 | UK:PG | USA:G

Company:

Jack H. Harris Enterprises

Trivia:

While there is a visible flash and sound of some type of shot when Pinback darts the alien, in fact the gun used is a real anesthetic dart gun which uses CO2 to propel the dart and would have no muzzle flash.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When they're chasing the "alien" through the bowels of the ship, one of the poorly lit rooms is actually a basement. You can see the conventional lightswitch and the conduit on the wall.

Quotes:

Pinback: [to the alien] When I brought you on this ship, I thought you were cute.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Duck! The Carbine High Massacre (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Benson Arizona

A demented outer space comedy from John Carpenter.

Dark Star (1974) was a student film that John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon worked on while they were in college. They later found a film distributor who asked them to expand it to feature film length. The movie takes place in a small, cramped out of date spacecraft. Several astronauts are on board (who have been around each other to long) trying to complete their mission of destroying unstable planets. I found this film to be very entertaining and bizarre. I enjoyed it very much. The highlight of this film is when a computerized bomb decides that he doesn't want to take orders from the astronauts anymore and ponders the meaning of life. Highly recommended, but it's not your average Sci-Fi film.

A.