| Videos (see all 2) |
John Carpenter (original story and screenplay) and
Dan O'Bannon (original story and screenplay)
9 February 1979 (West Germany) more
What would you be like after 20 years aboard DARK STAR the spaced-out spaceship. The ultimate cosmic comedy! more
Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised... more | add synopsis
1 win & 2 nominations more
Starman (Blu-Ray Review)
(From Atomic Popcorn. 11 September 2009, 5:40 AM, PDT)
AMC Launches Bmc Online
(From Dread Central. 9 April 2009, 12:45 AM, PDT)
Science fiction with a funny bone more (128 total)
| Brian Narelle | ... | Lt. Doolittle | |
| Cal Kuniholm | ... | Boiler | |
| Dre Pahich | ... | Talby | |
| Dan O'Bannon | ... | Sgt. Pinback | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Adam Beckenbaugh | ... | Bomb #20 (uncredited) | |
| Nick Castle | ... | Alien (uncredited) | |
| Cookie Knapp | ... | Computer / 'Mother' (uncredited) | |
| Joe Saunders | ... | Commander Powell (uncredited) | |
| Alan Sheretz | ... | Bomb #19 (uncredited) | |
| Miles Watkins | ... | Watkins - Mission Control (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| John Carpenter | |||
Writing credits | ||
| John Carpenter | (original story and screenplay) and | |
| Dan O'Bannon | (original story and screenplay) | |
Produced by | |||
| John Carpenter | .... | producer | |
| J. Stein Kaplan | .... | associate producer | |
| Jack H. Harris | .... | executive producer (uncredited) | |
Original Music by | |||
| John Carpenter | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Douglas Knapp | |||
Film Editing by | |||
| Dan O'Bannon | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Dan O'Bannon | |||
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| J. Stein Kaplan | .... | assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| David Seal | .... | chief carpenter | |
| Tommy Lee Wallace | .... | associate art director (as Tom Wallace) | |
Sound Department | |||
| John Brasher | .... | sound effects | |
| Nina Kleinberg | .... | sound | |
| Leslie Shatz | .... | sound effects re-recordist | |
| Nick Spaulding | .... | sound effects editor | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Ron Cobb | .... | special effects | |
| Bob Greenberg | .... | special effects | |
| Gregory Jein | .... | special effects (as Greg Jein) | |
| Dan O'Bannon | .... | special effects supervisor | |
| Bill Taylor | .... | optical effects | |
| Bill Taylor | .... | visual effects consultant | |
| Harry Walton | .... | special effects | |
| John C. Wash | .... | special effects (as John Wash) | |
| Jim Danforth | .... | matte painter (uncredited) | |
Camera and Electrical Department | |||
| Dale Beldin | .... | additional photographer | |
| Nick Castle | .... | assistant camera | |
| Cliff Fenneman | .... | additional photographer | |
| Les Rumsey | .... | key grip | |
Other crew | |||
| Jack H. Harris | .... | presenter | |
| Jack F. Murphy | .... | production associate (as Jack Murphy) | |
| Craig Portman | .... | creative consultant | |
| Craig Portman | .... | engineer | |
| Terence H. Winkless | .... | production assistant: Terry Winkless | |
John Carpenter's Dark Star (Australia)
more
83 min
Color (Metrocolor)
1.85 : 1 more
Iceland:12 | Netherlands:16 | West Germany:6 (f) | Australia:G | Norway:11 | UK:PG | USA:G
In the "elevator" sequence the bottom of the elevator is actually rolling on the floor. The device used to roll the elevator base was actually a Moviola camera dolly normally used on the small sound stage in the old USC Cinema building (itself once a horse stable). The steering end of the dolly can be seen as part of the "elevator" underside. more
Audio/visual unsynchronized: When Boiler starts yelling to Pinback that he can use the gun to shoot the pins off Bomb #20, his dialogue doesn't match his lips at all. more
[Doolittle convinces the bomb not to explode]
Doolittle:
Hello, Bomb? Are you with me?
Bomb #20:
Of course.
Doolittle:
Are you willing to entertain a few concepts?
Bomb #20:
I am always receptive to suggestions.
Doolittle:
Fine. Think about this then. How do you know you exist?
Bomb #20:
Well, of course I exist.
Doolittle:
But how do you know you exist?
Bomb #20:
It is intuitively obvious.
Doolittle:
Intuition is no proof. What concrete evidence do you have that you exist?
[...]
more
Benson Arizona more
|
|
|
|
|
| Spaceballs | Mars Attacks! | 2001: A Space Odyssey | Alien³ | Galaxy Quest |
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
IMDb User Rating:
|
| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Comedy section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
I saw this movie for the first time at the USA Film Festival. Held here in Big D every spring, the USAFF showcases films produced here in the USA. (No foreign films)
Each night they would show two new films, plus a retrospective film from the actor or director being honored that year. After the film, the film critic who selected the film would interview one or more of the people involved with the film's production.
Towards the end of the week, I arrived at the Bob Hope Theatre (on the SMU campus) to find a notice on the chalkboard: one of the films had cancelled out, and "Dark Star" a "sci-fi comedy" would be shown in its place.
Bringing science fiction and comedy together is a tricky business: usually either the SF content or the humor suffers. Or both.
I ended up being pleasantly surprised. The special effects were a little cheesy (Carpenter originally shot it as a film student, on a film students "budget"), but the characters were funny, and they got off some nice riffs.
Carpenter and O'Bannon (who also co-wrote the first "Alien" movie) produce a collection of odd characters on an extended mission. For the last 20 years they've been travelling the galaxies in search of "unstable planets" to destroy.
Unfortunately, the crew is falling apart. Boredom, apathy, mechanical malfunctions and a puckish alien mascot ensure that things only get worse and worse.
There's a clever parody of a scene from "2001" occurs when one of the bombs can't be released and has to be talked out of exploding.
And there's a reverse reference to one of O'Bannon's own script for "Alien" when the alien gets free and one of the crew has to track the thing down. (O'Bannon refers to this as "Alien" turned upside-down: instead of the alien chasing the crew, one of the crew chases the alien)
Lots of fun. Eight stars.