Themes: Space Travel, Evil Aliens, Technology Run Amok
Main Cast: Brian Narelle, Andreijah Pahich, Carl Duniholm, Dan O'Bannon
Release Year: 1974
Country: US
Run Time: 83 minutes
Plot
The directorial debut of horrormeister John Carpenter comes in the way of Dark Star a parody of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, 2001--A Space Odyssey. The story follows four hippyish techno-nerds in their mission through deep space to destroy planets and ward off boredom and loneliness as they attempt to hold on to what little they can remember of Earth. When their weapons system malfunctions, they are forced to deal with a "smart" bomb trapped in the launching mechanism, and the acting captain (Dan O'Bannon) must debate phenomenology with the device in order to dissuade it from destroying them all. The film also features an imaginative and amusing struggle between a crew member (Dre Pahich) and an inflatable alien he attempts to keep as a pet, a long reflection on the virtues of surfing, a series of personality struggles, and a cryogenically-frozen captain whose brain is preserved on computer for the purpose of consultation. ~ Jeremy Beday, All Movie Guide
Review
As the directorial debut of John Carpenter, Dark Star has achieved a degree of cult status over the years. It's no masterpiece by any stretch and the acting, dialogue, and pace are a bit stale, but this spacey 1974 parody of Stanley Kubrick's classics, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Dr. Strangelove, is intriguing in that it features many of the elements that became staples of Carpenter films: a simple but effective score, anti-establishment sentiments, blue-collar characters, and a downbeat ending. Taking inspiration from 1958's It! The Terror from Beyond Space, Carpenter began the film while attending USC in 1970 and later expanded it to feature length. He was assisted significantly by future screenwriter Dan O'Bannon (who later wrote the very similar Alien), whose multiple credits on the film include a starring role. One scene featuring O'Bannon's character Pinback playing a game in which he stabs an ice pick between his fingers was later used by James Cameron in Aliens. O'Bannon's most impressive contribution to the film, however, were his special effects, which are startling for a film with such a low budget. ~ Patrick Legare, All Movie Guide
In the middle of the 22nd century, mankind has reached a point in its technological advances to enable colonization of the far reaches of the universe. Armed with intelligent "Exponential Thermostellar Bombs", the scout ship Dark Star and its crew have been in space alone for twenty years on a mission to destroy "unstable planets" which might threaten future colonization.
Meanwhile, the ship's crew, consisting of Lt. Doolittle (who dreams of surfing back in Malibu), Sgt. Pinback, Boiler and Talby (who has become reclusive and spends all his time in the ship's dome). Their Commander, Powell, has died and exists only via cryogenic supports. The crew perform their jobs in a state of abject boredom as the tedium of their task has driven the crew up the wall.
Sgt. Pinback is really fuel engineer Bill Froog, who put on Pinback's space suit when he tried to rescue Pinback while he tries to commit suicide before the start of the mission by wading into a fuel tank. Fruge inadvertently takes the place of Pinback and adopts a ship's mascot in the form of a mischievous alien "beachball with claws" that refuses to stay put in the food locker and forces Pinback to chase it all over the ship.
The computer has become dysfunctional, with parts of the ship burnt out and others simply blown up. After damage suffered in an asteroid storm, Thermostellar Bomb #20 threatens to detonate while still in the ship's bomb bay. The other crew members attempt to talk the bomb out of blowing up. Doolittle revives Commander Powell who advises them to teach the bomb the rudiments of phenomenology, resulting in a memorable philosophical conversation between Doolittle and the bomb. Bomb #20 retreats to the bomb bay for contemplation, and disaster seems to have been averted. Pinback addresses the bomb over the intercom to finally disarm it.
The bomb misinterprets Doolittle's phenomenology and believes itself to be God and explodes killing Pinback and Boiler instantly. Commander Powell is fired off into space encased in a large block of ice, Talby drifts off into the Phoenix Asteroids to die and circle the universe, and Doolittle surfs down to the unstable planet on a piece of debris to burn up in the atmosphere.
Production
Although destined for eventual theatrical release in 1974, this was only possible as a consequence of a successful series of showings at a number of film festivals in 1973. Originally the film was a 45 minute student short filmed on 16mm film. The movie was seen by producer Jack H. Harris, who gained the theatrical distribution rights to the film, and arranged for it to be transferred to 35mm, and paid for the addition of 38 minutes which brought the movie up to feature film length.
Director John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon wrote the screenplay. Six years later, the basic "Beachball with Claws" subplot of the film was reworked from comedy to horror, and became the basis for the O'Bannon-scripted science fiction horror classic, Alien.[citation needed]
The special effects in the movie were done by Dan O'Bannon, ship design by Ron Cobb, model work by O'Bannon and Greg Jein, and animation was by Bob Greenberg, all of which are considered impressive for a student work. O'Bannon starred in the film in the role of Sgt. Pinback.
Analysis
Carpenter has described Dark Star as "Waiting for Godot in space".[2] The ending of the film, where – after the ship is destroyed – Talby drifts off with the Phoenix asteroids, and Doolittle becomes a falling star in the atmosphere of a planet, is derived from the 1949 short story "Kaleidoscope" by Ray Bradbury, from the collection The Illustrated Man.[3]
Soundtrack
The theme song played during the opening and closing credits is "Benson, Arizona". The music was written by John Carpenter, and the lyrics by Bill Taylor.[4]
Further reading
Holdstock, Robert. Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, Octopus Books, 1978, pp. 80–81. ISBN 0-7064-0756-3
Cinefex magazine, issue 2, Aug 1980. Article by Brad Munson: "Greg Jein, Miniature Giant". (Discusses Dark Star, among other subjects.)
Creative Screenwriting magazine, Sep/Oct 2004, Vol. 11 No. 5, pages 70–73. (Article: "Alien, 25 years later: Dan O'Bannon looks back on his scariest creation" by David Konow. Discusses, among other things, how the "Beach Ball Alien" scenes in Dark Star were an inspiration for Alien.)
Fantastic Films magazine, Oct 1978, vol. 1 no. 4, pages 52–58, 68–69. James Delson interviews Greg Jein, about Dark Star and other projects Jein had worked on.
Fantastic Films magazine, Sep 1979, issue 10, pages 7–17, 29–30. Dan O'Bannon discusses Dark Star and Alien, other subjects. (Article was later reprinted in "The very best of Fantastic Films", Special Edition #22 as well.)
Fantastic Films magazine, Collector's Edition #17, Jul 1980, pages 16–24, 73, 76–77, 92. (Article: "John Carpenter Overexposed" by Blake Mitchell and James Ferguson. Discusses Dark Star, among other things.)
