IMDb > Dark Star (1974)
Dark Star
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Dark Star (1974) More at IMDbPro »

Videos (see all 2)
Dark Star (1974) -- Open-ended Trailer from Liberty
Dark Star (1974) -- MyMovieScripts.com - Trailer (Flash)

Overview

User Rating:
6.6/10   7,538 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 23% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
John Carpenter (original story and screenplay) and
Dan O'Bannon (original story and screenplay)
Contact:
View company contact information for Dark Star on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
9 February 1979 (West Germany) more
Genre:
Tagline:
What would you be like after 20 years aboard DARK STAR the spaced-out spaceship. The ultimate cosmic comedy! more
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... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
1 win & 2 nominations more
NewsDesk:
(3 articles)
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)

User Comments:
Science fiction with a funny bone more (129 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Additional Details

Also Known As:
John Carpenter's Dark Star (Australia)
more
Runtime:
83 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Metrocolor)
Aspect Ratio:
1.85 : 1 more
Sound Mix:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
John Carpenter directed, edited, and wrote the music for the film, but he uses pseudonyms in the credits for editing and the music. more
Goofs:
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
Quotes:
Doolittle: [reminiscing about surfing in Malibu] You know, I wish I had my board with me... even if I could just wax it once in a while. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Sunshine (2007) more
Soundtrack:
Benson Arizona more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
21 out of 27 people found the following comment useful.
Science fiction with a funny bone, 7 April 2004
8/10
Author: Klaatu-18 (b5guy@aol.com) from Dallas, TX USA

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.

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Benson, Arizona.... Darth23-3
New Special Edition DVD on the way mike_cable
Funniest Part? ardenempire
Dark Star is utter tripe anthony_suleiman
Ever notice the names match up? darrylb500
Didnīt like that movie das_urmel_aus_dem_eis
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