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The basic plot of "Dark Planet" is that two sides in a brutal war (one side being the Alphas and the other the Rebels) inexplicably set aside their differences and join forces to send a mission to the so-called Dark Planet. This is the first and only habitable world to have been discovered by humanity. The problem is that it is located in orbit around a star that is on the far side of a wormhole, an astronomical feature that is highly dangerous to spacecraft.The six member crew of the starship Scylla is composed of three Alphas led by Commander Winter (York) and three Rebels led by Brendan (Kozak). The ship must survive the dangers of space and of the wormhole as well as treachery among the crew.Oh boy, where do we start? Well, the special effects for one. Though it was apparently made in 1996, "Dark Planet" is plagued with some incredibly low-budget effects that in 1980 (the same year as "Battle Beyond the Stars") would have looked bad. The screenplay is very weak. Weapons in fight scenes aboard the Scylla are obviously twentieth century firearms (such as the AK-47) despite the fact that the film is set in the twenty-seventh century. Logic flaws abound, one of my favorites being the ability for two characters to don bulky spacesuits and exit the starship in less than sixty seconds. On the surface, it seems that the bulk of the obviously limited budget went for the cast, which is surprisingly strong (most notably, Michael York, Harley Jane Kozak, and Jeff Beck). Some of the interior sets are passable, but not extensive."Dark Planet" is a film one could spend a lot of time picking apart, but it frankly isn't worth the time. Nor is it worth the viewer's time. Avoid this one.
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