Release CalendarTop 250 MoviesMost Popular MoviesBrowse Movies by GenreTop Box OfficeShowtimes & TicketsMovie NewsIndia Movie Spotlight
    What's on TV & StreamingTop 250 TV ShowsMost Popular TV ShowsBrowse TV Shows by GenreTV News
    What to WatchLatest TrailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsCannes Film FestivalStar WarsAsian Pacific American Heritage MonthSummer Watch GuideSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll Events
    Born TodayMost Popular CelebsCelebrity News
    Help CenterContributor ZonePolls
For Industry Professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign In
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Dark Star

  • 1974
  • G
  • 1h 23m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
29K
YOUR RATING
Dark Star (1974)
Home Video Trailer from Unknown
Play trailer2:23
2 Videos
61 Photos
ParodySatireSlapstickSpace Sci-FiComedySci-Fi

In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.

  • Director
    • John Carpenter
  • Writers
    • John Carpenter
    • Dan O'Bannon
  • Stars
    • Dan O'Bannon
    • Dre Pahich
    • Brian Narelle
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    29K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • John Carpenter
    • Writers
      • John Carpenter
      • Dan O'Bannon
    • Stars
      • Dan O'Bannon
      • Dre Pahich
      • Brian Narelle
    • 224User reviews
    • 94Critic reviews
    • 66Metascore
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations total

    Videos2

    Dark Star
    Trailer 2:23
    Dark Star
    Through the Lens: Defining Carpenteresque and Why It Belongs in the Dictionary
    Clip 4:54
    Through the Lens: Defining Carpenteresque and Why It Belongs in the Dictionary
    Through the Lens: Defining Carpenteresque and Why It Belongs in the Dictionary
    Clip 4:54
    Through the Lens: Defining Carpenteresque and Why It Belongs in the Dictionary

    Photos61

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 55
    View Poster

    Top cast11

    Edit
    Dan O'Bannon
    Dan O'Bannon
    • Pinback
    Dre Pahich
    Dre Pahich
    • Talby
    Brian Narelle
    Brian Narelle
    • Lt. Doolittle
    Cal Kuniholm
    Cal Kuniholm
    • Boiler
    Adam Beckenbaugh
    • Bomb #20
    • (uncredited)
    John Carpenter
    John Carpenter
    • Talby voice
    • (uncredited)
    Nick Castle
    Nick Castle
    • Alien
    • (uncredited)
    Cookie Knapp
    • Computer
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Joe Saunders
    Joe Saunders
    • Commander Powell
    • (uncredited)
    Alan Sheretz
    • Bomb #19
    • (uncredited)
    Miles Watkins
    Miles Watkins
    • Watkins - Mission Control
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • John Carpenter
    • Writers
      • John Carpenter
      • Dan O'Bannon
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews224

    6.128.9K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    sciencefaction3d

    The Bizarro 2001

    I saw this film as a kid, dismissed it as boring, and moved on. Luckily, fate forced me to see it again about 2 years ago and (some are going to hate me for this) now i consider it second only to Kubrick's 2001:A Space Odyssey. The scope is gigantic, even though we're trapped inside the goofy little ship with these rejects (and they ARE rejects). It is a spoof of man's uninformed view of his place in the universe. It is filled to capacity with malfunctioning technology, illogical solutions to self-inflicted conflicts and a very genuine feeling of the isolation of deep space.

    The music (John Carpenter is an innovator in film scoring) is strange and often indistinguishable from the zany noises of the ship's equipment and displays (who would ever create such tortuous bleeps and sirens for EVERY function of a spacecraft designed to house a couple of guys in the outermost regions of the galaxy?). The ship's computer is a perfect contast of Hal9000 (2001) in that SHE seems to understand her crew's dimwitted plight and ,after speaking to them in her programmed monotone, recognizes the need to go back and dumb herself down so that they can function accordingly. It is never explained whether she has assumed a mother-figure role or is simply acting out of self-preservation ,but ,like most of the more thought-provoking elements of this absurdist's fantasy, the viewer is merely given the bare-bones information and allowed to decide for itself.

    Maybe all of this implied data caused me to make the movie better in my head than it actually is ,but how many films have you seen lately that can give you that freedom?
    7cgibin

    Astronauts on a senseless mission through Space, Philosophic Bombs, a lot of subtle humor, and those bearts oh my, oh my..

    A Great Movie, i think it was made in Film School and is the first Movie available by John Carpenter.. The great thing besides the Humor, are those little typical low-budget Mistakes like the actor in the "lift" scene who is pretty clearly just lying on a common Floor.. The "mOnster" is amazing too its funny to see how a Ball with gloves can actually act, and a little music makes it scary..

    The Last Scene is clearly inspired by Ray Bradburys (Fahrenheit 451) Short Story "Kaleidoscope"..

    Sorry for my poor English, but i just had to write something to this incredible piece of film..
    Jay-Kavanaugh

    Cult classic

    Well OK this may not the most enjoyable film I've seen but it is certainly one of the most unique and cynical films ever. I find myself pulling out the tape and watching it again every couple of years just to give myself a reality check with all the Hollywood tripe you get these days. To make the most of it you need to watch a couple of Star Trek episodes first and then watch this. Instead of the clean-cut, politically correct, join-the-dots films that are so common now, you get a feeling that this might just be the way life on a space ship would really be.

    It was really way ahead of its time. People now comment that films like Star Wars and Alien were the first to make sci-fi more 'realistic' but Dark Star pre-dates both of them by several years. I have a sneaking suspicion that this is where Scott Ridley and George Lucas got some of their ideas.
    flingebunt

    The captain is dead, but that is no problem

    It all started out as a short film made at film school made by the now legendary John Carpetenter, but then they wanted to make a longer version, however they couldn't get money to remake it, so they simply added extra scenes in the middle (example, the beach ball alien).

    The story is this, on a ship where the captain is dead (but you can unfreeze to ask him questions) and the rest crew are going basically crazy they have problem. One of their bombs has become sentient and is busy contemplating the nature of existence.

    The effects are OK, and who would have thought the beach ball would become the inspriration for the movie Alien.

    Over all one of the great classics of science fiction and of low budget film making.

    I heard of this movie a long time ago and it took me over 10 years before I finally found it in my local video shop. Great and amazing movie.

    What will bomb number 20 do, now it is intelligent...watch the film and find out.
    BaronBl00d

    I Get It & I Don't!

    When one takes into account that this was the first real film venture of John Carpenter and Dan O' Bannon, two incredibly influential and talented movie personas, Dark Star is not all that bad. It has some imaginative camera shots, an intriguing storyline, and some unique, definitely not mainstream humour. The story about the humdrum nature of flying in space for an interminable time has several layers peeled in the script. If I judged the film solely on those merits, it would indeed do well. However, the film has a snail's pace and some uneven plot twists, not to mention some not very good acting. Many of Carpenter's soon-to-be-signature trademarks are clearly evident in this film. No denying it, the man has talent. The film was made with a shoestring budget, but Carpenter and crew do a workmanlike job with the resources they had. Clearly, the greatest appreciation for this film is not for the product itself but for the potential and early, evident development of Carpenter and to a lesser degree O' Bannon.

    More like this

    Assault on Precinct 13
    7.3
    Assault on Precinct 13
    The Fog
    6.8
    The Fog
    Prince of Darkness
    6.7
    Prince of Darkness
    Praying with Anger
    4.4
    Praying with Anger
    Someone's Watching Me!
    6.6
    Someone's Watching Me!
    Escape from New York
    7.1
    Escape from New York
    Starman
    7.0
    Starman
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man
    6.0
    Memoirs of an Invisible Man
    Village of the Damned
    5.6
    Village of the Damned
    They Live
    7.2
    They Live
    Big Trouble in Little China
    7.2
    Big Trouble in Little China
    In the Mouth of Madness
    7.1
    In the Mouth of Madness

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The double rows of large buttons on the bridge consoles are ice cube trays illuminated from beneath.
    • Goofs
      Lt Doolittle's cloth name tape on his uniform is spelled/misspelled "DOOLTTLE", obvious in the first scene in the Food Locker.
    • Quotes

      Doolittle: [Doolittle convinces the bomb not to explode]

      Doolittle: [1:12:12] 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?

      Bomb #20: Hmmmm... well... I think, therefore I am.

      Doolittle: That's good. That's very good. But how do you know

      Doolittle: that anything else exists?

      Bomb #20: My sensory apparatus reveals it to me. This is fun.

    • Alternate versions
      Originally released in a shorter 68-minutes version, later expanded to a longer 83 minute version with the addition of new scenes (including the meteor storm, the visit to the crew's quarters and Doolittle playing his music).
    • Connections
      Edited into The Adventures of Taura: Prison Ship Star Slammer (1986)
    • Soundtracks
      Benson Arizona
      Music by John Carpenter

      Lyrics by Bill Taylor

      Vocals by John Yager (uncredited)

      [Played over the opening and closing credits]

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ20

    • How long is Dark Star?Powered by Alexa
    • Dark Star never lands on any planets, so how did they pick up the alien?
    • What are the differences between the Theatrical Version and the Director's Cut?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 17, 1975 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Temna zvezda
    • Filming locations
      • Raleigh Studios - 5300 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA(Studio)
    • Production companies
      • Jack H. Harris Enterprises
      • University of Southern California (USC)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $60,000 (estimated)
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 23 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

    Related news

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    Dark Star (1974)
    Top Gap
    By what name was Dark Star (1974) officially released in India in Hindi?
    Answer
    • See more gaps
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb app
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb app
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb app
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.