Dark Star (1974) Review

Dark Star (1974) Directed by John Carpenter

Reposted from MAY 2006

Dark Star is John Carpenter's first major directing work. It's about a deep space scout ship charged with the mission of destroying unstable planets to make the local systems safe for colonists. And it is a DEEP space scout. They've been out there for 20 years when the movie starts, and they're a little nutty because of it.

At first when I started watching the movie, I didn't even realize it was a comedy. There's a retarded looking alien that's really just a painted beach ball with reptile feet. I was convinced that the thing was going to kill the whole crew and I was going to hate the movie. Then it didn't kill anything. One of the crew members kills it instead. The whole time everyone's a little wacky, including the ship's computer. The ship itself is falling apart, and the former commander was killed when his chair malfunctioned. Luckily they've got him cryogenically frozen. The whole crew unluckily are faced with imminent destruction though, when one of their bombs malfunctions.

There's two versions to the movie. A shorter director's cut and a longer uncut version. I loved the director's cut, it was so damn punchy and perfect. It did make me want to see the uncut version though. I liked that too, but the pacing was a little off during the first half. That made me want to watch the director's cut a second time. So I did. This was all within a 10 hour time frame too. After I watched it that much, I felt like I too had been in space for 20 years. It's not a bad feeling. And the final climax of the movie is funny and eerie at the same time. I definitely put this DVD on my wish list.


Images swiped from TheOfficialJohnCarpenter.com
What a nice guy (we hope).