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| Dark Star [1974] | ![Dark Star [1974]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41V0WMZ7PNL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: John Carpenter
Actors: Brian Narelle, Cal Kuniholm, Dre Pahich, Dan O'bannon, Adam Beckenbaugh
Studio: Fabulous Films Ltd.
Category: Video
List Price: £12.99
Buy Used: £1.25
You Save: £11.74 (90%)
New (3) from £13.31
Avg. Customer Rating:  17 reviews
Sales Rank: 9837
Format: Collector's Edition, Pal, Widescreen
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Parental Guidance
Media: VHS Tape
Running Time: 79 minutes
Number Of Items: 1
Discs: 1
EAN: 5022988041191
ASIN: B00004CIMZ
Theatrical Release Date: 1974
Release Date: July 21, 1997
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: In stock & ready to post from Vinyl Exchange, Manchester, UK. - doesn't say widescreen on cover as picture
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
The crew of the spaceship Dark Star are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets and make way for future colonisation by using smart bombs which zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike the orderly inhabitants of Star Trek's Enterprise, the nerves of this crew are becoming frayed to the point of psychosis. Their captain has been killed by a radiation leak that also destroyed their toilet paper. "Don't give me any of that 'Intelligent Life' stuff", says Commander Doolittle when presented with the possibility of alien life, "Find me something I can blow up". When an asteroid storm causes a malfunction, Bomb Number 20 (the most cheerful character in the film) has to be repeatedly talked out of exploding prematurely, each time becoming more and more peevish, until they have to teach him phenomenology to make him doubt his existence. And the film's apocalyptic ending, lifted almost wholly from Ray Bradbury's short story "Kaleidoscope" has the remaining crew drifting away from each other in space, each to a suitably absurd end. Absurd, surreal and very funny. John Carpenter once described Dark Star as "Waiting for Godot in space". Made at a cost of practically nothing, the film's effects are nevertheless impressive and, along with the number of ideas crammed into its 83 minutes, ought to shame makers of science fiction films costing hundreds of times more. --Jim Gay
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| Customer Reviews: Read 12 more reviews...
 there won't be another press April 26, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Hilarious and incredibly creative, made me a huge O'bannon fan. This was supposed to be funny and it flopped miserably, so O'bannon came back with "Alien" to make every one scream! Apparently, he was so overwhelmed by the response to Alien that while he was watching the premier he was crying. Back to Dark Star--this *is* a student film, and the sound *is* crappy. Not, I repeat, not unintelligible. However, there's no way to tidy it up, so either get it or forget it, because there won't be another press of the actual film. Personally, I think it's brilliant, hilarious, fun to play in the background at parties, and a great stocking stuffer.
 Don't bother December 30, 2007
0 out of 10 found this review helpful
Where others see "cult classic" I see "poor student project". Everything about this film is amateurish. If I didn't love Alien so much I would have given this one star.
Don't give me any of that intelligent life crap, just give me something I can blow up December 8, 2007
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
For the first 20-25 minutes of Dark Star, I sat here thinking this could well be one of the most awful science fiction movies of all time. By the end, though, my tune had changed rather drastically. I would say the film is brilliantly funny despite its treasure trove of bad movie qualities. It is definitely uniquely absurd, the rare science fiction black comedy that actually manages to deliver. Undoubtedly, some viewers will label Dark Star a disaster and wonder how anyone could like a single thing about it. If you appreciate droll humor and are willing to conform your own thinking to that of the film (rather than waiting for it to conform to your expectations), you're liable to be in for a most unusual treat here. In case you haven't noticed, this is indeed a John Carpenter film. Carpenter co-wrote (along with Dan O'Bannon), directed, and produced it. Don't be expecting a Hollywood theatrical production, though. Dark Star is by and large a student film brought to life by Carpenter and O'Bannon. It was later picked up for a theatrical release (for which an additional 15 minutes or so of action was filmed and added), but the whole movie was made on the smallest of budgets. Some of the special effects aren't bad at all, surprisingly enough, but there's no mistaking the fact that Carpenter and company had to make due as best they could in scene after scene.
Here's the premise. It's the future, and the crew members of the Dark Star have been sent out on an extraordinarily long mission to blow an array of unstable planets throughout the galaxy to smithereens. I'm not sure these guys were perfectly sane to begin with, but twenty years in space, trapped inside a cramped spaceship, have definitely taken a toll on each of them. Now the ship's captain (and all of the toilet paper on board) have been lost to an unfortunate radioactive leak (but let's just say Commander Powell is gone but not forgotten in the deep freeze unit), and Lt. "Just give me something to bomb" Doolittle has taken command. Sgt. Pinback (Dan O'Bannon) - who may or may not be a real astronaut to begin with - isn't too happy about this, but his concerns are predominantly voiced in a series of insane video journal entries. The only thing Boiler (Cal Kuniholm) really seems to care about is trimming his facial hair, and Talby (Dre Pahich) has isolated himself in the ship's observation bubble. There is also a pet alien on board - basically a beach ball with hands - and its escape from its room leads to all kinds of trouble (not to mention one of the longest, most comically absurd sequences you're ever likely to see involving Pinback and an elevator shaft). Bomb Number 20 keeps getting lowered from its bay and prepped for launch and detonation, which wouldn't be such a bad thing if the bomb weren't harder and harder to convince that it's responding to faulty signals. Yes, the bombs on board the Dark Star are sentient, and Mother (the ship's computer) has a heck of a time talking the cheerfully gung ho Bomb Number 20 back into its bay each time it is wrongfully triggered. In fact, as the film reaches its climax, Doolittle himself has to personally engage the bomb in a profound existential debate in an attempt to save the lives of everyone onboard.
With almost no budget to speak of and some highly questionable acting, Dark Star is a film that some will equate with spiritual purgatory, but those with an appreciation for dark comedy will find themselves completely won over by this unique film project, which I would describe as a student film with aspirations of kooky grandeur. If you're like me, you'll want to watch this film again and again - but you might have trouble convincing any of your friends to do the same. I think Dark Star is bloody brilliant.
Still up there with the best July 12, 2007
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
I watched this when it first came out, age 12. It had me in kinks. So I was rather apprehensive when I rented it recently to show my kids - would it be as funny as I remembered?
Ok, it's a bit badly lit and the special effects aren't up to much by today's standards, but it still remains one of the funniest films ever made. The off-beat humour is ageless, the acting superb. Just the sequence where the ship goes into hyperdrive then stops as suddenly as if it had hit a brick wall has me in stitches.
Up there with Withnail as a comic masterpiece.
 Not Anamorphic June 14, 2007
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Having been waiting for a decent edition of this movie on DVD since the format was launched, I was pleased to see this package with "anamorphic widescreen' plastered across the front, so I picked it up straight off.
Unfortunately, it's a port of the original US edition. Pretty good in and of itself - 2 versions of the film, a handful of extras - but NOT anamorphic/enhanced for 16x9 format.
The film itself is terrific. Funny, touching, tense, imaginative, beautifully designed, raw, bleak. And surprisingly sad coming from Howard Hawks-worshipping man's man John Carpenter. Dan O'Bannon's so funny, you wonder why he didn't really act again.
So... best available edition, but not what it claims.
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