 STAR RATINGS EXPLAINED |
 Classic
|
 Excellent
|
 Good
|
 Fair
|
 Tragic
|
|
| FILM DETAILS | Certificate
PG | | Cast
Brian Narelle
Dan O'Bannon
Dre Pahich
Cal Kuniholm. | | Directors
John Carpenter. | | Screenwriters
John Carpenter
Dan O'Bannon. | | Running Time
83 minutes |
|
|
|
Dark Star (PG) Plot
Four astronauts are on a mission to clear unstable planets from space navigation routes. But years from Earth, things start to go wrong, as their smart bomb becomes convinced that it is god, a beachball-like alien joins them and the ship's computer starts to malfunction. Review
A deeply overdue chance to take another look at John Carpenter's student flick turned triumphant commercial debut. A gang of interstellar inadequates wrestle with boredom and pettiness, beach ball aliens and irritating bombs that insist on detonating at the wrong moment as they proceed on their incredibly long mission to destroy rogue planets in star systems ready for human colonisation.
Very black, very funny and strangely moving, this is a genuine contender for the term "cult classic". In fact, looking back at Dark Star now, it probably even manages to shunt Escape From New York out of the Carpenter top five, too. Yes, it's that good. Verdict
Although the movie is positively Das Bootian in its pacing, hats off nonetheless to young whippersnapper John Carpenter, whose studenty tale of space tedium, aliens and molasses-black humour remains approximately a thousand times better than the director's last 15 years of utter crapola.
Reviewer: Adam Smith
Get this review and thousands more on on your iPhone, download the Empire Movie Guide now!
Write Your Review
To submit your own review and rating please login or register.
Advertisement
Average user rating for Dark Star
|
|
| DVD Extras |
Dark Star
Released: 19 April 2004
No Carpenter commentary? What, like he was too busy to contribute? Good grief.
The (a bit too) extended release is nice, but the biogs are just a lazy attempt to cover up this fundamental gap. Poor show.
|
|
