Sci Fi September # 9 – Dark Star
The crew of the spaceship Dark Star have been onboard for 20 years. And it shows.
Rumoured to have been made in John Carpenters garage, Dark Star is a cult classic for many reasons, some of which may not be completely obvious. Written by John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon who later when on to write the screenplay for Alien, Dark Star shows that too long in space can affect the brain, man.
With most of the scenes filmed in tight small areas, you get the feeling that this ship is a lot smaller than it looks, with the four astronauts pushed closer together than they would prefer. There is some subtle humour here that is a lot of fun, and as for the big orange alien, there has probably never been a cheaper made alien ever, and yet, its fun.
Even the planet destroying bombs have a personality and have been affect from the time in space. This is a trippy version of space travel that unfortunately didn’t make it into Star Wars or Alien.
You have to watch Dark Star just to appreciate what can be made with a small budget and it was also one of the first movies from John Carpenter who went on to make many classic movies.
