Dark Star (1973)
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The story
In the mid-22nd century, mankind has begun to colonize interstellar space. Armed with Artificial Intelligence "Exponential Thermostellar Devices" (bombs which can talk and think), the scout ship Dark Star, with its crew of five and a sentient computer that manages the ship's systems, searches for unstable planets that might threaten future colonization of other planets. Twenty relativistic Earth years into its mission, the Dark Star has aged poorly and suffers frequent malfunctions. Commanding Officer Powell has died, and Lieutenant Doolittle has reluctantly taken over as commander. The tedium of their mission has driven the crew to create various distractions for themselves.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In the mid-22nd century, mankind has begun to colonize interstellar space. Armed with Artificial Intelligence "Exponential Thermostellar Devices" (bombs which can talk and think), the scout ship Dark Star, with its crew of five and a sentient computer that manages the ship's systems, searches for unstable planets that might threaten future colonization of other planets. Twenty relativistic Earth years into its mission, the Dark Star has aged poorly and suffers frequent malfunctions. Commanding Officer Powell has died, and Lieutenant Doolittle has reluctantly taken over as commander. The crew members, Pinback, Boiler, and Talby, create distractions to cope with the tedium. Pinback plays practical jokes and has adopted a mischievous beach-ball-like alien as a mascot, which he accidentally kills. En route to the Veil Nebula, the ship is hit by a space storm, causing malfunctions. Thermostellar Bomb #20 receives an erroneous order to deploy but is talked back into the bay by the computer. However, Pinback's alien activates the bomb circuits, and the bomb becomes stuck in the bay while counting down. Doolittle revives Powell, who advises him to teach the bomb phenomenology. Doolittle space-walks out to have a philosophical conversation with the bomb, explaining it cannot be sure of a genuine detonation command. The bomb, having learned Cartesian doubt, decides its only purpose is to explode. Proclaiming "Let there be light!", the bomb detonates, destroying the Dark Star along with Pinback and Boiler. Talby and Doolittle are thrown clear; Talby drifts away with the Phoenix Asteroids, and Doolittle's fate remains ambiguous as he surfs into the atmosphere of an unstable planet.
- First release year
- 1974
- Runtime (minutes)
- 83
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- John Carpenter
- Writers
- John Carpenter · writer; Dan O'Bannon · writer
- Cast and characters
- Dan O'Bannon · Sergeant Pinback; Brian Narelle · Lieutenant Doolittle; Cal Kuniholm · Boiler; Andreijah "Dre" Pahich · Talby; Joe Saunders · Commander Powell; Barbara "Cookie" Knapp · Computer; Miles Watkins · Mission Control; Nick Castle · Alien
- Genres
- science fiction; comedy; parody
- Themes
- human eccentricity; existentialism; boredom
- Tone and mood
- loopy; satirical; comedic
- Premise and plot tags
- space adventure; student film; cult classic
- Content notes
- nude centerfolds
- Reception
- Initially unsuccessful with audiences and receiving mixed reviews, it became a cult classic in the 1980s. Critics have described it as a loopy satire of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
- Reported review scores
- Roger Ebert · score: three stars · scale: four; Rotten Tomatoes · score: 74% · scale: Fresh · review count: 34 reviews; Metacritic · score: 66 · scale: 100 · review count: ten critics; Leonard Maltin · score: two and a half stars
- Production trivia
- It was the first depiction in cinema history of a spaceship jumping into hyperspace.; The 'Beachball with Claws' segment was reworked into the science fiction-horror film Alien (1979).; The song 'Benson Arizona' has a real-life location that named a county road 'Dark Star Road' in its honor.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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