Review of Dark Star (1974) by Jason D — 26 Sep 2009

Dark Star is the film student brain child of two very young up and comers who would grow to be major forces in the world of Sci-fi and Horror films, director John Carpenter (Halloween, Escape From New York) and writer Dan O'Bannon (Return of the Living Dead, Alien).

Together, they created their very first film, which serves as a sort-of satirical approach to Stanley Kubrick's intense epic 2001: A Space Odyssey. In Dark Star, four astronauts (including O'Bannon as one of them) go from dwarf to dwarf, bombing each one as part of a 20-year mission that has certainly taken its toll on them, who struggle to find entertainment and joy amongst each other.

A big chunk of the film has O'Bannon in a comically amusing battle against a pet alien (which is pretty much a beach ball), then goes into another direction as the crew fights to stop a bomb from detonating on the ship, culminating in a rather bizarre, yet still comical conclusion.

You can tell this film is very old and low-budget, and the acting is quite amateur (hell, Carpenter himself had to dub his voice into one of the characters), but the film really showcases two talents that were bound for success after this film.

You can very clearly hear Carpenter's knack for delivering a suspenseful musical score, as well as O'Bannon's talent for creating an engaging story. Having watched this film well after both of their rises to success, it's fun to watch and point out all of their personal touches in this film.

Not just that, there are definitely some comical moments, especially the scene involving a tense debate between the astronaut and the bomb! It's not the best quality of movie, but its certainly worth a watch just to see where Carpenter and O'Bannon started their rise.