Review of Dark Star (1974) by Karem C — 03 Jun 2017
A surprisingly hilarious and oddly charming sci-fi comedy (There are also moments of real peril and darkness). The crew of the space vessel Dark Star are on a mission to colonize the galaxy by destroying unstable planets.
There really isn't much of a plot. We just hang out with the crew during their mission and follow their adventures and mishaps. I'd say my favorite character is Pinback (played by Dan O'Bannon, who helped to write this film.
he would later go on to write Alien, segments of Heavy Metal, Dead and Buried, Return of The Living Dead, Lifeforce, and Total Recall. He would direct Return of The Living Dead). The film gets really dark out of nowhere at the end (in hilarious and shocking fashion).
The script is fairly strong, and these are some fun characters to hang out with. I was surprised by how much I ended up loving this film. John Carpenter decided to make his film debut with this low-budget space comedy, which in turn features some elements he would incorporate into latter films of his.
Dark Star is an overlooked and under-appreciated gem that any fan of sci-fi, oddball comedy, or John Carpenter would do wise to check out.
This review of Dark Star (1974) was written by Karem C on 03 Jun 2017.
Dark Star has generally received positive reviews.
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