Dark Star
VCI Home Video/ Magic Lantern (1974)
Comedy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
In Collection
#680
6*
Seen It:  Yes
(6/13/2011)
089859820526
IMDB   6.6
83 mins USA/English
DVD  Region 1   G
Brian Narelle Lt. Doolittle
Cal Kuniholm Boiler
Dre Pahich Talby
Dan O'Bannon Sgt. Pinback, real name Bill Fruge
Adam Beckenbaugh Bomb #20
Nick Castle Alien
Cookie Knapp Computer
Joe Saunders Commander Powell
Michael Shaw
Alan Sheretz Bomb #19
Miles Watkins Mission Control
Director John Carpenter
Producer John Carpenter
J. Stein Kaplan
Jack H. Harris
Writer John Carpenter
Dan O'Bannon

The directorial debut of horrormeister John Carpenter comes in the way of Dark Star a parody of Stanley Kubrick 's masterpiece, 2001—A Space Odyssey . The story follows four hippyish techno-nerds in their mission through deep space to destroy planets and ward off boredom and loneliness as they attempt to hold on to what little they can remember of Earth. When their weapons system malfunctions, they are forced to deal with a "smart" bomb trapped in the launching mechanism, and the acting captain ( Dan O'Bannon ) must debate phenomenology with the device in order to dissuade it from destroying them all. The film also features an imaginative and amusing struggle between a crew member ( Dre Pahich ) and an inflatable alien he attempts to keep as a pet, a long reflection on the virtues of surfing, a series of personality struggles, and a cryogenically-frozen captain whose brain is preserved on computer for the purpose of consultation. — Jeremy Beday
Edition Details
Chapters 18
Release Date 3/23/1999
Packaging Keep Case
Screen Ratio 1.85:1
Audio Tracks ENGLISH: Dolby Digital 5.1
Layers Single Side, Single Layer
No. of Disks/Tapes 1
Personal Details
Purchase Date 3/1/1999
Owner Thomas Eisenmann
Store Best Buy
Purchase Price $19.99
Condition Excellent
Reviewed Widescreen Review
Bit Rate 384 KB
Anamophic No
Links IMDB

Features
Interactive Menus
Chapter Stops
Theatrical Trailer
Biographies

Widescreen Review
Story Synopsis:
From John Carpenter (Halloween) and Dan O’Bannon (Alien) comes Dark Star, the comedy science fiction cult classic about a futuristic scout ship sent ahead of the ships containing people en route to colonize new planets. The Dark Star crew’s job is to destroy unstable planets with Exponential Thermosteller Bombs. The trouble starts when one of the thinking and talking bombs begins to threaten to destroy the Dark Star and its crew. There are two versions of the movie on the disc: the Special Editon cut is the original version intended as a student film. The Uncut Version contains added scenes that were in place when the movie was released theatrically. (Laurie Sevano)

DVD Picture:
The non-anamorphic 1.85:1 DVD exhibits hilarious special effects from the early 1970s. The picture appears dated and plugged-up, with deep, undefined blacks. There are inconsistencies in color balance, and the film is never visually appealing due to the lack of clarity. Compression pixelization is distracting, as are other video artifacts. Contrast and shadow delineation are mediocre, often poorly rendered with little visual information in the darkness.

Soundtrack:
The soundtrack is remastered Dolby® Digital 5.1 discrete audio, but the quality is terrible! Background hiss is prominent. The audio is very distorted and hollow sounding, making this film a fatiguing listening experience. The soundfield alternates between mono and full 5.1 with fairly aggressive use of the surrounds. This is obviously a low budget production.