Reviewed By
Ryan McDonald

Analysis
There is little doubt that overall, John Carpenter’s career has been extremely uneven. And yet, few can agree on which films of his are bad, and which are good, aside from “Halloween”. For every person like me who regards “Big Trouble in Little China” as one of his three best films, there are others who can’t stand it or “Memoirs of an Invisible Man“ which I rather like, many people preferring “The Thing” (which was OK, but formulaic) or “Escape From New York” (a surprisingly dull action film with a wasted cast of greats). Then there’s “Dark Star”, an expanded, ultra low-budget student project directed by Carpenter and featuring the multi-talented contributions of Dan O’Bannon, who would later steal from this film (and “It- The Terror From Beyond Space” for that matter) when making the overrated “Alien”. Opinions vary on it’s quality, but there’s one thing most people would agree on with this trippy 70s mixture of Kubrick (Personally, I think it even improves upon both “Dr. Strangelove” and “2001”, neither of which I much liked, especially the latter which was tedious and unbearably pretentious) and surfing- It’s pretty frigging weird. And in my humble opinion, it’s occasionally very funny and also fairly well-done for its budget.

It’s interesting to see some of the typical Carpenter elements showing up even as early as this. There’s the blue-collar workers (it‘s about a small group of male characters, you‘ll see that in “The Thing“ as well), the Western iconography (The film’s signature tune is a likeable country/trucking song called ‘Benson Arizona’, though the film is more about surfers, hippies and blue-collar workers than cowboys), and some brilliantly tense moments here and there (the ship‘s claustrophobic feel, is wonderful, most spaceships feel expansive, but in this one, you‘d feel like tacking a hatchet to one of your crew members after about a week, there‘s so little room to be alone). But, this film is definitely a student project in many ways. The acting isn’t terrible but a bit bland (Only Dan O’Bannon as the irritating and highly irritable Pinback shows any personality), the pacing is tedious (mostly intentional, these guys are dull, and their job is full of dull spots. Another link to O’Bannon’s work on “Alien”, a film I like to think of as Plumbers in Space), and the alien itself is nothing short of laughable. You’ve probably heard it described as a beach ball on legs…it’s not just an accurate description, it’s dead-on.

But most of these problems are either turned into assets, or due to the film’s short running time, aren’t all that bothersome. The alien’s cheaper-than-cheap design makes for some of the best oddball humour in the film, it‘s a nice surrealist touch (Mind you, some people refer to “Freddy Got Fingered“ as a surrealist masterpiece, so perhaps I‘m talking out of a certain part of my anatomy where the sun don‘t shine). And even if it weren’t used for surrealism, it still works as a nice throwback to the cheap sci-fi films of the 50s and 60s that I love (And John Carpenter is a fan of films like “Forbidden Planet“, whilst his “The Thing“ was a remake of the Howard Hawks 1950s sci-fi film). The film’s greatest sequence, one that is both hilarious and extremely tense has one of the crew chasing the pesky alien into an elevator shaft (treating it like a pet dog) and gets himself into one helluva pickle. The alien is clearly messing with the guy, and it’s working. Admittedly, you can see how the scene was done, but it’s an ingenious bit of low-budget filmmaking from a guy who would soon give us one of the most effective and tense horror films ever made- the claustrophobic camerawork is brilliant in this scene, and it‘s very strange indeed. The weirdness doesn’t stop there, though. The film’s second most celebrated scene involves a crew member’s attempts to reason with a talking bomb (one of the characters is named Doolittle, presumably after the Rex Harrison misfire, and perhaps the talking bombs are similar to the smart bombs we would have decades later) that has been given a wrong order that could be catastrophic if it goes through with its action. Remember HAL from “2001”? That’s nothing compared to the stubborn, talking bomb here, and the scene is absurdist brilliance (The ship‘s computer even tries to reason with the bomb!).

Some of the most effective scenes are actually the slow spots I referred to earlier. Whilst it seems to take a long time to get going, as I said before, some of this is intentional, showing how bored these guys are, probably likely to cut each other’s throats at any time just for some fun. Ever worked a box factory? Multiply it by a thousand times and that’s how boring these guys daily lives tend to be (there‘s an underrated scene where O‘Bannon‘s much-maligned Pinback is seen compiling a diary/log of his experiences and it‘s just a series of bizarre, irritating rants that I found very funny), so even though it may not make for fun viewing in one sense, it‘s essential in the overall scheme of things and an interesting idea (I must confess that “Alien“ tried for a similar feel and failed as far as I‘m concerned. It‘s an OK film but rather dull and anti-septic in appearance). And don’t even get me started on the ship’s captain, who is dead, but kept on ice and somehow able to give his crew some advice whenever needed (albeit not very good advice).

Look, the film is very much rough around the edges in terms of its technical aspects (Carpenter‘s minimalist score is good, though), and is an extremely uneven film overall. It may have far too many dry spots, and a zero budget for the masses to enjoy. However, if taken as a student project that parodies “2001” and “Dr. Strangelove”, whilst also attempting to give us a look at the boredom inherent with space travel, it’s good fun, with Carpenter showing some of the expertise he would show us to greater effect in “Halloween“- just don‘t compare it too much to his other films, this is a not-quite-ready-for-prime-time Carpenter on show here (and O‘Bannon for that matter). It’s cheap and definitely not polished, but it’s not a hack-job, either. Certainly a cult item, not for everyone, but it’s still one of the standout films in Carpenter’s career, and definitely a one-of-a-kind film experience, warts and all. It’s final images are some of the most startling, downbeat-yet-funny that I’ve seen in all the years I’ve been watching films, and will be an absolute delight to surfers in particular.

Key Area	Rating (out of 5)	Comment
Action		A film about the boredom inherent in space travel does not allow a lot of room for action, but there’s some bombs and a bit of surfing.
Tension		Carpenter cranks the tension not only between the irritating and irritable space crew, but in the infamous elevator shaft sceneand the ‘bomb scare’.
Violence/ Gore	None	Pretty much G rated stuff, though you wouldn’t blame one of the crew from going on a violent rampage.
Bare Flesh	None	An all-male cast, and they’re a bunch of long-haired hippies. Do you really want bare flesh?
Plot		A bizarre, entertaining, 70s satirical take on “2001”, “Dr. Strangelove”, and the television series “Star Trek”, with a bunch of bored hippies as protagonists.

Verdict No cinematic masterpiece, but certain segments are inspired, irreverent, and amusing. A good job on a tiny budget.

Movie Pictures (Click picture to enlarge)