Dark Star
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJohn Carpenter
Written by
Produced byJohn Carpenter
Starring
CinematographyDouglas Knapp
Edited byDan O'Bannon
Music byJohn Carpenter
Production
companies
Distributed byBryanston Distributing Company
Release dates
  • March 30, 1974 (1974-03-30) (Filmex, Los Angeles)
  • January 16, 1975 (1975-01-16) (Theatrical, Los Angeles)
Running time
83 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$60,000[2]

Dark Star is a 1974 American science fiction comedy film produced, scored and directed by John Carpenter and co-written with Dan O'Bannon. It follows the crew of the deteriorating starship Dark Star, twenty years into their mission to destroy unstable planets that might threaten future colonization of other planets.

Beginning as a University of Southern California student film produced from 1970 to 1972, it was gradually expanded to feature-length until it appeared at Filmex in 1974, and subsequently received a limited theatrical release in 1975. Its final budget is estimated at $60,000.[3] While initially unsuccessful with audiences, it was relatively well received by critics, and continued to be shown in theaters as late as 1980.[4] The home video revolution of the early 1980s helped the movie achieve "cult classic" status.[5] O'Bannon collaborated with home video distributor VCI in the production of releases on VHS, LaserDisc, DVD, and eventually Blu-ray.

Dark Star was Carpenter's feature directorial debut; he also scored the film. It was the feature debut for O'Bannon, who also served as editor, production designer, and visual effects supervisor, and appeared as Sergeant Pinback.[6]

Plot

In the mid-22nd century, mankind has begun to colonize interstellar space. Armed with artificially intelligent Thermostellar Triggering Devices, which can talk and reason, the scout ship Dark Star searches for "unstable planets" which might threaten future colonization.

Twenty years into its mission (the crew only aging three years in that time), the Dark Star has aged and suffers frequent malfunctions of most systems. Commanding officer Powell has died in one such event (electrocuted by his malfunctioning chair), but remains aboard in cryogenic suspension. Lieutenant Doolittle, a former surfer from Malibu, has taken over as commander. The tedium of their work has driven the crew of Pinback, Boiler, and Talby "around the bend", so they have created distractions for themselves.

Pinback plays practical jokes, maintains a video diary, and has adopted a ship's mascot in the form of a mischievous beach-ball-like alien who refuses to stay in a storage room. After it attempts to push him down an elevator shaft, he eventually accidentally kills it with a tranquilizer gun (which pops the alien like a balloon). He claims to really be Bill Froug and says that the real Pinback committed suicide prior to the mission, and he inadvertently took Pinback's place.

En route to their next target in the Veil Nebula,[7] the Dark Star is hit by electromagnetic energy during a space storm, resulting in another on-board malfunction. Thermostellar Bomb #20 receives an erroneous order to deploy, but the ship's computer talks it back into the bomb bay, which it reluctantly does. Subsequently, Pinback's alien activates the bomb circuits while loose from the storage room, causing Bomb #20 to again emerge from the bomb bay. Once again, the computer is able to convince the bomb to return to the bomb bay, which the bomb again reluctantly does, but not before warning, "This is the last time." An accident with a laser while the ship's crew is preparing for a real bomb run causes mayhem, seriously damages the ship's computer, and damages the bomb-dropping mechanism, causing Bomb #20 to become stuck in the bomb bay while counting down to detonation. This time the crew cannot convince the bomb to stand down. Doolittle revives Powell, who advises him to teach the bomb phenomenology. Doolittle space walks out to have a philosophical conversation with the bomb, but accidentally teaches it Cartesian doubt. With seconds left until detonation, the bomb agrees to suspend its countdown for the moment while it ponders Doolittle's ideas.

Pinback opens the airlock to admit Doolittle back into the ship, but accidentally ejects Talby, who was in the airlock attempting to repair the laser. Doolittle uses his rocket pack to go after Talby, who is in a space suit but has no maneuvering device. The bomb, having learned Cartesian doubt, trusts only itself. It is convinced that only it exists, and that its sole purpose in life is to explode, and it does so. Dark Star is destroyed, along with Pinback and Boiler. Talby and Doolittle, at a distance from the ship, are thrown clear. The former drifts into and is taken away by the Phoenix Asteroids, a travelling cluster with which he has long been fascinated. Doolittle, falling toward the unstable planet, finds an oblong hunk of debris, and surfs into the atmosphere, to die as a falling star.

Cast

Production

Screenplay

Director John Carpenter in 2011

The screenplay was written by Carpenter and O'Bannon while they were film students at the University of Southern California.[8] Initially titled The Electric Dutchman, the original concept was Carpenter's, while O'Bannon "flesh[ed] out many of the original ideas" and contributed many of the funniest moments.[12] According to O'Bannon, "The ending was copped from Ray Bradbury's story 'Kaleidoscope'", found in the short story collection The Illustrated Man (1951).[13] O'Bannon references one of his USC teachers, William Froug, when Pinback says in a video diary entry, "I should tell you my name is not really Sergeant Pinback, my name is Bill Frug."[14]

Filming, reshoots, and edits

The film began as a 45-minute 16mm student project with a final budget of six thousand dollars.[15][16] Beginning with an initial budget of one thousand dollars from USC in late 1970,[17] Carpenter and O'Bannon completed the first version of the film in early 1972.[8] Carpenter had to dub his own voice over that of Pahich, who had a thick accent.[16]

To achieve feature film length, an additional fifty minutes were shot in 1973, with the support of Canadian distributor Jack Murphy (credited as "Production Associate"). These scenes included the asteroid storm, Doolittle playing bottles on strings as a musical instrument, the scenes in the crew sleeping quarters, the scenes in the hallways of the ship (Pinback with the sunlamp, Boiler with the laser gun, etc.), and, importantly, all the scenes featuring the beach ball alien. Kuniholm and Pahich had shorter hair by this time, and wore wigs for continuity with the 1971 footage.[8][18]

Through John Landis, a friend of O'Bannon, the movie came to the attention of producer-distributor Jack H. Harris, who obtained the theatrical distribution rights. Deeming about 30 minutes of the film "boring and unusable" (including a protracted scene of the crew sleeping in their quarters, not responding to the computer voice), he insisted that cuts be made, and additional 35mm footage be shot to bring the movie back up to a releasable length.[19][11] Other edits that Harris mandated, in order to secure a more marketable G rating, toned down rough language, and blurred of a wall of nude centerfolds. O'Bannon later lamented that as a result of the alterations for commercial distribution, "We had what would have been the world's most impressive student film and it became the world's least impressive professional film".[20]

Special effects

O'Bannon created many of the special effects. Ron Cobb designed the ship, O'Bannon and Greg Jein did the model work, and Bob Greenberg did the animation.[8] Cobb drew the original ship design on a napkin while eating at the International House of Pancakes.[21]

To depict the transit of the Dark Star into hyperspace, O'Bannon devised an animated effect in which the stars in the background turn into streaks of light while the ship appears to be motionless. He achieved this by tracking the camera while leaving the shutter open. This is considered to be the first depiction in cinema history of a spaceship jumping into hyperspace. It is thought that O'Bannon was influenced by the striking "star gate" sequence created by Douglas Trumbull for 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). The same effect was later employed in Star Wars (1977).[22][23]

Soundtrack

Main article: Dark Star (soundtrack)

Dark Star's score mainly consists of electronic music created by Carpenter, using a modular synthesizer.[24] In 1980, subsequent to the film's re-release the previous year, a soundtrack album was released, containing not only music, but also sound effects and dialogue from the film. The album was remastered for a limited 2016 vinyl rerelease, which included an additional seven-inch record containing remakes and other bonus tracks.[25]

The song played during the opening and closing credits is "Benson Arizona".[26] It concerns a man who travels the galaxy at the speed of light, while missing his beloved back on Earth.[27] The music was written by Carpenter, and the lyrics by Bill Taylor. The lead vocalist was John Yager, a college friend of Carpenter. Yager was not a professional musician, "apart from being in a band in college".[28] Benson, Arizona is a real-life location, and has named a county road "Dark Star Road" in honor of the film. Additionally, the famous reverb/delay VST Valhalla Supermassive includes a present called Benson Arizona in tribute to the movie.

Release

The completed film premiered on March 30, 1974, at Filmex, the Los Angeles International Film Exposition. At the time, Carpenter described the movie as "Waiting for Godot in outer space."[29][30] Harris sold it to Bryanston Pictures,[19] which opened it in fifty theatres on January 16, 1975.[31][27]

In June 1979, after Carpenter and O'Bannon had found commercial success with other films, Atlantic Releasing Corporation rereleased Dark Star, noting on a promotional poster that it was "from the author of Alien & the director of Halloween", and including the tag line, "The Ultimate Cosmic Comedy!"[32]

Home media

In August 1983, VCI Entertainment released a theatrical cut of Dark Star on videocassette.[33] It was criticized by O'Bannon. A new video master was sourced from O'Bannon's personal 35mm print,[citation needed] and a widescreen "Special Edition" of the film was released by 1986.[34]

O'Bannon later re-edited the movie into a seventy-two minute director's cut, removing much of the footage that had been shot and added after Harris had bought the distribution rights. This version was released on LaserDisc in 1992.[35]

The film was released on DVD March 23, 1999. Both the original theatrical version and a shorter, sixty-eight minute "special edition" were included.[36]

A two-disc "Hyperdrive Edition" DVD set was released on October 26, 2010. Along with the two versions of the movie previously released on DVD, it included a feature-length documentary, Let There be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star, which explores the origins and production of the film.[37][38]

In 2012, a "Thermostellar Edition" was released on Blu-ray. It included the special features of the 2010 release, but not the shorter special edition of the movie, only the theatrical version.[39]

Reception

Audience reactions

While greeted enthusiastically by the crowd at Filmex, the film was not well-received upon its initial theatrical release. Carpenter and O'Bannon reported nearly empty theatres, and little reaction to the humor in the movie.[40] However, the home video revolution of the early 1980s saw Dark Star become a cult film among sci-fi fans.[41][31] Director Quentin Tarantino called the film a "masterpiece."[42]

Critical response

An early review from Variety, recalled by Carpenter as "the first bad review I got", described the film as "a limp parody of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey that warrants attention only for some remarkably believable special effects achieved with very little money."[43][3] After its re-release in 1979, Roger Ebert gave the movie three stars out of four, writing: "Dark Star is one of the damnedest science fiction movies I've ever seen, a berserk combination of space opera, intelligent bombs, and beach balls from other worlds."[4] Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 74% "Fresh" score based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "A loopy 2001 satire, Dark Star may not be the most consistent sci-fi comedy, but its portrayal of human eccentricity is a welcome addition to the genre."[44] Leonard Maltin awarded it two and a half stars, describing it as "enjoyable for sci-fi fans and surfers", and complimenting the effective use of the limited budget.[45]

Legacy

Influence

The "Beachball with Claws" segment of the film was reworked by O'Bannon into the science fiction-horror film Alien (1979).[6][46] After witnessing audiences failing to laugh at parts of Dark Star which were intended as humorous, O'Bannon commented, "If I can't make them laugh, then maybe I can make them scream."[47] Doug Naylor has said in interviews that Dark Star was the inspiration for Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, the radio sketches that evolved into science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf.[48]

Dark Star has also been cited as an inspiration for the machinima series Red vs. Blue by its creator Burnie Burns.[49] Metal Gear series creator Hideo Kojima revealed the iDroid's voice was inspired by the female computer voice from Dark Star.[50] Benson, Arizona, has a Dark Star Road, referencing the film's song named after the city.[citation needed]

Indie rock band Pinback adopted its name from the character Sergeant Pinback, and often used samples from the movie in its early work.[51] Synth-pop band Erasure sampled dialogue from this film (along with Barbarella) in their song "Sweet, Sweet Baby", the B-side to "Drama!", the debut single off their album Wild! (1989). The Human League used a sample from the film at the end of "Circus of Death", the B-side of their debut single, "Being Boiled".

Cem Oral, under the alias Oral Experience, sampled dialogue from this film in his song "Never Been on E". The name of Pinbacker, the antagonist in Danny Boyle's film Sunshine (2007), also was inspired by Sergeant Pinback.[52][53] Trevor Something used samples from Doolittle's conversation with the bomb in his 2014 mixtape Trevor Something Does Not Exist.

Progressive metal band Star One used the plot of the movie for their song "Spaced Out," with the name take from the film tagline "The Spaced Out Odyssey". German Digital Hardcore artist Bomb 20 is named after Bomb #20 from this film. Gravity Wine Co., based in Victoria, Australia, produces a red wine blend of Syrah and Grenache that is called Dark Star and which has "Dark Star - Phoenix Asteroids" written as a title at the top of the information section on its label.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Dark Star (PG)". British Board of Film Classification. January 3, 1978. Archived from the original on October 31, 2019. Retrieved April 19, 2023.
  2. ^ Smith, Adam (January 1, 2000). "Dark Star Review". Empire. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  3. ^ a b Variety Staff (1974). "Review: 'Dark Star'". Variety. Variety Media. Retrieved June 17, 2017. Pic began in 1970 as 45-minute USC Film School short. Final budget was $60,000.
  4. ^ a b Ebert, Roger (March 11, 1980). "Dark Star (***)". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
  5. ^ Bradshaw, Peter (April 18, 2011). "Dark Star gazing". Guardian Media Group. The Guardian. Retrieved April 20, 2023.
  6. ^ a b Maçek III, J.C. (November 21, 2012). "Building the Perfect Star Beast: The Antecedents of 'Alien'". PopMatters.
  7. ^ Carpenter, John; O'Bannon, Dan. ""Dark Star", short film script". Retrieved June 5, 2013.
  8. ^ a b c d e Cumbow, Robert (July 16, 2002). Order in the Universe: The Films of John Carpenter. Scarecrow Press. pp. 11–14, 244–245. ISBN 978-0-585-38302-6.
  9. ^ "Dark Star Soundtrack". The Official John Carpenter. John Carpenter. Archived from the original on July 6, 2016. Commander Powell, Talby – John Carpenter
  10. ^ Hefley, Robert M. (June 1977). Zimmerman, Howard (ed.). "The Starlog Science Fiction Address Guide — Motion Pictures". Starlog. Vol. 1, no. 6. New York: O'Quinn Studios. p. 37 – via Internet Archive.
  11. ^ a b Zinoman, Jason (July 7, 2011). Shock Value: How a Few Eccentric Outsiders Gave Us Nightmares, Conquered Hollywood, and Invented Modern Horror. Penguin. pp. 56–59. ISBN 978-1-101-51696-6.
  12. ^ Kane, Paul; O’Regan, Marie (October 28, 2010). Voices in the Dark: Interviews with Horror Writers, Directors and Actors. McFarland. pp. 117–. ISBN 978-0-7864-5672-7.
  13. ^ Fleming, John (December 1978). Skinn, Dez (ed.). "Dark Star Review". Starburst. Vol. 1, no. 5. London: Marvel UK. pp. 22–27 – via Internet Archive.
  14. ^ Froug, William (2005). How I Escaped from Gilligan's Island: And Other Misadventures of a Hollywood Writer-Producer. Popular Press. pp. 258–259. ISBN 978-0-87972-873-1.
  15. ^ Rausch, Andrew J. (February 7, 2008). Fifty Filmmakers: Conversations with Directors from Roger Avary to Steven Zaillian. McFarland. pp. 39–40. ISBN 978-0-7864-8409-6.
  16. ^ a b Fischer, Dennis (January 1, 1991). Horror Film Directors, 1931-1990. McFarland. p. 118. ISBN 978-0-89950-609-8. The original short was 45 minutes long and cost only $6,000 to produce using the equipment at USC.
  17. ^ Stevenson, James (January 28, 1980). "People Start Running". The New Yorker. Condé Nast. Retrieved June 20, 2017.
  18. ^ Fox, Jordan R. (1980). Kaplan, Michael (ed.). "Carpenter: Riding High on Horror". Cinefantastique. Vol. 10, no. 1. Oak Park, Illinois: Frederick S. Clarke. pp. 5–10. I financed it until the summer of 1972, when a man named Jack Murphy, who owned a small Canadian distribution company, came on the picture.
  19. ^ a b Weaver, Tom (January 1, 2006). Interviews with B Science Fiction and Horror Movie Makers: Writers, Producers, Directors, Actors, Moguls and Makeup. McFarland. pp. 205–. ISBN 978-0-7864-2858-8.
  20. ^ Phipps, Keith (September 3, 2014). "Future Suck". The Dissolve. Pitchfork Media. Retrieved June 21, 2017.
  21. ^ Cobb, Ron (2015). "Dark Star". RonCobb.net. Retrieved June 17, 2017. Sketched on a napkin over coffee with Dan O'Bannon at the House of Pancakes L.A.
  22. ^ Taylor, Chris (2014). How Star Wars Conquered the Universe: The Past, Present, and Future of a Multibillion Dollar Franchise. Head of Zeus. p. 115. ISBN 978-1-78497-045-1. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  23. ^ "Dark Star". Kitbashed. August 9, 2013. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
  24. ^ McConville, Davo (February 27, 2014). "John Carpenter Talks About Composing the Terrifying Scores for His Films". Noisey. Vice Media. Retrieved June 28, 2017. So I went out to his apartment and basically recorded the score on this ... it was very, very primitive. We did the whole thing in about four hours.
  25. ^ Morgan, Lee (January 4, 2016). "John Carpenter's first film gets expanded vinyl reissue". Fact. VF Publishing. Retrieved April 23, 2022.
  26. ^ Conrich, Ian; Woods, David (2004). The Cinema of John Carpenter: The Technique of Terror. Wallflower Press. pp. 51–55. ISBN 978-1-904764-14-4.
  27. ^ a b Muir, John Kenneth (2005). The Films of John Carpenter. McFarland. pp. 53–63. ISBN 978-0786422692.
  28. ^ Hartmeier, Daniel. "Dark Star – Benson, Arizona". Benzedrine. Archived from the original on February 13, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2010.
  29. ^ Staff (April 19, 1974). "The '74 Filmex Breaks All Records". The Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles, California. Archived from the original on September 25, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
  30. ^ Boulenger, Gilles (2003). John Carpenter: The Prince of Darkness. Silman-James Press. ISBN 978-1-879505-67-4. And 'Waiting for Godot in outer space' was the best made-up I could come up with.
  31. ^ a b Konow, David (October 2, 2012). Reel Terror: The Scary, Bloody, Gory, Hundred-Year History of Classic Horror Films. St. Martin's Press. p. 248. ISBN 978-1-250-01359-0.
  32. ^ Shannon, Eddie (August 4, 2014). "Dark Star /special /1979 re-release /USA". Film on Paper. Retrieved June 23, 2017.
  33. ^ Bowden, Robert (August 13, 1983). "Vintage musical, space spoof and rockabilly exercises on new videocassettes". Tampa Bay Times. St. Petersburg, Florida – via Newspapers.com.
  34. ^ Lovece, Frank (August 24, 1986). "Compleat Carpenter available on video". The News Leader. Staunton, Virginia – via Newspapers.com.
  35. ^ Mad Man From Mars (1992). "Dark Star". Pond Scum (Newsletter). Vol. 1, no. 29 – via LaserRot.
  36. ^ Hunt, Bill (May 4, 1999). "Dark Star". The Digital Bits. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  37. ^ Abrams, Simon (November 3, 2010). "Dark Star". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  38. ^ Reis, George R., ed. (2010). "Dark Star Promo". DVD-Drive-In. Retrieved June 26, 2017.
  39. ^ McKelvey, John (January 1, 2017). "Controversial Blus: Dark Star (DVD/ Blu-ray Comparison)". DVD Exotica. Tomorrow Wendy Productions. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  40. ^ Sherman, Craig (June 1, 2001). "Comedic Crewman". ArtsEditor.
  41. ^ DiMare, Philip C. (June 17, 2011). Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO. p. 595. ISBN 978-1-59884-297-5.
  42. ^ Leatham, Thomas (February 1, 2023). "The classic John Carpenter movie Quentin Tarantino called a "science-fiction masterpiece"". Far Out. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  43. ^ Beahm, Justin (June 23, 2016). "On John Carpenter + Career Retrospective Interview". Justin Beahm. Retrieved June 27, 2017. That was the first bad review I got, in the Daily Variety
  44. ^ "Dark Star". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  45. ^ Maltin, Leonard (2009), p. 320. Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide. ISBN 1-101-10660-3. Signet Books. Accessed May 8, 2012
  46. ^ Konow, David (September 2004). "Alien, 25 Years Later: Dan O'Bannon Looks Back on His Scariest Creation". Creative Screenwriting. Vol. 11, no. 5. pp. 70–73. 'Beach Ball Alien' scenes in 'Dark Star' were an inspiration for 'Alien'.
  47. ^ Puccio, John. J. DARK STAR - DVD review, Movie Metropolis
  48. ^ Gilliam, JD (October 1, 2012). "Interview: RED DWARF Writer / Co-Creator DOUG NAYLOR". Starburst. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2017. I remember remarking to Rob at the time that I couldn't believe no-one had done a sitcom like that because it seemed like such a good thing to do. So it was the old memory of Dark Star and the Dave Hollins sketch and we decided to try and write it.
  49. ^ Gus Sorola (March 21, 2012). "Rooster Teeth Podcast". roosterteeth.com (Podcast). Rooster Teeth Productions. Event occurs at 33:46. Archived from the original on August 20, 2013.
  50. ^ HIDEO_KOJIMA [@HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN] (July 6, 2015). ""Donna-san's iDROID computer voice in MGSV wasn't inspired from HAL9000 in 2001 A Space Odyssey but the female computer voice in Dark Star" (Tweet). Retrieved July 30, 2015 – via Twitter.
  51. ^ Deusner, Stephen M. (October 11, 2004). "Pinback: Summer in Abaddon". Pitchfork. Retrieved June 28, 2017. Even the name Pinback – taken from the sci-fi movie Dark Star – suggests something mechanical, like a wind-up robot.
  52. ^ Kermode, Mark (March 25, 2007). "2007: a scorching new space odyssey". Guardian.
  53. ^ Raphael, Amy (January 6, 2011). Danny Boyle: Authorised Edition. Faber & Faber. p. 166. ISBN 978-0-571-25537-5. Sometimes you openly acknowledge the influence of other films: in Sunshine, Pinbacker's name is taken from Sgt Pinback in John Carpenter's Dark Star.

Further reading

External links

John Carpenter
Dan O'Bannon
Categories