Dark Star

"The spaced out odyssey."

1974 1h 23m EN

😐

6.0

MID

★6.0TMDB · 682

ComedyScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

A group of scientists are sent on a mission to destroy unstable planets. Twenty years into their mission, they have to battle their alien mascot as well as a "sensitive" and intelligent bombing device that starts to question the meaning of its existence.

“The spaced out odyssey.”

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Cast

Brian Narelle
Lt. Doolittle
Cal Kuniholm
Boiler
Dan O'Bannon
Sgt. Pinback alias Bill Fruge
Dre Pahich
Talby
Adam Beckenbaugh
Bomb #20 (voice)
Nick Castle
Alien
Joe Saunders
Commander Powell (voice)
Cookie Knapp
Muttercomputer (voice)

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: John Carpenter
Writers: John Carpenter, Dan O'Bannon, Dan O'Bannon
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

83 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

52 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by John Carpenter, shot by Douglas Knapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by John Carpenter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Dan O'Bannon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Brian Narelle and Cal Kuniholm and Dan O'Bannon carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "The spaced out odyssey.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

John Carpenter directs. Douglas Knapp behind the camera. John Carpenter scores. Dan O'Bannon cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

183 minutes exactly — the "classic feature" runtime most directors aim for.
2Shot for just $0.1M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
352 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by John Carpenter, shot by Douglas Knapp. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by John Carpenter. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Dan O'Bannon shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Brian Narelle and Cal Kuniholm and Dan O'Bannon carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "The spaced out odyssey.".
9IMDB entry: tt0069945 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Douglas Knapp
Original score: John Carpenter
Editing: Dan O'Bannon
Production design: Dan O'Bannon
Runtime: 83 min · 1h 23m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $60,000
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Dark Star (1974)

Also by

John Carpenter

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Community reviews

What people are saying

JJJ222cool2023-06-21
★ 10/10
Hilarious, taking the mickey out of science fiction films but still honoring the genre. I love it
CinemaSerf2024-11-10
★ 6/10
There was always a dearth of sci-fi movies on the television as I was growing up, and this one used to appear rather regularly - and rather disappointingly too. It's supposed to be funny, but somehow the humour is just too contrived to make for much to remember as a group of astronauts start their twenty-year mission into outer space tasked with destroying unstable planets. Over time, though, the crew start to question the morality of their quest and coupled with the antics of their pet (looks like a rubber space-hopper) they find themselves facing the ultimate, explosive, dilemma. In it's favour, it is quite short and it doesn't hang around, but the acting is all just bit bland and there's way, way, too much script with little else by way of action to pad out the thin story that aims for parody but falls well short. Maybe we'd all be this way after a couple of decades in deep space, but somehow I think I'd have reached for the airlock about ten years earlier. In many ways it reminded me of a sort of "Monty Python" does life amongst the stars only with some ropey, low-budget, visual effects and annoying characters about whom I really didn't care. It'd been a while since I'd seen it, and will probably be the same before I watch it again.