Dark Star (1975)

Dark Star (G) - Review

"Space Truckin'"

On a routine mission to destroy unstable planets, the futuristic spaceship Dark Star and its crew must over come the trials of loneliness, their computer, their weapons, their mascots and themselves to survive the long destructive voyage through deep space

The precursor to modern 1980s film greatness, Dark Star is the student film of director John Carpenter (The Thing) and writer Dan O'Bannon (scriptwriter of Alien and director of The Return of the Living Dead).  Dark Star is a diamond in the rough, filled with low budget ingenuity, high caliber SciFi ideas and oodles of O'Bannon's & Carpenter's bizarre senses of humor.  O'Bannon (who also stars as the accidental hero Pinback) went on to use the idea of the script to form the blockbuster genre redefiner Alien, but there are wonderful touches of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide here.  Theres a sentient planet destroying megabomb and an incredibly silly encoutner with an alien life form who just happens to be a beachball with feet.  The ending surfs its way to greatness, a groovy 1970s vibe prevades the fun and showed just how great a film these guys could make if just given the chance (and the cash).

7 Cardboard Instrument Panels out of 10 (GOOD)