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whitebird's giving me a VCR, I just rewatched Dark Star, the 1974 science fiction black comedy that launched the careers of John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. It is a very good movie (in a very cheap way). In fact, having recently watched Prometheus, another O'Bannon project, I am struck by how much better a movie Dark Star is (though, granted, they are not quite in comparable genres). Dark Star is infinitely cheaper, with effects that were laughable even in 1974, and the acting, though not bad, is not professional Hollywood caliber. But everything else is so much better: the plot structure, the articulation of themes, the character development...
Dark Star is about four astronauts who have been sent on a make-work mission to destroy "unstable planets" (planets that might fall out of their orbits or something in a few thousand years) to make the galaxy safe for human colonization. They been in space for three years, their time, and twenty years back on Earth, with the result that Earth has mostly forgotten about them and offers them no material support. Though no one admits to it, it's fairly clear that they will be meandering through space until their space ship breaks down enough that they die.
The movie largely concerns the impact of psychological stress on these four very different personalities: the sociable Everyman Pinback, the serious introvert Doolittle, the pugnacious Boiler, and the dreamy Talby. The characterizations are both hilarious and psychologically trenchant, giving excellent illustrations of the each one's slow shuffle toward breakdown.
Extra points for teaching an AI bomb about Phenomenology explicitly on screen. You don't see that in the big budget films. The beach ball alien has become a modest classic, for good reason. It's up there with anything Doctor Who ever produced. Highly recommended.
whitebird's giving me a VCR, I just rewatched Dark Star, the 1974 science fiction black comedy that launched the careers of John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon. It is a very good movie (in a very cheap way). In fact, having recently watched Prometheus, another O'Bannon project, I am struck by how much better a movie Dark Star is (though, granted, they are not quite in comparable genres). Dark Star is infinitely cheaper, with effects that were laughable even in 1974, and the acting, though not bad, is not professional Hollywood caliber. But everything else is so much better: the plot structure, the articulation of themes, the character development...Dark Star is about four astronauts who have been sent on a make-work mission to destroy "unstable planets" (planets that might fall out of their orbits or something in a few thousand years) to make the galaxy safe for human colonization. They been in space for three years, their time, and twenty years back on Earth, with the result that Earth has mostly forgotten about them and offers them no material support. Though no one admits to it, it's fairly clear that they will be meandering through space until their space ship breaks down enough that they die.
The movie largely concerns the impact of psychological stress on these four very different personalities: the sociable Everyman Pinback, the serious introvert Doolittle, the pugnacious Boiler, and the dreamy Talby. The characterizations are both hilarious and psychologically trenchant, giving excellent illustrations of the each one's slow shuffle toward breakdown.
Extra points for teaching an AI bomb about Phenomenology explicitly on screen. You don't see that in the big budget films. The beach ball alien has become a modest classic, for good reason. It's up there with anything Doctor Who ever produced. Highly recommended.
