Dark Star is absurd, surreal and very funny. John Carpenter once described it as "
Waiting for Godot in space." (It's also, surely, one of the primary inspirations for
Red Dwarf.) Made at a cost of practically nothing, the film's effects are nevertheless impressive and, along with the number of ideas crammed into its 83 minutes, ought to shame makers of science fiction films costing hundreds of times more.
The story concerns the Dark Star's crew who are on a 20-year mission to destroy unstable planets and make way for future colonisation. The smart bombs they use to effect this zoom off cheerfully to do their duty. But unlike Star Trek, in which order prevails, the nerves of this crew are becoming increasingly frayed to the point of psychosis. Their captain has been killed by a radiation leak that also destroyed their toilet paper. "Don't give me any of that 'Intelligent Life' stuff," says Commander Doolittle when presented with the possibility of alien life. "Find me something I can blow up." When an asteroid storm causes a malfunction, Bomb Number 20 (the most cheerful character in the film) has to be repeatedly talked out of exploding prematurely, each time becoming more and more peevish, until they have to teach him phenomenology to make him doubt his existence. And the film's apocalyptic ending, lifted almost wholly from Ray Bradbury's story "Kaleidoscope", has the remaining crew drifting away from each other in space, each to a suitably absurd end. --Jim Gay
Product Description
This Hyperdrive Edition has been sourced from a new 16x9 35mm transfer, with additional frame by frame digital restoration of the video master to provide the best picture ever seen! The soundtrack has also been digitally enhanced and restored to Dolby Digital 5.1. John Carpenter s pulp science fiction classic - this brilliantly clever and funny parody of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, follows a warped intergalactic mission to blow up unstable planets. Four bored astronauts fill in time between missions catching up on their tans with the help of a sun-lamp, playing with a suspiciously plastic-looking alien mascot they are taking back to Earth and conversing with their female version of Hal. Things start to go horribly wrong as the spaceship computer misfires and a 'smart bomb' thinks it is God. Ultimately only one crew member - an ex-surfer - makes it back to Earth surfing on an improvised board... Dark Star was originally intended to be a 68 minute student film but Hollywood producer Jack Harris managed to convince the film-makers to shoot 15 minutes of extra footage and released the expanded version theatrically. This DVD contains the original shorter version, the longer theatrical release and is packed full of brand new extra features! Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of 'Dark Star' - An all new, feature-length documentary exploring the controversial making of the John Carpenter (Halloween) and Dan O'Bannon (Alien) student film. Includes exclusive interviews with actor Brian Narelle, cinematographer Doug Knapp, art director Tommy Lee Wallace, visual effects artist Greg Jein, voice artist Cookie Knapp, film director Jack Harris, Diane O'Bannon, USC alumni/director Jeff Burr, as well as archival interviews with John Carpenter and many more! Plus the final interview with Dan O'Bannon, Directed by Daniel Griffith 2010, Interview with Sci-Fi author Alan Dean Foster, Interview with Brian Narelle - 'Lt. Doolittle', 3D guide to the Dark Star ship, Full length audio commentary by 'super-fan' Andrew Gilchrist, Written intro by Dan O'Bannon, Trivia, both versions of the film, original trailer, English and Spanish subtitles.
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