DARK STAR

This science fiction comedy was John Carpenter's directorial debut, and although it didn't do much at the box office it rapidly became a cult classic.   

I saw this in my youth and loved it; inevitably I was a bit worried that it might not hold up on a rewatch (which was somewhat the case with Carpenter's second outing, 'Assault on Precinct 13') but in fact I still think this is a delightful little gem of a film.

Dark Star is the name of a spaceship that travels the universe finding unstable planets to blow up so that they don't threaten colonisable planets in the vicinity. It sound like a cool job but when the film starts the crew has been doing this for quite a while and it's fair to say that whatever motivation and enthusiasm they started with has long gone.

Part of the problem might be that the ship doesn't seem that well built, so that everything on board is glitching: there are radiation leaks, there was a hull breach that destroyed the living quarters, elevators that operate randomly etc etc. 

The original commander died when he was electrocuted by his malfunctioning chair, but remains aboard in cryogenic suspension. In a surreal scene near the end he provides some useful advice to the crew, who are an odd bunch.

Doolittle, a former surfer, has reluctantly taken over as commander, and whiles away the time either playing solitaire or a homemade xylophone. 

Talby spends all of his time in an observation dome, staring blankly at the stars; Boiler plays with a switchblade.  

The main character is Pinback who plays practical jokes (which are not appreciated) and maintains a video diary.  He seems the one who has the most motivation which is ironic given that he replaced the real Pinback and is not qualified for the mission.

He looks after a weird little alien they have acquired, which is basically a beach ball with sharp claws (this film had a really low budget).  There's a prolonged sequence which is both funny and sinister, set in the elevator shaft, when Pinback could very easily fall to his death whilst trying to get the alien back to its quarters. 

There's an onboard computer with a female voice who issues occasional warnings about malfunctions, which are generally ignored, and bombs equipped with AI who can think and talk.  

The only real story arc concerns bomb #20 that from time to time gets erroneous messages to deploy, and then has to be persuaded by the computer to return to the bomb bay.

The climax to the film is when bomb #20 once again wants to explode and this time the computer can't persuade it otherwise.  It's left to Doolittle to go outside the ship to try to use philosophical arguments to stop the bomb.  

Although at first this works the film inevitably ends up with the ship being blown up, with Talby drifting towards a cluster of asteroids that have been fascinating him, and Doolittle surfing into the atmosphere of a nearby planet. It's a strangely satisfying ending.  

The film was made on a shoestring, so of course the special effects are primitive, yet this just adds to the charm.  It's a very funny film, but it also uses the eeriness of space very effectively. And it was ground-breaking in the way it combines science fiction and humour, predating 'Hitchhiker's Guide...' by a few years. 

RATING: ✓✓ Good Times