ign logo IGN.com | AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | GameSpy | FilePlanet | TeamXbox | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | Direct2Drive

RottenTomatoes.com

RT Bug Squash
Home Movies DVD Celebrities News Critics Photos & Trailers The Vine Forums
Box Office | In Theaters | Opening | Upcoming | Best Of | Certified Fresh | Showtimes
Register for free site & special features! | Log In | What is RT?
                       
MOVIES / ON DVD / DARK STAR
Dark Star

Rate This Movie

Write a Review
Share This Movie
Add to List
Buy DVD
Buy Poster

Bookmark and Share

Dark Star (1974)

80%
N/A
77%
N/A
N/A
N/A
80 %
Reviews Counted: 20 Fresh: 16  Rotten:4 Average Rating: 6.5/10
 
Consensus: A loopy 2001 satire. A loopy 2001 satire, Dark Star may not be the most consistent sci-fi comedy, but its portrayal of human eccentricity is a welcome addition to the genre. more
 
Runtime: 1 hr 31 mins
Synopsis:
John Carpenter's low-budget debut feature is a hilarious romp set in the deepest reaches of outer space. The haggard crew of the dilapidated Dark Star spaceship--Doolittle (Brian Narelle), Boiler (Cal Kuniholm), Pinback (Dan O'Bannon), and Talby (Dre Pahich)--is on an extended mission... [More]
John Carpenter's low-budget debut feature is a hilarious romp set in the deepest reaches of outer space. The haggard crew of the dilapidated Dark Star spaceship--Doolittle (Brian Narelle), Boiler (Cal Kuniholm), Pinback (Dan O'Bannon), and Talby (Dre Pahich)--is on an extended mission to seek out and destroy unstable planets. But after 20 years of the same routine, each crewmember is reaching the end of his tether. The journey is fraught with mishaps, and danger seems to lurk around every corner. There are misbehaving pet aliens, suicidal bombs that dream of detonating, frozen crewmates dispensing advice from beyond the grave, and a surly, unhelpful main computer that holds the men it serves in total contempt. Despite all these problems, the crew is still bored to the brink of madness. Co-written by the multitasking O'Bannon, who is also credited as the film's production designer and editor, DARK STAR brims with giddy jabs at the science-fiction genre (including George Lucas's THX 1138), an approach that Mel Brooks would later take in his own sci-fi spoof, SPACEBALLS (1987). In addition to writing, directing, and acting, Carpenter also composed the film's atmospheric score. [Less]

Genre: Science-Fiction/Fantasy

Starring: Brian Narelle, Dan O'Bannon, Dre Pahich, Carl Kuniholm, Joe Sanders

Director: John Carpenter
Producer: John Carpenter
Composer: John Carpenter

DVD Info

Release:

Mar 16, 1999

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1 Encoding
  • Keep Case
  • Interactive Menus
  • Chapter Stops
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Biographies

Buy It On DVD

Reviews

 
T-Meter Critics
 
 
Top Critics
 
 
RT Community
 
 
My Critics
 
 
My Friends
 
 
DVD
 
 
 
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
Arrange By: Name | Fresh | Rotten | Date | Source
 
 
Ratings Image

Hats off nonetheless to young whippersnapper John Carpenter, whose studenty tale of space tedium, aliens and molasses-black humour remains approximately a thousand times better than the director's last 15 years.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 06:49 PM
Adam Smith
Empire Magazine
Ratings Image

Uneven but enjoyable.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 06:46 PM
Channel 4 Film
Ratings Image

By introducing human eccentricities into the cold structure of SF, Carpenter creates a vision of the technological future that is both disillusioned and oddly affirmative in its insistence on the unscientific survival of emotional frailty.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 06:34 PM
Dave Kehr
Chicago Reader
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

An intermittently hilarious satire on 2001.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 06:33 PM
TV Guide's Movie Guide
Ratings Image

The dim comedy consists of sophomoric notations and mistimed one-liners.

Full Review | Comment
06/06/07 06:27 PM
Variety Staff
Variety
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Isn't nearly as funny as it once was...but it nonetheless has its amusing moments.

Full Review | Comment
04/26/07 10:57 AM
Nick Schager
Lessons of Darkness
Ratings Image

Conta com idéias e momentos interessantes e divertidos, mas a precariedade técnica acaba comprometendo a experiência.

| Comment
03/24/07 08:51 PM
Pablo Villaca
Cinema em Cena
Ratings Image

Sheer delight.

Full Review | Comment
01/26/06 03:16 AM
Time Out
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
08/06/05 05:12 AM
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
Ratings Image

There are some funny routines here, though Mr. Carpenter doesn't seem to have cared much about integrating or sustaining them.

Full Review | Comment
05/09/05 03:16 AM
Janet Maslin
New York Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
01/21/05 03:14 PM
Thomas Delapa
Boulder Weekly
Ratings Image

A berserk combination of space opera, intelligent bombs, and beach balls from other worlds.

Full Review | Comment
10/23/04 10:38 PM
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's the wonderful combination of sly humor and intelligence that characterizes Carpenter's best work.

Full Review | Comment
03/07/04 08:00 AM
Michael W. Phillips, Jr.
Goatdog's Movies
Ratings Image

This little cult classic, even from the distance of nearly three decades and even with all limitations of its budget and age, looks much brighter than its title would indicate.

Full Review | Comment
07/01/03 12:23 PM
Dragan Antulov
rec.arts.movies.reviews
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
03/19/03 04:41 PM
Rob Blackwelder
SPLICEDWire
Ratings Image

John Carpenter's super-low-budget sci-fi pic gets a really slow start but becomes tons of fun for its last couple of acts.

Full Review | Comment
01/30/03 08:38 AM
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
Ratings Image

Dark Star is, in many ways, the Anti-Star Trek, and deserves its cult classic status.

Full Review | Comment
11/07/02 01:22 PM
James Rocchi
Netflix
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
10/22/02 08:03 AM
Elias Savada
Nitrate Online
Ratings Image

No review available.

| Comment
08/30/02 02:08 PM
Rob Vaux
Flipside Movie Emporium
Ratings Image

The plot is something only film school students making an independent film could get away with: the Dark Star in question is a star ship that floats around endlessly in space looking for unstable planets to demolish.

Full Review | Comment
01/01/00 12:00 AM
James O'Ehley
Sci-Fi Movie Page
1 - 20 (sorted by date)
Text View
See More Topics...

Related Forums

Watch this movie! (actual release: 1974)
by: SH9000 9/15/06

Around the Network

• Dark Star at Rotten Tomatoes
About| Site Map| Help| RT To Go| Contact Us| Critics Submission| Linking to RT| Licensing| Movie List| Celebs List| Newsletter
IGN.com | GameSpy | Comrade | Arena | FilePlanet | ModCenter | GameSpy Technology
TeamXbox | Planets | Vaults | VE3D | CheatsCodesGuides | GameStats | GamerMetrics
AskMen.com | Rotten Tomatoes | Direct2Drive

By continuing past this page, and by the continued use of this site, you agree to be bound by and abide by the User Agreement.
Copyright 1998-2008, IGN Entertainment, Inc. About IGN | Support | Advertise | Policy | User Agreement | Subscribe to RT's XML feed! IGN RSS Feeds
IGN's enterprise databases running Oracle, SQL and MySQL are professionally monitored and managed by Pythian Remote DBA
Certain product data ©1995-present Muze, Inc. For personal use only. All rights reserved.