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Dark Star
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Dark Star

1974
Comedy, Sci-fi
1h 23m
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Avg Percentile 44.67% from 901 total ratings

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(901)
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Rated 08 Jun 2015
71
59th
The comedy elements are very hit-or-miss and kind of remove any sense of consequence from the first 70 minutes or so; when you have beach ball aliens and 20 minute dangling-from-a-ledge scenes it's hard to take any of the other stuff semi-seriously. But the creative use of low budget special effects, the Philip K. Dickness of the talking computers and the sense of tongue-in-cheek nihilism won me over in the end. The kind of B Movie In Space I wish we had more of.
Rated 14 Aug 2007
76
87th
Some day people will read this review, and then they'll feel sorry! Rewatched in 2017, just after watching ALTERED STATES, two movies that have in common the use of the word "phenomenology".
Rated 03 Sep 2014
67
52nd
This movie is one of only two movies that I hated until the final minutes. The end here mixing Asimov's The Last Question with Point Break (just kidding) is opinion swaying awesome. One of my favorite finales ever. The other film that I hated until the end was Crash. The whole time I was really offended and put off and then that ending drops and it's like, oh, you think racism is BAD! Okay, you had me for a while there movie.
Rated 10 Feb 2014
75
48th
On one hand it's undeniably amateurish, disjointed, and silly. But on the other hand it's filled with creative ideas and a fun spirit. I could sense the passion that went into it, and I can't help but recognize its importance in the development of 70s science fiction. Despite its technical shortcomings, it's hard not to like this movie.
Rated 07 Sep 2016
86
80th
Esse filme é maravilhoso!
Rated 18 Feb 2009
5
93rd
"...approximately a thousand times better than the director's last 15 years of utter crapola."
Rated 09 Jul 2016
71
53rd
Fun but you may need some good will towards its low-budget indie spirit to get along with it. As creative as it is amateurish in places and can't help but feel like a student short film extended for a feature release. Despite its many flaws (pace, tone, structure) I still find it very compelling & laudable. Basically some kind of prolonged absurdist gag on workplace safety and morale in a dehumanizingly mechanical futuristic context with more genre awareness than probably necessary.
Rated 02 Nov 2016
9
94th
Makes 2001 look like Dark Star.
Rated 02 Feb 2008
80
68th
Dopey, and zero-budget, but there's something about this movie that's thoroughly endearing
Rated 18 Oct 2018
53
29th
Dark Star is a mash-up of 2001, Philip K Dick, Alien, Douglas Adams thrown into a blender, poured into a glass with an extra twenty minutes (mostly of Dan O’bannon chasing a beach ball in a short, weird comedy version of Alien). I recommend it for fans of its creators, but it is strongly a rough draft museum piece.
Rated 20 Jun 2020
70
26th
Cartoonishly awful effects stand out in this micro-budget tongue-in-cheek satire. Sure, it does have some charm in its amateur novelty, but it's often a bit of a slog. There are scenes that are overshadowed by jokes that fall flat because they resemble the kind of humor you'd see in a high school video production class. But on the other hand, there are moments of delightful absurdity straight out of the corpus of Philip K Dick's work. A very mixed bag this.
Rated 13 Mar 2009
70
51st
Darkly funny directorial debut with lots of low-budget charm. The beach-ball monster is more memorable than a whole horde of today's computer-generated creatures. I wish the monster segment had been tied in more closely with the sentient-bomb A-plot, because as it is it seems like a short film expanded into a feature via an unnecessary (though very welcome) comic-relief detour.
Rated 01 Jul 2014
85
87th
I absolutely hated this movie until the last ten minutes. Now I'm convinced it's an overlooked masterpiece. Hey man, I like my sci-fi low-budget and satirical.
Rated 04 Jun 2010
50
43rd
Low budget science fiction comedy, that beyond its cult status, can be enjoyed as a weird plotwise prequel to 'Alien'.
Rated 24 Feb 2013
64
56th
There are so many crazy man vs machine situations here that, despite its rudimentar look, it is certainly worth your time: a ball-alien stalking an astrounaut, the computer system of the ship having an argument with a bomb, an astronaut talking to the same bomb about philosophy -- eventually, it explodes after some Genesis quotes --, and a guy entering the atmosphere of a planet surfing on ship remains. There is also a great, typically Carpenter-like build-up of suspense throughout the picture.
Rated 09 Sep 2008
77
48th
great!
Rated 14 Aug 2007
77
53rd
A really fun film which seems to be able to tell an entertaining story with no real plot.
Rated 20 Mar 2011
33
6th
It's like a buttermilk biscuit that has been left out in the dry air for so long that it has petrified. So deadpan, so much the "anti-2001" (or to contemporary audiences perhaps, the anti-Star Wars) that it's positively sadistic. I respect what it's doing, but it's not exactly preferable to staring at a blank wall for the same amount of time.
Rated 09 Aug 2012
74
27th
You'll think it's absolute shit until it dawns on you that it's a parody.
Rated 19 Mar 2007
99
99th
My all time fav sci fi movie!! Wait til you see the alien! One of the BEST special effects I've ever seen!
Rated 05 Nov 2008
75
49th
Strange movie. Some will hate it others really enjoy it.
Rated 13 Nov 2010
80
72nd
surprising (and awesome!) seeing a gazillion reviews for this! I always think of the confessional thingie that the cast gets more and more wigged out on throughout the film. I also identified with that big, menacing ball thingie in the elevator shaft.
Rated 10 Aug 2014
73
65th
Despite some serious pacing issues, Carpenter's debut is creative no-budget sci-fi fun, and is surprisingly influential. Who would have guessed a beachball would be the basis for Alien?
Rated 14 Aug 2007
85
91st
Made for about $60,000 over a period of year's this is a fantastic comedy about a bunch of Astronauts FAR more unstable than the planets their supposed to be blowing up. The work gone into the film gives the impression of a film ten times it's actual budget. O'Bannon would later write Alien and I think farscape too, but I'll have to look into that
Rated 22 Aug 2008
70
33rd
I love this sci-fi spoof! I don't care for Star Wars or Star Trek, I much prefer these spacefreaks.
Rated 23 Feb 2007
85
87th
Low budget and amateurish but I love it! More creative and clever than most sci-fi films, and I liked the ending ripped from Ray Bradbury's KALEIDOSCOPE. The beach ball alien with Gillman hands is awesome.
Rated 07 Apr 2015
80
37th
When this is good, it's really fucking good. And when it's bad, it's bad in a way where you're still pretty interested in what's going on. Took me a while to lock into its comedic rhythms, but once I did, I was on board. I wish this was as popular as Star Wars.
Rated 29 Oct 2007
81
40th
Campy, cheesy, and hilariously low-budget, this film more than makes up for its shortcomings with a heaping helping of wit and intelligence.
Rated 08 Aug 2011
60
39th
Shot on the cheap and in the spare time of the collected cast and crew, the film is jubilantly amateurish as it simultaneously spoofs and pays loving homage to the science fiction genre. It's not exactly something that can be called good, but it's surely enthusiastic, coming across as a scrappy precursor to any number of YouTube mini-epics made by people who love movies so much that they too want to point a camera and yell, "Action!"
Rated 31 Jul 2009
75
36th
Carpenter's first. Pretty decent. Very original. Shows what you can do with a shoestring.
Rated 14 Sep 2023
78
49th
Hilarious: completely bored, lonely and slum-like life in space that hardly counts as life, oh-so-intelligent, lively and talkative computers, and an inflated alien that thinks with his fingers (toes?). And most incredible special effects: can imagine Kubrick watching this film wondering if he's wasted money on the special effects in 2001!
Rated 01 Nov 2015
60
41st
Dark Star is admirably original and sporadically witty but its idle pace prevents it from being consistently entertaining. The ultra-low budget means that the film has serious aesthetic limitations, but the cheap sets and effects make it a more memorable experience, most notably in the case of the "beach ball" alien.
Rated 03 Apr 2011
73
44th
A great introduction to Carpenter, yet the budget fails the effects and the experience is a failure compared to Carpenter's later works. It's a good premise, and the writing isn't too bad, but the budget really holds this movie back. It could have done much better with a smaller scope.
Rated 06 May 2011
69
23rd
I don't know what the hell to think here. The low budget really shows, and the film has some serious issues even beyond that. On the other hand there are moments so absurd that I couldn't help but find them interesting.
Rated 06 Oct 2008
81
73rd
Sometimes a little bit weird because of the alien but nonetheless a very good movie, the philosophical discussions at the end are the best. And all that for 5000 $ in 1974.
Rated 11 Jun 2009
60
39th
Hippies in Space. Good fun stuff.
Rated 12 Mar 2014
29
6th
I'll never stop loving Carpenter's eye for lighting, and I certainly enjoyed the references to Philip K. Dick and Ray Bradbury as well. But good God, what a boring, boring script.
Rated 26 Oct 2008
30
14th
Uhh....
Rated 20 May 2014
73
46th
A brilliant sci-fi comedy.
Rated 10 Oct 2015
78
32nd
More than slightly crazy parody of sci-fi genre. Would be very naff indeed if it didn't send itself up alongside everything else.
Rated 07 Jan 2011
88
87th
What a surprisingly awesome sci-fi marvel.
Rated 14 Jun 2016
61
55th
There are loads of problems with this that I can't be arsed to detail, and in all honesty I'm not the biggest Carpenter fan. But 'Dark Star' really makes the most of itself in its last half to become something that despite it's faults is undeniably enjoyable. Definitely conceptually interesting if nothing else.
Rated 14 Jul 2014
10
96th
Accurately described by John Carpenter as "Waiting for Godot" in space, DARK STAR is the anti-2001, where computers express Cartesian doubt and argue semantics while surfer-astronauts bicker their way toward inevitable death. Yet the movie's biggest strength, surprisingly, is its creative use of special fx. Dopey, and not a movie to be taken seriously, yet it left quite an impression. I guess it's one of those movies that makes me want to make movies.
Rated 12 Jul 2009
29
10th
I found it unfunny and pointless. It really feels like a student film, and those rarely standout above cult interest. Highlights include philosophical bomb and alien mascot. But you won't miss anything if you don't see it.
Rated 11 Jun 2009
72
51st
One of the few "it's so bad it's good" movies.
Rated 28 Sep 2013
3
73rd
[Partial] Dirty-tech comedy (and stepping-stone to Alien), 2001 spoof-y, bit Douglas Adams, liked what I saw -must watch in full someday.
Rated 07 Dec 2006
1
0th
HOLY SHIT I'VE SEEN THIS FILM. THIS IS SUCH A PIECE OF SHIT, THAT IT IS IN FACT THE GREATEST MOVIE EVER. WATCH THIS, BUT ONLY IF YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO STAY TIL THE VERY END!
Rated 10 Oct 2013
72
43rd
71.500
Rated 07 Oct 2022
52
31st
If you judge it as a blown-up student film, it's somewhat impressive. If you judge it as an actual movie, it's no better than the kind of schlock that would be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000. There's not much in terms of an actual plot. Only the last 15 minutes or so have any real purpose, and the rest of the runtime is spent watching these guys fuck around and do nothing. It's filler in the purest sense of the word to stretch out the runtime and get it into feature-length territory.
Rated 11 Feb 2008
74
72nd
Lots of B-movie ponts. This is a comedy! You need to be on certain mood to like it.
Rated 22 Feb 2007
50
35th
Amusing film.
Rated 04 Mar 2013
90
20th
For its budget, this movie is captivating and surprisingly funny. Low budget badly made movies can often leave me cold even when they're trying to be funny, but this one pulls it off with ease. Dan O'Bannon and John Carpenter went on to do amazing things so it's no surprise this film was a success, even in cult terms.
Rated 15 Mar 2009
81
62nd
This movie is just a cult movie, have fun with guessing which part of the starhsip was which kitchen equipment. :D
Rated 11 Feb 2014
65
21st
Not great. It's a fun student film and you can see how it inspired other films, and some parts are laugh-out-loud funny. But it's also slow for an 85 minute film, confusing, and the sound is mixed very badly.
Rated 28 Apr 2014
60
10th
Space hippies.
Rated 15 Jun 2008
81
91st
Nice
Rated 10 Jun 2008
80
89th
Marketing for the film included the writing and release of a book version. 'Dark Star' was novelised.
Rated 14 Jan 2012
38
39th
What I learned from this movie: Even a grizzly beard cannot save you from a self-aware detonation algorithm.
Rated 28 May 2016
80
75th
This movie is a BLAST to watch. It's both really funny in a wacky sort of way, and surprisingly clever. The acting talent and production values are obviously limited, but considering this was a student film, it's pretty top-notch. And I love the random alien subplot. It may be obvious padding, but it's extremely entertaining obvious padding.
Rated 11 Jul 2016
6
86th
now it's time to go sleepy bye you worthless piece of garbage! i love this nonsense, it's basically proto-COMPUTER CHESS.
Rated 01 Sep 2010
64
33rd
It had enough odd and funny moments and an interesting enough concept to be worth watching... for about half an hour. It's padded out with some stuff (like the alien) that's just dumb.
Rated 22 Mar 2009
100
97th
In addition to its other virtues, this has to be the best-*looking* $60,000 sci-fi feature ever lensed. This witty, often brilliant satire starts as a _2001_ takeoff buit swiftly soars into totally original terrain. It remains Carpenter's most profound celluloid statement.
Rated 29 Jan 2011
80
64th
great trashy comedy
Rated 08 Oct 2011
70
44th
69.500
Rated 14 Jul 2014
3
38th
A doofy parody of 2001 and assorted space horror films with shockingly great effects works (especially given its shoestring budget). Fun and never overstays its welcome.
Rated 06 Oct 2012
70
53rd
Zajebiste :)
Rated 13 Jul 2018
70
57th
alien'ın yazarıyla carpenter'ın uğraşacakları temalara dair iyi bir öncül film olarak beliriyor. düşük bütçesini her haliyle -dönem koşullarına göre dahi- belli ediyor ama bu bir potansiyel tartışması eşliğinde olmuyor, zira üzerine eğildiği temaları gayet yeterli biçimde işliyor.
Rated 28 Sep 2019
72
78th
I hope that whenever or if ever we find aliens in space, they'll be bouncy balls with feet. Imagine how underwhelming that'd be?
Rated 23 Mar 2023
60
48th
Amusing early sci-fi from Carpenter and O'Bannon who both went on to bigger and better things.
Rated 26 Jan 2020
70
14th
#6 Direction - 2.5/2.5 Sound/Editing - 2.5/2.5 Acting - 1/2.5 Writing - 1/2.5"
Rated 10 Jun 2020
60
35th
I just can't explain why I like this movie, because the writing is pretty clunky and the special effects really aren't so special. But there's a cleverness to it, perhaps because of (or even in spite of) the limited budget.
Rated 11 Aug 2020
88
36th
Finally got to see this strange space spoof by John Carpenter. One of my favorite filmmakers and this was his first feature. Impressive in that sense.
Rated 14 Nov 2020
63
36th
63.2.
Rated 17 Apr 2023
92
66th
This is subtle situational humor, more British than American, which inverts the "Flash Gordon" model into a story of the most likely outcome: humanity sends morons to space to do its dirty work. Come for the hopelessness, laugh at your species, and stay for the Kantian references.
Rated 23 May 2022
68
33rd
It's watchable, with a couple of funny moments, a couple of interesting concepts, and more influence in popular culture that one would guess at first sight
Rated 16 Aug 2022
60
44th
John Carpenter's debut is a tongue-in-cheek sci-fi diversion, equal parts claustrophobic space opera and no-frills parody. The humour doesn't always get through and the script is a little padded in order to reach feature length, yet "Dark Star" displays ingeniously creative usage of the small budget and contains some brilliant sequences, such as the particularly suspenseful, unexpectedly bizarre and downright funny 20-minute alien subplot, as well as the philosophical discussion with the bomb.
Rated 29 Mar 2023
15
3rd
When a beach ball alien is the most interesting thing you have going, then you ain't got much going. I can accept the ultra low budget aesthetic, but what I can't accept is a dull script on top of it.
Rated 10 Jun 2023
80
77th
these guys are too high to bomb a planet
Rated 23 Aug 2023
80
78th
Unpretentiously funny and simple sci-fi greatness
Rated 28 Sep 2023
72
33rd
This is a low budget comedy that still has several funny or amusing moments. The special effects are super low budget and dated but overall this film is still enjoyable.
Rated 07 Jan 2024
70
57th
Four idiots in space arguing with a stubborn bomb. Great introduction to Carpenter. Basically already involves everything he does later on a smaller budget.

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