In the year 2150 humanity is looking to expand into the universe. The Earth is exploring space and looking for planets to colonize. Part of that expansion entails making sure that any solar system mankind is looking to venture to have stable planets orbiting their sun. The interstellar ship “Dark Star” was sent to locate and destroy any unstable planets it finds. When an unstable planet is located the crew of the ship jettisons a Thermostellar bomb that destroys the planet.
The team has been on their mission in space for the last twenty years. They started out with five crew members, Pinback (Dan O’Bannon), Talby (Dre Pahich), Boiler (Cal Kuniholm), Lt. Doolittle (Brian Narelle) and Commander Powell (Joe Saunders). A few years ago, and accident caused the death of Commander Powell. His body was cryogenically frozen and Lt. Doolittle, out of his depth, took over command of the crew. The spaceship has also had its share of wear and tear. Some systems are beginning to malfunction.
The crew is becoming bored with the monotony of the job. On the journey to the next unstable world the crew runs into an electromagnetic field in the middle of an asteroid storm. This causes more of the ship’s systems to break down. A Thermostellar bomb, number 20, is activated but the computer system manages to talk the bomb into deactivating itself. Other issues with the ship’s computer systems cause more aggravation for the astronauts. Once again, Thermostellar Bomb No. 20 is initiated. This time neither the guys nor the computer can talk the bomb out of completing its mission.
“Dark Star” was released in 1974 and was directed by John Carpenter. It is a low budget American science fiction comedy film written by Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon.
The movie quality shows that it is an amateurish and low budget project. The sound is sometimes uneven and the movie lags from time to time. Considering that it started out as a 45-minute student film, it’s done quite well. The wonderful music score gives you a hint of what Carpenter will end up creating in the future. It’s not a great movie but it is good considering the talent behind it was new and young at the time.
The special effects were very much homegrown. Various household items were used to create the interiors of the ship and spacesuits. The rows of buttons on the bridge consoles are actually ice cube trays illuminated from underneath. The space helmets were children’s toy helmets from the “Star Team” space adventure gear toy line produced by Ideal Toys. Part of the spacesuit chest plate is a muffin tray. The talking bombs were made from plastic car and truck model kits. The jet packs are polystyrene packaging material. Other items were things like vacuum cleaner hoses and plug-in wires.
Dre Pahich, who played "Talby", had a heavy accent. His voice was dubbed by John Carpenter. The voice of Bomb #19 was Alan Sheretz. The voice of Bomb #20 was Adam Beckenbaugh. Nick Castle is credited as the beachball alien. The voice of the computer was done by Cookie Knapp.