Five men drift through space in the “Dark Star” and blow up planets to prepare for the subsequent colonization. Bored by the daily grind in their steel prison, they search in vain for ways to pass the time. Communication to Earth takes years, the crew can hardly stand each other, and in their home country nobody is really interested in the spaceship. Already the first major technical deficiencies become noticeable and Pinnback’s pet alien causes more problems much longed-for entertainment. At least the ship can be reasonably talked to whenever one of the pesky bombs on board develops its own consciousness.
The low production costs and the bizarre humor unsettled the film distributors, so that Dark Star could only be seen in a few underground cinemas at first. Only after the success of Halloween and Alien did this tribute to 2001: A Space Odyssey achieve an official release and fame. It is neither an action movie nor a thriller. Instead, Carpenter masterfully and entertainingly demonstrates the monotony of space in his Sci-fi debut.
Fleming Bruckmaier
Translated by Carlos Hartmann
