Dark Star is a 1974 American science fiction comedy directed by John Carpenter and co-written with Dan O'Bannon. It follows a decaying star ship crew of Dark Star, twenty years into their mission to destroy an unstable planet that might threaten colonization in the future of another planet.
Started as a University of Southern California student film produced from 1970 to 1972, the film gradually expanded to feature a long movie in 1974, when it appeared in Filmex before receiving a limited theatrical release in 1975. The final budget was estimated at $ 60,000. Although initially unsuccessful with the audience, it was relatively well received by critics and continued to appear in theaters until the late 1980s. The home video revolution of the early 1980s helped films reach the status of "classic cult", and O'Bannon collaborated with the house. VCI video distributor in the production of several versions on VHS, Laserdisc, and DVD.
The feature film debut for Carpenter and O'Bannon, also produced and printed by Carpenter, while O'Bannon also acts as editor, production designer, and visual effects watcher and appears as Sergeant Pinback.
Video Dark Star (film)
Plot
By the middle of the 22nd century, humanity has reached a point in technological advancement that allows colonization of the far reaches of the universe. Equipped with the artificial intelligent "Tergerellar Trigger Device", the Dark Star scout vessel and its crew have been alone in space for 20 years in a mission to destroy an "unstable planet" that may threaten future colonization another planet..
The ship is in continuous state of frequent damage and system malfunctions (eg, irreversible radiation leaks, intelligent speech bombing loaded from incomplete bombs to do so, an explosion that destroys their beds, cultivating computers repeatedly serving chicken-scented liquid food, and "self-destructive" storage and destroying all toilet paper stocks in the toilet), and only the soft-spoken voices of the ship's computer for the company.
Commander of Dark Star, Commander Powell, was killed during a hyperdrive as a result of an electrical short circuit behind the rear seat panel, but remained on board in a cryogenic suspension state. The remaining ship crews consist of new commanders, Lieutenant Doolittle (helmsman, and initially second commander), Sergeant Pinback (bomber), Corporal (navigator), and Talby (targeting specialist). The crew members do their job with boredom, because the boredom of their duties for 20 years has pushed them "around the corner". They have created a distraction for themselves: Doolittle, once a surfer from Malibu, California, has built a musical bottle organ; Talby spends his time in the ship's observation dome, the content to watch the universe pass; The boiler obsessively trims his mustache, enjoys a smoking cigar, and shoots the target with a ship's emergency laser gun in the corridor.
Pinback plays practical jokes about crew members, maintains a video diary, and has adopted a ship's mascot in the form of a mischievous "beach ball" alien who refuses to stay in storage, forcing Pinback to chase him around the ship. With regard to Pinback, he may not actually be a "Sergeant Pinback" at all; he claims he's actually a liquid fuel specialist Bill Frug, who accidentally took the "real" Sergeant Pinback's place on a mission after the actual Pinback committed suicide by jumping into a fuel tank.
On the way to the next target (Veil Nebula), the Dark Star is struck by a bunch of electromagnetic energy during a storm, resulting in damage to another plane, with "Termostellar Bomb # 20" taking orders to be applied. With great difficulty, the ship's computer convinced Bomb # 20 that the order was wrong, and persuaded the bomb to disarm and return to the bomb bay. Talby notes malfunctions, and decides to investigate the errors (for complete disinterest of his crewmates), and finds a damaged communications laser in an emergency airlock when the crew is involved in the ensuing bombing. While Talby tried to fix it, the laser malfunction, blinding Talby and knocking him unconscious, and inadvertently triggered a more serious problem by causing widespread damage to the ship's main computer and damaging the bomb disposal mechanism in Bomb # 20.
Due to damage to the ship's computer, crew members found that they were unable to activate the release mechanism and attempted to cancel the drop. To make matters worse, after two accidental placements, and intend to explode as programmed to do, Bomb # 20 refuses to disarm or cancel the countdown sequence. When Pinback and Boiler try to talk about bombs that explode under the ship, Doolittle revives Commander Powell, who advises him to talk to the bomb, and to teach the basic bomb of phenomenology. After wearing a space suit and getting out of the ship to approach the bomb directly, Doolittle engages in a philosophical conversation with Bomb # 20 until he decides to cancel the countdown in almost the last second and retreats into the bomb bay for further contemplation.
Disaster seems to have been avoided, but when trying to help Doolittle in reentering the ship, Pinback accidentally threw Talby out of the airlock. As Doolittle tries to rescue his now-conscious Talby as he floats away from the Dark Star, Pinback addresses the bomb on the intercom in another attempt to disarm it. Unfortunately, Doolittle mistakenly teaches doubt on the Cartesian bomb and, as a result, Bomb # 20 determines that he can only trust himself and not external input. Convinced that only that exists, and that the only purpose in life is to explode, Bomb # 20 states "Be bright", and soon explodes. The Dark Star is destroyed, and Pinback and Boiler are killed instantly. Powell's commander was thrown into space in ice, and Talby and Doolittle were blown in the opposite trajectory, moving away from each other. Talby drifts into the Phoenix asteroid (a group of glowing asteroids he has long admired), destined to circumnavigate the universe forever. When Doolittle lost touch with Talby, he saw that he was falling towards an unstable planet. Realizing that he will burn as he enters his atmosphere, he drifts into the ruins of the Dark Star, finds the correct debris shaped board, and "surfs" down into the planet's atmosphere, dying as a star fall down.
Maps Dark Star (film)
Cast
- Lieutenant Doolittle - Brian Narelle
- Sergeant PinbackÃ, - And O'Bannon
- BoilerÃ, - Cal Kuniholm
- TalbyÃ, - Andreijah "Dre" Pahich (voiced by John Carpenter)
- Commander Powell - John Carpenter (as Joe Saunders)
- ComputerÃ, - Barbara "Cookie" Knapp
- Bomb # 19Ã, - And O'Bannon (as Alan Sheretz)
- Bomb # 20Ã, - and O'Bannon (as Adam Beckenbaugh)
- Mission Control - Miles Watkins
- AlienÃ, - Nick Castle
Production
Scenario
This scenario was written by John Carpenter and Dan O'Bannon while a film student at the University of Southern California. Originally titled The Electric Dutchman , the original concept was Carpenter's, with O'Bannon "perfecting many original ideas" and contributing many of the funniest moments. According to O'Bannon, "The ending of this story is taken from the story of Ray Bradbury Kaleidoscope ", which is found in a collection of short stories The Illustrated Man (1951). O'Bannon referred to one of his USC teachers, William Froug, when Pinback said in the video diary entries "I must tell you my name is not really Sergeant Pinback, my name is Bill Frug."
Filming
The film started as a student project 16 minutes 16 minutes with a final budget of six thousand dollars. Starting with a thousand dollar initial budget from USC in 1970, Carpenter and O'Bannon completed the first version of the film in 1972. To reach the theater length, an additional fifty minutes was filmed with the support of Canadian distributor Jack Murphy (credited) as "Associate Production" ). Through John Landis, a friend of O'Bannon, the film became the concern of producer-distributor Jack H. Harris, who acquired theatrical distribution rights for the film, and insisted on extensive cuts to existing films and shootings. an additional 35mm tape to bring the movie back to the long feature film O'Bannon would then bemoan that as a result of padding being a long movie, "We have what will be the most impressive student film in the world and become the most unimpressive professional film in the world".
Special effects
Many special effects were done by Dan O'Bannon, ship design by Ron Cobb, work model by O'Bannon and Greg Jein, and animation performed by Bob Greenberg. Cobb drew the original design for the Dark Star ship on a napkin while eating at the International House of Pancakes.
Release
The film finished airing on March 30, 1974 at Filmex, Los Angeles International Film Exposition, which Carpenter describes the film as " Waiting Godot in outer space." Harris sold the film to Bryanston Pictures, which released it to fifty theaters on January 16, 1975. Following the success of Alien and Halloween , Dark Star Released June 1979 by the Atlantic Release Company as "... from author 'Alien' & 'Halloween' director..." with tag line, "The Ultimate Cosmic Comedy!"
Home videos
VCI Entertainment released the theatrical pieces of Dark Star on a videotape in August 1983. After a critique of the release by O'Bannon in 1983, a copy of the new widescreen video master was made based on his personal 35mm print, and "Edition Special "widescreen was released in 1986.
Directed cut
O'Bannon re-edited the film into a seventy-two-minute "cutting director" released in LaserDisc in 1992, removing many recording footage for theatrical release.
Special edition
The film was released on DVD March 23, 1999 and included a "special edition" for sixty-eight minutes and the original release of the original theater. The two-chip "Hyperdrive Edition" DVD was released on October 26, 2010, which again included both movie versions, as well as the long-term documentary Let It Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star, exploring the origins of > Dark Star and how it is produced. In 2012, "Thermostellar Edition" Blu-ray was released, including only theatrical versions, along with special features of the 2010 DVD release.
Reception
While greeted enthusiastically by the audience at Filmex, the film was not well received on an early theatrical release. Carpenter and O'Bannon reported seeing an almost empty theater and a lack of reaction to the film's humor. The home video cassette revolution of the early 1980s saw the Dark Star become a cult film among science fiction enthusiasts.
Critical response
The initial review of the Variety , which Carpenter remembers as "the first bad review I get", describes the film as "a lame parody of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey some very credible special effects that are accomplished with little money. "After re-released in 1979, Roger Ebert gave the three-star movie of four, writing:" Dark Star is one of the cursed science fiction movies that I've seen, a combination of raging spaces, operas, smart bombs and beach balls from other worlds. "Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a fresh 79% rating, with the following consensus:" A loopy 2001 satire, Dark Star may not be the most consistent sci-fi comedy, but the depiction of human eccentricity is a welcome addition to the genre. "Leonard Maltin rewarded the film two and a half stars, describing it as" fun for science fiction fans and n surfers, "and praised the effective use of limited budgets.
Influence
The "Beachball with Claws" segment of the film was reworked by Dan O'Bannon into the alien horror science movie Alien (1979). After watching the audience fail to laugh at the Dark Star section meant to be funny, O'Bannon commented, "If I can not make them laugh, maybe I can make them scream."
Doug Naylor has said in the interview that the Dark Star is an inspiration for Dave Hollins: Space Cadet, a radio sketch that evolved into a science fiction television comedy Red Dwarf > The Pinback character also inspires the Pinbacker character's name, the antagonist in the movie Danny Boyle Sunshine (2007). Dark Star has also been cited as a great inspiration for the Machinima series Red. Blue by the series creator, Burnie Burns.
Metal Gear creator of the Hideo Kojima series revealed iDroid sounds inspired by the female computer voice of the Dark Star .
Pinback indie rock band adopted its name from the Sergeant Pinback character, and often used samples from the film in its original work. The band of British synth-pop veterans, Erasure, took a sample of the dialogue of this film (along with Barbarella ) in their song, "Sweet, Sweet Baby", B-side to "Drama!", album, Wild! (1989). The Human League also uses samples from the film at the end of "Circus of Death", the b-side of their debut single, "Being Boiled".
Doolittle's death was referenced in Armageddon (1998) when the character Steve Buscemi, Rockhound, surfed to his death from an asteroid.
A record-breaking underground cave system in Uzbekistan has been named the Dark Star by British cavers who were the first to reach its entrance.
Soundtrack
The music for Dark Star is primarily a pure electronic score made by Carpenter using a modular synthesizer.
The song played during the opening and closing credits was "Benson, Arizona." The music was written by John Carpenter, and the lyrics were written by Bill Taylor, about a man who traveled the galaxy at the speed of light and missed his beloved back on Earth. The main vocalist is John Yager, a college friend of Carpenter, who is not a professional musician "apart from being in a band in college."
See also
- List of American films of 1974
References
Further reading
- Holdstock, Robert. Scientific Fiction Encyclopedia , Octopus Books, 1978, pp.Ã, 80-81. ISBNÃ, 0-7064-0756-3
- Cinefex magazine, 2nd ed., August 1980. Article by Brad Munson: "Greg Jein, Miniature Giant". (Discussing Dark Star , among other subjects.)
- Fantastic Movie , Oct 1978, vol. 1 is not. 4, pages 52-58, 68-69. James Delson interviewed Greg Jein, about the Dark Star and other projects Jein had worked on.
- Fantastic Movie , Sep 1979, 10th edition, pages 7-17, 29-30. And O'Bannon discussed Dark Star and Alien, another subject. (The article is then reprinted in "Best Fantasy Movie", Special Edition # 22 as well.)
- Fantastic Movie , Collector's Edition # 17, Jul 1980, pages 16-24, 73, 76-77, 92. (Article: "John Carpenter Overexposed" by Blake Mitchell and James Ferguson. Dark Star , among others.)
- Bradbury, Ray, Kaleidoscope Doubleday & amp; Company 1951
- Foster, Alan Dean. Dark Star , Futura Publications, 1979. ISBNÃ, 0-7088-8048-7. (Adapted from a script by Dan O'Bannon and John Carpenter by author Alien (movie))
External links
- Dark Stars in the American Movies Film Catalog
- Dark Stars on IMDb
- Dark Stars in the TCM Movie Database
- Dark Stars on AllMovie
- Dark Stars at Rotten Tomatoes
- Dark Star at John Carpenter Official
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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