DARK STAR (1974)

[asin: B00000F169]

Positive Experience/Entertaining? I'd say so, but I can see why some people would think this movie wasn't entertaining. It's so not the kind of science fiction we're used to these days and comedy-wise it's really very dry. It's the kind of movie you sit through and constantly think "Am I really watching this happen???"


Technically any good? According to IMDB.com, this movie was made as a student film with an according budget and it shows. An alien is a beach ball with lizardy gloves (though creatively done) and the sets look like they're made of foam core in most scenes. The acting is fairly bad, but that makes it more enjoyable, to be honest. The story is pretty cool and the fixes that the crew get into are pretty clever. It's no wonder this was an inspiration for the brilliant British scifi sitcom, Red Dwarf.


How did it leave me feeling? Very satisfied and pleased that I could be so entertained by such a low budget film. I forgot how nice it is to just be told a story and not "blown away" by the "FX". While not a full-on crowd pleaser, I do think this film is worth checking out, even if only on a lark. It's a weird movie, but not weird in a 2001: A Space Odyssey way, but in a funny-ha-ha way. On a side note, the film seems to reference the screenwriter's later film Alien, so I'm not sure IMDB's release date of 1974 is accurate since Alien, also according to IMDB, came out in 1979.


Final Rating? SIYL - See If You Like - This is a movie for scifi fans. Definitely, but scifi fans who enjoy more colorful (and more realistic) characters.

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Orignal From: DARK STAR (1974)