i can't think of one joke in this movie at all it was much more of a sci-fi or even a drama than a comedy. How did it end up that it is a comedy first and foremost when the only things that could even be see as anything comedic were to do with low budget and cheap sci-fi effects. am i missing something? am i alone in this confusion?
shareYou must be one serious dude!
shareNo, i just don't find blowing up planets, killing aliens and dying from burning up in the atmosphere of a planet particularly hilarious. What parts were funny i honesty want to know?
shareMaybe it might be regarded as "black humour" or "black comedy"?
You can find out more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_humour
There would be many films that fall under this category.
Perhaps, but even for black humour its still rather mild on the humour end. A little too mild to be a comedy first and foremost as it is currently classified.
share[deleted]
maybe your right i have only watched it once and i was expecting quite alot from it since i heard that "red dwarf" was based on it and red dwarf kicks arse. Perhaps i should wait and watch it again.
shareYou might be expecting a bit much. Keep in mind that Dark Star was a student film that grew out of control. Some particularly drawn-out sequences were added to push the film to a theatrical length.
Dan O'Bannon:
"So instead of the most impressive student film made, we ended up with the least impressive professional film made."
That being said, I think that the idea of a sarcastic bomb anxious to blow up is a pretty brilliant bit of comedy.
Computer: "I repeat...this is NOT a bomb run. Return to the bay."
Bomb#20: "Oh, alright...but this is the last time!"
Seeing Pinback's reaction to the news that explosive charges would be used to free him from the elevator floor is also priceless (and timeless).
Have a few pints to rattle your sensibility and give it another shot.
I'm pretty sure that MY reaction to the news that explosive charges would be used to free him from the hatch could give Pinback's a run for it's money...
shareI never thought that "Dark Star" was a comedy at all. In fact I don't think that either John Carpenter, or Dan O'Bannon are comedic writers, nor was any of their stuff ever really supposed to be funny. It's much more sppokier, then funny at all..
This low budget movie was good for completely different reasons, and not for the "So Called HUMOR". I think what made this film interesting in a strange and unusual way, is the fact how with the right music in the right moments, both Carpenter and O'Brien managed to get some kind of effect of the hallow cold space. If you are familiar with Carpenter's movies (Escape from New York, or Halloween, or The Thing), or O'bannon (Alien), you will find a lot of similar elements in Dark Star that was later seen in those other much higher budgeted movies.
Live a little...just because you aint poppin a gut don't mean it aint good!
shareMaybe it might be regarded as "black humour" or "black comedy"?
You can find out more here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_humour
There would be many films that fall under this category
Black humour is sick to those who don't get it.share
Black humour is funny only to those who get it.
And Sickle-Cell Anemia is not funny to blacks who do get it.
It's like watching British TV comedy shows, you either get it or, you don't. If you don't get it, we can't help you.
shareThe Captain in cryogenics is revived and his first question is "How are the Dodgers doing?"
The beach-ball alien tapping it's digits as though bored and passively exasperated... The entire Beachball Alien fight with the broom? C'mon!
What else... the neurotic computer?
The cupcake tin used as part of the uniform?
There's a lot of great stuff here, and it's especially witty as a parody to the polish and choreography of 2001...
You obviously have your sense of humour buried so deep that you cannot understand comedy at all,however just to mention a very few funny moments : the elevator scene / the alien sedative injection scene / pinback ranting into the video recorder log / the chat with the bomb / the ending where each goes into oblivion in their own way ( ie: surfing to burn up in the atmosphere/ travelling with the meteor shower etc) not to mention the dialogue between the crew. so anyway theres a few moments but i suggest you would be better of sticking to drama or real life documentaries.
shareDon't forget about Boiler and Pinback arguing over whether Boiler has the skills to shoot the pins out of the bomb. Then he ends up shooting Pinback and it really gets hairy. And Boiler playing mumblety-peg.
shareI laughed when I read your post, tezz. Not at you, but at the phrasess "blowing up planets" and "killing aliens".
Man... What IS it about blowing up planets and killing aliens that I love so much?
More idiocy: http://idontknowwhatsevensgoingon.blogspot.com
the rationalism argument against artificial intelligence.
---------------------------------------------
Applied Science? All science is applied. Eventually.
serious..must be
shareAnybody that doesn't find the line "it's time to feed the alien" to be funny is definatly one seriously devoided of a sense of humour dude. and i'm a very serious person myself, and i know this movie is funny, and it is funny and made me laugh. And the "feed the alien" line is hysterical.
"This are Nice shoes! Couldn't you afford some real Nike?"
Aww...I don't wanna do that!
shareIt depends if you find nihilism funny. Personally I do, so I totally get the comedy of this film. It may not be to everyone's taste though.
shareIt depends if you find nihilism funny.
I love this film; it's a laugh from start to finish. I guess it's a "cult" movie that you either love or hate, a bit like "Withnail and I" which I thought was pretty dull.
shareLove or hate is pretty accurate. I saw this while I was a college student in 1979 or 80 and loved it, quoted it to friends, was basically annoyingly into it. My roommate walked out of the same screening complaining that he had lost two hours of his life.
shareI think you have to keep in mind that this was a student made film shot in 1974. It was made after 2001, before Star Wars, by a bunch of (then) nobodies...
In short, I love this movie. I ran across it through a convoluted series of connections:
One of my favorite movies is Alien.
One of my favorite bands is Pinback.
While watching the extras from the special edition DVD set of Alien, I saw a still from Darkstar of Dan O'Bannon in character and noticed his uniform had a name on it; P-I-N-B-A...
So I hopped online and checked it out. I had always wondered where (the band) Pinback got their name. It seemed too odd a coincidence, so I ordered the movie just to check it out.
I had already listened to Pinback's first record a thousand times, and it was a strange experience watching the movie and hearing samples I didn't even know were samples in such a different context... Little bits of the movie blended in my mind with the songs by Pinback, and the record suddenly became (gasp!) a concept album.
There are a thousand little connections streaming out from this movie. Dan O'Bannon went on to write the original script (and to design the face-hugger) for Alien. John Carpenter went on to be John Carpenter. Ron Cobb went on to do design work on Alien and many other fine Sci-Fi movies. The "light-speed" effect was used in Star Wars...
Watch Dark Star with an open mind. These were talented young film students just finding their way...
It's clunky at times, but often brilliant. The elevator shaft sequence with Pinback and the alien/pet gives me the willies every time I see it (okay, so I admit I am afraid of heights), and who other than Carpenter would have hooked such a hokey country tune onto a Sci-Fi flick?
Now that's nihilism.
Been a huge fan since I saw this at a late night screening at an art house cinema in the 70s. Hippies in space.
You don't need look to hard to find the comedy. I agree with the comments re the explosive bolts !
A super film.
'Where's the nihilism in this film'??? You are joking?
share'black comedy' check it out
shareOh common man, are you telling me that you didn't find pinback teaching a bomb phenomenology funny?
shareYes, you are alone. It's the funniest flippin' film ever made.
shareBoiler playing mumbledy peg and spearing his finger
Boiled doing some target practice with the radiation shielding
Boiler and Pinback fighting over Boiler shooting out the bomb pins
Pinback's 8-track video diary
The captain wondering how the Dodgers are doing
Talking to the bomb
This movie is one sight gag after another and some very funny dialogue.
It IS a funny movie and one curmudgeon with absolutely no taste does not make it otherwise.
I thought this film was VERY FUNNY INDEED.
"That gentleman has placed a deposit on this meat.. No.. a monetary deposit hahaha!"
I agree and well put Ogservice and the rest of you, great comments!
What about the lift scene when Boiler (I think, its ages since I watched it) has he face nearly squashed!
What about the laser rifle target practise...
and as for the 'Aw, I don't wanna do that!'
If you 'don't get it' read the comments, get some good lager and try again, it worth it...
Regards all
Flugluftholgate
Your definitly "missing something".
This is full of tongue in cheek humor.
The most simple explanation is usually the correct one - Databyter
Heh, it's a comedy because it's funny as hell. The alien alone is brilliant, and the conversations with the bombs are hilarious. And Pinback in the elevator shaft . . .
Plus everybody dies at the end. If that isn't funny, I don't know what is.
----
The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.
Do you think this was the first ever sci-fi comedy played straight by its actors, at the time?
We have since had The Ice Pirates and Spaceballs, but back in 1974 the only other one I can think of was Flesh Gordon (the one about the sex ray). The 1980 Flash Gordon is almost a straight comedy, too.
Well, except for the Captain who was ALREADY DEAD!
"How are the Dodgers doing?"
14 years later on STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION, Leon Rippy (STARGATE, THE PATRIOT, SAVING GRACE,) played the part of a 21st Century man awakened from Suspended Animation. One of his first questions was, 'I wonder how the Braves are doing?"
You KNOW the writer, Maurice Hurley, got that from DARK STAR.
to the original poster: no you are not alone 'on this', quite the opposite, you are with the majority of people who don't enjoy this film because they lack imagination, patience, and probably a few other human elements. This film is a diamond in the rough and will always be a cult film enjoyed by a specific type of person. This film is to comedy & sci-fi as wickerman is to horror. a true classic. The added and often drawn out scenes in this film only add to it's more lifelike realistic appeal. 10/10.
share