[15:46 Sun,26.January 2025 by blip] |
Fifty years ago, a student film briefly played in a few cinemas without attracting much attention – hardly anyone anticipated its later development into a cult classic and its lasting influence on the science fiction genre. We&re talking about Dark Star, John Carpenter&s graduation film, which he wrote and directed with Dan O’Bannon – using the simplest means, as the budget was virtually nonexistent. The total production cost is estimated to have been around ,000. ![]() The film tells the absurdly funny story of an uninspired spaceship crew whose task is to detonate “unstable planets” using intelligent bombs. As often happens due to financial constraints, extremely creative (emergency) solutions were found, giving the film a very special look. Filming took place in a very confined space, initially even in a room of a campus building.
![]() O’Bannon was responsible for the special effects. He had the idea, among other things, of showing a jump into hyperspace by having the spaceship seemingly stand still while the stars in the background become streaks of light. This film also marked the first use of the term “Alien” for an extraterrestrial life form. Dan O’Bannon subsequently co-wrote the screenplay for Ridley Scott&s Alien. To mark the anniversary, Golem is paying tribute to the film with a longer article describing its production history and special features. Amusingly, the article also mentions that the blinking onboard computers of the Dark Star crew were actually video editing suites that were quickly repurposed. The documentary "Let There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star" tells a much more detailed story about the production – And for those who want to watch Dark Star again, a German-dubbed version can even be found on YouTube. ![]() deutsche Version dieser Seite: Low-Budget-Klassiker Dark Star feiert Jubiläum |
![]() |