Dark Star - Making of a Low Budget Sci-Fi Classic [Low Budget Masterpieces]

Described by Carpenter as "'Waiting for Godot' in space.", Dark Star is a tongue-in-cheek sci fi comedy. This project started life as a student short film project, and ultimately progressed to a 35mm feature, that still sells well on DVD to this day.

Carpenter was a student on the film programme at the University of Southern California.

The original 45 minute short was shown at a number of film festivals in 1973. During this time, the film was seen by producer Jack H. Harris, who acquired the theatrical distribution rights, arranged for the 16mm film to be transferred to 35mm and funded an additional 38 minutes of material, thus bringing the film up to feature length.

Dark Star is the story of four astronauts in deep space, whose 20-year long mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems, which are to be colonised. The deceased Commander Powell is stored in deep freeze, where he is still able to offer advice! When their mission nears completion, they have to deal with an alien that has an uncanny resemblance to a beach ball(!), a faulty computer and a “smart bomb” with God-delusions. The beach ball alien is extremely amusing, and the film makers choose a comedic angle when they realised that they would struggle to create a convincing looking aliens on such a low budget (the original budget was $6,000).

Carpenter collaborated on the screenplay for the project with Dan O’Bannon, who also starred in the movie as Sgt. Pinback. Bannon reworked the “Beachball with Claws" subplot into a more horrific turn of events that became the classic Alien.

Sit back, and enjoy the first 10 minutes: