Dark Star (5 Stars)

When I first saw this film it blew me away. It was my favorite film for years. Maybe I wouldn't rate it quite so highly now, I've moved on, but it still deserves a five star rating.

This was John Carpenter's first film. It was made with a $60,000 budget, extremely low for a science fiction film, even back in 1974. When it was first released it was practically unnoticed by film fans and critics alike. There are no accurate records of the box office takings, but we can assume it was a flop. When it was released on videotape a few years later it became a cult hit. It just occurred to me that even though I use the expression "cult hit" a lot I don't know how to define it. I just read Wikipedia's definition, and though I'm not 100% in agreement it's pointed me in the right direction. A cult hit is a film that failed to gain sufficient commercial success to make it profitable, but it has a large number of fans who rate it very highly, to the extent that they discuss it passionately with like-minded fans. That's my full definition. It partially overlaps with what Wikipedia says, but I think my definition is more concise and more accurate. A cult film may or may not be acknowledged as good by critics. In fact, the opinion of film critics is irrelevant.

But let me get back to the film. This is a sci-fi comedy about a spaceship on a mission to blow up unstable planets. The crew of four are all eccentric, as is to be expected after spending 20 years in space. After travelling through an asteroid storm their ship sustains damage, and they have to fight to survive. Something about the personalities of the crew reminds me of "Mash". I can't help but think that this film was one of the influences for the tv series "Red Dwarf".

It's a shame the film is so poorly preserved. On my DVD both the picture and the sound are fuzzy. Nevertheless, it's still a very enjoyable film.