Dark Star

Synopsis: Low-budget story of four astronauts in deep space, whose mission is to destroy unstable planets in star systems which are to be colonised. The late Commander Powell is stored in deep freeze, where he is still able to offer advice. As their mission nears completion, they must cope with a runaway alien which resembles a beach-ball, faulty computer systems, and a "smart bomb" who thinks it is God.
Genre: Comedy, Sci-Fi
Director(s): John Carpenter
Production: Jack H. Harris Enterprises Inc
  1 win & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Metacritic:
66
Rotten Tomatoes:
79%
G
Year:
1974
83 min
Website
677 Views


Hi Guys.

Glad we got your message.

You'll be interested to hear it was

broadcast live, all over Earth.

In Prime Time.

Got good reviews in the trades.

The time lag on these messages

is getting longer.

We gather from the ten year delay,

that you are approximately

eighteen parsecs away.

Drop us a line more often, okay?

Sony to hear about the radiation

leak on the ship.

And real sorry to hear about

the death of Commander Powell.

There was a week of mourning

here on Earth.

The flags were at half mast.

We're all behind you guys.

About your request for

radiation shielding,

sorry to report this request

has been denied.

I hate to send bad news when you guys

are up there doing such a swell job.

But I think you'll take if

in the proper spirit.

There've been some cutbacks

in Congress, and right now...

considering the distance,

we just can't afford

to send a cargo shuttle

out there to you.

But I know...

You guys will make due.

Keep up the good work, men.

What'd you say Pinback?

What was that again?

I still can't hear you.

I said I'm trying to reach Talby.

Something's wrong

with the damn intercom.

I need a last-minute

diameter approximation.

Talby, Talby, this is Doolittle.

Do you read me? Talby?

Talby, do you read me?

TALBY!

Oh yes, Doolittle.

What is it?

I need a diameter approximation.

Okay, Doolittle,

I'll have it in a minute.

I need a GHF reading

on the gravity correction.

I'll check it.

I have a bias A of plus one.

- Pinback...

- Ya, Doolittle.

- Your GHF reading is minus fifteen.

- Doolittle.

Yes.

I need a computer reading

on a fail-safe mark.

In a second.

Boiler, can you set me up

with some drive figures?

Ninety seven million, minus eight,

corrected to mass critical.

That checks out here.

I have a reduced drive reading

of seven thousand.

I read that with a quantum

increase of seven.

Pinback, I have a computer reading,

it's nine five seven seven.

Time to start talking.

Bomb bay systems operational.

Lock fail safe.

Fail-safe in lock.

Uh,...

Sergeant Pinback calling Bomb #19.

Do you read me, bomb?

Bomb #19 to Sergeant Pinback,

I read you... Continue.

Well, bomb, we have about

sixty seconds to drop.

Just wondering if everything

is all right.

Have you checked your platinum

euridium energy shielding?

- Energy shielding positive function.

- Swell.

Let's synchronize detonation time.

Uh...

You wouldn't happen to know when

you're supposed to go off, would ya?

Detonation in six minutes,

Twenty seconds.

All right, that checks out here.

Arm yourself, bomb.

Armed.

Well, then, everything sounds fine.

Dropping you off in about

thirty-five seconds.

- Good luck.

- Thanks!

Begin primary sequence.

Alright. Mark at...

'10-9-8-7-

6-5-4-3-2-1

Drop.

Hyperdrive sequence begun.

Hit it, Pinback.

Brace for force fields.

Lieutenant Doolittle,

it just exploded.

Um, the planet just exploded, sir.

Lieutenant?

Attention. Attention.

- Ship's computer to all personnel.

- Unlock Fail safe.

The hyperdrive sequence

is now terminated.

- Target planet has been destroyed.

- Fail safe unlocked.

This sector is now cleared

for colonization.

You have destroyed the last

unstable planet in this system.

Congratulations on another

successful bomb run fellows.

What now?

What do you have

for us now, Boiler?

Uh... Not much.

Nothing at all in this sector.

Well, find me something,

I don't care where it is.

Well, I show a 95% probability

of intelligent life

in the Horsehead Nebula sector.

Don't give me that kind of bull.

- I know it's a long shot...

- Damn wild goose chase is what it is!

Remember when Commander Powell

found that

99 plus probability of intelligent life

in the Magellanic Cloud?

- Well, I... there's the possibility of...

- Remember what we found?

A damn mindless vegetable,

looked like a limp balloon.

Fourteen light years for a vegetable

that went squawk

and let a fart when you touch it.

Remember that?

All right, then uh...

Don't give me any of that

intelligent life stuff.

Find me something I can blow up.

New star.

Hey, guess what? I got a new star

On the readout.

Which one?

Another unknown. A red dwarf.

Not on the charts.

Any planets?

Yeah. Eight, it says here.

Any of 'em any good?

Naah. All stable.

What are you gonna name it?

- What?

- The new star.

What are you gonna name it?

Who cares. Don't bother me.

Commander Powell would have named it.

Commander Powell is dead.

Doolittle, I've got a goodie.

An unstable planet.

85% probability of an

unstable planet in the

Veil Nebula that will probably

go off its orbit and hit a star.

Wanna blow it up?

Real good, Boiler.

That's what I'm looking for.

Chart a course for

the Veil Nebula.

Pinback, throw me the chart log.

Let's have some music in here, Boiler.

Sure thing.

A million suns shine down

But I see only one

When I think I'm over you

I find I've just begun

The years move faster than the days

There's no warmth in the light

How I miss those desert skies

Your cool touch in the night

Benson, Arizona,

blew warm wind through your hair

My body Hies the galaxy,

my heart longs to be there

Benson, Arizona,

the same stars in the sky

But they seemed so much kinder

when we watched them, you and I

Benson, Arizona,

blew warm wind through your hair

My body Hies the galaxy,

my heart longs to be there

Benson, Arizona,

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John Carpenter

John Howard Carpenter (born January 16, 1948) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, musician, and composer. Although Carpenter has worked with various film genres, he is associated most commonly with horror, action and science fiction films of the 1970s and 1980s.Most films of Carpenter's career were initially commercial and critical failures, with the notable exceptions of Halloween (1978), The Fog (1980), Escape from New York (1981), and Starman (1984). However, many of Carpenter's films from the 1970s and the 1980s have come to be considered as cult classics, and he has been acknowledged as an influential filmmaker. The cult classics that Carpenter has directed include Dark Star (1974), Assault on Precinct 13 (1976), The Thing (1982), Christine (1983), Big Trouble in Little China (1986), Prince of Darkness (1987), They Live (1988), and In the Mouth of Madness (1995). He returned to the Halloween franchise as both composer and executive producer for the horror sequel Halloween (2018). Carpenter is also notable for having composed or co-composed most of his films' music; some of them are now well-known, with the main theme of Halloween being considered a part of popular culture. He won a Saturn Award for Best Music for the film Vampires (1998). Carpenter has released three studio albums, titled Lost Themes (2015), Lost Themes II (2016), and Anthology: Movie Themes 1974–1998 (2017). more…

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Submitted on August 05, 2018

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    "Dark Star" Scripts.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 18 Apr. 2024. <https://www.scripts.com/script/dark_star_6358>.

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