Dark Star – 36˝ Year Anniversary Hyperdrive Edition (1974/VCI Entertainment
DVD)
Picture: C Sound: C Extras:
B+ Film: B-
VCI Entertainment have been updating some of their
back catalog recently, and Dark Star is one of their titles that really
benefits from the facelift. A slew of
newly created bonus features is included, and really helps to flesh out what
was once a bare bones release.
Most who search their minds will recall 1976's Assault
on Precinct 13 (reviewed elsewhere on this site) as Carpenter's first
venture in helming a feature film production. However, prior to that, Carpenter
created this gem of a film. It bears little resemblance to most of his later
filmography, but is a classic in its own right. Its closest companion out of his
20 directorial credits might be seen as The Fog – a movie, that, like
this one, owes a bit of debt to the EC horror and sci-fi comics of the 50's.
Dark Star began its life as a film school project at USC's School of
Cinema-Television. Producer Jack Harris then picked up the project, calling for
new footage to be created so that it would run at feature length. Once through
with this undertaking, the film was released theatrically in 1974. While not a
success, it served to launch the careers of director/co-writer John Carpenter
and co-writer/editor/effects man Dan O’Bannon. Sadly, they never teamed again.
Comments given by Carpenter and others as to the reasons why are given in the
supplements included here. In spite of their parting of ways so long ago, now
that Mr. O'Bannon has passed on, any chance of a film reunion is now lost.
The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen with a 1.78:1 aspect ratio.
Sadly, while the image is better on this newer edition, it is still fairly
soft, as it was shot in 16mm. The color has been much improved and the picture
is more acceptable than that of the older transfer. The sound has been redone
into a 5.1 Dolby Digital mix that was also on the last edition of the disc.
While the sound isn’t terribly bad, there are problems that are the result of
sub-par recording and mixing on the original elements.
On the last edition, the only bonus features were the inclusion of the
theatrical trailer and some short biographies on the creative team. Supplements
have been greatly expanded, and now include interviews, a full length
commentary track, a trivia section, and a 3D guide to the Dark Star ship. As
with the previous release, both the theatrical and student film versions of the
movie are included. This time around they are on separate discs to avoid some
of the playback problems that sometimes occurred due to the branching chapters
that facilitated this feature.
O’Bannon's final interview is included in the supplements, as well as his
provision of a written introduction to the film. Thankfully they were able to
preserve some of his thoughts on the film in the excellent documentary Let
There Be Light: The Odyssey of Dark Star, where Carpenter himself also
weighs in through audio interviews.
I can happily say that this new release goes far beyond what I'd imagined those
at VCI would someday do with the film. Most of the problems that I found in my
review of the earlier issuing have been taken care of, but faults remain with
the picture and sound that I still feel should be remedied, if it can feasibly
be done with the materials available.
Fans of science fiction would do well to add this influential classic to their
viewing libraries,
in spite of some of the film's rougher edges. Let's hold
out hope that a future release on Blu-ray might see this movie looking better
than ever.
- David Milchick
