Rating: 
Summary: What was I thinking?
Review: I can't imagine what possesed me to buy this DVD. From the reviews I was expecting something along the lines of Mel Brooks or Zucker. This is a total waste of time and money.
Rating: 
Summary: begs the great philisophical question
Review: How can anything just filled with air be alive? its been 27 years since I have seen this sci fi masterpiece and haunting questions still invade my fertile mind in reflective moments.
Rating:
Summary: Total, wonderful, absurdity
Review: If life is absurd, then life in a spaceship is surreal. A truly weird, inventive movie that is so funny you won't care about the rather poor video quality due to the old prints. Useful next time you need to discuss philosophy with a snooty bomb.
Rating: 
Summary: SCI FI THE WAY IT WAS MEANT TO BE
Review: In the beginning was science fiction of Jules Verne and Herbert Wells (of the time machine fame). They mostly explored the possibilities of the future through the lense of the scientific achievement. Then came the thirties with their pulp fiction printed in cheap magazines and the romance of war and love against the backdrop of outer space that we now regard as Space Opera. Thanks to that heritage of ours, almost everything that Hollywood would serve up Sci-Fi on the screen these days, from Star Wars to Buck Rogers, would be miore appropriately called space opera. There are exceptions, of course; we have Space Odyssey and the Fantastic Voyage (which almost escapes the clutches of the cold war in favor of pure scientific pursuit were it not for Donald Pleasance attempting to sabotage the effort!), and then there is the Sark Star.While it was inspired in part by Dr. Strangelove, and has the campy feel of a low budget film, the picture is a John Carpenter original showing off his quirky humor. From the beginning we don't know if our militarized space cadets are adrift in space or in the sea of a mammouth bureaucracy. Yes, there is a talking smart bomb that experiences some deep philosophical issues, but who can blame it when thed computer that controls it has its wires crossed? The spacemen are there to make the universe safe for settlement by destroying the unstable planet, and they succumb in the end due to a breakdown in communications, which is at the heart of most major disasters. For a change the film feels like classic science fiction, we have men in space, as opposed men on a battleship fighting a battle, that happens to be in space. Most of the themes present in classical sci-fi are addressed in this film - Man vs Outer Space, Man dealing with effects of extended space travel, Man vs Machine, and even the etiquette of dealing with the alien life forms is addressed in this neat little sci-fi farce that no self-respecting fan of sci fi ought to miss.
Rating:
Summary: Ha! Ha! Ha!
Review: "Let there be light" -- and you will absolutely fall off your couch laughing. And you'll keep laughing till the film ends. It was just as great/funny as when I first saw it 20 years ago. Dark humor, and brilliant. A must-see for sci-fi fans. Plus, it's so short that even people who might get bored, or might not "get it," should still find the time spent worth the laughs it will generate. Its [less costly](but amazing for the price) production values are its charm. This film would never work as well if it was a slick [costly] production...
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious sci-fi
Review: This is one of my favorite sci-fi movies, a hilarious send-up of space epics. Director John Carpenter and co-writer Dan O'Bannon steer away from traditional sci-fi action to focus on the tedium and isolation of deep-space travel. It's a risky concept, but it works. Bleak comedy abounds as the crew of the ship _Dark Star_ slowly lose their grip on reality (although it's clear that some of them lost their grip a long time ago). Of the two versions of _Dark Star_ included here, the sixty-eight minute "director's cut" is far superior. The eighty-three minute "theatrical release" feels padded, though most of that extra time involves an extended sequence in an asteroid field. This scene, added at the request (or demand, if you prefer) of shocksploitation producer Jack Harris, radically changes the plot, and blunts the film's satirical edge. The DVD package is unimpressive; video and audio are uniformly bad, and extras are minimal. Considering the film's production history and tiny budget, it's safe to say that _Dark Star_ looks and sounds as good now as it ever will.
Rating:
Summary: Disappointed
Review: I made the mistake of reading the book first, it was the most hilarious thing I've ever read! Everytime I read it I bust out laughing. I'd never seen the movie in the theaters, or on VHS, so I bought it when it came out on DVD.
The DVD provides it in two versions; the original full-length, and the version edited for theaters. For some reason, it's not funny, not like the book, and this was disappointing. I got a feeling like I was watching a bunch of stoners trying to finish something they'd all given up on years ago.
After a few minutes it just sorta drags on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.
Rating:
Summary: It wasn't worth [it]
Review: Very disappointing--I fell asleep 2/3 of the way through the movie. Unless you like quirky student films, don't waste your money.
Rating:
Summary: In the beginning there was darkness.
Review: This movie stands on it' own. Yes you can compare this movie to others and say pieces are a parity of other movies. Yet if you look at the big picture you will see there is no forced dialog or plots to do such parity. This is the real space. The one that grates on your nerves after 20years in space. You learn the politics of procurement, the virtues of independent thinking, and what it is like to have a pet. Very few movies nowadays question existence its self. And along with the profound questions that makes science fiction worth watching, the are great songs and mental images of the sea. Lets cut to the chase this is a funny movie that is over before you are ready. My cat looks just as round and acts the same way as the alien.
Rating:
Summary: Monty Python in Space
Review: If you like Monty Python, you should LOVE "Dark Star". This is dry, dry, dry and (did I mention) dry humor. Definitely a thinking person's film. You'll find yourself laughing out loud three days later when one of the jokes finally catches up to you!
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