1974 - DARK STAR John Carpenter's science fiction parody

The space ship Dark Star is on a mission to destroy rogue planets whatever they are.  The director John Carpenter is on a mission to make something out of nothing with a next to nothing budget. 

Running the gauntlet from silly to stupid to almost sort of clever,  Dark Star is a reasonably funny film.  For a film with no budget Carpenter stretches a buck pretty well, in fact the obvious cheapness of the production probably works for it since it helps emphasize the silly jokes and situations that were created for the film. 

Besides the goofy beach ball alien the star of Dark Star is also the writer Dan O'Bannon as the put upon crewman,  Sgt. Pinback.  Pinback is pretty much the punching bag for most of this film's very silly humor which ranges from getting stuck in the floor of an elevator to being tickled by the space alien while hanging over the ledge of an air shaft. 

Probably not as funny as it could have been, Dark Star is short and kind of wears out its welcome but is entertaining enough.

83 minutes.