Dark Space

It's frustrating to watch this film because it had so much potential and with a tiny re-write it could have been really special. In its present form, however, it's a bit tough to love.

A few months ago, I reviewed a low budget sci-fi film that surprised me. While "Starship Rising" had many faults, I was extremely impressed by the look of the movie. Despite having almost nothing to spend to make the film, the special effects looked so very professional. It's too bad that the film wasn't particularly good when it came to what is important--the plot. Well, when I watched "Dark Space" a few days ago, I felt like it was a case of deja vu! Once again, here was a sci-fi film with a minuscule budget yet had exquisite special effects that made the film look very professional. Yet, as in "Starship Rising", the writing left a lot to be desired. If the makers of either film could improve the writing and characters significantly, I would sure to love to see more of their work.

"Dark Space", unfortunately, starts off very, very poorly. My youngest daughter was watching the film with me and she kept remarking how dumb the characters were--and she was right. Believe it or not, although the film is set in the distant future where space travel is commonplace, the characters seem like they were lifted out of an old "Friday the 13th" or "Halloween" movie! I half expected them to land on a planet where they'd find themselves at an abandoned summer camp or roller disco and the characters lacked depth--they were just there to be killed by some unseen menace. Many of the characters (particularly Devin) were irritating and completely ridiculous...and seemed more like clichés than people.

At this point, you might wonder why we continued watching since we hated the characters so much (and we REALLY hated them). Well, we assumed it was just a really, really bad film and we were actually having a good time laughing at the writing and characters since they were so bad. However, through the course of the film something strange happened--we both found we had to finish the movie and we actually were enjoying what we were seeing. However, I wonder how many people would bother sticking with this one.

On the plus side, the outer space scenes are extremely professional and look like something out of Hollywood as are the aliens. Additionally, although the plot is quite simple (sort of like combining Friday 13th with Predator), it works well and gets better as the film progresses. Plus, the explanation as to what is occurring and why is really very creative. The bottom line is that the film has a lot of merits...along with some god-awful characters that seemed more like caricatures than people.

By the way, if you are looking for an ultra low-budget sci-fi film which has a bit more to offer, try "Hunter Prey". Despite a simple plot, the film is rock solid from start to finish and is a great example of what can be done by clever filmmakers even if they are hampered with a micro-budget.

For crying out loud other reviewers, don't take yourselves so seriously! Have you heard of CAMPY, "B" rate. This movie fills the spot and is worth the watch. Not an Oscar nominee, but wasn't trying to be from what I see. Acting was definitely the weakest point, from my perspective, but I was able to laugh at the moments when appropriate and if you pay attention there is actually some full circle, human introspection at the end. This is better than a lot of big budget movies. Yes, low budget, yes, not-so-great acting, but also yes, entertaining. Looks like a first attempt, and I would say, better than I could do on a first attempt.

A bunch of irresponsible and immature --oh yeah-- and "dumb" young men and women make an interplanetary journey from earth to Centari Five for a vacation. As soon as they board ship there is hard-driving rock music, pot-smoking and beer-swilling. If they were doing this in a suped-up SUV on a highway on earth it would be irresponsible. In a space ship traveling from one planet to another? --Well one of them starts to complain about how slow the ship is moving ("My grandmother flies faster than 10X"). They come into agreement and convince the resident nerd/geek to fiddle with the ship's mechanics; specifically the part that regulates speed. Once this is done the speed indeed gets amped up but the ship goes off course and the young drunkards wind up somewhere getting bumped by asteroids. At this point, one of the young women, sitting in some kind of meditation-pose, chimes "The Universe will take care of us". This is the same young woman who did most of the squealing in the movie. Apparently at this point the pot she was smoking was no longer circulating in her brain. Anyway, their oxygen supply is threatened by damage to the ship and they are forced to land on a "earth-like" planet.

After an ungraceful landing, 4 of them go out to explore the planet and see if they can get help while 2 of them stay behind (resident nerd and Miss "universe will take care of us"). The thing that stood out the most, and what really annoyed me, was how naive and even stupid these people were. Realistically, most people would not behave the way they did. What would YOU do reader, and how would you act if you crash-landed on an alien planet far away from what is familiar to you? --Never mind that it looks like earth with air you can breathe. If you are responsible and sensible, you operate with caution. You are wary and alert. Even an animal suddenly thrust into an unfamiliar environment has enough sense to do this. Well, reader, not this group. From the way they behaved you would think that they were just out hiking in one of the nation's national parks. Who knows, maybe that's where they filmed this thing. They even stopped to do some skinny-dipping. I remind you this is an "alien planet" whose lifeforms (except the earth-like vegetation) is yet unknown. What might, for example, live in the water? --Or what natural phenomenon may be in operation under the placid surface that could be life threatening? For that matter, how do they even know that it's water as we know it on earth just because it "looks like it"?

In this movie when anyone thought they heard or saw something they said "Hello?" Are you f!!cking kidding me? Is that what you would say, reader? Personally, I would shut the f!!ck up and be as quiet as I could be. And if there was a place where I could hide, wait, watch and assess I would go there. I would not stand out in the open talking about "Hello?" They did this repeatedly. The resident nerd/geek did it while he was on the ship trying to repair it. He thought he heard something and said "Hello?" You would think this guy was in his home responding to a noise he heard in his backyard. THEN IT WOULD BE APPROPRIATE. You are on an alien planet dumbo. Lifeforms unknown. He even had the door to the ship wide open. Supposedly, until the ship was repaired, it was the only way to get oxygen. In that case why not keep the door open only a crack? This way you could get your air and peek thru if you hear something and be safe. No, folks, this idiot had the door wide open as if he was getting ready to throw a "Everyone is Welcome" party.

Finally, the acting could have been better in some instances but the writing and directing is what screwed this movie as I have described above. The characters were so stupid they didn't even have animal instincts. It was a good idea in general and I can only wonder what a better writer and director would have done with it. No doubt it would have earned this movie at least 2 or maybe even 3 more stars from me. Love, Boloxxxi.

I don't know what I could add to other reviews except to say whatever they paid these "actors" was WAY too much. Two of the girls sounded like they were drunk all the time with a delivery as flat as the floor, which is also exactly the way the ship's computer voice sounded, so one of them obviously did the voice-over. Everything they did throughout the movie was exactly the wrong thing to do, This movie was 90 minutes of my life wasted, and I love bad sci-fi.

reviews should consider that this is a low budget scifi b-movie, so benchmarks have to be set accordingly.

the plot is not groundbreaking, special effects are not very special, characters are not developed and acting is student like.

i've seen almost all relevant sci-fi movies, most of them with far higher budgets, and this one definitely has something special. somehow stupid, somehow brilliant. camera, editing and light are involving the viewer, technically well done. the idea of the film is worth more - with a 130 million "after earth" budget this movie would be a milestone.

anxious in all aspects, "dark space" is a movie which delivers polarizing entertainment. a story, which is well told, with the given resources. for me, a surprise.