Ancient Geeks episode 78: John Carpenter's Dark Star

We wrap up our series in which we look at the first movies of directors who later made the classics of geek cinema. In this episode, we discuss John Carpenter's student film, later expanded for theatrical release, Dark Star. It's a low budget science fiction dark comedy in which a burned-out crew flies from planet to planet, destroying any that they deem "unstable." Of course, nothing's more unstable than these space cadets.

Carpenter made Dark Star as the anti-2001, anti-Star Trek. It's also the first effort of a director who wanted to make great B-movies.

But it's more than John Carpenter this episode! Dark Star was a collaboration between him and Dan O'Bannon, who later wrote the script for Alien, as well as other familiar geek films.

How much of John Carpenter's directorial style can you see in this movie that also guided the production of The Thing, Big Trouble in Little China, They Live, and other films? What did we think of the movie, then and now?

Finally, we wrap up this mini-series comparing the three first films of Lucas, Spielberg, and Carpenter.

Talking bombs! Beach balls! Phenomenology! Muffin trays! Slapstick humor! Mental decay! It's all here.

Ancient Geeks is a podcast about two geeks of a certain age re-visiting their youth. We were there when things like science fiction, fantasy, Tolkien, Star Trek, Star Wars, D&D, Marvel and DC comics, Doctor Who, and many, many other threads of modern geek culture were still on the fringes of popular culture. We were geeks before it was chic!

For feedback, contact someancientgeeks@gmail.com. You can also find us on Facebook, Reddit, and Bluesky. Also, check out the Ancient Geeks blog on Substack! And if you like what you hear, please tell a friend. Also, we always appreciate a review on the podcast platform of your choice.

© 2026 Tom Grant and Steven Taylor