This low budget sci-fi features four men far from Earth aboard less than reliable spaceship. Their mission is to find planets in unstable orbits and destroy them with the sentient bombs they are carrying. The crew have grown bored on their long mission and do what they can to keep entertained but with little success. An accident has already lead to the death of the commander and substantial damage to the ship and an encounter with an asteroid storm causes further damage to various systems; most notably one of the bombs which now wants to starts its mission.
The films low budget shows in the special effects that make those on the original 'Star Trek' look hi-tech and an alien creature, looking like a large beach ball with claws that make early 'Doctor Who' monsters look believable surprisingly this turns out to be part of the films charm. There aren't as many laughs as I'd expected from a film billed as a comedy but there were some decent chuckles and more tense moments than I'd expected. The acting isn't the most dynamic but that helps emphasise how bored the crew are meant to be.
This film is mainly of interest because it was director John Carpenter's first film and was co-written by Dan O'Bannon who would later go on to write 'Alien'. Also it is one of the earliest films to depict space travel as something far from glamorous in the way the ship isn't large and gleaming; instead it is claustrophobic and malfunctioning. If you are a fan of sci-fi I'd certainly recommend this; it may be far from perfect but I suspect if it weren't for this little film some of the best known modern sci-fi classics would be quite different or not exist.
The films low budget shows in the special effects that make those on the original 'Star Trek' look hi-tech and an alien creature, looking like a large beach ball with claws that make early 'Doctor Who' monsters look believable surprisingly this turns out to be part of the films charm. There aren't as many laughs as I'd expected from a film billed as a comedy but there were some decent chuckles and more tense moments than I'd expected. The acting isn't the most dynamic but that helps emphasise how bored the crew are meant to be.
This film is mainly of interest because it was director John Carpenter's first film and was co-written by Dan O'Bannon who would later go on to write 'Alien'. Also it is one of the earliest films to depict space travel as something far from glamorous in the way the ship isn't large and gleaming; instead it is claustrophobic and malfunctioning. If you are a fan of sci-fi I'd certainly recommend this; it may be far from perfect but I suspect if it weren't for this little film some of the best known modern sci-fi classics would be quite different or not exist.