Script To Screen: “Dark Star”

A scene from late in the 1974 movie Dark Star, original story by John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon.

IMDb plot summary: In the far reaches of space, a small crew, 20 years into their solitary mission, find things beginning to go hilariously wrong.

In a moment that is an obvious homage to Dave v. HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Doolittle is working some logic with the space ship computer Bomb, seconds left until self-detonation.

EXTERIOR - BOMB BAY DOOLITTLE
Now, bomb, consider this next
question, very carefully. What is
your one purpose in life? BOMB #20
To explode, of course. DOOLITTLE
And you can only do it once, right? BOMB #20
That is correct. DOOLITTLE
And you wouldn't want to explode on
the basis of false data, would you? BOMB #20
Of course not. DOOLITTLE
Well then, you've already admitted
that you have no real proof of the
existence of the outside universe. BOMB #20
Yes, well... DOOLITTLE
So you have no absolute proof that
Sergeant Pinback ordered you to
detonate. BOMB #20
I recall distinctly the detonation
order. My memory is good on matters
like these. DOOLITTLE
Yes, of course you remember it, but
what you are remembering is merely a
series of electrical impulses which
you now realize have no necessary
connection with outside reality. BOMB #20
True, but since this is so, I have
no proof that you are really telling
me all this. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM Pinback is pawing frantically through the control room,
searching for the key. Boiler is apoplectic. BOILER
The key, goddamit, the key! PINBACK
Christ, twenty seconds, Christ! BOILER
Where is the key? PINBACK
We're gonna die, Boiler. We're gonna
die. They begin slapping each other hysterically. EXTERIOR - BOMB BAY DOOLITTLE
That's all beside the point. The
concepts are valid, wherever they
originate. BOMB #20
Hmmm... DOOLITTLE
So if you detonate in... BOMB #20
... nine seconds... DOOLITTLE
... you may be doing so on the basis
of false data. BOMB #20
I have no proof that it was false
data. DOOLITTLE
You have no proof that it was
correct data. There is a long pause. BOMB #20
I must think on this further. THE BOMB RAISES ITSELF BACK INTO THE SHIP. Doolittle
practically collapses with relief. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
It didn't go off. PINBACK
Oh, God... BOILER
It didn't go off. PINBACK
Boiler, we're alive. My heart. INTERIOR - EMERGENCY AIR LOCK Talby slowly climbs to his feet. He is dazed, groggy. TALBY
Doolittle? Doolittle? What happened?
Pinback? Boiler? Did we blow it up?
Hello? Hello? INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
No bombs today. No bombs. Big
Boiler's back in business. No bombs
today. Pinback is mumbling unintelligibly. INTERIOR - EMERGENCY AIR LOCK TALBY
Hello, anybody! Did we blow up the
planet? Hello, hello! What's going
on? INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM Pinback and Boiler have calmed down. BOILER
We've got to disarm the bomb. PINBACK
Doolittle, are you there? EXTERIOR - EMERGENCY AIR LOCK Doolittle is floating outside the Emergency Air Lock door. DOOLITTLE
I'm coming in now. I'm down by the
Emergency Air Lock. Too much trouble
to come in the Ventral Lock. Would
you blow the seal on the emergency
hatch so I can come in? INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM PINBACK
Oh, sure. He presses a button. EXTERIOR - EMERGENCY AIR LOCK The Emergency Air Lock door EXPLODES AWAY FROM THE SHIP.
Behind it, carried by the burst of escaping air, comes Talb
spinning head over heels into deep space. DOOLITTLE
Hello, Pinback, are you there? INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM PINBACK
Yeah, Doolittle. What's up? EXTERIOR - EMERGENCY AIR LOCK DOOLITTLE
Talby was in the air lock. You blew
him out of the ship. I'm going after
him. Turn on his helmet radio so I
can contact him. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
What was that, I didn't hear... PINBACK
It's Talby. He's drifting away from
the ship without his jetpack. EXTERIOR - SPACE Doolittle fires his jetpack, moving off into space after Talby. DOOLITTLE
Talby, Talby, can you read me? INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
Can you beat that? I always knew
Talby was weird. EXTERIOR - SPACE DOOLITTLE
Talby, can you read me? Talby is spinning wildly. TALBY
Help, Doolittle, help me! INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM PINBACK
All right, bomb, prepare to receive
new orders. BOMB #20
(over)
You are false data. PINBACK
Huh? BOMB #20
Therefore, I shall ignore you. PINBACK
Hello, bomb. INTERIOR - BOMB BAY BOMB #20
False data can act only as a
distraction. Therefore. I shall
refuse to perceive you. PINBACK
(over)
Hey, bomb. BOMB #20
The only thing which exists is
myself. PINBACK
(over)
Bomb? EXTERIOR - SPACE Talby, spinning, is reflected in Doolittle's face plate. TALBY
Doolittle! Help me. DOOLITTLE
Calm down, Talby. I'm coming. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM PINBACK
Snap out of it, bomb. INTERIOR - BOMB BAY BOMB #20
In the beginning there was darkness,
and the darkness was without form
and void. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
What the hell? PINBACK
Yoo hoo, bomb... INTERIOR - BOMB BAY BOMB #20
And in addition to the darkness
there was also me. And I moved upon
the face of the darkness. INTERIOR - CONTROL ROOM BOILER
Bomb, hey bomb. PINBACK
Hey, bomb... INTERIOR - BOMB BAY BOMB #20
And I saw that I was alone. Pause. BOMB #20
(cont'd)
Let there be light. THE SCREEN GOES WHITE. EXTERIOR - SPACE IN DEAD SILENCE, THE WHITE SCREEN FADES DOWN TO SHOW A GIANT
WHITE FIREBALL IN SPACE. THE FIREBALL CONTRACTS TO A HARD
CORE, GROWING RED. THEN A BLINDING WHITE FLASH.

Here is the movie version of the scene:

Note how little scene description there is, almost all dialogue. From a plot standpoint, it’s a fun reversal: The use of human logic to stop Bomb, but then Bomb uses the same logic to reach its explosive decision.

Do yourself a favor and watch the clip all the way to the end. Ridiculous, right? Now imagine a theater filled with stoned college students. That’s a big reason why the movie became a cult hit.

By the way, the character Pinback is played by Dan O’Bannon, the co-writer of the script. He would later go on to write another science fiction script you might have heard of: Alien.

One of the single best things you can do to learn the craft of screenwriting is to read the script while watching the movie. After all a screenplay is a blueprint to make a movie and it’s that magic of what happens between printed page and final print that can inform how you approach writing scenes. That is the purpose of Script to Screen, a series on GITS where we analyze a memorable movie scene and the script pages that inspired it.

For more articles in the Script to Screen series, go here.