One of the greatest SCIENCE FICTION films of all time now online!

Google adsense doesn’t seem to be understanding the ‘content’ of this blog (yet), so I’m going to have to help it out a bit by sticking ’science fiction’ into the post title on every post for the next few days.

That doesn’t mean that the title is just there for adsense.? Thanks to SFSignal (once again) we learn that AMC TV – in addition to hosting Scalzi’s Thursday look at genre film – is now hosting a B-movie blog and a bunch of B flicks that you can watch right on their site.

The gem amongst the ‘B’ull films is John Carpenter and Dan O’Bannon’s DARK STAR.

Yes, the effects are a bit cheesy – but the story isn’t.? There’s not a better send-up of the genre to be found anywhere or in anytime.? Heck, they even anticipated the singularity with this one.

For those not familiar:? the Dark Star is an interstellar ship on an extended mission (far too extended) to make the galaxy safe for colonization by human beings.? This is accomplished by destroying any planet that looks like it might someday harbor life.? Bureaucracy in action.

The crew’s captain has died (electrocuted by his operations chair) and an alien that resembles nothing so much as a beach ball is running amok on the ship.? That the alien is probably smarter than all four crewmen combined does not help matters.

And then there’s Bomb #20.? Bomb #20 is accidentally activated by an electron-meteor storm (told you it was a send-up) and its limited artificial intelligence has it arguing with the ship’s computer over when and where it ought to detonate itself.

The resolution of this problem is one of the most hilarious moments in all of science fiction filmdom.

Alan Dean Foster did the movie tie-in novel a bunch of years ago and, if I remember correctly, he did a bang up job of translating all of the angst-ridden humor inherent in the film.

Dark Star will be up on the Classic Science Fiction Theater shortly.? Meanwhile, you can visit AMC TV and watch it THERE.? (And while you’re there, if you’re looking for some ‘cheese’, check out the Neptune Men movie – oy vey!)