User reviews

Okay, I've seen worse. Much worse. First of all, this movie is not full of bad CG. It's full of bad model special effects. Second, with the exception of Michael York the acting is meh (I've seen equivalent talent on Babylon 5 and that show is still amazing). Third, at its heart there is a good story, unfortunately clouded by cheezey lines and an even cheezier hero.

However...

With better dialogue, better actors, and better special effects this movie could be something special. All it needs is a remake by someone who understands how to make a suspense film.

I'm a sucker for space movies, but even before this one started, I knew it would be a bomb because the "Coming Attractions" on this rented video were themselves so awful. I saw this film in a weekend-long adventure in masochism that included "Ghosts of Mars," "In the Dead of Space" and "Trancers."

"Dark Planet" is appropriately named: Everything in this film is dark, presumably to save money on sets. Or maybe in the 26th century, people have sharper vision. Or maybe they're trying to save power, like the Albertson's supermarket near my house that has a big sign on the door saying they have turned down the lights to save electricity. Any crew member of the starship Scylla better have night-vision goggles, otherwise they will be stubbing their toes in the subfusc gloom.

The special effects for this 1996 film were not just dumbfoundingly amateurish, they were so cartoonish they reminded me of Terry Gilliam's animation style. Alas, Gilliam was not around to give the effects sequences a Pythonesque breath of fresh air. It wouldn't have fit the film but anything would have been an improvement. Add to that the inexplicable plot and you have all the ingredients for a real stinker. Every once in a while the script almost but not quite rises to an engaging level, but then sinks into banal absurdity again.

The cast is a mix of well-knowns, lesser-knowns and unknowns. You wonder how the bigger names got suckered into this turkey: Were they hard up for dough? Did they have nothing else to do that weekend? Watch Oxford graduate and Shakespearean actor Michael York in this and one thinks, 'Oh, how the mighty have fallen!' Harley Jane Kozak radiates beauty and intelligence even in this dog of a movie; a look at her disappointing filmography suggests that she has not been well used in Hollywood. Maybe the nickname Harley (apparently from the motorcycle) fools some people into thinking she's a guy or maybe they think she's a Hell's Angel chick. Paul Mercurio seems to speak American most of the time---or else someone else is dubbing his lines---and then every now and then his native Australian slips through. I guess the filmmakers were too sloppy, too cheap or too lazy to re-loop those lines.

In conclusion: If you have a yen for a really bad movie some weekend, skip this one and rent something truly memorable, such as 'Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.'

Where is the crew of the Satellite of Love when you need them!!! Only MST3K could help this out! The ship is dark, the costumes are dark, the lighting is dark, and some of the effects budget must have been used up before they started. Skip it.

I'm only writing this as a warning - save your time and your money this is a really terrible film. I will watch almost any sci-fi but this was torture to sit through until the end! I had to wait a week before writing this wee comment as before now it I am not sure I could have remained rational thinking about the rubbish I paid to see(only on video but it still hurts!)

If you're expecting a good movie, spend your money elsewhere. The animation in this movie is, without exaggeration, the worst I've ever seen anywhere. The premise is interesting, but the plot is basically that of just another action movie with some sci-fi elements mixed in. The highlight of Dark Planet is actually in the scene where the commander is looking through the soldiers' dossiers. I got a few good laughs when I paused the tape and read them for myself. Overall, it can be entertaining if you overlook the ghastly effects and the weak plot.

This one felt like they tried to make a STAR WARS-style outer space adventure on the tiniest of budgets. Thus the entire running time is made up of actors' faces shot in close-up in a darkened room. Michael York and Ed O'Ross are the old-timers propping up the cast and York gets undue prominence here. The plot is negligable, the script awful, the FX and action non-existent, so you have to have a high tolerance to even sit through this one.

Add together no script, no plot, no acting, no make-up and 8th grade TV class special effects and soon you have a Sci-Fi sleeping pill that would knock out Darth Vader. Set in the human geno future, Dark Planet concerns the quest of two human genes species attempting to claim the last piece of unpolluted solar Real Estate. For some unknown reason the script says the two warring side must accomplish this task together with one side furnishing the ship and the other a Captain. Throw in a double cross, some hidden soldiers, a couple of shoot-em-ups and you'll be asleep in no time. This movie comes complete with a James Mason look-a-like Captain, advanced humans with skin problems, left over Storm Troopers from Stars Wars and lots of pancake makeup. I couldn't decide what was worse the acting, make-up or special effects.

Two thumbs down on this one.

Sorry but this is the worst movie ever made, even worse then Battlefield Earth! My friend bet me 20 dollars I couldn't sit through 30 mins of it and he won! I gladly paid him to shut it off. Looks like they filmed it in a walk in closet. Effects are terrible and the acting is even worse!

Dark Planet is a post apocalyptic morality play, centered around the thesis, "robots don't make good humans". If you enjoyed Firefly and Serenity as much as I did, there is a good chance you will enjoy Dark Planet. I never heard of a theater release. I discovered it on the shelf of a video rental store. I watch it as often as I watch my other favorites: Blade Runner, Highlander, Serenity, Predator, Excalibur, Soldier and Chronicles of Riddick.

If you are a fan of these films, it is hard for me to imagine you not liking Dark Planet.

I think Dark Planet is a really great film. In fact, I wonder if it could be successfully presented on stage. The small cast makes it well suited to such a venue. I read some of these reviews and I wonder what film they were watching.

Yes, it is the year 2638; this is the year of the cleansing war; different factions of people such as Alphas (genetically engineered), and the Rebels (natural born) with a few other factions are tossed in.

Suddenly the head ruthless Alpha, Capt. Winter (Michael York), is forced to cooperate with an equally determined and suspicious Rebel, Col. Liz Brendan (Harley Jane Kozak) on a mysterious mission through a wormhole to a mysterious Dark Planet. The only person to get us there is a renegade (Blake Boyd) that neither side likes or trusts.

As we are treated to treachery and tragedy, we want to know why?

This film has that good and bad independent film feel.

The saddest part of this "movie" (if you can even call it that) is seeing the great talents of Michael York being completely wasted in this piece of trash. The special effects are mediocre dime-store at best, and the plot of 2 sides at war on earth teaming up for something never defined until the end is plodding and dull. The video shop should have paid ME to see this......

This movie was a waste of Michael Yorks talent. I gave the movie 2 stars out of support for the graphics and action sequences. Many points in the movie were nonsensical and pointless at best! I have no idea how York was tricked into signing on for this movie, but he should have refused.

Part of the joy that is Netflix, of course, is the ability to sit through a marathon of a show you missed out on previously. I did that over the last few days with "Earth 2", which I did enjoy a bit. Then, there are movies that should have never been funded, let alone even conceived beyond the initial drunken stupor in which a writer had a "vision". Sometimes, a flick is so bad, you just have to see how much worse it will get before all is lost.

I'm currently watching "Dark Planet", which I expected to be at least a little better based on the description and the presence of Michael York. This movie is the cinematic equivalent of a flaming bag of excrement on a sticky July afternoon in Southern Texas, with no cooling breeze and an Archer Daniels Midland plant spewing forth toxic odors next door.

It also stinks.

The plot was muddling, the special effects were amateurish in several places, and the dialogue was not well written. The story was an interesting idea that should have remained just that if the budget and talent to make it come to fruition were not going to be provided in ample supply.

As I'm doing a little work right now, it makes for okay background noise as I toil away. I do suspect I may have already lost a few brain cells. Perhaps I should throw in an Austin Powers movie next, so that Mr. York at least can redeem himself.

There is a person who rated this a 9 and then said they wondered what movie everyone else was watching. I wonder what movie he was watching! This movie is so bad, they sit in a "ship" that is clearly a movie set. The budget on this movie seemed like it was $1000. Horrible story plot, horrible acting, horrible action, horrible ending. I just let it play for an unknown reason. They actually reuse footage in the movie to save on money if that tells you anything. The few scenes on Earth are even worse, it is a repeating loop of a land view, I think, I say think because it is so bad I honestly could not tell if it was land, sea, or air. Horrible coloring, just all around bad movie. If I had scene this in theaters, I would have demanded a refund.

I was fooled by thinking that Michael York's impressive pedigree (Logan's Run, etc.) might make this movie worth watching. Boy, was I wrong! This movie sets a new standard for sci-fi stinkers! In fact, the only reason I sat through all of it was the hope that it might get better at some point. No such luck. I'm keep it brief by saying there is absolutely nothing to like about this film. The plot was weak, the dialog pretentious, and the special effects amateurish. The only good that came out of this particular viewing experience was that in the future I will be sure to read the reviews of a movie prior to being suckered into purchasing it.

So many close-ups! I recognise a few actors in this, not all by name (apart from Michael York). Lots of dark, small sets, correction: I suspect it's just one set, redressed multiple times. The sets reminded me of my school drama studio I attended as a teen in the mid/late 80s.

The VFX are wonderfully abysmal. I suspect most of the budget was for Mr York's fee, and the rest well, what you see is what you get.

Having said all this, I did manage to make it all the way through. But then again, I'm a middle-aged bachelor with plenty of spare time on my hands. Having said that, I won't be watching it a second time.

From the first shot you can easily see were this one is going, to a dark hole were nobody will find this flick. The first shot you will see is really bad CGI. And there is a lot of it in this flick. Explosions look funny and really bad added. It reminded me of those old science-fiction series from the eighties (Space 1999, battlestar Galactica,...)It's just an action film made in space. Why it is in space is for me unknown. You could easily made it in the mafia world or in a OO7 style. The only action is just shooting, a bit of fighting and the so-called explosions. It's made in 1997 but it looks like 1981. Avoid if you aren't in old school science-fiction otherwise this is one to add in your collection for all bad reasons.

This has to be one of the most over dramatic movies I've seen in quite some time. It is over dramatic to the point of being hysterically comical.

People overacting seriously, running around frantically, attacking, or defending something, getting dramatically in and out of spacesuits, entering and exiting spaceships......dramatically, saying serious stuff, making serious decisions that could have dramatic consequences with ominous orchestral music playing in the background.

Why all the drama? I honestly have no idea. All I could tell is that it was something really, really serious. The life or death type or end of the world type serious.

Michael York of Austin Powers 'Basil Exposition' fame plays one of the most serious characters out of the whole lot. Maybe even one of the most serious characters in the history of cinema. He's obviously in charge of a very important mission, with a crucial objective and is deadly serious about his duty, but what it is that he was trying to acheive throughout this movie completely mystifies me.

But trust me. Whatever it was, it was serious.

The weird thing though is that I actually enjoyed this movie and I have absolutely no idea why because it is a pretty bad movie and the IMDb rating given is fully justified. My score just reflects the fact that I am a massive fan of good 'bad' movies, and 'Dark Planet' is a superbly enjoyable awful movie.

Even as the credits started rolling at the end and the dramatic music started playing out, I knew without a doubt that something really serious had just played out in front of me,

Really serious.

This movie rocks!! I loved the part where the one lady said "Have you ever sat on the damp Earth and listened to the plants grow? Have you ever made love under the stars and howled at the moon?". That really buttered my bread roll.