Wednesday, April 5, 2023

Darkstar: Terror At The Edge Of Time: The Watch Party


I remember the game being promoted and such, but this is my first time seeing the footage, and how sweet it is to watch with members of the cast - Trace, Frank, MJ, Beez and Josh. 

What we get here is not scripted riffing, more a commentary track... a darn hilarious commentary track that can be teasing, naughty (Josh's masturbation quip, which broke everyone up), self-depreciating ("The camera loves this guy" - Frank on himself), with a couple of running gags (MJ not getting a screen credit, faux TVs-Frank). They share memories and trivia, Beez in particular has good recall for such things.

The movie version presented here is in black and white, and made to look distressed. As the cast point out, the design work is pretty sharp. Though in this form a few roles were cut (Mary Jo as a person, not just a voice, as well as the actress who played Beez's sister. Though both are briefly seen in the extras).

Speaking of which - the purchase of the download also gets you access to bonus features. There's the movie sans commentary, behind the scenes material (which explains the mechanics of the game and includes sequences (in color) not seen in the film), a gag reel, pre-show spots and a post-show Q&A, where the team -with Chris- is joined by creator Jeff Allen Williams. Yes, they give him a hard time about MJs missing credit, but once we get past that, it too provides a lot of stories and much frivolity... though it saddened me to have it confirmed that Trace isn't speaking to Joel.

All told, the watch party was a blast, with content and laughs galore. I highly recommend it.