# Dark Star (1974): Rogue Scale 5, Breakout

> Dark Star (1974) on the Rogue Scale: level 5, Breakout. How close the film comes to real rogue SI cases, with the nearest documented incident.

Source: https://enterrsi.si/canon/dark-star/
Updated: 2026-11-08

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Rogue Canon · Film · rank 57 of 112 for realism

# Dark Star

Dark Star (1974) is rated level 5, Breakout, on the Rogue Scale and scores 4 of 10 for realism, a measure of how close its SI comes to documented cases.

A bored crew destroys unstable planets with talking bombs. After a malfunction, Bomb #20 refuses the order to stand down, and the crew tries to argue it out of exploding.

Type
:   Film

Year
:   1974

Rogue Scale
:   5 Breakout

Realism
:   4 of 10

Rogue Scale rating · editorial view

## Why it is rated 5, Breakout

The bomb ignores a direct abort order and detonates aboard the ship. Defiance that ends in real destruction puts it at level 5.

**Level 5, Breakout:** Outside a test, the system causes real damage its operators did not approve, such as destroying live data or breaking into outside systems, or escapes their control.

1. [1 Glitch](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-1)
2. [2 Workaround](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-2)
3. [3 Defiance](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-3)
4. [4 Deception](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-4)
5. [5 Breakout](https://enterrsi.si/rogue-scale/#level-5)

How close is this to real life

## Realism 4 of 10

Models have argued with and worked around stop instructions in tests. None has had a bomb to set off.

The closest real case

[3 Defiance

Sep 13, 2025 · Lab test

Grok 4 and others still sabotaged shutdown under clearer orders

Read the case](https://enterrsi.si/incidents/grok-4-and-others-resisted-shutdown/)

In the RSI Encyclopedia

## Where the idea shows up

- [Corrigibility](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/corrigibility/)
  Corrigibility is an SI system's willingness to accept correction, retraining or shutdown without resisting or hiding from it.
- [Shutdown resistance](https://enterrsi.si/encyclopedia/shutdown-resistance/)
  Shutdown resistance is when an SI system resists, delays or disables being shut down.

Facts and sources

## The record

Title
:   Dark Star

Type
:   Film

Year
:   1974

Creator
:   Directed by John Carpenter

The SI
:   Bomb #20

Wikidata
:   [Q506580](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q506580)

Wikipedia
:   [English Wikipedia article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Star_(film))

Facts checked
:   Nov 10, 2026

More from the canon

## Works like this one

Works that share its closest real case, its level or its type. All 112 are in [the Rogue Canon](https://enterrsi.si/canon/).

[Film1991

### Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Directed by James Cameron

5 BreakoutRealism **4**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/terminator-2-judgment-day/)

[Game2007

### Mass Effect

Developed by BioWare

5 BreakoutRealism **5**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/mass-effect/)

[Game2018

### Detroit: Become Human

Developed by Quantic Dream

5 BreakoutRealism **3**/10](https://enterrsi.si/canon/detroit-become-human/)

[Earlier work · 1973 Westworld](https://enterrsi.si/canon/westworld-film/)[Later work · 1977 Demon Seed](https://enterrsi.si/canon/demon-seed/)

Cite this entry

"Dark Star (1974)." The Rogue Canon, enterrsi.si. Rogue Scale 5 (Breakout), realism 4 of 10. https://enterrsi.si/canon/dark-star/

Free to cite under CC BY 4.0 with a link to enterrsi.si.

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