Rating: 
Summary: 10 Stars! Simply one of the BEST SciFi Movies Ever Made!
Review: OOOhhhh! Fliping through the channels...surfing the cable and ...WOW! What is this? Cool! C57D, a flying saucer with, YES it's Leslie Nielsen as ever-so-serious Captain.Forbidden Planet, was MGM's high-budget, risky venture at making the one of the finest Color Sci-Fi classics in the 50's. Unlike many of the low budget movies of the genre, FP remains to this day a very entertaining and captivating film. I have to say, that it changed my life as a kid, because it gave me the desire to explore more books about Sci-Fi. Now, I am a Software Engineer with thousands of video tapes. Monster movies are my favorites, and speaking of monsters, the one in FP is on the top of my list of BEST MONSTERS (those you really don't want to ever meet in a dark...even a well lit alley). The story: Based on a screenplay by Irving Block and Allen Adler (Fatal Planet), it takes its inspiration from Shakespears's THE TEMPEST. In a nutshell, Spacemen come to rescue a lost group of colonists, only to find that most have died long ago. Only Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) remain. They tell Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen) that 20 years ago, when they first landed, some invisible power killed everyone but Dr.Morbius and his wife (now deceased from natural causes). Soon, we find that the good Doctor has discovered that the KRELL, a once powerful race of aliens, lived below the surface of Altair-4 (where they are) and they created a machine that is 20x20x20 miles square (thats 8000 cubic miles of Klystrons and Relays...and they never stop self repairing themselves!). Well, before you know it, the Monster is back...and people are dying...and well, the big, bad disintigrator beams from the ship's main weapons are NOT stopping it! I must mention that this was the first movie with ROBBY THE ROBOT. ROBBY was based on Asimov's Robots Rules of order, and for the most part was just a big lovable teady-bear. He could never hurt anyone, but watch how Morbius proves this by having Robby point a "BLASTER" at the Commander! The way Nielsen clinches his fists was so telling!. The sets were beautiful, the saucer flys perfectly (notice the shadows and the dust when it lands). So much here that you simply must watch very closely to the detail, it really is worth it. Speaking of detail, the Monster was pretty easy...because it was MOSTLY invisible. Joshua Meador (on loan from Disney Studios) made the animation of the monster. It is Crude by comparison to the new Computer Generated Animation (CGA), but for its time it was AWESOME! The monster, by the way, is powered by 2700 thermo-nuclear reactors, and can recreate itself, microsecond after microsecond! NO! IT CANNOT BE DESTROYED! (You thought ALIENS were tough! HAH!) Well, there is a little love story going on with the Commander and Altaira, and Daddy doesn't like it. Go Figure! Anyway, I won't give it all away, just GET IT AND ENJOY! ... END --This text refers to the VHS Tape edition
Rating: 
Summary: "Civilization without any instrumentalities?"
Review: There are a handful of 1950's sci-fi movies that have a big reputation - "When Worlds Collide", "The Thing From Another World", "Forbidden Planet", and "The Day the Earth Stood Still". Unfortunately, only "The Day The Earth Stood Still" really stands up. This movie has big concepts, and none of them work anymore, if they ever did. Part thriller, part drama, part mad-scientist melodrama. There are just too many things going on, and all of them "supposedly" explained in long-winded speeches that answer nothing. "Forbidden Planet" starts off looking much like Star Trek TOS, including the transporter. In reality, ST:TOS creator Gene Roddenberry admits this movie formed part of the basis for Star Trek. In a nutshell, a United Planets space cruiser captained by Leslie Nielsen lands on Altair, against the wishes of its inhabitant, Dr. Morbius, a remnant from a previous expedition. He and his 25 year old daughter (Anne Francis) are the only humans on the planet. There is also a robot called "Robbie" that goes on to stardom in the "Lost in Space" series. The doctor reluctantly shows the others his discovery about an ancient extinct race called the Krell. The "big" ending is too weird and funny to be described. The entire robot aspect and the tasks he performs is just silly (in the "Lost In Space" vein). Earl Holliman's character of "Cookie" was put in for comedic effect - unfortunately most has to do with his dealings with the robot - including getting the robot to make bourbon - which only adds to the silliness. The actors are quite serious and for the most part are OK. Leslie Nielsen plays it straight. Anne Francis is entertaining as the daughter. Though initially somewhat innocent and ignorant of sex, she does work her charms on the crew. As might be guessed, the captain ends up with her. The sets are incredibly hokey. The all-electronic score does not help. Ambitious, atrociously fake special effects. Possibly the stupidest sci-fi movie ever. Don't get me wrong - this is a well-made and well-intentioned movie, but as with "When Worlds Collide" and "The Thing...", it is recommended only for a laugh.
Rating:
Summary: Great Sci-Fi
Review: Like all good film science fiction, "Forbidden Planet" keeps its concepts simple but their ramifications grand, which is just one of the reasons it is a timeless classic. Made at a time when sci-fi was the junk that kept restless kids in theater seats on Saturday afternoons, this ambitious take on Shakespeare's "The Tempest" nonetheless also aims for adults that grew up on the pulp fiction of the 1920s and 30s. (Its delightful production design is a seamless mix of colors, forms, and shapes familiar from those imaginative magazine covers.) The premise is Star Trek a decade before Star Trek, as a military cruiser commanded by the hard-nosed but humane J.J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen doing an effective melodramatic turn) visits a world populated by a secretive scholar (a wonderful Walter Pidgeon), his curious daughter (a sometimes grating Ann Francis), their robot butler (the epitome of mechanical men) and a mostly unseen terror (illustrated by topnotch Disney animators). Beyond great special effects and an innovative musical score, the film also engages a firm--if now familiar--science fiction plot, unlike so many of the noisy and expensive but ultimately overwrought and empty-headed sci-fi movies of today.
Rating:
Summary: Sci-fi's Greatest Adventure....
Review: Working with SFX artists from Walt Disney,Director Fred Wilcox in 1956 presented the still peerless sci-fi quest-adventure,FORBIDDEN PLANET.Matinee Idol,Leslie Nielson(Walt Disney's: Francis Marion,THE SWAMP FOX),set the Star Trek standards of stalwart Space Commanders in his role as J.J.Adams of United Planets Cruiser C-57-D,(original starship,Enterprise). The ensemble crew...often imitated,never surpassed...includes ROBBY the Robot[ linguistic polymath;super weapon;space-age houskeeper;seamstress;distillery;flying saucer pilot and ELECTRONIC CONSCIENCE incarnating once-famous Laws of Robotics posited by Isaac Asimov] assumes mythical stature with Wallace Stevens playing Dr. Ostrow (orignal BONES)and Jack "Maverick" Kelly,essaying First Officer and space wolf-playboy,Jerry Farman. Anne Francis plays,Altaira,The Forbidden Planet's charmingly seductive,yet archetypically innocent,EVE.
The story of FORBIDDEN PLANET is legendary and justifiably renowned. The novel by W.J.Stuart has been transformed into a literate,suspenseful, and surprisingly thought-provoking script. At core of the plot is the mystery of the long-extinct super race, THE KRELL and a terryfyingly murderous planetary force finally revealed as perhaps the greatest,most fearsome monster ever conceived.
Principal acting kudos go to WALTER PIDGEON as enigmatic Dr. MORBIUS: father to Altaira and last survivor of the destroyed, explorer-expeditionary space vessel,BELLEROPHON. Morbius is a genius whose knowledge and ego are truly Megalo. He is a super science adept and disciple of The Krell. The nature of his knowledge; The Krell's knowledge,and that of KNOWLEDGE and POWER itself,are the themes which drive FORBIDDEN PLANET to its startling,unparallelled climax. Electronic tonalities which comprise this film's score are stunning. Matt work...particularly The Krell's sub-surface laboratories, and massive,Grand Canyon-
sized power source...is wonderous to behold even today. Unique, holographic sequences are unostentatiously brilliant. The Cinemascope and Eastman color photography are technically breathtaking.[The"landing"of UP Cruiser C-57-D on Altair 4 is classic in its own right.]
In the end,it is the fantastic story--a genuine fable--that makes FORBIDDEN PLANET,perhaps,science-fiction cinema's greatest film. It's adventure in which Mankind literally confronts its own limits in wonder and terror. FORBIDDEN PLANET is placed on virtually every Top 10 list of every sci-fi film made, and sci-fi/fantasy film festival promoted. Like many viewers,despite the fact this movie is 50 years old,I believe this Space Age parable of Power is not merely of first rank,but NUMBER ONE. (10 Stars)
Rating:
Summary: thrills and excites you from beginning to end
Review: this will be a classic 100 years from now
I love it more and more every time I watch it
it has such a great space age vibe to it
very powerful
see this movie
truly a classic
even if it is 30 or 40 years old it shall stay a classic
Rating:
Summary: AMAZINGLY GOOD 1956-SCI FI
Review: I was speechless when I saw this last night! The production values were lightyears ahead anything else at the time... Every sci fi film is like a blueprint of this MGM film from 1956. Yes, it`s like a pilot for all subsequent sci fi films ..... Sorry, dear reader... my feelings are over the top now hehehe.... But in addition we have a good script AND good actors; I mean - Walter Pidgeon of Mrs. Miniver fame and a hero that is not really heroic(Leslie Nielsen)...????
A MASTERPIECE
Rating:
Summary: not just another sci-fi movie
Review: My favorite sci-fi movie period is the 1950's and this movie is at the top my list. In fact the first dvd I bought was this movie. I have seen it 20-25 times over my life and still it rocks. Considering it came out in 1956 the special effects are top notch and with an excellant plot this movie is defintely a sci-fi classic. Sure it has a few weak spots but seeing that invisible id monster suddenly appearing in the force field and grabbing crewman like ragdolls is the real highlight of the movie. Sometimes I wonder why they didn't make a sequel, backtracking when the original expedition first landed on the planet and what developed into an ultimate survivor match. "Monsters John...monsters from the id!".
Rating:
Summary: classic high concept scifi
Review: This is one of those wonderful works of science fiction: it both stretches the imagination and reflects the time in which it was made. The plot revolves around a rescue mission, to a colony that has been silent for 20 years. Upon arrival, the crew discover a series of mysteries: while nearly the entire original crew was mysteriously murdered, a single man (Morbius) was miraculously immune, as was his daughter. The survivors are served by a fantastic robot, Robby, one the original scifi creations that I remember as a child, who is far beyond the science of man to create. Then there is the hidden menace, which slowly reveals itself as a being that seems to defy the laws of physics.
Morbius, of course, is the key to these mysteries, but he is stubborn and convinced of his moral rectitiude as he chooses himself as the guardian of an ancient extraterrestrial culture. A fateful battle of wills follows with the captain, for whom Morbius' daughter has fallen. The solution to all the mysteries come together in a wonderfully unforeseen conclusion, which surprises as well as reflects the then-popular Freudian psychanalysis of the time. It is simply brilliant, both in its themes and its technical execution. This story will live in my imagination for my entire life. It is still worth seeing.
Warmest recommendation.
Rating: 
Summary: Forbidden Planet
Review: I ordered the movie Forbidden Planet (NEW) through Amazon.com, when I received the DVD the disk inside was not the DVD I ordered, isted, the titled DVD that was in the factory sealed Forbidden Planet pakage, was "THREE TO TANGO", I cannot find a proceedure or a method to resolve this situation on the amazon.com web site. I am out $14.99, and I still do not have a copy of Forbidden Planet. My sudgestion, is do not buy this DVD online anywhere, but rather, buy it from a local store, where you can take it back, if you are unlucky enough to get stuck like I did.
Rating:
Summary: Buyer Beware
Review: I ordered this classic only to find that the movie enclosed was not what I ordered. The box ( sleeve ) was correct and sealed, but inside was some romantic comedy I never heard of. I will be returning this. The one star was for the correct packaging.
LOL
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