Logan's Run

Rating:
Summary: Big budget sci-fi made its triumphant debut here
Review: Along with the 70's cultural phenomenon 'Star Wars' and the later monumental 'Close Encounters Of The Third Kind', 'Logan's Run' injected enduring respectability into the science fiction genre helping give way to the studios willingness to produce big budget sci-fi. Though there had been earlier successful financial ventures into the field of science fiction ('Planet Of The Apes', 'Westworld', etc.) the release of these three would push the genre over-the-top and open the door for all the mega-buck blockbusters that have followed.

Distinguished by dazzling special effects for it's time, 'Logan's Run' continues to gather a strong cult following even within the core of today's sophisticated film fans. The combination of intelligent storytelling, a superb synthesized music score interpolated with some orchestral arrangements and both inspired set and scenic design prove too irresistible for nearly everyone. But perhaps what provides the movie it's biggest reason for longevity is the exemplary cast; featuring Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Richard Jordan in the three primary leads, their terrific performances propel this cinematic treat. Besides the star trio 'Logan's Run' also has memorable portrayals by Peter Ustinov as the "Old Man" and Roscoe Lee Browne as "Box" a robot sentry that York and Agutter encounter during their attempt to find the secret paradise of Sanctuary. The two veteran film actors steal every scene they're in; Browne is actually inside the robot mechanism making all those movements we see - and his resonating voice imbues the odd-looking sentry with a foreboding sense of evil. Ustinov reportedly adlibbed much of his own dialogue at the insistence of the film's director Michael Anderson. The "Old Man" will be etched into your mind forever once you see this remarkable performance. 70's pop culture sensation Farrah Fawcett appears briefly in the pivotal role of Holly, just prior to the launching of the television series "Charlie's Angels".

Since it's release in 1976 'Logan's Run' has been superceded by many science fiction and fantasy films of superior quality, aided immensely by the many technological advances in computer generated animation and all areas of special effects. Personally I find that only a few them achieve the same inestimable factor of entertainment that this film does. Also, like me the film's many ardent fans, most of whom have fond sentimental memories of this film, do not forget it's importance to this genre or fail to recognize it's influence upon several movies that have followed in it's wake.

Rating:
Summary: The one for the island
Review: I have mentioned to people that this is one of my favorite movies of all time. They stare at me. But they have not even seen it!! This movie is worth the watch. IT is dated, the effects are obvious, but that is half the fun. You can see the strings holding people in the air as they float to be renewed, only to burst into a sparkler, great fun. This sort of entertainment combined with great acting, great story, and fast pace (you are simply never bored) how could you go wrong. Even some weird scenes including some tripped out "love room" if you get my drift. I must add that it is about people not living past 30 years old, so a lot of beautiful people to look at, alot of extra's in this film, a young farrah faucet (is that how you spell her name?) Plus it dosn't seem that they have bra's in the future! As I said, you can't lose with this movie. This was the movie I offered up as my choice to take to a deserted island, it might not be for you, but with that sort of endorsment, it is worth the look.

Rating:
Summary: Solid sf adventure less than the sum of its parts
Review: Logan's Run started off with a pretty amazing concept--(courtesy of science fiction writers William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson)what if our youth obsessed society put everyone over the age of 30 (21 in the novel)to death as a means of population control? This film version of a classic cautionary tale is intermittantly successful. David Zelag Goodman's screenplay condenses and changes around several key characters. Goodman's script essentially refocuses the novel into The Fugitive in the future. In the original novel Francis (played brilliantly by the late Richard Jordan)and the Old Man character (played as befuddled by Peter Ustinov) were one and the same. You'll need to read the novel to see why this was an important altered plot point.

Additionally, Sanctuary did exist in the novel while here it's clear that it's something of an urban myth. While these plot points might not seem essential, altering them radically reshaped the film. Still, it's clear that the film's director, producer and screenwriter (respectively, Michael Anderson the late Saul David and Goodman)wanted to streamline what could have been a confusing plot if not layed out correctly.

The basic plot--In the future our society is enclosed in domes. As a means to control the population, everyone has a life clock crystal on their hand. When you reach 30 you have the option to become "renewed" in a ceremony attended by the citizens. Logan (Michael York) and Francis (Richard Jordan) are Sandmen who hunt, capture/or kill runners (people who choose to not go through renewal and try to escape).

After one incident, Logan is debriefed by the computer that runs the city. The runner wore a symbol representing life. During this debriefing he is send undercover to become a "runner" and find out 1)Who is behind the network that tries to get people out of the city and 2) If sanctuary exists. Logan's life clock is prematurely aged to 30. He contacts a girl who he had met before on the circuit (a system where people can "dial up" others for casual sex)who he had seen wearing the same symbol. Despite her better judgement, she elects to help him escape.

Francis, alarmed that his friend is running, elects to chase him and either bring him back for renewal or kill him.

The film is quite good despite some gaping plot holes. Michael York gives a impassioned performance as Logan 5. Jenny Agutter is enchanting as Jessica. Richard Jordan shines as Logan's former partner Francis who feels betrayed and hunts Logan down. Roscoe Lee Brown is exceptional in his cameo as the demented cyborg Box. Michael Anderson, Jnr. gives a nice cameo performance as the surgeon hired to alter Logan's appearence. Made for $6 million, Logan's Run looked quite good when it was released in 1976. The symbolism of having Francis and Logan fight in the House of Representatives with an American flag was quite evident given the year of release (1976).
In many respects the themes in the film are more timely than ever. The obsession with youth, looking good and plastic surgery have come to define our culture in the 21st Century. The only thing missing from the film are botox injections.

Jerry Goldsmith's brilliant score is a highlight of the film. Like his score for Planet of the Apes, Goldsmith chose to go with a mix of sythesizers and orchestra to portray the city of the future. He eschews cliches in his music and the various themes and cues are at turns suspenseful and witty. The optical effects are pretty good given the time. The matte paintings by Albert Whitlock are outstanding and fairly convincing. The miniatures are a mixed bag. They didn't look completely convincing in 1976 nor do they today. Part of the problem has to do with the fact that waters don't fare well when placed in miniatures. You can't miniaturize the bubbles and water drops. Also, the use of the miniatures in combination with live action is quite grainy due to the film stock and amount of composites. Still, if you can suspend your disbelief, you'll enjoy the film despite its limitations.

Logan's Run attempted to tell an adult cautionary tale in a world of light weight escapist movies. It's a commendable film and the film makers frequently bite off more than they can chew. I'd rather have a film that's too ambitious than not at all.

Still, I appreciate the ambitions if not the execution. It's nice to finally have this fine if flawed movie on DVD. The transfer is quite good although the print has a number of flaws. There's also quite a bit of dirt evident on the print. These probably could have been cleared up with a direct digital transfer. Additionally, the 5.1 soundtrack occasionally sounds "tinny" and when played in the stereo format can be quite difficult to hear.

The extras are limited but nice. The commentary by director Michael Anderson and Michael York is quite good and informative. A pity the terrific actor Richard Jordan isn't around any longer to give us his perspective. I would have liked to see a fresh retrospective documentary on the making of the film. It's not likely to happen, though as no one is going to champion this film at the expensive of other newer projects (particulary since producer Saul David is gone). The featurette included is the original one made to promote the film. It's actually pretty decent given the age and purpose of it. The trailer is included as well. The disc is a dual sided single layer DVD with the widescreen and pan & scan versions on the same disc.

Rating:
Summary: Don't Make the Mistake of Comparing the Film to the Novel
Review: Anyone who compares this movie to the novel, especially in highlighting differences as a failure to "be true" to the authors' vision, is making a mistake. The book and the film share a title, and some other elements, but the tone and even the conflicts are distinct. Take each on its own. While I encourage you to read the book, and strongly encourage you to see the DVD, I hope you will appreciate the very different minds they each explore.

The world of the novel is noir-dark, universal, and consciously cynical. Though folks only live to 21 (vs. 30 in the film), there are lots of doubters and many weird little subcultures, such as Molly's giant, or the "culture of one" who is the terrifying Box (yes, there is a Box in the film, but only some details, and the name, were kept to nod to the book; the Box in the movie is a machine acting on programming, dangerous but not evil, a contrast to the damaged human psychopath artist of the book). Blade Runner has more in common with the novel Logan's Run than does this movie.

So, why do I love the movie so much? It displays the mindless innocence of the subjects of ubiqitous fascism. The children in the City of Man have known nothing else, are swaddled in this shallow, stifling cocoon of a society, without a history (there are no books or elders to carry history), and immersed in a pale, candy culture where no one creates anything. The only signs of human endeavor are in the Runners, whose dissent makes them enemies of the State/City who must be killed, and in the Sandmen, who at least develop skills as hunters.

Logan's Run, the movie, therefore tells a story that is closer to the peril of many still-comfortable U.S. Americans, content (and able to) drown their doubts in busy pursuit of easy, vapid pleasures that discourage independent thought. Comforted by the assurance that the City will care for them and that the pale religion of the city promises the salvation of Renewal, and the chance to live life after healthy, silly, fun, worry-free life, the young people of the mall-city remind me of the blinkered folks of our culture who only see suffering rarely, and can change the channel if it threatens to awaken them from the padded cells of their colonized minds.

I love watching those sweet, dumb kids, Logan and Jessica, progress through the slow satori of this movie, as well as the classical mythic elements of labyrinths, secret doors, birth canals, underworld, pinnacle and other symbolic elements which are scattered all through the film, but which no other review here has yet mentioned. These children, who seem to lack even fairy tales, traverse the same psychic landscape fairy tales illuminate in other cultures, but do so in real physical peril.

See this film, and critique the uneven directing and the dated look, but go ahead and explore the Hero's Journey (which myth famously informed Star Wars). That myth may be more relevant to those of us lucky enough to be in cyberspace in the form explored by Logan's Run. For the priveleged (and if you are reading this, you are priveleged far over the majority of the world's folks), the risk of sleepwalking in the dreamworld of friendly fascism is very real. The evil Empire of Star Wars is an open oppresser, inspiring rebellion; The City of Logan's Run, by contrast, is a mindless, benevolent dictator, inspiring nothing, assuring risk-free consumerism forever.

Rating:
Summary: SUPER BUY
Review: This movie is definately a collectors item. A MUST SEE!!
The story line and effects are brilliant for it's time.

Rating:
Summary: What in the world is this?!!
Review: You'll have to excuse me if I am a little out of it. My head is still spinning from the spectacle that is..."Logan's Run"!

The creators of this movie made an error so immense that it was impossible to overcome. They treated this film as if it were a serious piece of sci-fi. Big mistake. HUGE mistake! The only good part of "Logan's Run" was the character of The Old Man, played flawlessly by Peter Ustinov. He was a goofy ol' coot living in an abandoned building with what looked and sounded like a hundred meowing kitties. Well, The Old Man was a stitch! They let Ustinov have a lot of fun with his character and it worked wonderfully. If only everyone else in the movie could've had their tongue planted firmly in cheek. Then it would've been a lot of fun.

As it is, "Logan's Run" is one of the most ignorant, illogical and downright idiotic pieces on cinematic junk I have ever laid eyes on. I haven't read the novel which the movie is based upon but it would be virtually impossible to make less sense than this film. Without exaggerating, a list of maybe a zillion plot holes the size of Texas could be made. (OK, that's a minor exaggeration...but only a minor one!)

Certain things can be overlooked since this is from the '70s. I don't mind too much that the budget for special effects was about the same as the budget for Farrah Fawcett's hairstylist. Really...that's fine. What's disturbing though is that the screenplay appears to have been written by people with the IQ of your average waterfowl. It is so incompetent that I felt diminished as a human being just watching it.

"Logan's Run" in its pure form is awful. The only way that this film might be watchable is under the influence of mind-altering substances. I certainly don't recommend that...but at least maybe then it will make some sense.

Rating:
Summary: Somewhat Flawed & Campy, but Good Sci-fi Nonetheless
Review: Coming out of the early post-Vietnam, post-hippy era containing a lot of mistrust for anyone over the age of 30, "Logun's Run" is a film portraying a post-apocolyptic world in which a large number of humanity's survivors live inside of a completely computer-controlled, domed city. The city's residents are all young: no one lives over the age of 30. Every resident is born and raised initially by the computer instead of having human parents, and every resident has a built in "life clock" that informs them how long they have to live within the city. When a resident reaches the age of 30, he/she has been taught that they will be "renewed" (i.e., reborn) after they enter what is called the Carousel and die before an audience of younger, cheering city residents. Residents who attempt to avoid the Carousel are labeled as "runners" and the central computer (which tracks all residents) calls upon the "sandmen" (a trained force of male city residents) to hunt and kill the runners. To the sandmen, hunting and killing runners is a sport; and residents are taught that running will prevent them from being renewed.

The film is named for the main character, Logus 5 (played by Michael York), who is a sandman. His best friend, Francis 7 (played by Richard Jordan), is also a sandman. Upon the two of them hunting and killing a female runner (played by Lara Lindsay, who also provides the voice of the city computer), each is required to be debriefed by the city computer. Logun dumps several objects onto a computer scanner and the computer begins to question him about one of the objects: an ankh. Logun doesn't understand what the ankh is or represents, but the city computer tells him that it represents "sanctuary", a place where runners can hide from detection. The city computer decides to use Logun to find "santuary" by reprogramming his personal "life clock" to make him appear to be 30 years old and instructing him to become a runner. Logun, who is quite concerned about losing his remaining lifetime, has no choice but to follow the instructions of the emotionless city computer.

Logun seeks out a young woman, Jessica 6 (played by Jenny Agutter), whom he had previously met and who wears an ankh on a necklace. He pretends to be a runner to obtain her assistance in finding "sanctuary". With some reservation to him being a sandman, she reluctantly decides to help him. Together, they manage to escape the confines of the domed city and see, for the very first time in their lives, what the world outside of the city really looks like. At first, they are scared, but they find a ruined ancient city and find an old man (played by Peter Ustinov, by far the best actor in the film) living with several hundred cats. Finding an old man tells them that everything that they were taught in the city isn't true and they realize that they need to do something about it.

Models of the domed city were state-of-the-art back when this film was produced in 1976, but the numerous improvements in special effects technology over the past quarter-century has rendered the city somewhat campy in appearance. Sets used elsewhere, as well as the special effects used in the Carousel are still quite good. Everyone (men & women alike) within the city, except for the sandmen, wear nothing but light-weight pastel costumes reminiscent of a college toga party.

Some aspects of city life are not fully addressed in the film, such as current sources of food, full educational levels of the residents, and how the city computer seemingly creates the residents themselves. Since the residents are numbered, they may be a series of clones, but degradation of DNA over multiple clone generations is not addressed in the film.

Overall, "Logun's Run" is a good film and would make a good addition to any DVD collection.

Rating:
Summary: Great Film
Review: Although there's only a PG rating this film is for those who like films with a story.

Jenny Agutter & Michael York team up together again (they're also in "The Riddle of the Sands"). This film was so good that they re-made it for TV & then there was an entire tv series based on it.

(Jenny Agutter; I've always had a crush on her since I saw a lot of her in "Walkabout").

Rating:
Summary: Awesome
Review: We just saw Logan's Run on Tv tonight. It was incredible. I don't think I had seen it since some 1977 "Late Night Movie World Premiere" or other, and I don't think I ever watched the whole thing. I was blown away! It uses a lot of intricate, detailed, and spectacular sets and artwork that still look impressive, even after Blade Runner and "Lord of the Rings."

I saw some similarities to Star Wars. For example, in some cases the characters walk thru large open corridors with mirror like black floors. This looked like some of the hallways in the Death Star. "Box" (a robot) had a head that looked similar to C-3P0's head.

The soundtrack features a lot of avant-garde style analog synthesizer music with instruments in the style of Moog and Arp. I don't find that style appealing, personally, but students of electronic music might be interested in studying what must be one of the last and therefore most advanced examples of that style. After the incredible soundtrack of Star Wars, (which featured a conventional, symphonic style), we probably never heard that electronic style again.

Michael York blew me away with his excellent performance, and I was charmed by Peter Ustinov's comical role.

Some of the special effects were lame, and that's really a shame after some of the others were so excellent. I'm watching the movie and my jaw is dropping in awe of various scenes, and then comes the scene where they meet Box and some rocks fall. That part was so fake looking. There were other problems as well, but that's no reason to avoid this movie and miss the excellent stuff.

The story was well paced and reasonably interesting. The social commentary has aged well and for me hasn't lost much of it's shock value. I guess the theme of over-population can't lose shock value.

This movie to me looked far more elaborate then "Soylent Green," I don't know why it doesn't enjoy more fame than that movie.

Recommended!

Rating:
Summary: Weird but good
Review: Despite it's flaws Logan's Run is enjoyable and I think Michael York Richard Jordan and Jenny Agutter were great, Farrah Fawcett seemed a little stiff but as this was probably one of her first movies that is understandible as she has proven in other movies like The Burning Bed how good she can be and even with it's flaws I still think Logan's Run is a good movie that was worth watching.