Review of Forbidden Planet (1956) by Spencer S — 05 Jul 2011

Forbidden Planet is revolutionary for its time, a cinematic innovator for decades of sci-fi, and one of the funniest films I've seen lately. The humor is broad, most diegetic dialogue amongst the crew, but there are scenes that may be unintentionally funny on Nielsen's part.

Perhaps if the casting were different I wouldn't he haw every time Nielsen delivers certain lines, but the facial expressions and mock seriousness get me every time. The effects are incredible, and not just for the time.

Footprints without a body attached to them are filmed in one shot, sinking into the planet's exterior as if they were tissue paper. The plot is simple: a crew of men check in with an older crew to chart their progress on the Earth-like Altair-4, but when they arrive only two have survived, cultivating their own form of civilization for the past twenty years.

The cast is few and far between, but features the iconic Robby the Robot, who doesn't seem kitschy, but instead a badass drone, capable of almost anything except violence towards humans. There are scenes of hysterical proportions, danger, and romantic entanglements, all the while highlighted by the first score to be completely electronic, tones we're familiar with through old Star Trek episodes and spaceship controls.

The two remaining crew members can be summed up as mad scientist and sexy distraction, making the film raunchy for its time. Even the monster that hunts down the crew (the murderer of the previous crew) is imaginative, evocative, and thrilling, using special effects to showcase sci-fi at its best, along with a back-story of a superior race wiped out by some unknown disaster, brilliant when it could easily have been a cheesy B-movie.

Still as cool as Robby's ice trays, this is the Forbidden Planet.