Review of Logan's Run (1976) by Erik R — 12 Jan 2014

This movie was ridiculous, and I loved it.

Basically, it's a sci-fi dystopia flick: in the future, after some unknown catastrophe, people live in a dome. They don't have to work, they don't have to do much of anything, but have sex and chill. The "catch" is that when these people turn 30 years old, they are "renewed" in a quasi-religious event called Carousel. Of course, renewal amounts to execution. It's freaky.

Naturally, some of the citizens refuse to accept this fate, and instead they try to run. The city's secret police, known as Sandmen, hunt them down and, of course, the hero of the film is one of these Sandmen.

BLAH BLAH BLAH I hate doing plot summaries. Let's talk about the awesome stuff in this movie:

A) The awesome 70s special effects. In fact, it won an Oscar for them! There's pew-pew laser beams with sparkling pyrotechnics. And people floating. And the opening shot of the City, a clear miniature! with little cars going through tubes. Practical effects are my stuff. Even the best modern filmmakers still use practical effects (see: Christopher Nolan).

B) Short dresses! The love interest of this film, Jessica-6 (Jenny Agutter), wears this ridiculously short green dress. I mean, it's so exploitative. It's great. Also dig this quote:

Logan: "You're sad enough. You're beautiful. Let's have sex.".

And here I thought I was the only one who used that as a pick-up line.

C) There's a robot named Box! It's great too. And for some reason it keeps repeating: "Fish, and plankton. And sea greens: protein from the sea.".

D) There's this really awesome Old Man. He has a lot of cats, and each cat has three names.

E) Holograms! Creepy holograms!

Okay I'm kind of being facetious here, but, yeah, Logan's Run, while overall not the greatest best ever, is full of great little scenes, characters, and other bits and pieces.

Final Say: Logan's run is clearly a movie of its time. The hippie-esque rebellion against authority, the free love elements, the cheesy obvious special effects. It's not what I'd call smooth, but it's definitely charming. Either way, it's a hell of a lot of fun.

How to Watch It: Don't be too serious about it. As with any dystopia, you could treat it as allegory or satire, but the film's not meant to be didactic. It's meant to be fun, and it is.

Trivia: Logan's Run is rated PG, despite having nudity and an orgy scene!