Thoughts on Logan's Run.

[paranoid marvin]

In terms of the budget, all the rest was ok, if clearly not high tech, but the thing I found unconvincing was the carosel.
OK so lots of similar effects were cheap in those days. It reminded me a lot of the android making machine in Star Trek; the one with Roc, saying, "Ah yes. The old ones. The ones who made us. Yes!"
Simply having something that spins is not marvellous SF tech.

Talking of which, the machine span, to duplicate Kirk from a figure of putty, but when you pierced its skin, or at least the skin of the girl, she was full of electronics components. Mixed messages.

But the Carousel is not just the spinning, but also the ascension up to the light or crystal before they ignite. I thought that that was pretty unique and inventive. The getup they wore is a bit spooky and distinctive, and stuck the bit where they float up to their doom stuck with me since I was a child. Tbh at the time I hadn't seen anything like it, and perhaps the closest thing is probably Soylent Green (which is a great movie).

 

[BAYLOR]

In terms of the budget, all the rest was ok, if clearly not high tech, but the thing I found unconvincing was the carosel.
OK so lots of similar effects were cheap in those days. It reminded me a lot of the android making machine in Star Trek; the one with Roc, saying, "Ah yes. The old ones. The ones who made us. Yes!"
Simply having something that spins is not marvellous SF tech.

Talking of which, the machine span, to duplicate Kirk from a figure of putty, but when you pierced its skin, or at least the skin of the girl, she was full of electronics components. Mixed messages.

In the book , there was no Carousel , instead , when you reached the age of termination which 21, you had to got to place called a Sleep Shop where they would put you to sleep, for good.

 

[BAYLOR]

But the Carousel is not just the spinning, but also the ascension up to the light or crystal before they ignite. I thought that that was pretty unique and inventive. The getup they wore is a bit spooky and distinctive, and stuck the bit where they float up to their doom stuck with me since I was a child. Tbh at the time I hadn't seen anything like it, and perhaps the closest thing is probably Soylent Green (which is a great movie).

And the worst part was that the game was rigged so nobody ever gets to renews. It's pretty chilling stuff.

 

[paranoid marvin]

In the book , there was no Carousel , instead , when you reached the age of termination which 21, you had to got to place called a Sleep Shop where they would put you to sleep, for good.

That makes more sense as to why they are called 'Sandmen'. As a child in the UK, the reference to the Sandman completely passed me by.

 

[BAYLOR]

That makes more sense as to why they are called 'Sandmen'. As a child in the UK, the reference to the Sandman completely passed me by.

I felt bad for Francis 7 , He couldn't understand why Logan would throw in with the runner, couldn't understand why he would become a runner, what's curious in all this he also would have known that Logan was not actually 30 years old and his time crystal should not be going black at all . This should have given him pause to consider that something was wrong about all of this. But , I suppose that Francis mental state didn't allow him the luxury of thinking about this little inconstancy in Logan 5's situation.

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

I always thought that the guns the Sandmen had looked really cool.

Apparently, the effect was an accident. The laser effects were supposed to be added afterwards but they looked the look of the flash and didn't finish the effect.

The guns in the book are kind of like nasty Bond gadgets, loaded with various specialized rounds. Runners are to be executed with the Homer which is designed deliver death with maximum agony and horror.

 

[BAYLOR]

The guns in the book are kind of like nasty Bond gadgets, loaded with various specialized rounds. Runners are to be executed with the Homer which is designed deliver death with maximum agony and horror.

The Sandman's side arm weapons had cartages that could freeze , incinerates and , special tangle cartridges that could capture and or kill a runner. In the film the, weapon just killed and incinerated. In the tv series the weapons killed or could a stun beam to incapacitate.

 

[BAYLOR]

I remember the TV series. I thought the addition of the android was an interesting twist to Box Cyborg.

I liked that the TV series showed there there other High tech societies existed along with the City of Domes.

 

[Ian]

I remember being terribly excited about the film when it came out in 1976 as it was the first big budget SF film since 2001, (This was a year before Star Wars arrived, at least here in Britain) but was rather disappointed. It starts our relatively well, but once Logan and Jessica leave the city and arrive in the outside world, it all gets very dreary. To me, the ending made no sense whatsoever. Logan shoots a control panel and the entire city explodes? The survivors leave with no means to feed or heat themselves, and find they can turn old and senile like Peter Ustinov, which they seem to find this a great idea? This is a happy ending? In the wake of Star Wars it's aged very badly with every Sci Fi design cliche in full view. Everything's bright and clean and spangly like .... well, like a shopping mall, which is where I believe most of it was shot.

 

[BAYLOR]

I remember being terribly excited about the film when it came out in 1976 as it was the first big budget SF film since 2001, (This was a year before Star Wars arrived, at least here in Britain) but was rather disappointed. It starts our relatively well, but once Logan and Jessica leave the city and arrive in the outside world, it all gets very dreary. To me, the ending made no sense whatsoever. Logan shoots a control panel and the entire city explodes? The survivors leave with no means to feed or heat themselves, and find they can turn old and senile like Peter Ustinov, which they seem to find this a great idea? This is a happy ending? In the wake of Star Wars it's aged very badly with every Sci Fi design cliche in full view. Everything's bright and clean and spangly like .... well, like a shopping mall, which is where I believe most of it was shot.

They took the 1967 book of which its was based. and changed a number of things.

 

[BAYLOR]

Over the years, there's been some tlak of rebooting this one .

 

[Rodders]

I think it'd be a great candidate for a reboot. Who would you cast?

Reading through, the book sounds pretty interesting. I might try and read it at some point this year.

 

[thunderbyrd]

in the movie, i certainly enjoyed Jenny Agutter's wardrobe.

 

[Dave]

Regarding a possible Reboot: Forget about the casting, what would you make the age limit?

The novel has people dying aged 21, in the film they were aged 30.

People live much longer now than in 1967 (when the novel was published.) If they escape the city, they are likely to find 70- and 80-year-olds living outside. Also, plenty of children born to 30-40 year-olds, so they are likely to see young children.

But the Earth had a growing young population then. Now we have an aging population (in richer countries especially). Also, don't we need the education and knowledge of the 20-50's at least? Also, do you need euthanasia when you can simply release a deadly SARS virus? Other stories have written about that, as well as conspiracy theories around COVID-19. It seems as if the whole concept is of it's time and no longer would work.

Jenny Agutter has a nice wardrobe in An American Werewolf in London.

 

[Le Panda du Mal]

Yes, Logan's Run is definitely of a 60's and 70's mindset when people imagined that youth might take over the world. We're well past that but that doesn't mean a straightforward adaptation won't be hella entertaining. I think the age should be kept at 21. The fact that the society is run by teens and young adults is part of what makes this particular dystopia so eerie and vicious.

 

[BAYLOR]

in the movie, i certainly enjoyed Jenny Agutter's wardrobe.

Seeing Jessica 6 on screen, who couldn't help but fall in love with her .


She played Morgan Le fe in the 1985/86 Twilight Zone episode The Last Defender of Camelot .

 

[paeng]

The 1970s movie was fascinating even given the budget, while the TV show had to go in various directions because shows are expected to do that.

 

[BAYLOR]

I think it'd be a great candidate for a reboot. Who would you cast?

Timothy Chalamet as Logan and Hailee Steinfeld as Jessica

Reading through, the book sounds pretty interesting. I might try and read it at some point this year.

The book differs quite a bit from the film it s a bit dated in areas but I found it to be a good read. The sequels were not very good.