So in the 23rd century, humans are exterminated at age 30. This is to keep the population balanced for the next wave of births, as there simply aren't enough prostitutes and drugs to go around. Logan's Run is hopelessly dated, and there are some truly ridiculous things in it, but it still stands as a fun science-fiction adventure.
Michael York plays Logan-5, a "sandman". His job is to kill "runners", which are people who decide that they don't WANT to die at age 30, and attempt to escape from the giant mall everyone apparently lives in. Logan-5 has a change of heart, however when he is up for "renewal" himself.
He is forced to give up his lifestyle of home-order hookers and giant red clouds of narcotics, and make a run of his own. He's accompanied by Jessica-5 (Jenny Agutter) who belongs to some kind of rebellious faction and who always wears very skimpy clothes. They're being chased by Francis-7 (Richard Jordan), who is Logan-5's old buddy, but is mainly a jerk.
The underlying plot of Logan's Run is more interesting than the basic story. Basically, everyone lives inside this one bubble city, and they're all clones. (That's why they all have numbered names.) The computer running the show apparently has decided that humans outlive their usefulness by 30, at which time people are forced to join Carousel.
What this means, basically, is that on your 30th birthday, you get in this big red dome, fly up towards the ceiling, and then explode. The whole ceremony implies that all the souls are "renewed" into new bodies. (Yeah, right.) So Logan's Run works on a thought-provoking level, which always helps in a science-fiction movie.
There's also the whole "Logan and Jessica escaping the city and trying to find Sanctuary" plot, which works pretty well, even considering that the music and special effects went out of date probably 5 months after this movie was released. Some of the effects are ridiculously bad. (Hey, it was the seventies! Star Wars was made in the seventies!) There's a whacked out silver robot named Box who tries to freeze them to death, a lunatic plastic surgeon who tries to fry them to death, and a wacky old man with cats who tries to bore them to death.
After seeing Logan's Run again for the first time in about 10 years, I was struck by a few things I remembered differently:
A) When I was younger, I didn't realize that Farrah Fawcett was far and away the worst actress who ever drew breath.
B) I guess they cut out the "Love Shop" scene on TV. Apparently this place is just a no-charge 24-hour orgy. Our heroes have some real trouble escaping this dangerous spot! (Come on, how strong could a naked 19-year old girl be?)
C) Washington D.C. could use a good gardener.
D) This is a cheesy movie. I remembered it being more serious, but I guess my cynicism has grown exponentially throughout the years. The costumes are retarded, the "pod-cars" look like go-carts, and the guns the sandmen use work on some kind of wussy "sparkler-power". (The guns really are particularly stupid.)
It's still a good movie. Why? It proposes cool questions, and offers a creepy look into the future. The adventure stuff works well enough in a Flash Gordon kind of way, and I'm a sucker for the whole "quest" thing, anyway. If you're a fan of way-out-there science fiction and you don't mind a healthy dose of 1973, it's definitely worth a look.
A pretty antiquated look at the future, but it offers enough questions and excitement to make it worth seeing. It was a favorite of mine as a kid, so I'm being kinder than I should. Remind me to see it again in the 23rd century.
In a 23rd-century world of pleasure and perfection Logan's job is to kill anyone past the age of 30. But when his turn for sacrifice comes at age 30 h...More at Family Video
Live it up today, your time is up tomorrow. In the Year of the City 2274, humans forsake the ravaged outer environment by living in a vast, bubbled me...More at Buy.com
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2010 Shopping.com, Inc.