Logan's Run

Set in the 23rd century where the entire population exists inside a single domed city, there is a strict policy where everyone, once they turn thirty, are submitted to Carousel. The people inside Carousel are then renewed, to keep the balance of life.

Logan 5 (Michael York) works as a Sandman, a sort of police officer that hunts down 'runners', people who will not submit to Carousel. Logan and his friend Francis 7 (Richard Jordan) kill one runner and Logan discovers a strange medallion on him. Later that evening Logan meets Jessica 6 (Jenny Agutter) who is also wearing the same medallion. The following day as Logan is debriefed about the termination he is told by the super computer that runs the city that there is an underground organization that is helping people run and that they are running to a place called Sanctuary. His job is to become a runner and then find and destroy Sanctuary. The computer tells him that over 1000 people have run and Logan is shocked, stating that some of them had to have been renewed. The computer tells them that no one has been renewed and I'm thinking that probably wasn't a good idea for the computer to do.

Anyway Logan's life clock is sped up and he eventually convinces Jessica to lead him to her friends and then, after what seems like forever and some very weird scenes involving a gang of killer children, an orgy bar and a very strange plastic surgeon, they make it outside the city. They make it to a frozen room and find Box (Roscoe Lee Browne) a robot that freezes food that used to come out of the tunnel they came out of. Since robots are notoriously crazy, he assumes they are food and tries to freeze them like he did with the hundreds of other people that made it out. Logan shoots Box and they make it down the cliff and after a lot of walking and Jessica complaining (first she didn't want to be in the city, now she wants to be back in, I'd wish she'd make up her damn mind), they reach what they assume is Sanctuary. In reality it is Washington DC which has been completely overgrown with plants. There the discover an old man (Peter Ustinov) and find out that there is no Sanctuary, just this place.

The two of hem decide to go back and tell everybody that there is a world outside the dome and they don't have to die at thirty. You can already guess that doesn't go over to well with the mob and the main computer. However when the computer reads Logan's mind to try and find out where Sanctuary is, it can't understand the answer and it malfunctions and blows up. Which in turn causes the city to shut down and forces the people outside. Yay! They're saved!.

You know for such a classic sci-fi movie, I wasn't all too impressed with it. A lot of the acting was really bad and, well, of course the special effects were tacky ,but I was expecting that. I even though  the costumes were terrible. And I've notice that all movies dealing with an idyllic futuristic city; the city always looks the same. Weird.

I really like the concept behind this movie; that there is a form of population control that keeps everyone amused and not asking questions. I like how all the 'resistance' believed in a Sanctuary so much that the computer couldn't fathom it not existing.  I don't think it was executed in a very smart way, though. There were scenes that dragged and had nothing to do with the movie. The dialogue sometimes didn't make sense and what was up with the killer children? And if you want someone to find and destroy Sanctuary maybe you shouldn't destroy his beliefs before you send him on his way. Stupid computer.

Grade: 5/10