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Epicurus.com - Logan's Run
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List Price: $9.98
Our Price: $19.95
Availability: N/A
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Starring: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Ernest Laszlo, L.B. Abbott, Christopher Outwater
Directed By: Michael Anderson, Ronald Saland
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audience Rating: PG (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780790744148
Format: Anamorphic
ISBN: 0790744147
Label: Warner Home Video
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Anamorphic Widescreen
Publisher: Warner Home Video
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 2004-06-01
Running Time: 118
Studio: Warner Home Video
Theatrical Release Date: 1976-06-23
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Editorial Reviews:
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If you can stifle the urge to laugh at its pastel unisex costumes and futuristic shopping-mall décor, this extravagant science fiction film from 1976 is still visually fascinating and provocatively entertaining. Set in the year 2274, when ecological disaster has driven civilization to the protection of domed cities, the story revolves around a society that holds a ceremonial death ritual for all citizens who reach the age of 30. In a diseaseless city where free sex is encouraged and old age is virtually unknown, Logan (Michael York) is a "sandman," one who enforces this radical method of population control (but he's about to turn 30 and he doesn't want to die). Escaping from the domed city via a network of underground passages, Logan is joined by another "runner" named Jessica (Jenny Agutter), while his former sandman partner (Richard Jordan) is determined to terminate Logan's rebellion. Using a variety of splendid matte paintings and miniatures, Logan's Run earned a special Oscar for visual effects (images of a long-abandoned Washington, D.C., are particularly impressive), and in addition to fine performances by Jordan and Peter Ustinov, the film features '70s poster babe Farrah Fawcett in a cheesy supporting role. Jerry Goldsmith's semi-electronic score is still one of the prolific composer's best, and Logan's Run remains an interesting example of '70s sci-fi that preceded Star Wars by less than a year. --Jeff Shannon
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: should be remade
Comment: The story is pretty good, the acting ok, the sets are a product of their time. Look, it is virtually impossible to make a film, particularly a sci-fi one and not have it look dated 20 years later. I know its unfair to compare but you will bust a gut laughing at early 1970s Dr Who's where the idea of futuristic transport was a Citroen Diane with the doors taken off, and crewed by 4 camp looking blokes in berets and capes. Tears are rolling down my face as I think of it. Anyway. 2001, Blade Runner, Star Wars - still look good today. Not much else does though. Back to Logans Run, all you need to know is Jenny Agutter gets nuddy in it. How cool is that?
PS - I noted some comment about the sandmens guns being unrealistic. Well, on my first night excercise, I started firing my semi-auto Self Loading Rifle (SLR) which had a blank firing attachment on it (which provides enough back pressure to operate the working parts of the rifle when using blanks) and lo and behold, 4 tongues of flame shot out of the flash eliminator ports just like in Logans Run, which was great for sci-fi reminiscence but rubbish for my night vision. So there you go, not unrealistic at all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Old Fashioned Sci-Fi
Comment: Obviously this film is open to criticism on several fronts. The fact that it was shot in a shopping center gives it a contemporary commercial feel rather than a futuristic feel. The gas torches that are supposed to be laser guns are not convincing at all. Even as a kid watching this film I couldn't figure out what the special effects people were thinking. They certainly could have come up with a more convincing laser gun than that in 1976. Also, the dialogue in the script is rather simple and drags in much of the film. However, having said all of this I still can't help feeling that this is a rather profound film.
Like most pre-Star Wars science fiction, the themes that the film deals with, and deals with well, are themes that we deal with today. Themes such as:
1)our youth worshipping culture and our horror of growing old
2)our obsession with cosmetics and plastic surgery
3)our limited resources and how they can best be used
4)free love and sex
5)recreational drug use
6)our increasing dependence on technology
7)the deterioration and decline of the family
All of these issues are addressed by the film and dealt with in a sober and unsettling way. In some ways this is not a fun film to watch. It raises questions. Could we actually get to a point where we start killing people just because they reach a certain age? I've heard some bad things are taking place in Holland and parts of Scandinavia. Could we ever reach a point where marriage and family life becomes a thing of the distant past, recalled only in legends and folk-lore? We seem to be moving in that direction. And could we get to a point where we become totally dependent on technology so that computers are ordering us around and we have no individual rights? I still think the most chilling part of the film is when the computer says to Logan "Identify".
The film does present a "solution" to these issues although I'm not sure that it's a very good one. It seems to suggest that going back to a more primitive existence where technology didn't exist and where humans are forced to spend their time hunting and looking for nuts and seeds is the answer. I'm not so sure.
Of course, these are the broad themes that the film addresses but the storyline itself is rather puzzling too. For example, what was Logan's real motive in running? Was he following orders from the computer or was he actually running in earnest? Or was he conflicted about whether he should actually run or stick to the mission? Also, why, when he was about to meet the other runners for the first time, did he send a tracking signal to the other sandmen? Did he think that the runners would kill him and that his only hope of escape was for the sandmen to create a diversion? How did Logan come to the conclusion that sanctuary didn't exist and why did this cause the city's computer system to crash? These are questions that I've wondered about and I haven't really found a satisfactory answer to them.
I know a lot has been said about the dullness of the dialogue in the film, but I think it's important to remember that this is a young culture that's being presented. It's a culture where young people don't have to think because the computers do all of their thinking for them and provide for their every need. In light of this, it's quite probable that their life skills and their intellectual development would be stunted. These are people who are intellectually more like children than adults.
I do wonder why the city's central computer spoke with a warm, soft feminine voice. Is this another theme? It's like a human government saying to it's citizens "Let me take care of you. Let me provide for you. And in return you will be my slaves."
Customer Rating:
Summary: About What You'd Expect From Aging Sci-Fi
Comment: I have to admit that I liked the epcot-esque city in which this story is based. Its retro sci-fi look is great and lends itself well to the story. The special effects range from "good for the time" to just plain "bad". The story itself drags on a little too long. There is no reason this movie should be 120 minutes. The premise, however, is good and has not been well duplicated since the original. I simply wish sci-fi movies could have avoided "coming of age" during the time of psychedelic filmography. Hard core classic sci-fi fans might be intrigued, but I fear most everyone else will be bored with this film. I can say it's average, and that's about all.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Run Logan Run!
Comment: Logan's Run is just a cool flick any way you slice it. I'm not what you'd call a hardcore sci-fi fan(unless you're talking B flicks like It Came From Outer Space or Cat Women Of The Moon), but I do have an attraction to sci-fi films of the 70s. As far as Set and Production design, special effects, music, and just the overall look of a lot of those films, I think they're the coolest thing. When most folks talk about Logan's Run, they seem always seem rather quick to throw out the words, "cheesy" and "dated". Even if they like the film they tend to throw this out right up front. The thing is, damn near every film ever made is dated. You think today's big budget Hollywood sci-fi films won't be referred to as having a dated look or cheesy music or FX when reviews are written 30 years from now?? If not, you'd better enjoy Transformers while you can. As far as FX go, ya gotta realize that they were working with what they had, and it was high tech at the time just as CGI is high tech now. In the end, FX will always take a back seat if the storytelling is good because that's the one thing that will ruin the movie if it isn't done right. I also don't know where people are getting the idea that the acting is terrible. It isn't terrible, it's just different from what we're used to seeing in modern day movies. Jake Lloyd in the Phantom Menace is an example of rotten acting, not anything in Logan's Run. But as I said before, I totally embrace the "cheesy" and "dated" aspects of the 70s sci-fi film. Most folks know the plot to Logan's Run, but allow me to.....ahem....run through it again(actually I just needed an excuse to work that lousy pun into the review)
It's set in a futuristic utopian society where people live in a domed city and haven't a care in the world but indulging in whatever activities they find pleasurable. Kind of like a horny version of the Eloi from the Time Machine. The catch is that when they hit the age of 30, they will either die or be "renewed" through a ritual called the Carousel. If they decide to just try to go AWOL or "run", they get blasted to smithereens by the Sandmen, a kind of police force that kills "runners". Logan(Michael York) is a Sandman. One day he's given an undercover assignment to seek out a place spoken of in whispers called "Sanctuary". Sanctuary is supposedly a place Runners try to escape to. Logan is 26, but is immediately stepped up to Runner status so he can get in with the folks who will show him the way to Sanctuary. The sexy Jenny Agutter becomes his traveling companion(after refusing his sexual advances, but don't worry coz you know she's gonna give in), and ultimately his love. Logan soon finds that practically no one is on his side anymore and breaks free of the dome only to find that Sanctuary isn't quite what everybody thought it was.
A very cool movie for sure. It's full of sexuality that definitely wouldn't pass for a PG rating today. It's got some cool twists and turns, a snazzy soundtrack full of electric beeps and squiggles(perfect for this kind of movie), laser surgery and a killer robot. What the hell more can you ask for? That's right, Homie-NOTHING! You owe it to yourself to check it out if you haven't already. But if you ever watched TBS than you've probably seen it many times along with The Beastmaster. Watch it again anyway.
Customer Rating:
Summary: A blast from the past
Comment: I enjoyed this series when it first was aired on TV and now I enjoy the DVD as well. I highly recommend the movie in DVD format.
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