Movie Notes: Forbidden Planet
= 4 stars
Starring Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox
Synopsis
It’s 2257 and the crew of United Planets Cruiser C-57D is sent to a human colony on the planet Altair-4. Once there, they find everyone dead except Dr. Morbius (Walter Pigeon), his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis), and a robot named Robby. Further investigation ensues.
The Good
- For 1956, the special effects are quite amazing, despite being understandably dated and cheesy. There’s a retro cool stereotypical fifties feel: the spaceship is a flying saucer,the robot that resembles a jukebox, and the soundtrack consists of analog synth whines. Think an Amazing Stories illustration.
- The humans visiting an alien planet and encountering a father and daughter from a previous mission is taken from the Shakespeare play The Tempest.
- The movie seems to have inspired elements of classic 1960s Star Trek. The ship’s crew soon finds the at first friendly settler’s story doesn’t jibe, calling for further investigation. There’s a beautiful woman in a short skirt to provide some eye candy, some laser battles, and scads nutty pseudo-scientific terms thrown about. Kirk would fit right in.
The Bad
- The retro cheese will surely be rather off-putting to those used to modern day sci fi special effects extravaganzas, although I hope most can see it as a fine product of its time.
- A fair amount of science is laughably ridiculous (the “educator” contraption), but let’s see how much of today’s science fiction holds up fifty years’ hence.
Conclusion
That this film dates from 1956 might scare many off, but I do think it’s worth the time to check it out and persevere. Considered as a pilot for Star Trek, it should make sense to just about anyone.
IMDB: Forbidden Planet
Wikipedia: Forbidden Planet
Rotten Tomatoes: Forbidden Planet 94%