@jemielnic You forget making the Monster of the Id become the feminine side of the toxic male scientist, on a rampage against him in retaliation for the centuries of subjugation of wamen.
Several firsts. Including the first fully electronic soundtrack. The id monster was realized by Disney animators, and the story was a retelling of Shakespeare's The Tempest.
Very interesting choice for a hyper light speed space vehicle. The originators, perhaps the screenwriters, were imaginative to perceive that possibility of our planet being visited by all the disc shaped UFO sightings.
Dave: Doc Ostrow, played by Warren Stevens, was my father. I’m a fan and regular viewer of your work on this channel as well as Computing Forever and it was nice to hear that you appreciated this film.
@@greaser1945 I refer to www.imdb.com very frequently to look up information on cast members of movies. Before internet resources like that became available, it wasn't so easy to find this information. Nice to hear from the son of an actor who appeared in this iconic film.
Greaser I had the privilege of meeting your father at a presentation with the designer of Robby back in the late 1990's. A very friendly and nice man-he autoggraphed a book on the film for me and its one my treasured possesions.
No kidding? Your father was a GREAT actor! He was great in Star Trek, Twilight Zone, The Barefoot Contessa, etc., but PERFECT in Forbidden Planet! It's my favorite movie of all time. I think one of the greatest unsung moments in the film is when Cmdr. Adams says, "This is too big to evaluate! Just think-" and then the doctor, who, in truth, has a higher intelligence than even Morbius, reads the situation and sees how such a reaction would unnerve Morbius and interrupts Adams and asks Morbius about the plastic educator. Another great delivery is when Adams says, "You hear me?" and the doctor replies, "I hear you." PERFECT delivery to foreshadow the later events. Props to you, Brother. Warren Stevens was a GREAT actor and wholly underrated throughout his life, as many of his costars were. Not underrated by me, though. His acting career was legendary! Best to you!
@@calvinmasters6159 I think Robby is more the Spock. Lt. Farman, seems to be more of a Will Riker type (at least as Roddenberry originally envisioned him). But Adams and Quinn definitely have a Kirk/Scotty relationship: Chief Quinn : [Examining the broken klystron frequency modulator] "Now with every facility of the ship I think I might be able to rebuild it. But frankly, the book says no. It came packed in liquid boron in a suspended gravity. .." Commander Adams : "Alright so it's impossible, how long will it take? " Chief Quinn : "Well, if I don't stop for breakfast..."
This science-fiction film was decades ahead of its time but not just for the reasons most people may think, what truly made this science-fiction film groundbreaking is that it was one of the first works of science fiction to have a truly psychological edge, with dark themes that, in future films would evolve into the genre known as the psychological thriller. The reason for this would be because the Freudian concept of the Id, Ego and Super Ego that plays a major role in the theme of the story and The film even has some genuinely scary moments as it was truly fascinating how the characters are continually hunted by bloodthirsty invisible creatures born from the depths of the human subconscious known as “Monsters From The Id” and the final climax of when they’re chased by one of these invisible monsters is genuinely unsettling (almost Lovecraftian even) especially the part where The invisible Id creature, in a wild fit of bloodlust, starts to burn through the blast door in order to get Morbius. Scenes like that were definitely a foreshadowing of the sci-fi horror genre that was to come in the decades that followed and would definitely go on to influence filmmakers like John Carpenter and Ridley Scott in cinematically exploring the dread of cosmic horror.
Impressive thesis: I agree, and that would be worth a paper in a fine arts college - if there are any decent ones left. A minor correction: In the climax, the Id monster, being Morbius' own creation, is trying to get to his daughter, Altaira; he interposes himself and stops it when he becomes mortally wounded by it, and has no further hope of continuing his old way of life. "No man as yet has ever hated his own body."
@@martinboyle9163I consider that to be one of the biggest travesties of both the music and film industries. They deserved recognition for their innovation and creativity - but for being too different, they were exiled beyond the pale of professional acknowledgement.
I hope they never reboot this, and never make a sequel. They would have to "woke" it, and make it politically correct. At the very least they'd have to have a mixed-sex crew for the C-57, which would destroy some of the subplot. And no doubt they'd have to "darken" it, like Star Drek Picard.
I particularly enjoyed the interaction between the captain and Alta. The sort of verbal sparing that was once normal. The captain may consider himself more worldly, but Alta was no submissive, she clearly knew what was up, what was at stake, and how to play the game. Far more interesting and complex than any simplistic drivel feminists would write today.
@@joesycamore2899 Like many Star Trek TOS episodes, this movie doesn't really have a happy ending. Morbius is dead, the Krell technology is gone. A lot of the crew have been killed. Its got a somber feel to the ending. But unlike film reboots of today, its intelligent, intriguing and thoroughly enjoyable.
I still love this film some 40 years after seeing it for the first time. And as a black man I don't care about the colour of the cast. Indeed it doesn't even comes to mind when watching it.
Me too. Very scary when you are young. They stole the invisible monster idea for an episode of Johnny Quest. It was scary too. Do you remember Fireball XL5? Robert the Robot was my favorite part.
Just to clarify, Robbie the Robot and the LIS Robot are two different robots with different designs. Robbie DID make a guest appearance on LIS, however.
One of what I consider the three greatest science fiction films of the 50's, along with The Day the Earth Stood Still and The Thing From Another World. Of those three I believe it to be my favorite. I watch it pretty regularly and never find the effects, themes, or story really dated at all. There's also something majestic, awe-inspiring, and deeply unsettling about just how powerful the Krell and their machinery were, somewhat Lovecraftian in that it stimulates my lizard brain.
What a classic. Saw it as a kid in the seventies. When the monster started pummeling on the black blast doors, I was terrified. Beware the ids of Mars!
"Will 60 gallons be sufficient?" Also worth checking out is the rock-and-roll musical comedy, Return To The Forbidden Planet. I don't know of anywhere it's running, but it's still put on occasionally. It has dancing, familiar tunes, Shakespeare in-jokes, gut-busting jokes and best of all, audience participation. It won the Olivier Award. Well worth a look.
I saw this as a little kid in a drive in... yeah, I'm old. The scenes of the monster being shot at with the blasters scared the heck out of me. Started my love for Science Fiction, or maybe I got that from both my parents who were reading it in the thirties... It's still a good movie and stands up well as much more entertaining and interesting than most the new stuff.
Yes the scenes when the monster attacks the ship and the defenses are letting him have it, are great. Being invisible makes it doubly scary - yet we keep hoping because the defenses manage to halt its advance. Modern movie would have the monster some straight through the defense wall and then just blood and guts to try and make up for the lack of suspense. Also the scene of the machines in the center of the planet were awesome and wonderful. It didn't need exceptional CGI. It made up for that with our imagination. Also, too many movies today are without hope, and none of the characters are likeable. Many old movies had at least one character you could root for. Now-a-days, in many movies, I don't care what happens because I don't relate to any character. How many modern actors would you want to invite to your dinner party? Some I'd worry about needing to call the cops on them, because they are despicable individuals.
Such a great film. No real soundtrack at all, but you don't notice it thanks to the brilliant sound effects of the husband/wife team who created them. Also, Warren Stevens (who played the doctor) was in the original TOS season 2 episode, "By Any Other Name" as the leader of the Kelvans from the Andromeda galaxy. They even gave him Kirk's sideburns.
Indeed, and this is another way the Original Star Trek paralleled Forbidden Planet, as the show took a lot of inspiration from The Bard for many episodes.
"I love Star Trek but for all the 'woke' stuff". Dude, Star Trek was always what YOU would call 'woke' - I guess you missed that before you had all these anti-SJW channels telling you what to think, hey?
I thank my Dad for introducing me to this film, this plus War of the Worlds, THEM, Earth vs Flying Saucers are some of my faves. Thanks for reviewing this one!
You're right.The Id monster is Caliban, Robbie is Ariel, Altaira is Miranda and so on. I suppose the big difference is that Morbius resents the intrusion and is trying to keep his daughter away from the men of the brave new world, rather than playing matchmaker.
It does resemble the scenario of the Tempest in important ways. But was the original story (by Irving Block and Allen Adler) intentionally based on the Tempest, or is it a fortunate coincidence?
This is the prototype for Star Trek. The transporter designs in Trek were taken from the chamber the crew goes during light speed travel and "vanish" temporarily, also the crew dynamic and the style of story is very Trek. The little blue hologram and the sheer scale of the Krell base makes me think of another series of films that begins with Star. The planet under Babylon 5 literally rips off the Krell base almost exactly. When it comes to designs, this movie and Blade Runner are the two science fiction films that other genre films borrow heavily from. The monster is the Id, that meaning anyone of us is capable of doing monstrous things which is explored further in Trek episode, The Enemy Within
B5s great machine was not so much a rip off but an artistic homage. The FX renderers said they wanted to remind the audience of that movie, as that United Earth backstory was the foundation for the B5 23rd century as opposed to "Forbidden Planet The Next Generation" we call TOS. The First Ones were a reminder of the Krell.
Star Trek would use elements of this plot in several episodes, but "Requiem for Methuselah" would be a TV direct rewrite by the third credited writer of this movie's screenplay.
I love this film. A bit dated to our eyes now, but there are so many concepts in this that many modern sci-fi shows draw inspiration from. This is sci-fi from a time when sci-fi was about hopeful ideas and possibilities, not contrived grievances and empty nihilism.
And less about action. I mean despite all the ray guns no one gets vapourised. I find it troubling that a lot of supposedly science fiction stories are no longer classified as such but rather as "Action" movies, because that's what they mostly are. Sheesh.
I disagree, you could watch the movie, with the expectation of a challenging story line, strong actors, and impressive believable special effects, even today. Not to mention a gloriously beautiful, sexy heroine with hypnotically beautiful eyes and a cute personality.
Forbidden Planet was brilliantly produced -- sets, script, music, props, ... At the film's premiere, the audience was so impressed by the scene of the flying saucer's landing that they burst into applause. The producer treated sci-fi seriously (more than just cities being attacked by giant radioactive bugs).
About 12 years ago, the brains behind Babylon 5 J. Michael Straczynski was in the process of writing an updated remake of FP. James Cameron was interested in the project. Frankly, I would have loved to see how the Krell would have been depicted. Imaging FP's alien world-building would have looked with today's CGI abilities. Well, the project was shelved as far as I can tell so I can only dream of what a well done remake would look like today. Sigh
I think the Krell are best left as a long dead race. If they were shown they would have large brains (large heads - as indicated in the original film) and different shaped bodies from ourselves (hence the shape of the doors) . They would also regard us as morons (low IQ) and given to wild emotions. Believing themselves to have total control of their emotions - thousands of years of civilisation and intellect leading them to totally ignore the possibility there might be something dark and primitive in the deep recesses of their own minds. They would be impossible to warn - after all would you believe a warning from someone whose IQ was obviously vastly below your own? Most likely they would pat the silly humans on our tiny heads and carry on with their (suicidal) experiments. Humans know we are animals - the Krell have forgotten that about themselves, they might even consider the suggestion obscene and offensive .
We might know that on some level but in our own arrogant way we think we are the best thing this planet has ever seen and we can do anything to it and to anybody who disagrees with us. Don't fool yourself human beings want godhood similar to the Krell but unlike the Krell who had a million years of shining sanity only to fall at he last hurdle humanity doesn't even come close as they are ripping up the house without a god machine to assist them.
Maybe it is better it was shelved. I have zero confidence in movie makers today because they are more interested in pushing their agendas than making a good movie. See Star Trek, Star Wars, The Terminator, Ghost Busters, etc.
Excellent flick. A true classic, it stands the test of time. The script, action, and special effects are still effective even these many decades later.
I watched this with my two teen boys a couple months back. I had never seen it but had heard good things. They were immediately skeptical that a 50's era scifi flick could hold their attention. Glad to see that both of them were impressed by it, for the same reasons Dave was.
I also rewatched Forbidden Planet this month! I've always loved this classic film, and the visual world it created. And Robbie! I could keep talking about this film in any sub-tongue!
One thing I like about this film is the introductory discussion of the imagined history of space exploration. The film was made in 1956, before the first artificial satellite had been put in orbit. Nobody knew how space travel would evolve. In the film we are told that men would first land on the moon "towards the end of the 21st century". In fact the first manned moon landing was only 13 years away. The film is a great artistic achievement, I love it, but real life excelled even that.
The Monster from the Id *terrified* me as a child. And it's still quite frightening even now. They borrowed animators from Disney to do that part, you know. Part of what's so frightening is that you can't fully see it, it's just that big, fiery shape with the suggestion of eyes and teeth. And the roaring sound! It still gives me the shivers.
Forbidden Planet is one of my favorite films of all time. I adore the backdrops and matte paintings, they're gorgeous. And a lot of those set pieces would be seen again (and again) in TV shows like the Twilight Zone.
This was my first SciFi movie. Saw it on TNT, at 10 o'clock cartoon network would become TNT, and I would cringe, because I wanted cartoons, and one day, at 10 this beauty appeared. Made my mind wonder beyond limits.
I like the idea that the krell machine also creates the animals, I remember Morbius mentions the gage would register when the birds migrate and why would the tiger attack her ?, and when the planet explodes, Altair on the ship slowly fades away ! She too was a krell creation.
I don't; Morbius explicitly mentions that the Krell visited prehistoric earth and brought back specimens. Yet it always slightly baffled and disappointed me that no animals from any other inhabited planets were shown. In production terms, I understand not even trying a superfluous detail, it doesn't add to the plot or the story. But as a kid it always bugged me. That was before I learned about The Fermi Paradox.
George Lucas was very driven by this movie. I remember when we saw it in Tucson at night, outdoors in the late 1950's. My dad was an astronomer and he loved the movie.
@Hey McFly, I saw 'The Invisible Boy' many years ago and there were two things that stuck out. 1) when the computer asks the programmer "Where is your son?" That was epic level creepy. 2) When the boy is being shown around an office and sees the non-functional Robby he also sees a picture (of the ship in Forbidden Planet) and asks about Robby, he is told that the Dr who worked on it claimed it was sent through time from the future. Such a tantalising snippet delivered over a few seconds I almost missed it. I always wondered though, the Krell were said to have visited many worlds, hence the deer and tigers, so they must have had colonies. What happened there? What would other ships find. Intriguing.
Considering what they did to The Thing, Escape From New York, The Godfather, Star Wars, Rocky, Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Die Hard and First Blood, I am glad they left it alone. Still, I think a Prequel called "The Bellerophon" with set design and costumes reflecting the Early and Mid-1930s would be fantastic. Still, knowing what Hollywood did with other great movies only tells me they would fan-service it to death and CGI the damn thing into unwatchability.
@@UteChewb I think the deer and tiger and such were creations of Morbius, who only assumed they were brought in by the Krell, hence the innocent ability of Alta to tame them, until the rebel in her kissed Adams, of course...
This is a film that is a timeless classic! I first showed it to my daughter when she was about 5 or 6 and even at that age she was entertained and captivated. Not so sure she understood the subtleties of the psychology, but the monster trying to burn itself through the blast doors is self explanatory when Mobius cries out " my evil self is outside that door and I am powerless to stop it" I still remember her looking away from the screen and looking at me and saying " that man is a bad man! His evil self is trying to hurt everybody,why's he wanna do that?"
One of my favorite SF movies... I even carry a copy of it on my phone for when I need some entertainment. It's amazing how Anne Francis at 5'9" managed to make herself seem so petite and fragile.
LOVE the old sy/fi flicks. I saw it & many others originally (I'm 83) & love to see them now. COMET is my fave channel for the golden oldies. Much better than the "invisible virus monster" chasing us now. Thank you labs. Is there always a Hot Blonde 4 the capt in all these flicks? Beam us up Jim.👽
Monsters of the ID. One of my top five Sci-Fi movies of all time. Loosely based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest", The doctor played by Warren Stevens, even played a part in an episode of TOS as an alien in human form. I forgot the name but where the aliens turn the crew into cubes. The robot, "Robbie" did play in an episode of "Lost in Space", but they were 2 separate robots.
FP was a groundbreaking Sci Fi film. Produced in the golden age of science fiction it captured what very few (if any) films in the genre even considered: Everything that occurred, no matter how fantastic, had a reasonable explanation behind it. The complexity of the story wasn’t the message, but how each scene laid groundwork for future scenes as the story unfolded. It is one of the very best true SF films ever produced.
I loved this movie and watched it as a kid (born in 87) and the Id approaching the spaceship and leaving the footprints terrified me. When it finally triggers the invisible forcefield the crew have set up and it shrieks and roars it was terrifying. It still holds up great today!
Rod Sterling's production company purchased a lot of the props, models & set pieces used in Forbidden Planet from MGM for use in the original Twilight Zone series .
Leslie Neilsen's career as a comedic actor started in Airplane! precisely because he had previously been known for playing very straitlaced dramatic roles. That was part of the joke in Airplane!, putting serious actors in such an absurdist setting. Also, the Great Machine in Babylon 5 is a direct reference to Forbidden Planet, including the shot of the characters crossing the bridge.
I've always found the ST:TNG episode "Skin Of Evil" to be a homage to this movie. Very similar concept, and arguably one of the most irredeemable villains in any TV series. It's also made in a way that makes one feel constantly uneasy. From the genuinely frightening invisible monster on a desolate planet where there's nowhere to hide, to the eerie background tone that runs throughout the movie - that almost sits on your shoulder and breaths in your ear the entire time.
One of the best sci-fi films of all time. I saw this back in the 60s as a kid, and it's one of the few sci-fi films I never forgot and which made a strong impression on me. I now own a copy on DVD. This is the best of what I like about sci-fi: it makes you think.
I just said that exact thing about the genre yesterday! Sci-fi requires the reader to THINK, which is why Heinlein's movie versions are so lame compared to the books, not to mention Clarke's, Herbert's or Asimov's works... People can passively watch a movie, but reading requires interaction and concentration, so science fiction is usually too heady for a general audience -- ergo space battles and light sabers versus analysis of the Fosterites, the Fremen, HAL 9000, and the Mule. Movies just can't do the books justice. Binge-watching audiences who have no patience can't sit through expository chapters; they want sex, violence and gore in every scene, and now, dammit, now! I find the same is true for many of Stephen King, Clive Barker and H.P. Lovecraft stories as well. Nothing beats the book! Best to you-
"Requiem for Methuselah" a Star Trek TOS episode is definitely an adaption of sorts, of this movie. Also Shakespear's "The Tempest " heavily influenced both productions.
I used to watch a ton of old scifi and horror movies from 50s and 60s when my parents separated one summer and I could stay up till 3am watching them in kitchen. This was one of my favorites.
It also was one of the scifi films that really considered how long it would take us to get interstellar travel. Most old space operas imagined we'd be rocketing off to the stars in a few more years. Here are some things they said in the narration, just after opening credits but before the first scene. "In the final decade of the 20th century, men and women in rocket ships landed on the moon.", we actually did it before the final three decades and there were never any women on the moon. Still, brilliantly ahead of the thinking of its time. " By 2200 AD we had reached the other planets of our solar system." Also brillian for its realization that we were not right on the cusp of flying everywhere in the galaxy. "Amost at once there followed the discovery of hyper-drive, through which the speed of light was first attained, and then greatly surpassed." No other scifi screen/TV production till Star Trek addressed the faster than light, and by many factors, problem with space travel. They also had to go into some sort of stasis force fields to prevent being killed by the g-forces in decellerating to a speed suitable to approach the planet. YES. If you had a magic engine and you could accelerate at 1g continuously, it would still take over 355 days just to reach the speed of light, as well as decelleration. Also, the planet Altaire IV. Altaire is one of our closest neighboring stars that is similar to our sun in composition. It is 16.7 light years away and is about 1.8 times the mass and is 11 times brighter so a habitable planet would have to orbit further out from it to not get cooked. Its estimated age is about 4.5 billion years, just like our sun. And consider the Bolerathon finding instead of a planet populated with aliens, a barren world on the surface but the remains of a highly developed but extinct species underground. Considering how many times we have almost destroyed ourselves, and how nature has a way of doing a top-down wipe of the food chain on its own every so many millions of years, interstellar explorers would likely spend much of their time combing through debris, looking for traces of extinct civilizations on worlds with few advanced and no intelligent life forms. This film was a work of genius.
Suggestion and corrections: Altair Bellerophon (namesake of a Greek hero). Learn about "The Fermi Paradox." Issac Arthur has a video on Fermi's question about alien life, and an ongoing series on his channel on possible answers to the question.
Thank you for describing this movie and its originators, writers, director, set designers, model makers, music creators and the cast, accurately as genius.
Shakespeare's "The Tempest" in space (sort of). I adore this film, and the thought that went into it. I remember the Doctor on the ship explaining that the creature that attacked them simply couldn't exist naturally, that it couldn't be a product of evolution. It was a nice touch in, again, a great film. Thanks for bringing back great memories!
Remember the Krell! As simplistic (i.e., unconvoluted) as the plot may seem, this film is very prescient concerning the world in which we now live. A keyboard can now deliver to person whatever they think that they want --- music, movies, games, contact, information, clothes, toys, food, sex, . . . justification --- for some things the gratification occurs within days, for others it happens instantaneously, Haven't we built our own gigantic version of the Krell Machine? For much the same reason posited in the movie, isn't this machine destroying us (although a bit more slowly). Would so many of us now be willingly imprisoned in our homes if this cybernetic drug was not available there?
You might be interested in the Sci-Fi series "Earth: Final Conflict" and "TekWar." E:FC was created by Gene Roddenberry and premiered following the wrap of ST:TNG. TekWar starred and was co-directed by William Shatner.
Hi Dave, excellent commentary as usual. As to your last comment, I think that there was a sequel. A stage play musical in the 80s called: "Return to the Forbidden Planet." Which was crazy because as you pointed out the planet was destroyed by the end of the film. Maybe someone out there has seen this play and comment on that.
Indeed he was. He was my father, in fact. He did a bunch of other SciFi as well: Twilight Zone, Outer Limits, etc., but he got more fan mail over Forbidden Planet and Star Trek than anything else.
The imagination, situations, characters, and special effects make this one special. Trans light speed interstellar travel, including force fields protecting crew from becoming meat puppets while decelerating to a mere 100,000 km/sec, planetary power stations generating power so incomprehensablely limitless that thought can literally turn energy into matter, never mind the monsters from the id. Pretty good stuff for 1956
One of the great Sci-Fi films of the entire 20th Century. I put it alongside 2001, Tron, Alien, Blade Runner, and even Metropolis. I even think it's better than most Star Wars and Star Trek movies, because it 'plays the story straight' without many gimmicks snd goofy moments.
5:07 "...and I think what made it a classic, at the time..." A classic, by definition, is timeless. In other words, it expresses and dramatizes concepts, ideas, and moral reasoning which are applicable to any time. I know, you already know this. I was pointing out though, the humor in your choice of words. The verbal package of "a classic, at the time" is a masterpiece in the Yogi Berra league. :)
Good movie. I kind of rolled my eyes when the woman chose to reproduce with the captian. Hypergamy is so predictable. It was an amazing movie for it's time though. I was kind of sad that they had to blow up such a nice planet though.
I didn't roll my eyes. When I first saw it (probably in the 70s), I found it entertaining alongside Star Trek. When I watch it more recently, I'm _happy_ to see the hypergamy scenes. Normalcy is so rare these days, that it's reassuring to see it in an old movie, to remind me that, yes, the world was once normal.
On Earth we humans call that dating. You should try it before knocking it. A movie has to satisfy a full audience and be an entertainment of its era. The pretty girl in minidresses in 1956 pleased many viewers. The duty based handsome captain did too. The caddish flyboy 1st officer didn't get the girl, but the proud man that wasn't trying to bed her. That's right out of Jane Austin. Girls like movies too.
@@STho205 These days the miniskirt girl would have married the captain only to obliterate him in divorce court a few years later, and if he didnt knuckle under that's when the false accusations come out. Then he'd lose his family, his career, his accumulated wealth, his home, his retirement benefits, and shortly after that, when he's fully destroyed beyond any hope of recovery, he'd take his own life. I avoided all that myself. Without the drag factor of supporting you, your kids (and your divorce lawyer) I retired 11 years early. (Edited for spelling)
@@Vention1MGTOW I retired in my mid 50s with a wife and a daughter. Same wife I started with at 26 in the promiscuous 80s. That's the key. Choose with your head, and not your dick. Morality is not relative.
I saw this picture (movie) in 1956 with the family. I was ten. I found it weird and disturbing, hardly knew what it was about. I've never forgotten it.
Dave, I too enjoyed this old film. Hope you can also do "When Worlds Collide" too. Course it is interesting to see that in the 50s scientists and technologically advanced guys are he-men and strong. It was only in the 60s that they changed to geeky guys with broken glasses fixed with tape, and pocket protectors. Shame that kids were told if you were smart you were outsiders, but if you were tough and did not follow the rules you were cool. Sad really. Your thoughts?
@@Hiraghm After Worlds Collide (the book) made Rendevouz with Rama feel hollow and "borrowed" Clarke did have some original ideas in there.. but I wondered who borrowed from who at the time. The power of Three for example. The "absent" but ever present Alien Civilization with no face.. but all of the lingering artifacts and technology. Bring the Russians and Chinese rockets into the mix also felt shoe horned into the story. There were cold war themes circulating around the world at that time.. and not so hidden agendas.. much like today.
@@jmlkhan5153 We will fall victims to our tech wielded by our own ID monsters. The movie was prophetic. Biowarfare accidentally (or otherwise) released? Nuclear war? We weaponize every technology in the sure knowledge that 'the other guy' is doing the same thing. It's only a matter of time. Homo Sapiens? No. Homo Vastans.
@@HomoVastans I like you and am about to converse with you on those terms. YOU sound like the mad scientist of the film, with your moralizations and condensed platitudes! Technology, surely, is a route to our own doom, but, also surely, only if we are irresponsible about it. And, are we? ARE we the irresponsible louts that society would have us assume we are? Or are we the Supermen that we have imagined, constructed, analyzed and defined and, finally, wished to be? Into whose hands do we entrust our fates?
@@jmlkhan5153 Funny you should mention that. Morbius has been one of my main screen names for years, along with Winston Smith and Homo Vastans (cf The Abominable Snowman - 1957). I saw forbidden planet in 1956 as a child. It made a great impression on me. I, like Morbius have a dark view of human nature. I don't see how we escape. We will get Kurzweil's 'singularity' alright, but I doubt downloading our consciousness and living forever is going to be part of it.
@@HomoVastans Brother you speak a foreign tongue that is, nonetheless, my language. I have what the meme-kids would call a "hot-take." I think there never was a god in the past; I think that humanity will, in some way, in the future, "become" god. I think "the singularity" is an expressed anxiety about that idea. I think that basically ALL religion has always been 'anxiety about that idea.' We aren't god's descendants. We are god's ancestors.
MGM wanted this to be a flagship Sci-Fi production, and they succeeded, using The Tempest as the underlying story. The landing of the Untied Planet cruiser on the planet, the stunning images of the Krell machine (which inspired the concept for Epsilon 3 in Babylon 5), the monster (c/o Walt Disney special animation), the brilliant use of the commander, his friendship with the Doctor, his miracle-working engineer - it laid the essential scope for much we go on to see in 60's shows. Star Trek truly benefited from this little wonder. Robbie went on to become iconic in several of his own movies, a couple of which appear on the 50th anniversary DVD of this gem.
I really like this film. I wish they had spent more time in the hidden super-tech city, but it is still a lot of fun. My other favorite is the one with the Metaluna Mutant.
I was reminded of a bit of Robbie the Robot trivia: The costume wasn't built to bend at the waist, so in the end sequence where he's seated at the console his legs are actually just a painted cardboard cutout
And don’t call me Shirley! I’m 68 and remember when Nielsen was known only as a dramatic actor, then Airplane! showed his comedic flair. I loved it and Police Squad!
A bit of trivia: the name "Bellerophon" is a reference to the Greek myth of a hero of the same name who was given Pegasus to help him kill a monster. But when he attempted to fly Pegasus to the top of Mount Olympus to see the gods, he was struck down by Zeus. This hints at the fate of the Krell revealed at the climax.
I absolutely ADORE this film. I watched it 1-2 years ago, and it blew most of modern drivel out of the water. Including Starwars TLJ and RoS. And yes, it has the original Startrek series vibe. Doesn't anyone else miss that vibe? This is why Startrek continues was so good, and I love watching this film from time to time. Definitely something I would go and watch with my date in a drive-in theatre with a huge bowl of pop-corn. Or at home, thanks to Corona-chan.
I watched this for a high school project 10 years ago. Loved it. I wish we maintained the high-brow, intellectual filmmaking philosophies of movie eras past; what my generation has inherited through film is essentially postmodernist garbage that's been metagamed so hard it can't hold a candle to the explorative unknowns of even 20 years ago, let alone the age of Forbidden Planet.
Great summary! I loved that movie, especially the psych-monster component. It seemed odd to have such an intelligent SF movie back in the days of 'The Blob'. Leslie Nielsen's great serious acting was exactly why he was cast in Airplane, right along with Robert Graves , Lloyd Bridges and other 'serious' actors. Leslie Nielsen just took to comedy, didn't he! Multi-talented!
I remember first watching Forbidden Planet on TV back in the late 60’s and it’s remained in my top 10 SF movies ever since. There have been attempts at bringing a remake to the screen over the years...... I dread what they’d do with it in current day ideology!
Dead on review. Forbidden Planet has been one of my favorite sci fi films since childhood. Other favorites of mine are "War of the Worlds" , "When Worlds Collide", "This Island Earth" and "The Time Machine".
Good review. Minor correction - Robby was not Robot in Lost in Space. Robot was completely different, although I'm sure one could say "inspired by" Robby's design. Robby (the prop/costume) appeared in numerous TV shows, including at least one ep of LiS alongside Robot the regular.
Dave, I'm a big scifi fan and I just watched this a while back. I loved it as a kid and I still enjoy it. I was very disappointed you didn't mention the groundbreaking soundtrack. The music was electronic sounds developed by Bebe & Louise Barron. Although it was overused in the movie the electronics developed by these pioneers was going to change music (sometimes for the worse) for all time.
Still my favorite SF movie. Staggeringly good for the era. Trek even nodded to it with the transporter effects. Many others since, including the movie "Serenity" which had a shuttle on the dead world with the ID C-57D painted on the side.
2:56 That underground facility looks like the inspiration the First civilization’s architecture in Assassin’s Creed. Particularly Revelations in the Animus.
