Mr Lime
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‘Logan’s Run’ (1976)
I first saw ‘Logan’s Run’ at the time of its original cinema release and despite being starved of big screen science fiction in those days, I recall that I remained thoroughly unimpressed and felt that I’d flushed my money down the bog. Flash forward to this week and a Blu Ray at the bargain price of £4 tempted me to give this film a second viewing and possibly re-evaluate my original impression.
Oh dear.
To say this was a total ****ing mess from start to finish and one of the worst examples of big screen science fiction I’ve ever had the misfortune to waste two hours on, would be to undersell my feelings regarding this monumental turkey.
The central theme of the film, one pregnant with potential, is woefully under-explored. No, make that completely under-explored or even adequately explained, by one of the worst screenplays I have ever encountered. Ah yes, the screenplay!
This is one sorry, meandering mess of half baked ideas, thoroughly lame and unexciting action set pieces and characters almost totally lacking in any intelligent motivation whatsoever. To say that the characters are thinly drawn would be a gross understatement, as characterisation and motivation along with logic and common-sense are totally eschewed in this mess of a screenplay. A screenplay that is also replete with some of the most banal and stilted dialogue you’re ever likely to hear in a major motion picture.
The performances from all involved are simply atrocious. We know that the likes of Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Richard Jordan are more than capable performers, but even they cannot rise above the appalling shite the screenplay asks them to deliver. The result is excruciatingly awful, ham-fisted dialogue almost every time someone opens their gob to speak.
The film features a pre-fame Farrah Fawcett and it speaks volumes to the level of performances in this turgid flick, that even one so challenged as she in the thesping stakes, delivers a performance that is pretty much on a par with everyone else in the film.
Then, just as you think you’ve seen the worst, in the third act along comes Peter Ustinov, who serves up a performance accompanied by several thick slices of ham and a highly dubious American accent.
As I said, this was only my second viewing of the film in its entirety since its original cinema release, but I recall sometime in the early ‘80s wandering into a screening room at a science fiction convention and catching a glimpse of ‘Logan’s Run’, which was a perennial convention favourite at the time. This was only a few years after its cinema release, but I remember thinking at the time that the brief snippet I saw looked incredibly dated, even then. As you can imagine several decades later, things have not improved.
This is a film that is appallingly dated in almost every conceivable area; conceptualisation, scripting, performances, dialogue, set design, costumes and some highly risible future tech. I am never one to criticise SFX in older films for having dated somewhat, as many productions employed what was the state of the art at the time and should not be criticised in the light of today’s more sophisticated technologies. However...
I must make special mention of the robot in the ice cave, which must be a contender for the worst ever automaton ever seen in any SF film. Some might say ‘Robot Monster’ has it beat, but that was a zero budget, poverty row production, whereas ‘Logan’s Run’ was a multi million dollar production from a major studio and they managed to deliver something that looked like a build-it-from-Fairy Liquid-bottles ‘Blue Peter’ project. I say this not in the light of today’s more sophisticated screen FX, as back in 1976, I recall that I almost pissed myself when I saw this.
To sum up, this is a film that was badly in need of a decent concept, a decent screenplay and a decent director, not to mention the services of a decent script doctor to spark up some of the worst dialogue I’ve ever encountered in any major motion picture. And several of the performers in this train-wreck really should have known better. But, money talks and credibility walks, I suppose.
The film also features what is probably the worst musical score in the illustrious career of the otherwise marvellous Jerry Goldsmith. But let's face it, he was hardly given inspirational material to work with, was he?
I’ve lost count of the number of times over the years that I’ve heard this disaster referred to as a classic SF film. I can only assume this is from people who’ve never actually seen it, perchance, or those that think “old” and “classic” mean the same thing. Have no doubts, ‘Logan’s Run’ is the poster child for bad science fiction cinema and only a “classic” in the eyes of those that regard the likes of ‘Space 1999’ and ‘Blake’s 7’ as “classic” SF.
Easily one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. However I should easily get a fiver for this in the car boot sale tomorrow and thus turn a tidy £1 profit!
I first saw ‘Logan’s Run’ at the time of its original cinema release and despite being starved of big screen science fiction in those days, I recall that I remained thoroughly unimpressed and felt that I’d flushed my money down the bog. Flash forward to this week and a Blu Ray at the bargain price of £4 tempted me to give this film a second viewing and possibly re-evaluate my original impression.
Oh dear.
To say this was a total ****ing mess from start to finish and one of the worst examples of big screen science fiction I’ve ever had the misfortune to waste two hours on, would be to undersell my feelings regarding this monumental turkey.
The central theme of the film, one pregnant with potential, is woefully under-explored. No, make that completely under-explored or even adequately explained, by one of the worst screenplays I have ever encountered. Ah yes, the screenplay!
This is one sorry, meandering mess of half baked ideas, thoroughly lame and unexciting action set pieces and characters almost totally lacking in any intelligent motivation whatsoever. To say that the characters are thinly drawn would be a gross understatement, as characterisation and motivation along with logic and common-sense are totally eschewed in this mess of a screenplay. A screenplay that is also replete with some of the most banal and stilted dialogue you’re ever likely to hear in a major motion picture.
The performances from all involved are simply atrocious. We know that the likes of Michael York, Jenny Agutter and Richard Jordan are more than capable performers, but even they cannot rise above the appalling shite the screenplay asks them to deliver. The result is excruciatingly awful, ham-fisted dialogue almost every time someone opens their gob to speak.
The film features a pre-fame Farrah Fawcett and it speaks volumes to the level of performances in this turgid flick, that even one so challenged as she in the thesping stakes, delivers a performance that is pretty much on a par with everyone else in the film.
Then, just as you think you’ve seen the worst, in the third act along comes Peter Ustinov, who serves up a performance accompanied by several thick slices of ham and a highly dubious American accent.
As I said, this was only my second viewing of the film in its entirety since its original cinema release, but I recall sometime in the early ‘80s wandering into a screening room at a science fiction convention and catching a glimpse of ‘Logan’s Run’, which was a perennial convention favourite at the time. This was only a few years after its cinema release, but I remember thinking at the time that the brief snippet I saw looked incredibly dated, even then. As you can imagine several decades later, things have not improved.
This is a film that is appallingly dated in almost every conceivable area; conceptualisation, scripting, performances, dialogue, set design, costumes and some highly risible future tech. I am never one to criticise SFX in older films for having dated somewhat, as many productions employed what was the state of the art at the time and should not be criticised in the light of today’s more sophisticated technologies. However...
I must make special mention of the robot in the ice cave, which must be a contender for the worst ever automaton ever seen in any SF film. Some might say ‘Robot Monster’ has it beat, but that was a zero budget, poverty row production, whereas ‘Logan’s Run’ was a multi million dollar production from a major studio and they managed to deliver something that looked like a build-it-from-Fairy Liquid-bottles ‘Blue Peter’ project. I say this not in the light of today’s more sophisticated screen FX, as back in 1976, I recall that I almost pissed myself when I saw this.
To sum up, this is a film that was badly in need of a decent concept, a decent screenplay and a decent director, not to mention the services of a decent script doctor to spark up some of the worst dialogue I’ve ever encountered in any major motion picture. And several of the performers in this train-wreck really should have known better. But, money talks and credibility walks, I suppose.
The film also features what is probably the worst musical score in the illustrious career of the otherwise marvellous Jerry Goldsmith. But let's face it, he was hardly given inspirational material to work with, was he?
I’ve lost count of the number of times over the years that I’ve heard this disaster referred to as a classic SF film. I can only assume this is from people who’ve never actually seen it, perchance, or those that think “old” and “classic” mean the same thing. Have no doubts, ‘Logan’s Run’ is the poster child for bad science fiction cinema and only a “classic” in the eyes of those that regard the likes of ‘Space 1999’ and ‘Blake’s 7’ as “classic” SF.
Easily one of the worst films I’ve ever seen. However I should easily get a fiver for this in the car boot sale tomorrow and thus turn a tidy £1 profit!
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