Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet (1956)

Runtime: 98 minutes

Directed by: Fred M. Wilcox

Starring: Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly

From: MGM

I saw this movie again on television last night. The first viewing was a long time ago. I am glad I finally saw it again after all of these years. The Letterboxd review is below and I will return tomorrow night.

This motion picture is another example of a film that I had seen before but that viewing was many years ago (in this case, around 20 or so); when I saw TCM was showing it last night I knew that was the right time to check out this sci-fi classic again.

This tale is basically Shakespeare's The Tempest. A ship goes into the far reaches of space to check on a colony that hasn't had any contact in the past 20 years. They land and discover a large building on an otherwise barren planet and the only occupants is an intelligent scientist (Walter Pidgeon), his daughter Altaira (Anne Francis), who the ship's crew immediately all drool over and make blunt comments about her physical beauty, and a charming robot known as Robbie the Robot. The crew is not wanted there, and not just because multiple men fall for Altaira. A mysterious force killed almost all the colony soon after they got there and it appears as if it's returned... oh, and a mysterious race known as the Krill used to live there long ago and their technology is still around.

The movie is not fast-paced and that's OK with me as it's an intelligent and mature sci-fi where philosophy is a key component in trying to figure out what's going on. Well, the views on women and how all those men acted as soon as they saw an attractive blonde was not mature, but other than that...I do enjoy science fiction and how it can be used to explore topics of a broad scope, such as what it means to be a human, a person's innermost struggles or using metaphors to address societal issues. I won't delve into details on what this film is really about in case someone hasn't seen it yet but wish to in the future.The 50's view of the future is quite pleasing and not only are the special effects still pretty cool, but the electronic score is really rad.

While I understand those who think this is “too dull” or “unexciting”, to me it's a very interesting and astute science fiction movie from the past. I was happy to finally see it again.