Logan's Run [Blu-ray]

In hindsight, this movie can be credited as one of the first cyberpunk movies ever made, and it's also a testament of how rigid the rating system for movies has become at present. Logan's Run was rated PG back in 1976 and includes nudity (almost full-frontal, no less) from Jenny Agutter in one scene, plus the clothes she wears are pretty much transparent throughout; you'd never see that in one of today's PG-rated films.The next few paragraphs contain spoilers of the plot, so for those of you who haven't seen the movie yet, you might want to skip over. I've never read the novel it's based on, but the premise of the movie is pretty unique, considering. About 300 years in the future, the whole of civilization is contained inside one huge domed city, with the ruins surrounding it the result of some apocalyptic event. Life inside the city is utopic. There are no worries beyond choosing what you're going to do with your free time. There are drugs. There's sex with no commitment (indeed, any kind of emotional attachment is looked on as an aberration). There's getting a different face at the local New You bodysculpting kiosk. Everything is provided for you by the computer mainframe that runs the city. There is no crime, save one. Running.You see, the price for this kind of carefree existence is that your life ends when you turn thirty. In an effort to maintain population control, the mainframe has conditioned people to accept their thirtieth birthday as 'Lastday' and present themselves for a special celebration called Carousel where they 'renew' and start life over. People know when their time arrives when a small crystal imbedded in the palm of their hand begins flashing.Certain individuals rebel against this and they've formed an underground movement with the ankh (the ancient Egyptian symbol of eternal life) as their icon. They don't believe in the myth of Carousel and they choose to run instead. The Sandmen, the only real police force the city has, exist specifically to hunt these Runners down and eliminate them. The main character of the movie is Logan 5, a Sandman, who is perfectly content with his job hunting Runners with his friend, until he meets up with Jessica 6, played by Jenny Agutter, who has one of the underground's ankhs in her possession. The mainframe then chooses him to infiltrate the underground movement and eliminate it from the inside. The incentive it gives him is by taking away his remaining time, forcibly turning him into a Runner. He begins to question everything he's been taught to believe after teaming up with Agutter's character to escape the city. Through their journey, being pursued all the while by Logan's Sandman friend, they discover a rather chilling side to both the city itself and the society within it.Outside the city they come across something they've never witnessed before, a man who's lived long enough to be in his dotage (played convincingly by Peter Ustinov of 'Spartacus' fame). They bring him back to the city, where Logan is captured and brought before the mainframe computer for questioning. The computer cannot reconcile his answers with the information it possesses and self destructs. Logan then reveals the Old Man to the rest of society, letting them know they don't have to die. People are then free to make their own decisions and live life as they see fit. End of story.END OF SPOILERThis movie was one of the first to portray the dangers of what civilization could become. At first glance, everything might seem to be bliss, but the degree to which everything has become impersonalized and controlled and how de-valued the individual has become in the story is really rather frightening. Look at society today. Companies now refer to us as 'human resources' rather than personnel, willing to cut 25,000 jobs here and 50,000 jobs there, calling it a 'business decision' and leaving many people on the verge of homelessness. Political correctness is currently all the rage. Computers are taking a much more prominent role in our personal lives than ever before. With our current 'entitlement' attitude, we pretty much insist on having everything set before us on a silver platter and complain LOUDLY when it isn't. Don't think. Exist. We are now SO content to let others handle our personal responsibilities that Logan's Run has almost a prophetic air to it. The one difference is that our lives don't currently have a time limit.Yet...This vision alone puts it up there as one of the classics of the day. I'm also not taking off any marks for the 1970s special effects. They may seem incredibly dated today, but they were considered good at the time. They just didn't have access to CGI. Also, the dialogue and the acting were par for the course for the time period so I'm giving that high marks, too. The movie was also popular enough to spawn a short-lived television series. The series was rather more cinematic than the movie in scope, considering some of the creatures the trio of adventurers comes across, but it was still entertaining in its own way.All in all, Logan's Run was a movie with a VERY powerful message behind it, and it is one worth listening to. Keep an open mind and you might enjoy it. And before you think of jumping the gun and trashing Logan's Run because it WAS a cheesy 1976 sci-fi flick, movie producer Joel Silver likes this show enough to be pushing to direct a new version of it. Two thumbs up.

This movie, like the original Planet of Apes, has the most impact the very first time you watch it. It depicts a dystopian future where no one is permitted to live above the age of 30. Old age is a forgotten concept. The most interesting part of this movie for me is watching their journey to the outside world. The "ice world" part was most strange. When they finally found an old man, it was like making a monumental discovery that they couldn't keep to themselves, and made many from their closed dystopian world wake up from their programmed slumber and acceptance of their fates. Great movie!

Item as advertised.

horrible color enhancement - i would have preferred an unaltered version / the colors are NOW too bright too contrasty too vivid - not at all like the era of the film

If you're a sci-fi fan, this is obligatory for based sci-fi in your physical media library. Still relevant to today's outlook on a dystopian future and A.I.

Arrived in good shape and time. DVD picture and sound are excellent. started out looking like Widescreen but changed to FULL screen. thank goodness for that. i plan on watching this again and again, that is how good this is. However, seems to have segments I don't remember (all good) also some i think have been removed (don't know for sure). over all I would recommend this DVD to all SciFi Fans.jack

This 1976 movie has a charming vintage cheesy quality to it. That's one of the reasons I like it. At the time it came out new in the theaters, it seemed like the top of movie technology. Now with all the special effects and computer graphics the movies have nowadays, this movie seems a bit cheesy, but in a charming, vintage way. Peter Ustinov is amusing and fun to watch. I love the futuristic city scale model they used for the distance views of the city and I love the the interior scenes of the city which were filmed at the West Atrium of the Apparel Mart building at the Dallas Market Center (which was demolished in 2004). It's a fun movie and it makes you glad to have the privilege and luck to live to a ripe old age.