Thursday, November 19, 2009

Logan's Run

This is a stupid reason to log on but I'm compelled.

Logan's Run. No J, it is not about a long distance runner....for the 4th time.

Someone suggested I see this movie. Probably when I was watching Omega Man, which except for Charlton Heston's need to perpetually overact, is pretty good (though no competition for Soylent Green).

This is another film quite obviously inspired by We, a Russian novel by Evgeny Zamyatin. Odd that. Even Orwell and Huxley have admitted being inspired by this book. A book not available to Russians until some 20 years later.

This movie has quite possibly the worst special effects in history. Prime food for MST3K. The guns "shoot" magnesium, so a nice green explosion occurs every time they awkwardly discharge their guns. They are all terrible shots. And you can see the devices on the ground where the laser guns supposedly "hit". I can't go into all the absolutely terrible special effects.

The costumes though, well the girls anyway, are hot in a Space Babe sort of way. In fact there a lot of great costume ideas if anybody would ever actually get your reference. The men on the other hand, are pretty much dressed as the ambiguously gay duo.

However, maybe halfway to three-quarters through the movie, they reach this old man character who is a downright pleasure to watch. His simple yet predictably wise lines are beautifully entertaining.

So what am I saying. This movie is rough to get through if you think you're getting a quality classic. But it may be worth checking out for a good laugh and a genuine quality second half.

3 comments:

Michael Arrowood said...

Have you ever seen "Silent Running"? Speaking of sci-fi films from the '70s, and era that is dear to my heart. I think I may be the only person alive who remembers that movie... first time I ever saw Bruce Dern.

Traveling Ciguapa said...

I have not, I'll look into it. I've seen "Cool Runnings". Does that count? ...

Michael Arrowood said...

Pro-environmental sci-fi with lovable robots. "Star Wars" influenced by some of the effects. Set in the orbit of Saturn, not Jamaica. :)

Then there's "THX1138" - there's an obscure one, even though it was George Lucas' first movie. Can't remember a thing about it...

And try "Barbarella" for pure camp! You've probably seen that one. It's a must.