Forbidden Planet (1956)

"So, Timmy, have you ever been stuck in a hostile environment?"
Forbidden Planet (Fred Wilcox, 1956)

Interesting how much debate there is over whether this is a great film or not. I've been following it, admittedly halfheartedly, on the IMDB fora for about a month now. And both sides have some very good points. From the standpoint of moviemaking, it does wear its B-movie origins on its sleeve. The acting is competent at best and mawkish most of the time. The direction isn't awful, but it's certainly nothing inspiring (though this can be said of most sci-fi films; Alien and Bladerunner are the exception, not the rule). The script, which borrows liberally from both Shakespeare and Asimov, sounds more like a dime novel than either of its supposed forebears. Still, I can't deny that all that pales in comparison to the atmosphere that Fred Wilcox (Lassie Come Home) and his crew cooked up for this movie.

The plot: Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen in his second big-screen role) and his rather small crew have travelled to a planet where a colony had set down twenty years before, never to be heard from again. When they get there, they discover the colony's sole survivor, Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), and his beautiful daughter Altaira (Anne Francis). Unfortunately, they also discover something else-- the something else that killed the rest of the colonists.

It's a pretty skinny plot, but you're not watching this movie for the plot. Much of what became standard, if not cliché, in the science fiction realm (thanks to the many knockoffs of this movie that followed, as well as the Twilight Zone television series, which reused many of the film's props and sets over the years) emerged here. And, yeah, a lot of it does look cliché now, especially if you're a big fan of Twilight Zone. But if you can think about it as a lot of tropes that had never, at the time, been seen before, you may be able to catch a glimpse of the magic here. In fact, that so much of the film has become cliché in the ensuing four decades should tip you off to just how profoundly influential it's been. Couple that with the B-movie script-- and one thing you can say for B-movies, they were usually well-paced and fun, if shallow-- and the movie does still hold up very well after all this time. Bottom line, it's a lot of fun. ****

Fantastic Set!
This is a wonderful set to commerate this movie! We enjoyed everything about it and all the extra features!! We bought three of them, one as a gift and one to open and enjoy and the thrid to keep sealed! This is our most favorite old SiFi, campy movie! Can't tell you how many times we have enjoyed it!! This set is a great collectors edition, a must have! It's worth passing down to the grandchildren and beyond!!

Forbidden Planet
Shakespeare's "Tempest" is the model for this exceptional science fiction film. I looked for differences. Prospero and Miranda are stranded on a Mediterranean island. Morbius and his daughter are marooned on the 4th planet circling the star Altair. Ariel is a spirit. Robby the Robot is a man-made servant. Caliban's evil does not match that of Monsters of the Id. Shakespeare spares Prospero. Morbius dies when Altair 4 blows up. We wonder if mankind will suffer the same fate as the Krell.