1976’s Logan’s Run delivered an early sci fi entry in the Blockbuster era that may not quite count as essential but is still remembered as an important genre film.
What Is It?
The opening words to 1976’s Logan’s Run set up the premise of the film:
Sometime in the 23rd century . . . the survivors of war, overpopulation and pollution are living in a great domed city, sealed away from the forgotten world outside. Here, in an ecologically balanced world, mankind only lives for pleasure, freed by the servo-mechanisms which provide everything.
There’s only one catch: Life must end at thirty unless reborn in the fiery ritual of carrousel.
Loosely based on the 1967 novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, this movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where life is kept short by an unbending set of rules. People live to the age of 30 and live mostly carefree lives where they indulge their pleasures. But on their last day, the life clock in the palm of their hands begins to blink red and they must report to Carousel where they allegedly have a chance for renewal. But some are not so willing to die, and they become runners seeking a better life in a place known as Sanctuary. The elite corps referred to as the Sandmen are tasked with hunting them down and terminating them.
One Sandman, Logan 5, stumbles across a charm known as an ankh after killing a runner. The computer that runs the city recognizes the object and its link to Sanctuary and instructs Logan to use it to infiltrate the network that assists runners and destroy Sanctuary. He reluctantly sets out on this mission where he meets Jessica 6 and begins to learn some of the truths that the computer has hidden from the rest of the people. He must then make a decision as to whether he will carry out his mission or turn against the society he has served his entire life.
Cast: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Peter Ustinov, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett
Crew: Michael Anderson (Director), David Zelag Goodman (screenplay), William F. Nolan (Original Story), George Clayton (Original Story)
Original Release: 1976
Legacy:
One year before the release of Star Wars, Logan’s Run gave us an early blockbuster that delivered a decent sci fi film and helped to introduce the genre to a wider audience.
A Closer Look:
This early entry in the Blockbuster Era didn’t quite have the production values of some of the big-dollar films that would shortly follow it, but it still delivered a rare, well-done sci fi film for its day that blended a dystopian setting with plenty of titillating action and it ruled the genre in the months after its release. The summer prior to the debut of Logan’s Run, Jaws had rocked the theaters as the first major entry in what would become known as the Blockbuster Era, and in the following summer Star Wars would kick things into high gear. So coming between those two major events, Logan’s Run often gets overlooked, but it was a significant moment in the progression of blockbuster filmmaking and for sci fi fans at that point in time. With a budget of $9 million (unadjusted), this was no cheap, throwaway B-Movie–even though some of the special effects look rather dated to modern eyes–and it managed to wow audiences in 1976.
Story-wise, it delivered mostly just a good adventure film with hints of intelligence seeping into the script. It never really develops the setting or the characters to the point that they are fully fleshed out (the same can be said of the book), but you really don’t think about that too much as the slick production design steals away your attention from the few moments in the film that don’t deliver non-stop action. And the movie also takes its subject matter into a more adult realm by adding sex (a few brief nude scenes and some insinuations) and the more mature dystopian themes. These are little more than window dressing to the overall production, though, and if you think too hard about the plot, it quickly falls apart. But then the movie also keeps up its momentum with strong performances by its cast which includes a young Michael York along with Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Peter Ustinov, and Roscoe Lee Browne (a pre-Charlie’s Angels Farrah Fawcett even shows up briefly). And there’s that ultra-cool soundtrack that blended electronics with Jerry Goldsmith’s driving orchestral compositions.
Logan’s Run definitely owes much to the more serious science fiction movies that preceded it like Fantastic Voyage, Silent Running, and Soylent Green because of its stolid and mostly humorless delivery. It lacks the crowd savy and winking to the audience that would become common place with the Blockbuster Era films, but it does amp up the action and spectacle. It also represents a logical next step toward the more epic grandeur that the sci fi films would shift to after Star Wars changed the game. And while Logan’s Run doesn’t make its way to the top of many must-watch lists of sci fi movies, it still offers a decent genre entry that may have been more fun than significant and gives us a nice blast from the past.
Differences from the Book:
Spoilers Ahead. Like the book of the same name which came out in 1967, the film takes place in a dystopian future where people are only allowed to live to a certain age in order to control the population level. They live essentially a hedonistic lifestyle that is focused on pleasure and consumption and must accept that their lives will be terminated at a relatively young age. Logan is a Sandman who’s job it is to find and terminate runners, those who try to live longer than their pre-determined time. He decides to seek and destroy Sanctuary and joins up with Jessica (who does not know his true intentions) to find it. He changes his mind along the way and accepts the idea of living longer in Sanctuary, but he must deal with pursuit from his Sandman partner Francis who considers Logan a Runner.
The basic story structure is the same, but the movie and the book are very different. People only live to 21 in the book vs. 30 in the movie and Carrousel does not exist in the original story (termination is through “deep sleep’). Logan is instructed by the computer to destroy Sanctuary in the movie whereas it is a personal choice in the book to leave behind a legacy. The population is not confined to domed cities and people in the book can go anywhere in the world. And Sanctuary really does exist in the book with Logan and Jessica ultimately reaching their destination. So those who had read the book and expected a similar story may have been disappointed by the movie. Many of the changes were to make it more filmable and also to tailor the story to a wider audience, and ultimately it still produced a decent sci fi film.
Why Was There No Sequel?
William F. Nolan wrote the sequel Logan’s World (without George Clayton Johnson), and that came out in 1977. It would be followed by Logan’s Search in 1980 and Logan’s Return in 2001. The film adaptation of the first book proved to be a hit at the Box Office, and it sure seemed like a sequel would follow in the theaters. In fact, the Logan’s World story offered a good template for a second movie because (SPOILER ALERT) the society from the first book had collapsed prior to the events of its sequel (END SPOILER). MGM decided to go a different route, though, and do a television series based on the property. But that was a complete reboot with a new cast and had Logan and Jessica along with an android name Rem traveling around a post-apocalyptic world looking for Sanctuary while pursed by the ever-diligent Francis (you can read more about that series at this link). The show did not find much of an audience, though, and it was cancelled after a half-season of episodes aired. That stalled the momentum of the franchise, and a big screen sequel was never produced.
Should It Be Rebooted?
Some may consider this film a sci fi classic that should not be touched, but the fact is that this one is more of a guilty pleasure and an adaptation more faithful to the books would be welcome. Attempts have been in the works for quite some time, but nothing has come of that yet. That all started in the 1990s with Joel Silver attached as executive producer and Warner Bros. buying up the rights to the property. Over the years, directors such as Bryan Singer, Joseph Kosinski, and Simon Kinberg have been attached to the project with writers like Dan Harris, Christopher McQuarrie, and Alex Garland tasked with writing the script. Joel Silver has since stepped away from the project and there is no telling where it stands after the Warner Bros. merger with Discovery and the pending merger with Paramount. But perhaps at some point we will get another Logan’s Run movie.
Interesting Facts:
Logan’s Run was considered a major Box Office success at the time (earning $25 million domestically) and it spawned a brief period of Logan-mania in the months after its release. The original novel began to fly off the bookshelves and two sequels to that book appeared shortly thereafter: Logan’s World in 1977 and Logan’s Search in 1980. In addition, Marvel released a comic book version that started off adapting the movie then carried on into new adventures (though it didn’t last long). Then in 1977, a television series (see above) appeared for a short run CBS. After that, though, Logan-mania quickly began to fade as Star Wars had blasted into the forefront of most genre fans’ minds.
Logan’s Run had plenty of sex appeal with its mega-hot cast and skimpy outfits for the women, but the original plan was for the actors to wear even more revealing costumes. However, because of the high cost for the makeup needed to apply to all of that bare skin, that plan was dropped.
Where Can You Watch It?
The movie has been released on DVD and Blu-ray and is widely available. You can also purchase it VOD and it is available for streaming for free (with ads) on Tubi TV.
