Logan's Run

Logan's Run is a movie I have a lot of affection for, even though it's pretty dated and a little silly. I mean the premise is good, it's just the 70's special effects and some of the acting are a little off. But it presents a fascinating idea- what if, in the future, everyone lived a life of pleasure, free from work or stress, but only until the age of thirty? And once you hit that age you have to turn yourself in to be "renewed". Would you have confidence that you would be renewed? And what happens if you're not?

This movie is a lot of fun and a great dystopian. You just have to roll with the dated effects. The year is 2274 and humanity lives in a domed city, with no idea what is on the outside. Or at least this city lives that way- they never really say if there are other cities out there and what, if anything, they do. But everything is pretty much automated and people walk around in these silly outfits and just... have fun, I guess. No one knows who their parents are, the so- called Nursery apparently handles all that. It's a totally hedonistic lifestyle, and periodically all the people who have hit thirty go to a ceremony called carousel where they wear robes and and these creepy looking masks and submit themselves for Renewal.

Logan 5 is a Sandman- a sort of police unit that tracks down and terminates Runners. Those who decide they don't want to die at thirty or take their chance at being renewed flee for a place called Sanctuary. This haven is rumored to be somewhere outside the city. Logan is instructed by the city computer to pretend he's a Runner, and to seek out Sanctuary and destroy it. He meets Jessica 6, a woman who has contacts with Runners, and sets out for Sanctuary. His best friend Francis 7, meanwhile, is infuriated when Logan runs, and sets out to stop him.

It's probably not a spoiler to say that Logan and Jessica eventually make it out of the city, although the escape sequences are pretty good. As to whether they find Sanctuary- well you gotta watch to find that out!

The movie is not shy about nudity- some scenes were apparently cut to make a PG rating, and the scenes in the Love Shop are quite lurid. This is a society devoted to hedonism, after all. And again you have to overlook the sets and some of the effects- I got a distinct Disney World vibe from the citywide shots- and I don't mean that as disparaging, but just the monorail and the overall look-  a very 70's retro SF vibe. But overlooking that, this is a fun movie and has a lot to offer.

If you want another take on Logan's Run (that looks at the book vs the movie) check out this post over at Books, Vertigo & Tea.

Spoiler Stuff

Let's talk spoilers. I thought it a little too coincidental that just after Logan retires a Runner carrying an ankh, he then meets a girl who *surprise* openly wears an ankh. And the scene where Logan summons a girl for sex- Jessica 6- and she decides she's not interested, she just put herself on the Circuit to try it- is a bit cringeworthy.

I love the scene where they're wading through the National Mall, which has apparently flooded, and the ruins of Washington, D.C. Finding the old man in the Senate chamber, surrounded by all his cats- and finding no one else- was effective too.

The movie has a cool ending, although I'm not sure why the city computer malfunctions so easily when Logan gives his report. And why are there explosions all over the city as a result? That's a little iffy, but the end scene with the people streaming out of their ruined city and seeing the old man- the first old person they've ever seen- was done well.