Have you ever wanted to see a young Leslie Nielsen playing a space-age hero? What if the movie also had the debut of one of science fictions most iconic robots? If neither of these are appealing, perhaps Forbidden Planet can tempt you with a virginal beauty, a mad scientist, and a story that borrows heavily from Shakespeare’s The Tempest. For the casual film watcher, Forbidden Planet is a fun little science fiction film, and for film and science fiction enthusiast, Forbidden Planet influenced Star Wars, John Carpenter’s The Thing, and the Star Trek franchise. With extensive special features and beautiful picture and sound transfer, the Blu-ray release of Forbidden Planet should not be missed.
In Forbidden Planet, Commander J.J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) has been sent to Planet Altair-4 to relieve the space crew of their duties and send them home. When they arrive, they discover that the entire original crew that landed on Planet Altair-4 has died except for Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon). When Dr. Morbius first landed on the planet, a mysterious monster killed the entire crew except for Dr. Morbius and his wife. Now, Dr. Morbius lives alone on Planet Altair-4 with his beautiful daughter Altaira (Anne Francis) and his robot Robby. As Commander Adams falls for Altaira, the mysterious monster returns again and begins killing off crew members, and Commander Adams must destroy the monster before it kills again.
Forbidden Planet is a little hokey upon first look. The dialogue is clunky and full of exposition. There is a need to explain the science behind everything presented in the film from Robby the Robot to the Krell’s hidden laboratories, slowing down the progression of events, and the sets and special effects are dated. Still, in the context of its time there is no denying that Forbidden Planet was something completely new.
Science fiction films of the 1950s were cheesy popcorn fluff. The stories were pretty thin, and the special effects were a joke. Studios did not put major money behind science fiction films. When MGM made Forbidden Planet, they paid $100,000 just to build Robby the Robot. In 1956, $100,000 was a sizable chunk of change, and while it is easy to chuckle at the dialogue, Forbidden Planet was exploring the human condition and original sin. Today’s science fiction films look at race relations (District 9), prostitution (Firefly), and what makes humankind unique (Blade Runner), and they owe a debt to Forbidden Planet.
Before I get to the special features, I have to give enormous props to the folks responsible for the digital transfer of the film. The picture and audio were crystal clear, and it made the viewing experience all the better.
Blu-ray Bonus Features
I don’t usually like to spend a lot of time talking about the special features, but Forbidden Planet had some real gems. The Blu-ray includes Robby the Robot’s follow-up film The Invisible Boy, the TCM documentary Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us, excerpts from The MGM Parade, and 2 documentary featurettes on the making of Forbidden Planet and the cultural impact of Robby the Robot.
Watch the Skies! was a real treat for me because they interviewed some of my favorite filmmakers including Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, George Lucas, and Ridley Scott, and each filmmaker talked about their favorite classic sci-fi films. They all grew up in an era when schools ran “duck and cover” drills and people were terrified of the atomic bomb, and science fiction spoke to their fears. For me, I loved hearing how B-movies influenced these acclaimed directors and making the connections between the films of past and their recent films.
The accompanying documentaries were also great for putting Forbidden Planet in historical perspective. They had interviews with the designer of Robby the Robot as well as cast and crew from the film. As a music lover, I also enjoyed hearing more about the music of Forbidden Planet written by Louis and Bebe Barron. Forbidden Planet had the first entirely electronic soundtrack, but due to issues with the musicians union, they could not be credited as composers and thus could not be nominated for an Academy Award. After watching the documentaries, I wanted to go back and watch the film again.
"Forbidden Planet" is on sale September 7, 2010 and is rated G. Action, Adventure, Romance, Sci-Fi. Directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox. Written by Cyril Hume, Irving Block, Allen Adler, William Shakespeare. Starring Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon.
