Logan's Run (film)
Logan's Run is a 1976 science fiction film based on the novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources is managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of killing everyone who reaches the age of thirty, thus neatly (and inhumanely) avoiding the issue of overpopulation which was of growing concern at the time. The story follows the actions of Logan 5, a "Sandman", as he "runs" from society's lethal demand.
The 1976 film version, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Richard Jordan, and Jenny Agutter, was shot primarily in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex (including locations such as the Fort Worth Water Gardens and the Dallas Market Center) between June and September 1975. The film only uses the basic premise from the novel (everyone must die at a specific age, Logan runs with Jessica as his companion while being chased by Francis). The motivations of the characters are quite different in the film.
The film won an Academy Award for Special Achievement for its visual effects, and was nominated for two other Oscars. It received the Saturn Award for Best Science Fiction Film, and was nominated for a Nebula Award for Best Script. Logan's Run was the first film made using Dolby Stereo.
The film begins with an on-screen preamble which summarizes 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 lives only for pleasure,
free
by the servo-mechanisms which provide everything.
There's just one catch:
Life must end at thirty unless reborn in the fiery ritual of Carousel.
After
the preamble, we see an overview of the domes of the submerged city. As the opening
credits roll, the camera zooms inside a dome, where various buildings are located,
interconnected by clear tubes which appear to function as a transportation system.
The scene dissolves into a close-up of an infant's hand, which has a clear crystal rosette implanted in it. We soon learn that the crystal is the visual representation of the baby's "Lifeclock"; it changes colour as the person ages, turning yellow, then green, then red. As someone approaches their "Lastday" it begins to blink, and it is black once they die.
The infant whose hand is in the first scene turns out to be in a nursery, and Logan 5 (played by York) is watching him. Logan is a Sandman, though unlike the Sandman of folklore, the "sleep" that Logan and other Sandmen provide is "termination" (death) for "runners", people who refuse to report to Carousel for the fate described in the preamble.
In Carousel, there is the hope of Renewal -- whether this is some form of survival or of reincarnation is not explained in the script. Neither Logan nor his friend, fellow Sandman Francis 7, have ever known anyone to Renew, though Francis takes it as a matter of faith that Sandmen do in fact Renew.
Francis is somewhat more irreverent than Logan -- as he proves by getting the attention of Logan's child by banging on the window with his DS Gun (thereby setting off the alarms).
The two soon leave the nursery, entering a car which carries them through the transportation system to the Arcade, to witness a Carousel ceremony in which some Sandmen are trying for Renewal. During the ceremony, Logan receives a message assigning him a runner to track down. Francis sees Logan leave and joins him in the pursuit.
After the runner is killed, Logan gathers the runner's personal effects, then the body is sprayed with a chemical which dissolves it completely.
The next scene is of Logan at home. In search of sex, he activates the "circuit", a device which is depicted as a sort of teleportation device. Logan uses a remote control to summon someone from the circuit — this is how he meets Jessica 6 (played by Agutter). Although she leaves after deciding not to have sex with him after all, the fact that Jessica was wearing a decorative collar with an ankh pendant hanging from it turns out to be a clue that she and Logan will soon meet again.
York as Logan
5, with blinking lifeclock.Logan and Francis are next seen at Sandman headquarters.
When Logan turns in the personal effects he had gathered from the runner —
effects that included an ankh — he is summoned by the computer to another
area where he is given a special assignment. He is ordered to infiltrate an underground
railroad assisting Runners who are trying to reach a place of safety, known as
"Sanctuary." The ankh is an identification symbol affiliated with it.
So that he can pass as a runner, the computer advances his Lifeclock to blinking.
When Logan does not get a satisfactory answer upon asking if his Lifeclock will
be restored to its previous setting once his assignment is complete, he becomes
a "Runner" himself in reality, and begins taking a closer look at the
Lifeclock process, realizing that he has never known anyone whose Lifeclock has
been extended, "Sandman" or otherwise.
Remembering the ankh she was wearing, Logan meets Jessica again, seeking her help in reaching sanctuary. Jessica is skeptical about his interest in running, but becomes convinced of his sincerity when Logan helps a runner instead of killing her. Francis, unaware of Logan's assignment but witnessing Logan's failure to kill a runner, kills the runner himself and begins to pursue Logan and Jessica.
Logan and Jessica soon encounter Box (a large silvery cyborg played by Roscoe Lee Browne). Box turns out to be a now insane cyborg whose former job of processing food for the domed city had ended when the food deliveries ended, and Box decided that his new job is to freeze the sanctuary seekers who have started to appear. Logan is able to destroy Box, and the two continue their search for Sanctuary.
Logan
5 and Jessica 6 in the outside worldAs Logan and Jessica attempt to reach Sanctuary,
they soon leave the domed civilization, with Francis in pursuit. Once away from
the city, they discover that their Lifeclocks have become clear.
They discover that outside there are forests, streams, and remnants of a prior civilization that features landmarks easily recognized as being part of the National Mall in Washington, D.C.. In the process of investigation, they discover that it is this world outside that is the Sanctuary that Logan was seeking. They meet an old man (played by Ustinov), who is completely bewildering to them, since they have never known anyone older than 30. They research the past civilization in the old Senate Chamber, seeing pictures of elderly and distinguished looking people (notably United States Presidents Franklin Pierce and Abraham Lincoln) in paintings. Francis eventually catches up and has Jessica at gunpoint, but is so shocked to find his Lifeclock having also become clear that he drops the Gun, which she then throws out of his reach. This begins hand-to-hand combat between Francis and Logan, who eventually wins. Francis, disoriented, sees Logan's clear Lifeclock and happily congratulates his friend: "Logan- you Renewed..!" Then he dies.
Logan
and Jessica decide to return to the domed city to tell the inhabitants what they've
seen and learned, and invite the old man to join them on their journey back. Once
outside the domes, the old man waits as Logan and Jessica enter the city. Inside
the city, they are arrested, and are brought to the city computer for interrogation.
Logan tells the computer about his findings — there is no Sanctuary, nothing
but ruins and an old man outside the city, and all the Runners were frozen by
Box. This information runs contrary to what the computer holds as established
fact, leading it to say “input contrary” (its own variation of "does
not compute") and it explodes in a fit of cognitive dissonance. This causes
a chain reaction of explosions and electrical discharges throughout the city,
blasting the dome open to the outside world. Logan and Jessica (and eventually
the entire city populace) flee, and the under-thirty citizens meet the first old
man that any had ever seen.
Tagline : Welcome to the 23rd Century
Cast
Michael York
- Logan
Richard Jordan - Francis
Jenny Agutter - Jessica
Roscoe
Lee Browne - Box
Farrah Fawcett - Holly (as Farrah Fawcett-Majors)
Michael Anderson Jr-. Doc
Peter Ustinov - Old Man
Randolph Roberts
- 2nd Sanctuary Man
Lara Lindsay - The Woman Runner
Gary Morgan -
Billy
Michelle Stacy - Mary 2
Laura Hippe - Woman Customer
David
Westberg - Sandman
Camilla Carr - Sanctuary Woman
Greg Lewis - Cub (as
Gregg Lewis)
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