As a Western fan, I see Gene Barry and Barry Sullivan and think of BAT MASTERSON and THE TALL MAN, in which Sullivan played Pat Garrett. It was great seeing these men teamed up and surviving in a claustrophobic dystopian future far from the wide-open ranges of the Old West.
Thinking of Sullivan as Pat Garrett also gave greater oomph to his wife's breaking the news that "Billy's dead."
This is the first and only episode of THE NAME OF THE GAME I've seen, so I can only judge it as a standalone TV movie.
THE GOOD. Several iconic 1970's science-fiction films are presaged here. The ambulance drive back to LA with shots of skeletons in rusted-out cars brought to mind the title sequence of THE OMEGA MAN, which would be released later in 1971. When Sandrelle offered herself to Glenn I thought of the "furniture" that came with the apartments in SOYLENT GREEN (set in 2022). Same for the scarcity of commonplace staples like milk or meat. The underground cities evoked the domed cities of LOGAN'S RUN, coupled with the population problem and whispered promise of people living safely and freely on the surface. All three of those films had as their base some disaster that upended society as we know it.
Another seventies movie that sprang to mind was Woody Allen's SLEEPER. And that film perhaps more than the others parallels LA 2017. Miles Monroe from 1973 wakes up in 2173 and has experiences similar to Glenn, adjusting to a similar yet utterly strange culture. The country is totalitarian, ruled by a shadowy figure who is never clearly seen. Eventually Miles like Glenn is recruited by a resistance movement. Glenn has Sandrelle as his kooky guide just as Woody had the kookier Diane Keaton as Luna leading him through a brave new world.
I loved the "Discard" club for old folks to jam out to ancient rock n' rollers; one of the film's prophecies that actually came true. We've actually lived long enough to see septuagenarian singers on tour as standard operating procedure, which robbed this scene of the satirical humor audiences in '71 would have enjoyed.
A highlight was the stellar cast assembled for this film. Gene Barry stars and is ably assisted by Barry Sullivan, a standout with a meaty part. Sharon Farrell won me over as the tragic pawn Sandrelle. Severn Darden and Paul Stewart were squandered, however, especially Darden. He gave flashes of his eccentric bombast (evident in films like THE PRESIDENT'S ANALYST), but mostly played it straight and restrained. (He would soon show up in another dystopian film, BATTLE FOR THE PLANET OF THE APES).
But the biggest disappointment was Edmond O'Brien as mad scientist Bergman. He has one scene, sitting straitjacketed in a chair, reading his lines off a cue card, maniacally flashing his eyes through the magnified lenses of his chunky glasses. Let's face it, O'Brien just phoned it in. He was probably done shooting by noon, picked up his check, and was on the putting green by one. And worse, all O'Brien gave us was a long, tedious info dump.
THE BAD. That info dump headlines what was wrong with this picture. So much exposition! Everyone Glenn spoke with was like a faucet gushing forth gallons of data on the ecological, societal, and governmental calamities that befell the planet since the 1970s.
I thought of a 22-year-old Al Gore, clutching well-thumbed copies of Carson's "Silent Spring" and Reich's "Greening of America," riveted to this movie as if it were a PBS documentary. If anything, the fact the ecological alarmism pictured here never came to pass should give pause to Greta and her legion of sycophantic climate hysterics. The film does demonstrate that those who fail to learn from history will rinse and repeat it (and find gullible suckers to believe it). Maybe that's why this series or this standalone episode have never been released on DVD? It's an embarrassment, at least on the environmental front.
More compelling when watching in the 2020s is its prediction of big business eventually taking over government. And not only business overstepping, but psychiatry, as headshrinkers serve as police and can deem any nonconformist a dangerous criminal (and eliminate them with impunity).
This film aired two years before Roe v. Wade opened the floodgates to abortion in 1973. Paul Stewart's character discusses "negating" the "rejects" and sterilizing the undesirable strains of humanity, describing a future where Margaret Sanger's eugenicist dreams were made manifest. That reminds me of a similarly themed dystopian sci-fi TV movie from later this same year: THE LAST CHILD starring Ed Asner, Michael Cole, and Janet Margolin.
Orwell rightly predicted the surveillance state seen here. But there's a welcome twist with the watchmen being a bunch of goldbrickers who aren't especially invested or concerned when a camera goes out. One guard is lamenting his fool kid brother getting shot down over Liverpool in our ongoing war with England. Little things like that add flavor and fun to the film, like the PA announcement promoting a rich and colorful career as a police informant.
Is nothing sacred? Even religion has been subsumed by the state. The networked churches broadcasting nationwide has become a reality, especially post-Covid. What I'd like to know is how the sabbath day got bumped back to Saturday!
I don't cast stones at the outdated technology. Who in 1971 could have envisioned smartphones or digital media? Seeing reel projectors, primitive computers, and 1970's fashions, haircuts, and vehicles didn't bother or distract me. With a little suspension of disbelief, it's easy to believe this was 2017.
So how does Glenn escape the matrix? Not a dream! Not an imaginary story! Okay, okay, it was a dream and an imaginary story. I did for a moment hope that when Glenn ran over the crest of that hill (policemen in hot pursuit) that he would stumble into the tear in the space-time continuum and return home to 1971, but that would open up all those pesky time travel questions (not to mention shouts of ripoff from those of us who love the "100 Yards Over the Rim" episode of TWILIGHT ZONE!). The story resolved just fine (and nice touch having Geoffrey Lewis bridge the 46-year span), though I thought Spielberg gilded the lily with the closeups on the exhaust puffs and the dead bird. If you didn't get the message by that point in the picture...
I enjoyed LA 2017 primarily for the performances and winning rapport between Western vets Gene Barry and Barry Sullivan going Buck Rogers instead of Roy Rogers. The story was enjoyable albeit overly ambitious; its reach exceeding its grasp. But I applaud all involved for making that reach.
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