Logan's Run (1976)

An idyllic science fiction future has one major drawback: life must end at the age of thirty.

Director:

Michael Anderson

Writers:

David Zelag Goodman (screenplay by), William F. Nolan (based on the novel "Logan's Run")

Stars:

Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan

Nominated for 2 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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)

Storyline

It's 2274, and on the surface, it all seems to be an idyllic society. Living in a city within an enclosed dome, there is little or no work for humans to perform, and inhabitants are free to pursue all of the pleasures of life. There is one catch however: your life is limited and when you reach thirty, it is terminated in a quasi-religious ceremony known as "carrousel". Some, known as "runners", try to escape their fate when the time comes, and it's the job of Sandmen to track them down and kill them. Logan (Michael York) is such a man, and with several years before his own termination date, thinks nothing of the job he does. Soon after meeting a young woman, Jessica-6 (Jenny Agutter), he is ordered to become a runner and infiltrate a community outside the dome known as "Sanctuary" and to destroy it. Pursued by his friend Francis (Richard Jordan), also a Sandman, Logan and Jessica find their way to the outside. There, they discover a beautiful, virtually uninhabited world. Logan ...

---

Plot Keywords:

biosphere | dystopia | nursery | ageism | amnesia | 

---

Taglines:

Welcome to the 23rd century. A perfect world of total pleasure...with just one catch.

---

Genres:

Action | Sci-Fi

---

Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 June 1976 (USA)

Also Known As:

Logan's Run

Filming Locations:

Dallas Market Center: World Trade Center: Hall of Nations, 2050 N Stemmons Fwy, Dallas, Texas, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

119 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby System Noise Reduction-High Fidelity) 4-Track Stereo

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The waterfalls and steps Logan jumps into to get back into the dome are the "active pool" of the Water Gardens, in Fort Worth, Texas. The main pool used to be nine feet deep, but it closed in 2004 after four people drowned near the spot where Logan and Jessica dove in. When it reopened in 2007, the depth had been reduced to two feet.

---

Goofs

Logan-5's outfit was torn by receiving wounds from the New Face machine, yet for the rest of the movie, only his outfit is torn, his body bears no marks at all.

---

Quotes

[first lines]
Logan: [tapping on a glass window of maternity room] Wake up.
Francis: Logan, you are here. I couldn't believe it when they told me. What are you doing?
Logan: [indicates baby] Logan 6. Well it's not everyday that they authorize a new sandman. I tell you Francis,
[indicating baby]
Logan: that's him.
Francis: Well maybe, maybe not. What does it matter? Anyway, he isn't yours anymore.
Logan: [continues tapping lightly on the glass]
Francis: All right, you want me to wake him?
[bangs loudly on the glass with his baton]
[...]

---

Alternate Versions

A bootleg audio recording exists of the May 1976 sneak preview in San Diego, suggesting that the preview cut ran approximately 130 minutes. In addition to the inclusion of the scene after the titles where Francis kills a runner who falls into a pool to applause from onlookers, it includes:

• A longer exchange in the Nursery.
• A longer Carousel sequence, with no overdubbed computer voice announcing Last Day.
• Slightly longer scenes between Logan and Jessica, including one where Jessica asks if Logan thinks "flame-out" is the ultimate kill. Another cut bit includes Logan explaining the danger of cubs "flying on Muscle," an unauthorized drug that "speeds up the reflexes" but is "no good for anyone over 13; shake you and me to pieces."
• A brief snip where Francis hears Logan's page to Cathedral and announces he will go to help him.
• A longer introduction to Holly, who announces that she is "Holly 13" and that "in ancient times, my number was unlucky."
• A longer Sex Shop sequence.
• There is a reference in Box's dialogue to the ice sculpture existing in the preview print because he says "What a pair! I'd like to sculpt you...Let me sculpt you and I'll show you where the others have gone...over there, arms 'round each other...nude, of course..." The dialogue between Logan and Jessica as they pose also sheds light on the plot hole of why Logan signaled the Sandmen to the Runners' hideout. Logan admits that he tried to send her back because he was going to return to the city all along. "That was the plan. I'd been ordered to find out where the Runners had gone and destroy it. That's why I brought in the Sandmen that killed them." He expresses remorse and confusion at his change of heart.

---

Connections

Edited into Logan's Run: The Judas Goat (1977)

User Reviews

Dated, a bit silly, but still fun

I was twelve when Logan's Run came out and I thought that it was the best thing since sliced bread. It blew me away. So when I picked it up recently on DVD and watched it for the first time in twenty-eight years I was wondering how it would fare after all this time.

Well, not too badly. Many of the IMDb reviewers of Logan's Run hit the nail on the head when they say that this film is definitely a product of its time. Yes, the special effects are sort of laughable now (the teeny tiny maze cars zipping through the a model of the city that looks about six inches tall), but you have to judge those sorts of things in the context of the time they were made. As strange as it may seem to people who now expect Lord of the Rings-quality special effects, Logan's Run was cutting edge in its day. And a few of the special effects still stand up fairly well. The light envelope that comes down over the Carousel or the matte shots of Washington. Not great for twenty-first century film-making, but a minor miracle for 1976.

The story has more holes than a piece of swiss cheese and the acting is a bit touch and go, but that doesn't get in the way of a fairly entertaining movie. Seeing the movie all these years later I suppose the few moments of bad acting hit me more than anything else. As a kid I thought that Peter Ustinov's old man was brilliant, but now it just seems like awkward overacting. Which isn't to say that his character isn't somewhat endearing.

Michael York, a really wonderful actor, misses the mark a few times, but generally he and Jenny Agutter do a fine job.

Listen, this isn't a brilliant movie, but it does have its moments. Most science fiction movies made in the 1970s haven't endured the test of time especially well. With the purple mascara, pastel-coloured costumes and hair feathered like a great phoenix. But all in all I still found Logan's Run to be an entertaining and enjoyable trip back to the strange world of 1976.