|
Hot Picks
| |
|
|
Forbidden Planet
USA 1956
produced by
Nicholas Nayfack for MGM
directed by Fred M. Wilcox
starring Walter Pidgeon, Anne Francis, Leslie Nielsen, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, George Wallace, Robert Dix, Jimmy Thompson, James Drury, Harry Harvey jr, Roger McGee, Peter Miller, Morgan Jones, Richard Grant, Marvin Miller (voice), James Best, William Boyett, Les Tremayne (voice), Robby the Robot operated by Frankie Darro
story by Irving Block, Allen Adler, screenplay by Cyril Hume, based on the play The Tempest by William Shakespeare, music by Bebe Barron, Louis Barron, special effects by A. Arnold Gillespie, Warren Newcombe, Irving G. Ries, animation effects by Joshua Meador, Robby the Robot designed by A. Arnold Gillespie, Robert Kinoshita
The Tempest, Robby the Robot
review by
Mike Haberfelner
|
 |
Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned) |
|
Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
The 22nd century: Commander Adams (Leslie Nielsen) and his crew land
their cruiser on the planet Altair 4 to check up on a science expedition
that has spent the last 20 years on the planet. But initially, Morbius
(Walter Pigeon), leader of that expedition, is less than happy about the
visitors and only reluctantly gives them landing coordinates, where he has
picked up Adams and other higher ranking officers by his robot Robby
(operated by Frankie Darro, voiced by Marvin Miller), a creature that's
pretty much capable of anything. At Morbius' place, Adams and company
learn that the rest of Morbius' expedition were mysteriously killed
shortly after arrival, but they also meet his daughter Altaira (Anne
Francis), a natural and somewhat uninhibited beauty who has never seen men
other than her father, and who greatly attracts Adams' crew, especially
since she has a predilection for wearing very short and revealing dresses.
At first, Adams tries to explain to her the effect she has on his men, and
she hates him for it, but it's not long before they fall in love.
Meanwhile, Adams has to radio in to Central Command as to the fate of the
expedition and await further orders, something that might take days as a
radio strong enough has to be pieced together from parts of the ship, plus
it will take the message some time to travel through space and back - and
here's where trouble begin as an invisible force sabotages the men's
efforts to make the radio, ultimately even attacks Adams' men. Morbius
figures whatever has been attacking the men must be the same force that
killed the other expedition members back when, which must have to do with
the alien technology they found on the planet, that Morbius has ultimately
used to make Altair 4 a paradise for himself and his daughter. However, it
ultimately turns out that this technology is somehow connected to Morbius'
brain, and the arrival of Adams and company has only triggered the worst
within him and has subconsciously created the invisible monsters that
attack the space ship and her crew. Something Morbius only can admit to
himself when he's almost too late, and ultimately he can only stop the
monster, which has by now taken on a will on its own and threatens even
him and Altaira, by dying himself, while Adams, what's left of his crew
and Altaira and Robby manage to leave the planet before it's blown to
smithereens via self destruct mode Morbius asked Adams to trigger with his
dying breath ... In the 1950s, the science fiction genre was by
and large relegated to B movie drive-in fodder (with notable exceptions of
course), and as enjoyable as these movies might be, these films often had
a rushed feel to them, from script to effects work and everything in
between. And then came Forbidden Planet, a film with a sizeable
budget, state-of-the-art special effects, wonderful sets (even if they
look a bit dated and of the painted-on variety today), a plot that has
psychological depth to it (and borrows from the best, William Shakespeare)
while still providing plenty of action and quite a bit of titliation
without ever going vulgar, and some dialogue much more poignant than the
genre's known for. Plus its entirely electronic score sounds otherworldly
even now. That all said, don't get me wrong, this is not a perfect
movie, it still has its share of cardboard characters, leaps of reason,
and narrative shortcuts. And frankly however innovative the score still
sounds, it grows a bit repetitive and lacking in variety over the course
of the film. But its still a fun trip down memory lane, and while maybe
not a masterwork in every sense of the word, then still a deserved
classic.
|
|
|
eThaiCD.com
