Directed by:
Fred M. Wilcox
Starring:
Walter Pidgeon …. Dr. Edward Morbius
Anne Francis …. Altaira Morbius
Leslie Nielsen …. Commander John J. Adams
Warren Stevens …. Lt. ‘Doc’ Ostrow
Jack Kelly …. Lt. Jerry Farman
Richard Anderson …. Chief Engineer Quinn
Earl Holliman …. James Dirocco, the cook
Robby the Robot …. Robby, The Robot
MGM presents Forbidden Planet. Story by Irving Block and Allen Adler. Screenplay by Cyril Hume. Running time: 98 minutes. Rated G. Released on DVD: November 14, 2006. Available at Amazon.com.
Inspired by Shakespeare’s The Tempest, Forbidden Planet is a thinking man’s science fiction. The men responsible for this picture really had a dedication to producing one of the best science fiction films to date. They weren’t looking for a light hearted monster picture that would simply please afternoon audiences like so many other cheap B-quality drive-in films that were released at the time. They wanted something more.
In the year 2200 light speed is a reality, and with that Earth began the colonization of deep space. United Planets Cruiser C57-D is more than a year out on a special mission to the planet Altair-4 under the command of Commander John J. Adams. Altair-4 is a green sky, two mooned, earth-type planet where twenty years ago the space craft Bellerophon landed, and now their mission is to go and search for any remaining crew members. On board was a prospecting party of scientists sent out to study the planet. But something went horribly wrong.
Before entering the planets atmosphere they’re contacted by one of the scientists – Dr. Edward Morbius. Morbius tells them that their best strategy would be to turn around and that if they land he can’t be answerable for the safety of their ship or crew. But Commander Adams’ orders are to survey the situation, so Adams demands landing coordinates regardless of Morbius’ warnings. Morbius washes his hands of all responsibilities.
Once on the planet’s surface the UPC crew soon discovers that there are no other survivors from the previous prospecting party outside of Morbius. We learn that before the first year was out a dark planetary force took them out one by one. Only Morbius and his wife were immune, he believes it was because they both shared a love for the world. His co-workers were literally ton limb from limb by a creature that never showed itself. He doesn’t spend his days alone however, he has his daughter Altaira and faithful servant Robby the Robot to keep him company. So now Commander Adams must repair his ship and get word to Earth about what has happened, but something is keeping him from that by sabotaging his communication devices.
We soon find out that this “dark planetary force” isn’t just a story made up to explain the tragedy of losing his entire crew. It’s then when Morbius tells us about the Krell, an advanced intellectual species well beyond humans who were working on achieving a world without instrumentalities. Being able to achieve whatever their hearts desired by simply using their mind. But the Krell didn’t think about their subconscious, the Id, that inner animal that dwells within all of us. No matter how much they tried to shun their primal past, it still had a place deep int he recesses of their minds to some degree and with their new technology, they unleased the very thing they thought they evolved past. In a single night they were wiped from the planet, leaving only a twenty square mile underground facility with an unlimited power source. Now this Id monster has its sights set on the C57-D crew’s camp, and they need to get off the planet before they end up like the Bellerophon members.
MGM really gave this the red carpet treatment. Rather than special effect guys doing all the work on the film, they instead had Art Director Arthur Lonergan make Altair-4 come to life on the screen. It has that Hollywood polish to it like all the other projects from the studio at the time, pictures like Singin’ in the Rain or Guys and Dolls. It has that classic Hollywood gloss to it, that charm which many of todays films tend to be lacking in. And that is where the charm of Forbidden Planet lies, while today people might laugh at some of the look in the movie, something about it just works. And with the script moving at such a perfect pace it’s easy to get lost in it all.
Having influenced numerous other science fiction properties through the years from Star Trek to Star Wars all the way down to even ABC’s Lost, it’s hard to question the impact the movie had on modern cinema and pop culture. It certainly revolutionized science fiction and allowed writers to think outside the box in terms of what they could achieve in the genre more commonly perceived as nothing but little green men who came from space.
The late 50’s reached a point with effects where we no longer had guys in costumes where the zipper was in plain sight. From start to finish we’re given both visual and audible experiences that up until that point had hardly ever been explored before. From Louis and Bebe Barron’s blend of musical score and sound effects (dubbed electronic tonalities at the time), to Robert Kinoshita’s design of Robby the Robot, so much of Forbidden Planet was an eye opening experience to what science fiction had to offer. While the 50’s are a bit notorious for having larger aspirations than what the final product ultimately became, Planet was able to really break out due to it getting everything right and not buckling under the pressure of being too complex for its own good.
Never showing the evil Id creature or Krell adds to the mystery of this alien planet. The audience could easily chalk this up to a project with a low budget that couldn’t afford to show the two, but they’d be wrong. Well, partially anyway. While a large chunk of the budget was spent on Robby (a record 100 thousand dollars at the time), they also used much of the money on the animators they contracted out from Disney to work on all the special effects. They knew what they were doing, and showed exactly what they needed to do for the story, but also withheld enough to force audience members to use their own imagination.
I could go on and on about the more technical and thematic elements of the picture, but the acting is another exemplary part of the movie that simply works. Before he started making a mockery of himself with the recent Zucker Scary Movie installments, Leslie Nielson’s work as Commander JJ Adams shows the level of talent he had in his younger years. While still regarded as one of the best slapstick comedians, here he makes you wonder what his legacy might be like had he had a career with a few more serious, high profile roles. And Anne Francis’ kindhearted and innocent portrayal of the naive Altaira is wonderful. Some might make the valid question of why the UPC would wait twenty years to look for the Bellerophon crew, but seeing Anne Francis in all those wonderful miniskirts make up for any such questions in logic. And lastly we have Mr. Walter Pidgeon, Playing the brilliant but malcontent Dr. Morbius who’s thirst for knowledge and superiority is the cause of his eventual downfall. Pidgeon really breathes life in to the characters, he has that presence that you find in actors like Christopher Lee, where he can take any role and give you a stand out performance.
Movies like Metropolis, The Day The Earth Stood Still, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and Forbidden Planet are all the staples of classic science fiction. The films that are now the building blocks for just about any movie made today. And they’re that way for a reason, they were produced in a day when most directors were more worried about telling a well-written story then they were about showboating their special effects or making sure everyone gets their close-ups. But above all else, they were a product of their times. Most were written when the threat of a nuclear war was palpable, and the writers were capable of using that fear and using it as the backbone to these tales. Much like today where Battlestar Galactica is considered by many to be one of the best programs on TV when it’s a brilliantly written allegory to the modern war on terror.
There are a few very select moments in movie history where you really open your eyes and notice that what is up on the screen is something that is an awakening of sorts. Forbidden Planet is one of those seminal pictures.
Video:
(Presented in 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen)
Forbidden Planet is hands down the best restoration job done for a color catalog title from 2006. Warner has gone in and improved upon the previous DVD in every way imaginable. From rich color reproduction, to keeping grain and noise to an absolute minimum, Forbidden Planet looks almost as good as it did fifty years ago on the silver screen, if not better.
Audio:
(English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround, French Dolby Digital 1.0)
While the films original 2.0 mono track is nowhere to be found the the DVD – something rare since this is a Warner title after all – the newly remastered 5.1 is a fine alternative. Being such an old film, the rear speakers and bass don’t get used too much, but the people who worked on the track were able to find a few places in the movie where they could be utilized.
Extras:
Disc One:
Additional Scenes (13:13) – Here we have a mix of deleted scenes, alternate takes, and even a look at some of the scenes before the effects were finalized by artist Joshua Meador. Each scene has a text description before it with a brief explanation of why it was cut or its importance to the overall plot of the film. All in all, the material will give you a nice brief history of the movie, but since the video quality ranges from bad to worse there isn’t much here that will wow you or make you look at the film any differently. It should be noted that the footage here is widescreen but not anamorphically enhanced.
Lost Footage (9:21) – I think Lost Test Footage would have been a more appropriate title for this seeing as that’s what we get. Warner has included some old test footage for the effects in the movie. The majority of it is either test footage or material before being finalized by the artists. The section saves the most interesting part for last when it looks at the work that was put in to making all of the Id monster effects work. Much like the previous section, there are text introductions before each of the scenes.
Excerpts from The MGM Parade TV Series (16:16) – While hosting a TV adaptation of Captains Courageous, Walter Pidgeon guides us through Forbidden Planet between breaks as a form of promotion for the picture. It’s the 50’s equivalent to the current fifteen minute behind the scenes footage you’ll catch on HBO between films from time to time. His discussion with Robby the Robot is quite entertaining.
The Thin Man TV Series Episode Robot Client (25:34) – Robby makes a special guest appearance in this wonderfully restored episode of the classic Thin Man TV series. In this episode Robby is designed to help handle radioactive material for the government as well as help increase productivity. When one of the scientists turn up dead in Robby’s own arms he’s then suspected of murder. Nick then takes the robot as his client and plans to prove his innocence one way or another. It’s a bit cheesy all things considering, but this just goes to show you how popular Robby was back then and how much people wanted to see more of him.
Science-Fiction Movie Trailer Gallery (7:21) – Included are The Thing From Another World, The Beast From 20,000 Fathoms, Them!, Forbidden Planet, The Black Scorpion, The Invisible Boy, and The Time Machine. I wish studios that usually include upwards of ten trailers per DVD would do stuff like this.
Disc Two:
The Invisible Boy (1:29:23) – Much like how on the recent Maltese Falcon DVD set Warner included both the original 1931 version and Satan Met a Lady as part of the bonus material, here The Invisible Boy has been included to make this set just a bit more all-encompassing. As for the film itself, well, if you love all those cheesy movies they used to play late at night when you were a kid (or some of the original movies made for the SciFi channel…) the movie is a highly enjoyable, unintentionally hilarious affair. It revolves around a ten year old boy by the name of Timmy who is living the life every single ten year old dreamed of; he has his own personal robot (Robby from Forbidden Planet) at his beckoned call, has the ability to turn invisible via a magical elixir, and even gets to ride in a rocket. If ever you have friends over and want to laugh at how innocent films were in the 50’s, look no further than The Invisible Boy.
Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us (55:28) – A nearly hour long documentary that features such visionaries as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Ridley Scott and George Lucas talking about the evolution of science fiction, what more could you ask for? If you ever wanted to know the legacy of films through the decades and their cultural impact this is a must watch special feature.
Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet (26:33) – Almost all the cast returns to discuss their work here, Leslie Nielson and Anne Francis especially share their views on the movie and its cultural and cinematic impact. But we also have film historians and people who work in the business talking about how it influenced them and how its allowed them to see past any boundaries the genre might have had.
Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon (13:44) – People tend to constantly confuse Robby the Robot with the Robot from Lost in Space, hopefully this extra will allow them to finally recognize the difference between the two classic automatons. Robert Kinoshita, the creator of the robot, along with several film historians talk about the length of time it took to design the machine and the eventual fame it would receive.
