Rent Forbidden Planet (1956)

Classic SciFi - Forbidden Planet review by GI

A classic science fiction film and ahead of its time, indeed it's one of the first major films in the genre made when such films were rarely given a budget big enough to produce the effects. In glorious colour and filmed in 'Cinemascope' this was a box office hit and viewed today it remains a tense, exciting and very entertaining film. You can see the clear influence this had on the TV series' Star Trek and Lost In Space. A spaceship commanded by Adams (Leslie Nielsen in his first major film role) arrives at the distant planet of Altair IV to check on the scientific expedition that arrived there many years before. They find only two remaining survivors, the mysterious Dr Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his beautiful daughter (Anne Francis). Morbius has managed to build an advanced robot he calls Robby which fascinates Adams and his crew. But when the crew are attacked by a strange force Adams suspects that Morbius is behind it especially as he has discovered an ancient extinct alien technology. The effects, some courtesy of the Walt Disney studio, are quite impressive especially the cavernous interior of the alien city. Whilst the film is firmly rooted in the style and sexual politics of the 1950s it does portray a potential future of space exploration which has been similarly visualised in may subsequent films. It's a great film and if you are a fan of science fiction its a must see film sit holds a key place in cinema history.

Space Prospero and the Bourbon Butler - Forbidden Planet review by griggs

There’s something disarming about Forbidden Planet’s clean, mid-century confidence — like it genuinely believes the future will be tidy, rational, and colour-coordinated. Then the film promptly strands you on Altair IV and starts peeling back the gloss.

Commander Adam's (a very straight-faced Leslie Nielsen) arrives to check on a vanished expedition and finds Dr Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) living like space Prospero with his sheltered daughter Altair's (Anne Francis) and Robby the Robot — cinema's polities MVP, equally handy with chemistry, sass, and cocktails. The planet's "secret" isn't a rival civilisation so much as a human one: the monster is what leaks out when intellect gets supercharged and impulse doesn't get the memo.

It looks fantastic for 1956, and the ideas still hum. The pace is a bit talky early on, and the romance is... let's call it historically clunky. But as ambitious, brainy sci-fi with real atmosphere, it's absolutely worth the trip.

That is all.