1465. Logan’s Run (1976)

Starring: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan

Director: Michael Anderson

Running Time: 119 mins

Logan’s Run is an American film about a utopian city in the 23rd Century where citizens live in complete harmony, save for one thing: at the age of thirty, they must die at the hands of a terrifying ritual.

To be honest, we know that many pre-Star Wars sci-fi movies feel incredibly dated nowadays, and Logan’s Run demonstrates just that. Without a doubt just as futuristic as the old Star Trek TV show at its time, it’s hard to watch Logan’s Run now without giggling a little at how silly it all is, despite its attempts to make an intense and exciting thriller.

If there is one thing that still resonates well, it’s the ideas behind the story. They may not be executed very well, but the secretly dystopian utopia of the future is always interesting to see, along with portrayals of what the fate of the current world will be, so I was definitely intrigued by the film’s premise throughout.

Sometimes, it’s a reversed Star Trek-type world, others it feels like Planet Of The Apes, and at others it’s another 2001: A Space Odyssey, but the one thing that you can’t deny works is that this film is full of good ideas about the future, and that’s what makes it most interesting.

Apart from that, however, the film is in fact a lot sillier than it wants to be. Save for one impressively intense scene between Michael York and a HAL-esque computer, the majority of the film is plagued by iffy dialogue, continuity errors, shoddy sets and dated special effects.

Its imagination is undoubtedly impressive, but unlike Star Trek, which portrayed a happy, fully utopian world, Logan’s Run wants to be a serious depiction of a dystopian future. However, it’s so hard to take it seriously when there’s so much that feels completely out of place and badly-made, and that really had an impact on my genuine interest in the film and its story.

The film centres on two people escaping what’s meant to be a terrifying and brutal city, but that’s never a feeling that really comes across. It’s an entertaining watch, and it’s an interesting one for people who like future predictions, but overall, Logan’s Run is just a little too silly and dated to hold up well as a serious film today, and that’s why it gets a 6.8 from me.