Forbidden Planet (1956)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Fred M. Wilcox

Writers:

Cyril Hume (screenplay)
Irving Block (story) ...

Release Date:

15 March 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Romance | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD! (original print ad - all caps)

Plot:

A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

Plot Keywords:

Planet | Monster | Philologist | Space | Genius

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Walter Pidgeon	...	Dr. Edward Morbius
Anne Francis	...	Altaira 'Alta' Morbius
Leslie Nielsen	...	Commander J. J. Adams
Warren Stevens	...	Lt. 'Doc' Ostrow M.D.
Jack Kelly	...	Lt. Jerry Farman
Richard Anderson	...	Chief Quinn
Earl Holliman	...	Cook
Robby the Robot	...	Himself
George Wallace	...	Bosun
Robert Dix	...	Crewman Grey (as Bob Dix)
Jimmy Thompson	...	Crewman Youngerford
James Drury	...	Crewman Strong
Harry Harvey Jr.	...	Crewman Randall
Roger McGee	...	Crewman Lindstrom
Peter Miller	...	Crewman Moran

Also Known As:

Alarm im Weltall (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
El planeta desconocido (Argentina) (Venezuela) [es]
Planète interdite (Belgium: French title) (France) [fr]
Förbjuden värld (Sweden) [sv]
Il pianeta proibito (Italy) [it]
Kampen på dødskloden (Denmark) [da]
Kielletty planeetta (Finland) [fi]
Monomahia dyo kosmon (Greece) [el]
O Planeta Proibido (Brazil) [pt]
Planeta Proibido (Portugal) [pt]
Planeta prohibido (Spain) [es]
Planeta prohibit (Spain: Catalan title) [ca]
Tiltott bolygó (Hungary) [hu]
Verboden planeet (Belgium: Flemish title) [un]
Zakazana planeta (Poland) [pl]

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor) (as Eastman Color)

Aspect Ratio:

2.55 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #17605) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | UK:U | Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

"Star Trek" (1966) creator Gene Roddenberry has been quoted as saying that this film was a major inspiration for the series. Perhaps not coincidentally, Warren Stevens, who plays "Doc" here, would later be a guest star in the 1968 episode "By Any Other Name", where the true shape of the alien Kelvans, like the Krell in this movie, was implied to be extremely non-humanoid but never shown.

Goofs:

Continuity: As Alta talks to the commander after being found kissing Lt Farman, her position changes from being side-on to face-on to the commander.

Quotes:

Robby: Quiet please. I am analyzing.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Guy X (2005)

Still my favorite sci-fi film

A number of factors make it easy for me to state that I still think this is the most important science fiction film ever made, despite some of the acting, outdated dialogue etc.

First, there is the scale of imagination in describing the Krell, a humanoid race native to the planet, now all dead, who were 1 million years more advanced than Earth humans(us), and their technology, particularly the 8,000 cubic mile machine.

Second, there is the music and sound effects, which are inseparable from each other. It creates an eerie, unearthly feeling, unlike "2001", which had traditional classical music.

Third, its "monster" is not only the most powerful and deadly ever envisioned, it's also based on real science and doesn't break the laws of physics and biology.

Finally, and most importantly, Forbidden Planet is the only movie ever made that attempts and, more incredibly, succeeds in making an honest, intelligent and mercilessly logical statement on the limits or ceiling of human (or any other biological entity's) development, no matter how long we survive as a species.

In other words, it predicts our inevitable destiny.