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| Review Summary |
Loosely based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest," this 1956 classic is set early in the 23rd century, when the exploratory mission C57D (one of the few instances in science fiction movies where humans pilot a flying saucer!) heads to the fourth planet in the Altair star system to find out what happened to the Bellarophon, a mission that landed there 20 years before. Commander John J. Adams (pre-comedy Nielsen, in his best square-jawed mode) and his crew find only two survivors: the philologist Dr. Edward Morbius (Pidgeon) and his lovely daughter Altaira (Francis). Morbius has tried to warn the mission away, saying all the other members of the Bellarophon crew were killed mysteriously, but he has been unmolested and contentedly studying the remnants of an ancient civilization called the Krell, who disappeared just as suddenly and mysteriously. Altaira and Adams are taken by each other, of course, but a powerful creature or force begins to murder members of Adams's crew. Somewhat cheesy plot and acting, but still smarter than the average '50s sci-fi thriller, with some highly respectable set design and special effects for the era. The movie introduced sf icon Robby the Robot, later to turn up in the vastly inferior 1957 film "The Invisible Boy," several 1959 "Twilight Zone" episodes, and even more 1965 "Lost in Space" segments, as well as subsequent movie references.
David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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This was an amazing movie in the fifties. The plot follows a boy-meets-girl, boy-fall-in-love-with-girl, boy-gets-girl line, but with a couple of other plots. The introduction of a robot that is likable, not a piece of scrap iron, in some ways sensitive to others, opened up sci-fi movies to Robby, the friendly robot. There is a huge computer inside the planet that serves who is in control of the alien technology. Walter Pidgeon is the scientist/father around whom the plot revolves. He was part of the original colonizing group that came to this planet. All except him and his daughter were destroyed by an alien 'monster'. The computer creates all that he wants or needs. A fantasy world where gardens with docile creatures inhabit: a tiger that plays with his daughter, for example. The introduction of human males into the picture makes the girl susceptible to love, ergo, to sex. Although sex is only a very subtle side of love within this plot, it changes the behavior of the docile tiger, which then threatens her life, and is destroyed by the hero.
Attacks to the spaceship follow and intensify as the girl turns more into the human female that she is. Although the creature is invisible, it has mass and weight, fangs or claws, and is very powerful. Establishing a defense perimeter around the ship with a force field type fence stops the monster from attacking the crew. As time passes and the girl transforms into a woman, the monster gains strength until it passes the force field and attacks members of the crew. When they take refuge in the impenetrable quarters of the doctor, the monster, whom by now has been seen as an energy form, attacks these quarters and destroys the impenetrable walls and enters after them. As it's about to attack and destroy all that are there, daughter included, they all realize that the 'monster' is created by the scientist/father's mind and sustained by the huge forces within the planets machines. Realization comes to the father and he is destroyed/killed by his own generated power.
George Patton, Resident Scholar
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This film is a cosmic fable. Superficially it is about a Star-Trek like rescue mission to an exotic planet (Altair 4). The story soon becomes a mythical odyssey into the nature of Power and Knowledge.
A genius scholar, Dr. Morbius, explores the history of an alien race, THE KRELL, and its pursuit of ultimate power: God-like faculties of Creation.
The consequence is unimaginable catastrophe and the actualization of an invincible, Luciferic Force...The Monster from The ID...
How the main characters...Morbius (Pigeon), Commander J. Adams ( Nielsen), Altaira (Francis), Dr. Astrow (Warren Stevens) and a wonderful Robot simply called Robby, respond
to TEMPTATION in discovery of THE UNHOLY GRAIL results, perhaps, in FORBIDDEN PLANET being the greatest science fiction epic yet produced (including 2001:A Space Odyssey). The fact that it was released in 1956, employs
holographic special effects and premier animation created by Walt Disney, as well as electronic music accompanying a Cinemascope production, makes this film unique and the
movie by which Science Ficton films are measured...and usually pale in comparison.
Arthur F. McVarish, Resident Scholar
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For twenty years Professor Morbius has been stranded on the planet Altair 4 with only his daughter Altaira and Robbie the robot for company. Suddenly, without warning, a space-cruiser from Earth arrives to investigate what happened to the expeditionary team the professor was part of. The professor tries to dissuade the crew of the space-cruiser landing. But they choose to ignore the warning, the result being the reawakening of dark and deadly forces of which the professor is an unwitting conduit — monsters of the Id.
Charles Smyth, Resident Scholar
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Composition of Movie
Actual chase scenes or violence - 20%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzle - 72.5%
**Fantasy or Science Fiction?**
- science fiction story
Explore/1st contact
Yes
Explore plotlet:
- exploring a wondrous planet or phenomenon
Horror film?
Yes
Kind of Horror Story
- the monster chased me!
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- scientist
Age:
- 40's-50's
Has special powers?
Yes
Eccentric:
Yes
- obsessed
- deluded
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Body type
- muscular (man)
How much in movie?
- 90%-100%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- An "It".
Has special powers?
Yes
Magical/mental powers of main antagonist:
- super strength
- Invisibility
Eccentric:
Yes
- wild
- emotionally unstable
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 40%
Sense of humor?
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence
- Average Intelligence
Setting
A substantial portion of this movie takes place on a non-Earth planetary body:
- empty, or nearly empty world
Planet outside our solar system?
Yes
Takes place in spaceship?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- moderately detailed references to deaths
Any profanity?
- None
Kinds of F/X
- Things that change shape/morph
- exotic alien landscape
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