MICHAEL ANDERSON DIRECTS MICHAEL YORK IN LOGAN'S RUN

year of release: 1976

The quintessential cult sci-fi classic for more reasons than the funny costumes, the obvious model tramways, the plastic dome buildings and the – for today’s modern standards – dated special effects...

LOGAN'S RUN, the movie that led to an entertaining one-season TV series, is a wonderfully conceived timepiece with great acting and a pace that hardly falters, most of the way through till the talky conclusion. But it's a long time to get there…

So let’s start off with the premise: a future society where people only live to thirty. At which point they are brought to a place called “The Carousel” where you’re either killed or you run... Not a wise choice for the latter: the police-state assassins known as Sandmen will find, chase and terminate...

One being the main character, Michael York's intense yet vulnerable Logan, who, along with crafty partner Francis, played by the always-intriguing Richard Jordan, really love their job... And why not: both have four whole years till their own sand runs out. But Logan’s given a secret assignment to pose as a runner to find “The Sanctuary” where others have escaped successfully. He meets secret underground ingénue Jessica... future gorgeous AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON starlet Jenny Agutter... and, after setting one runner free witnessed by Jordan's Francis, and understandably falling in love, the RUN in LOGAN becomes legit, and pretty darn thrilling.

OriginaLogansRunSCORE: ***1/2

Based on a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson (the latter who died recently, December 2015, catapulting this review to be reblogged in his honor), a pivotal scene has Logan battling for his life within a devious laboratory... the "Doc" is the director's son, Michael Anderson Jr., who turned in a great performance in the best sequence of 1979's dated yet gloriously campy THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES...

Richard Jordan & Michael Beck

After which Logan and Jessica venture outside the box, from a formidable snow robot to, once beyond the domed city, an old man revealing a ton of answers of the previous world while Logan's bloodthirsty ex-partner is still on his trail. And that's the best aspect of the movie: No, not the conversation with the old-timer, which is more like reading the longest chapter of a book than watching a movie.

This scene drags on and on despite an apt performance by Peter Ustinov, pretty much a given. Thus leaving the genuine anti-chemistry between the two former friends, York and Jordan, to make this edgy ride a genuine character-driven vehicle: important for any genre, especially Science-Fiction, where so much exposition can often go haywire... So if you remember a time when interesting dialogue, creative direction and an involving plotline carried a movie? Well it’s all here. Also featuring Farrah Fawcett in her pre-ANGELS prime: when played long ago on rabbit-ear television, she was practically promoted as the lead ingenue...