lackblogger
SasqWatch
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- November 1, 2014
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It's weird watching Nielsen's old movies where he's serious, but he has that police lieutenant /some other authority figure character. Remember him in The forbidden planet? He was somewhat of a late bloomer, his career took off when he started appearing in comedies (as he himself admitted).
Forbidden Planet is one of those truly awesome flicks, one you'll never forget. I watched that film so damn much in the seventies and eighties.
So I watched Forbidden Planet (1956) the other day and one part of me thinks I did see it when I was very young while another part of me thinks I've never seen it before.
I was surprised it was in colour, I was expecting black and white, and I was surprised the special effects held up so well. Aside from the bobbly flying saucer at the beginning it has a higher quality of SFX than the original Star Trek and quite a lot of modern lower budget affairs.
And as for plot, it's pretty much the template from which Roddenberry created Star Trek I would guess:
Official mission to a planet to investigate a long-ago settled science colony.
Three main crew members go to mysterious lair, inc one doctor & the captain.
The mysterious lair is controlled by a mysterious genius.
Captain gets shagging rights over any beautiful women found.
The solving of the problem involves morality and lessons learned.
A monster gets zapped and fought with.
A comedy light relief crew member who likes whisky.
To name but a few.
A bit like how North By Northwest is considered the prototype Bond film before Bond, this is definitely the prototype Star Trek film before Star Trek. Maybe a bit boring at times, especially during the overly quaint romantic scenes and exposition heavy scenes, but overall a fascinating watch, 7.5/10.
- Joined
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