This past weekend I had the privilege of traveling with three of my friends (one being the other author of this movie blog) to Atlanta, Georgia where I attended a rapidly growing sci-fi/comic convention called Dragoncon. This was my third consecutive year to attend the con and I swear it somehow manages to get better every year.
I mention this because on the second day of the convention the American Science Fiction track had a movie night that was free to all attendees, and as you might have guessed by now, the movie they were showing was Forbidden Planet.
It was with quite a bit of anticipation that I entered the classroom where they were going to screen the movie. It's not every day that one gets to watch a classic sci-fi movie surrounded by fans of that very genre. The screen, sadly, wasn't very large and it was projected onto the screen with a sub-par projector, but that wasn't too big of a problem as we sat on the front row. I wanted to mention this so that you understand the environment that I watched this movie in, just in case it contributed to my views of the film. We have to be fair to the movie after all, and I don't want to mislead you dear readers.
I thought this movie was wonderful. It is the first time that I have seen Leslie Nielsen act at a younger age, and I thought he did a fine job of it. He played Captain J.J. Adams with authority and concern for his men. It was interesting to see him try to protect Altaira from his crew members, and these were some of my favorite moments in the movie. He commanded a natural respect from his men, and he did it in a way that the authority seemed to come straight from his character, it didn't seem forced at all.
Altaira, Anne Francis, was every bit as good as Leslie Nielsen. She really brought her character to life and I believe that without her performance the movie would not be nearly as good as it was. It was fun to watch this naive girl interacting with people other than her father for the first time in her life. She did not know how to behave and I thought that Anne Francis showed this in her character perfectly.
I also want to comment on Robby the Robot, who is actually billed as an actor in the beginning credits of the movie. What a neat concept for a robot. This robot was able to chemically analyze a sample of any material you provided him with, and then using a mixture of chemicals that he stored in his body, could recreate the material at will. I don't think I've ever heard of something like that, even in science fiction, and I loved it. It was interesting to see a true robot in the sense that it was void of much personality interact with the crew who, like me, had never seen anything like it before.
The sets in this movie were very well done. They were able to portray an alien world without going over the top. The spaceship looked both futuristic and believable at the same time, likewise with the Morbius homestead on the planet. I found myself through much of the movie just looking at the devices and inventions in the sets and wondering what they did or what purpose they served.
I do have one negative thing to say about the film. The sound effects, especially in the first 10 minutes of so of the movie, were loud and irritating. One scene in particular when the spaceship enters hyperspace really drove my hands to my ears. I could have done without that.
I could cover other parts of this film that are wonderful, but I've already written more than I originally meant to. The story was original and interesting, the acting was great, the sets were nice, the special effects in the film I feel hold up very well also. This movie was a treat to watch and I liked it quite a bit more than I thought that I would. I'll give it 9 robot made diamond dresses out of 10.
Origin: U.S. (Rollins-Joffe) 1977
