Leslie Neilson basically had two careers. From the 50's, up to the point he did "Airplane" he was considered a "serious" actor and was the leading man in more than one film. From that point onward he pretty much did comedies and that's how most younger audiences know him.
@@txheadshots There were a few guys like that in those films. Robert Stack (best known as Elliot Ness in "The Untouchables") and Lloyd Bridges, who had done serious films for years. All 3 of them ended their careers doing comedies.
Anne Francis, along with other actors, have said that Leslie Neilson was one of the funniest men they had ever met. He always kept the cast and crew laughing. This was years before "Police Squad" and "Airplane." Also he kept a whoopee cushion with him on every movie.
Lots of fun facts. 1st all-electronic soundtrack, ID monster created by disney animators, Leslie Neilsen with non-white hair :) Absolutely in my top 10 movie list.
@@zybch ID monster and name also inspired the name iD Software for the company that developed DOOM, and the Pinkie Demon from that franchise was directly inspired by the invisible monster.
3rd fun fact: Robby's "sub-electronic dilemma" later became famous as the first two of the Three Laws of Robotics (as quoted in the Will Smith version of I, ROBOT). First Law: a robot must obey whatever order it is given. Second Law: a robot must never harm (or, through inaction, allow to come to harm) any human being.
It's so good, just topnotch in every way. I'll put it on just to watch one scene that I like, then invariably I'll start the movie from the beginning and watch it all the way through.
Hey guys, glad you liked this one! Now that you kow this, I'm sure you'll see later sci-fi movies from a different perspective 😉 If you want to see more of this "classic sci-fi", have a look at "Fantastic Voyage" (1966), which was also a banger for it's time when it comes to special effects. One of the main characters is played by Donald Pleasance, who you might know as Dr. Loomis in the "Halloween" movies. 😉
I am 62 years old and German. I can say that I've seen a lot of SCI-FI movies. Among them were very good, good and not so good. For me, this film belongs to the group of exceptionally good ones, that is to say, it is a milestone in this genre. Tricks and technique are still absolutely worth seeing today (were often copied, but the originals are still the best) and show how seriously the team worked. The topic of the film stands out from the crowd of all films, it is absolutely captivating. Thank you for accepting this film.
In the 60's, there was a tv show called "Lost in Space" that had a robot called "B-9" but otherwise known as "Robot". The guy who designed Robby also designed B-9. There was even a episode where B-9 squared off of Robby. The show also starred Billy Mumy who you will recognize as Lenier from Babylon 5.
As I recall, all the planetary exterior scenes were painted by the artist Chesley Bonestell who was pretty much THE artists at the time for paintings of moons within our own solar system and also alien landscapes the guy was absolutely a tremendous artists and worth looking up on Google. They really went all out on this production- oh so pretty cool that they base the story on Shakespeare's play "The Tempest".
Earl Holliman was the guy who asked for Robby to create whiskey. He was a regular on the television show, “Policewoman”. Anne Francis was on the tv show, “Honey West”.
My dad got me hooked on this as a kid in the 80s. It’s one of the most intelligent sci-fi movies ever, & its special effects wouldn’t be topped until the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey. As for Nielson: he was a serious leading man until he appeared in Airplane. People at the time of Airplane’s release found it hilarious in part because you had a well known dramatic actor playing that strange doctor.
I remember being so angry at the movie industry after watching this movie in the 90's. I grew up watching all those bad sci fi horror movies where one would see the zipper in the monster suits or the wire holding up the space ship. Knowing how well this was made before those cheaply made productions just got me angry. A great sci fi movie.
Forbidden Planet was big budget film for the mid 1950's. It did make money, but not enough to justify such big budgets on other science fiction films. Using Shakespeare for an inspiration was really smart (the cook was a classic comedy foil found throughout his plays). You had the ship's Captain, First Officer, and Doctor, visiting that guy with a big ego, and an even bigger id. No wonder Gene Roddenberry said it was one of his inspirations for Star Trek.@@wasgreg
I am 65, and what I loved was seeing your minds blown on 2 fronts. Fantastic early Si-Fi and the generation gap to the male attitudes from the 1950s to now. So different to today and both from their own time. You cannot take offence by modern standards to history. That's the whole point of watching this stuff and learning from it.
54 year old Gen X here, wondering if audiences in 1956 would still have been slighly embarrassed by the men's pervy behavior? I mean, it's whole sections of dialogue, not just one or two lines.
I only knew Leslie NIelson as an actor in comedies. So when I actually paid attention to the credits one time and realized he's playing the captain I was actually pretty surprised. So many props in this movie have been reused several times in The Twilight Zone as well as other sci fi movies of the time. Robby even guest starred one time on Lost in Space and also Twilight Zone I think. My mother introduced me to so many movies from the 50's and 60's and I'm so glad. Mixed in with the all the cheesy ones there are ones like this which are good and stand the test of time.
Gene Roddenberry has said that Forbidden Planet was a major inspiration for the Star Trek series. Warren Stevens plays Doc in the film and was a guest star in the Star Trek episode, By Any Other Name (1969) The Enterprise is 1701. That comes from the moment when the C57D (spacecraft) enters orbit around Altair IV (The DC point referred to in the film) When Josh Whedon made the follow-up film to the Firefly TV series he created an homage to Forbidden Planet. When the crew get to the planet Miranda and there are exploring there is a crashed shuttle of sorts with the an id on the side which reads, "C57D". Anne Francis is the Twilight Zone episode, The After Hours. Wait till you see what she plays. As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
In Babylon 5, the “Great Machine” on Epsilon III is a direct homage to the machine from Forbidden Planet, including the shot of the walkway through the cavernous interior.
This is also the first science fiction movie that takes place only in space and on an alien planet...Earth is never seen, not as a starting place or the finale, or as the location of any action.
I am now an old man, and still I remember being taken to see this movie the Sunday after it came out in the theaters. After church my oldest brother took me to the Maple Theater, we paid 25 cents to see "Forbidden Planet" back in 1956 - I was six. There was never a second I was terrified of anything in this movie, not Robbie, not the energy-lion-sloth-monster - my six-year-old eyes were glued to the big screen. I may not remember what I had for breakfast today - but I remember the Maple Theater, Raisinettes, and "Forbidden Planet" like it was yesterday. So happy to watch others enjoy it in 2023.
I'm still blown away by the scenes below the planet's surface in the power station. Those are all paintings super imposed in the live action shot. People seeing this in theaters in the 50's were as blown away as the opening scene of the star destroyer on the first star wars.
Great review! I had a lot of fun with it, and felt like I was sitting in a room with friends watching a new movie. Fun fact about Forbidden Planet. The very first time it was shown in public was at the Southeastern Science Fiction Convention in Charlotte, NC in 1956, about 2 miles from where I live. My father saw this film there when he was 9 years old. Be safe guys, and thanks!
Alta was born on the planet, and her father has been there 19 years, so she is approximately 18 years old. She acts the way she does because her father is the only other human being she's ever known, and so she is very innocent despite being intellectually accomplished. Her innocence and purity is part of what allows her friendship with the wildlife, and her attraction to Leslie Nielson changes her relationship to them, and that's why the tiger is suddenly hostile to her: she's no longer "one of them".
The smooth-talking skirt chaser is played by Jack Kelly. Kelly also played Bart Maverick, older brother to James Garner's Bret Maverick of TV western fame. Make no mistake - in the '50s, even more than today, dads would have been grabbing their shotguns and ending slimes that creeped on their daughters and no charges from a D.A. because no jury would convict them...
Such a classic movie!! My brother, who is 15 years older than me, loved sci fi and introduced me to all these classics when i was young. I had a great childhood!!
Babylon 5 paid homage to the forbidden planet by including a scene from the movie in an episode in the first season. Let's see if you recognize it when it appears.
Can you imagine what it was like to see this movie as a child in 1957? A flying saucer inhabited by men and not aliens? A robot? Psychokinesis? WOW! Genuine science fiction masterpiece.
Since Anne had not ever been around many folks.. she was innocent. She hadn't been socialized. That is also why the deer and tiger were friends with her. Morbius wasn't really a bad person.. but the angst and such in his subconscious mind [just like any one else's] fueled the Id monster. A fellow from Disney provided the blaster, ship and monster effects. I first saw this in a theater when I was 7.. It still remains one of my all-time favorites. BTW, there is a fellow who makes reproductions of Robby.. and very expensive. You can buy just the 'head', or a full body reproduction.. which includes the original voice.. I also loved the electronic sound track.
The robot suit for Robbie was designed by a Japanese designer who normally builds washing machines. The suit is considered to be an iconic piece of science fiction and has been reused or copied dozens of times in TV and movies.
The other "big" science fiction film of its decade was Richard Fleischer's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER SEA, which has unfortunate moments of Disney-type slapstick, but is otherwise an impressively expensive production that holds up beautifully. It's a gorgeous example of high-tech 19th Century design, and if you have the chance, I'd urge you to see it.
This and War of the worlds, invaders from Mars, and later x the unknown the original thing ,from another wotld and a host of others including the Day the Earth Stood Stilll..... gort ,clay, harada nicto......
In case no one mentioned this, Forbidden Planet was the first time a studio put major money and resources in a Sci Fi film. Previously, most of the sci-fi films were cheaply made and shown to teenagers in drive ins. For this film, they casted Walter Pigeon, who was a very accomplished actor, to be the Dr. I think they spent $4 million to produce this film, making it the most expensive film (at that time) of this studio and possibly all of Hollywood.
One of my all time favourites. Shakespeare's Tempest in Sci Fi. Really, really enjoyed "The Return to the Forbidden Planet" stage play - telling the same story but full of Shakespeare puns "what light through yonder porthole breaks" and by far the best, "Beware the Id's that march!" and not to forget the rockin music! Great stuff.
Forbidden planet has influenced every major sci fy movie and tv show for decades. It still stands up on its own for sheer creativity and story telling, it was also ray harihausens tour de force .
This flick was part of a wave of awesome sci-fi and fantasy: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Time Machine, Journey to the Center of the Earth, First Men in the Moon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the list goes on...
Leslie Nielson also played a serious role in The Poseidon Adventure (1972) which you all might enjoy reacting to. The cast list was star-studded with 1970s icons.
I first saw this on some early morning movie broadcast back in the 60s as I was getting ready for school. That creature going through the force field stayed with me for life. So cool.
You have to cut them a little slack on their positions when they're shooting their weapons... The special effects had to be added on later and in the case of moving energy bolts they have to stay in line with the bore or the tip of the weapon so if they're waving it all around is going to make the animation a lot more difficult to synchronize with the line-of-sight of the raygun. Even early Star Trek and others you'll notice the actors freezing for a moment in order for the phaser beam to go from them to the prospective target.
Captain Adams: Alta, there's a problem with Robby. Altaira: Robby? What is it? Captain Adams: Robby? He's a robot, a machine made to do the work of a man, but thats not important right now.
Another suggestion for you... movie that came out three years after this one... On The Beach (1959) After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity -- leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love.
My mom saw this when it came out. She told me it gave her nightmares. This movie was groundbreaking. Look in a future Babylon 5 episode for an homage. The men’s behavior is very cringe by today’s standards. Remember, sit back and enjoy. Open minds! 🤣 I hope you guys do “Robinson Crusoe On Mars.”
5:45 Not only did 1965 Star Trek (the Cage, one year before The Menagerie) get teleporters from this, but on an episode of Next Generation from 1992, The Relic. A character keeps alive for 75 years in stasis inside a teleporter matrix, and everyone on the Enterprise was stunned that the idea was even plausible.
One of the guesses that wasn't in the movie was close. Decades ago I found the book for this movie in the public library. The project Morbius mentioned that he was working on was to create life. All the Earth animals in the movie had been made by him, not brought there by the Krell. They discovered this when the monkey was killed, accidentally I think, and they autopsied it and found that it was different internally than it should have been.
Robbie the robot was at that time the most expensive single movie prop ever made about about $100K - consequently he went on to star in a few more movies before he retired to recoup the initial expense.
There is actually a sequel to this film called "The Invisible Boy". It's set on earth and the only character from this film is Robbie the Robot, but technically its sequel.
It might be hard to understand but this movie hit the local theater when I was a child just 1 month before I turned 5yrs old. I can remember how it took me by the shirttail and shook me to the core from that moment on I was totally a Sci/Fi - fantasy fan and not just 3 months before my 72nd birthday I have never regretted it. Robby is my all time favorite robot even more so than C3PO and R2D2. Anne Francis was 25yrs old during filming of the movie and played a 19yr old Altaira in Forbidden Planet. The effects of this movie were nominated for best-effects Oscar that year.
Star Trek the original series has an episode that is partially an adaptation of the film Forbidden Planet: "Requiem for Methuselah" Season 3, Episode 19.
They were on Altair IV. In Star Trek TOS in the episode called "Space Seed" they dropped Khan and his people off on Altair IV. In the 2nd movie, The Wrath of Khan, they meet up with him again.
The very opening narration was by my friend Les Treymane. If you grew up in the mid 70's. He was Mr.Mentor sort of the wizard Shazam. On the Shazam/ original Fawcett /DC Comics Capt.Marvel. He also was a famous radio voice for decades, appeared several times on Perry Mason and the Any Griffith tv series too.
All of the music and sound effects were done electronically, one of the earliest forms of electronic music ever. It was actually nominated for an Oscar for the music, but because it wasn't made with actual instruments it didn't qualify. As for influences, this movie had the captain, first officer, and ship's doctor as best buds, just like in Star Trek: TOS. And you can't help but notice the homage that was done towards this film in Babylon 5 with the interiors of the planet below the station! They lifted that imagery directly and on purpose! JMS said so himself. He was very inspired by this film. Also, all the animation was done by Disney animators!
Remember the whide shots of the great underground machine in this movie. There will be a great little homage to it coming up in something else you're watching. :)
The movie is loosely based on Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. According to Richard Anderson, the studio intended to only make half the movie and use it as a tax write-off but the footage from the first few days of shooting were so good they decided to complete it. According to Anne Frances, Walter Pigeon and Leslie Nielson competed with each other on set telling filthy jokes. Robbie the Robot made later appearances on LOST IN SPACE and COLUMBO.
And yes, that is Leslie Nielsen as the Commander, John J. Adams, the same guy from The Naked Gun movies and Airplane! and Dracula: Dead And Loving It!, Just when he was much younger. :)
Really good reactions, guys. One of you mentioned Captain Kirk or William Shatner, who is Canadian. Both male leads of this movie were also from Canada. The older actor playing Dr. Morbius was from Montreal, as is Shatner. He was in a 1930s Science Fiction film called "Things to Come", which was also visually beautiful. The captain was played by Leslie Nielson, who in the 80s and 90s was the lead in the comedy movie series, "Naked Gun", plus the wild comedy "Airplane".
People have said that the plot is loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Altair is an actual star - Alpha Aquilae - brightest star in the Eagle constellation. You can see it in the night sky in Spring.
I think this was the first big budget SciFi movie. Before this, they were generally treated as schlocky B-movies for children or teens, with a low budget (although a few diamonds still snuck through, like "Day the Earth Stood Still"). The cost for Robbie himself was probably higher than most Scifi movies of the era and airforce engineers were involved in his construction. Robbie was one of the first semi-believable on screen robots and was introduced as a character in the credits, this led to alot of people thinking he was a real robot, rather than a man in a suit. They used Disney artists to create the animated special effects and matte paintings, which is probably why they still stand up today (no they haven't been redone, just cleaned up a little when up upscaled). The score was another first, it was made entirely using electronics (before synthesisers, Moogs, etc). It was done buy a couple that actually constructed the electonics to make the noises.
One of my favorite movies of all time...... Based on one of my favorite stories .........William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The special effect were cutting edge. Especially for 1956. Also the Music was so different from anything ever heard in a movie before. Great acting and a moral to boot...........ha ha. Was very influential in other movies made after it. Thanks for (2nd) reaction to this movie. You made something great...... even better.........
So glad you reacted to this masterpiece. I saw it pretty young and fell in love with the movie immediately. I had such a crush on Ann Francis when I saw it, such a pretty lady.
They used to use Matte paintings back then until CGI came to look great. Sometimes they were even painted on glass. The ray gun shots and the monster at the end. Was actually done by Walt Disney they did it as a favor to this studio back then MGM? One of the very rare and early times other studios help their competition. If you grew up since the 1930's-70's or watched the original animated Disney and Superman/Popeye cartoons. You'll know immediately these were very same animators beautiful work. This was all top of the line high tech for 1956. I just wish they had did this with. The Day the Earth Stood Still *1951). By filming it in color and had like twenty more minutes of the giant robot Gort. Like had him save some children from a burning building or from a car wreck. I still think the Day the Earth Stood Still has the best story and also THEM! (1954)
Morbius isn't worried about Altaira with the crew because he didn't hide anything from her. She knows all about sex and sexuality. She hasn't used any of it, but she's intelligent, and skeptical, albeit in an innocent way. She doesn't necessarily know the sorts of flirtatious games the men are likely to play, but she's got a good bullshit detector and won't easily fall into any common traps. They'll talk some game, and she won't know the game, so she'll question it, they'll make excuses because they themselves don't really understand the game, or her, and she'll call them out when they fuck up. Morbius knows she can handle herself. He's not worried about any of that. And he's mostly internally rolling his eyes at the fact that all these guys think they have a shot at all. It's not until near the end when it's clear that the Commander has a quality that Altaira especially enjoys, and that the same sincerity also means he genuinely appreciates her for who she is (not just because she hot af). That's when he starts to really lose his cool.
Thanks guys for the re-up. thanks John! Let's go! Great Classic Science Fiction ,trail blazing FX! Good story and acting too. love the weird sounds from the "Theremin" it's the only instrument that the person playing it never touches, the instrumentalist appears to be summoning otherwordly sounds from the device by sheer telekinesis🛸👾🐅🤟
The electronic score by the Barrons does not feature the theremin. It's all electronic loops and such from equipment they threw together themselves. Quite remarkable.
@@alanfoster6589 True. The theremin is used in the soundtracks of the classic sci-fi movies "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "The Thing" as well as other movies.
Although, as @alanfoster6589 commented, the theremin was not used in "Forbidden Planet," it is a fascinating instrument. The theremin was the product of Soviet government-sponsored research into proximity sensors. The instrument was invented in October 1919 by the Russian physicist Lev Sergeyevich Termen, known in the West as Leon Theremin. After a lengthy tour of Europe, during which time he demonstrated his invention to packed houses, Theremin moved to the United States, where he patented his invention in 1928. The instrument's controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which function not as radio antennas but rather as position sensors. Each antennae forms one half of a capacitor with each of the thereminist's hands as the other half of the capacitor. These antennas capacitively sense the relative position of the hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other. The theremin uses the heterodyne principle to generate an audio signal. The instrument's pitch circuitry includes two radio frequency oscillators set below 500 kHz to minimize radio interference. One oscillator operates at a fixed frequency. The frequency of the other oscillator is almost identical, and is controlled by the performer's distance from the pitch control antenna. The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.
"Nice climate you have here. High oxygen content." "I seldom use it myself, sir. It promotes rust." Fun Fact: The famous poster for the film shows a menacing robot carrying a struggling pretty girl, a staple of monster movie posters from the 1950's. In fact, no such scene occurs in the film itself and the robot portrayed in the poster is the very likeable Robby The Robot (Marvin Miller). Fashion Censorship Fact: The miniskirt worn by Anne Francis was seen to be the first worn in a Hollywood movie and resulted in the film being banned in Spain (it was not shown there until 1967), due to General Franco's dictatorship that considered it dirty and obscene that a woman wore a miniskirt to show off legs. Sea Change Fact: This film marked one of the first times a science-fiction project had received a large budget. The genre had rarely been taken seriously by studio executives, and sci-fi films generally received the most meager of budgets. The critical success of this film convinced many in the film industry that well-funded science-fiction projects could be successful. Film historian Ben Mankiewicz has claimed that this film's success made future big-budget science-fiction films possible. Navel Rank Fact: A boatswain, bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a petty officer, deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervises the other members of the ship's deck department and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews. Additional duties vary depending upon ship, crew, and circumstances. It's not so much a rank as it is a job title.
The part at the beginning where they stepped onto the pads for a while with the green "beams" was because their ship was decelerating. It was a really interesting concept at the time, and still is, because nobody really knew what traveling faster than light would be like. So they assumed you'd have to either spend a very long time speeding up or slowing down, or you'd try and speed up or slow down too quickly and get pancaked. The movie Event Horizon had a similar but less technologically advanced idea they called "grave couches". In that movie, they were basically big coffins filled with a slightly viscous liquid that would distribute the force of the G's from acceleration so you didn't get crushed. Like a shock absorber for your body. In this, it's just a kind of inertial damper, of some sort. Presumably everyone gets an individual one, because a single field trying to restrain multiple distinct objects would run into problems of some kind. Hard to say. But yes, much of this movie was a partial inspiration for Star Trek later on. Many other sources were also just as important, but this particular inspiration is unmistakable.
No. It is based on partially recovered Homeric play about a Greek hero demigod: Bellerophon. He tames the flying horse Pegasus and kills the Chrimera monster. He feels he should be a god of Olympus and tries to fly Pegasus to the home of the gods. Zeus sent a gadfly ti sting the horse, who then throws Bellerophon to his death. FYI Dr.Morbious' ship was named , Bellerophon.
The plot of The Tempest is: a shipwreck brings a number of diplomats and educated men, plus a few crewmen to an island ruled by an exiled scholar and noble, who has a daughter that has never seen any man but her father, who has told her that other men are all monsters. The ruler has a secret cave, and a servant who understands the magic of the island, and the ruler has learned enough magic to cause a storm... he seeks revenge on some of the men on the ship, as they exiled him. He torments them with visions and power they cannot have, intending that they kill each other. The daughter encounters men, falls in love with one, and the ruler lets her go, then breaks his magical staff, denying revenge and his anger at the end. This film has a ship named for Bellerophon as they, by finding this planet of godlike power, that is forbidden to man, yes. That part is based upon Bellerophon, but the story that plays out in this movie is mostly, but not all Shakespeare's The Tempest.
1950s Sci-Fi movies you should watch. In terms of story and acting, these are great! The special effects were excellent for the time and still not too bad now. If the titles are familiar, its because the ones you know are all remakes. 👍>>>The War of the Worlds (1953)
I have reacted to a couple of those. Here are the links m.th-cam.com/video/PGVUMCP4xT8/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUbUiBrbmlnaHRzIHdhciBvZiB0aHcgd29ybGRz m.th-cam.com/video/IIluWaPDIT4/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUmdGhlIGRheSB0aGUgZWFydGggc3Rvb2Qgc3RpbGwgcmVhY3Rpb24%3D m.th-cam.com/video/_lWhVm7Km5w/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUnaW52YXNpb24gb2YgdGhlIGJvZHkgc25hdGNoZXJzIHJlYWN0aW9u
One of the intriguing things in the film (at least) is the animals encountered: did the Krell bring them back, or did they appear when the Bellerophon arrived and Morbius had got the brain boost? If the latter, they are projections of matter by the Machine that have the semblance of animals. Recall that Bellerophon was a hero who slew the Chimera, a hybrid unnatural creature, so my leaning is that the companions of Altaira were unnatural. Why did the tiger leap toward Altaira? Presumably, this alludes to the myth that maidens can tame wild beasts. When her innocence is lost, the animals no longer reacted to her the same. However, it can also be seen that the tiger was imbued with her father's benevolence towards her, until such time as this, at which point the unconscious resentment was manifested in the tiger's new willingness to destroy. The novelization addresses much of this and takes the position the animals were unnatural. It is up to individuals whether they accept this interpretation. However, it does go a long way towards a deeper message of the film: The Krell had advanced to the point that with the Machine they had set themselves up as gods with the ability to create anything, including life, and this hubris was why they were destroyed. As Adams says to Altaira "... we are, after all, not God".
All the visual effects of the saucer, landscape vistas and the underground technology was animation. MGM was able to get some of the top animators on loan from the Disney Studio. As far as the way the men treated Alta was somewhat acceptable for the times in this post-WWII era. (WWII mentality had a lot to do with the behavior of the crew). When the ship was checking on their safety by scanning the room, and they first saw her, they let out what was called a “wolf whistle”. It was considered not quite proper behavior, but it did happen that in certain social settings, a random man could whistle at a random woman on the street like that. Many woman took it as a normal, harmless compliment.
What is considered truly terrifying in my opinion, is the fact that even though the monster Morbius created was a being of solid matter, it was invisible to everyone as a result of the creature being a product of his own subconscious mind and no one else's.
This is one of my favorite old Sci-Fi movies. I saw it when I was a young boy, and would watch it everytime it came on TV. I wasn't a big fan of Star Trek; as I felt it was too silly. This was a more serious take on Sci-Fi; which really made you think about it's ending. It held my attention the whole time. When Robbie showed up on Mork and Mindy; many years later, it was a treat. Side note; the theme song for Rocky Horror Picture Show, mentions Forbidden Planet in the lyrics. "Science fiction double feature Doctor X will build a creature See androids fighting Brad and Janet Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet"
I highly recommend "The Thing From Another World" to your viewing list. That not only is the basis for John Carpenter's "The Thing", but you can see a TON of influences it had on James Cameron for "Aliens" and the like.
I alway get so tickled at the shocked reaction to young people today when it comes to how men and women flirted back in my day. That and cigarettes. Young people act like the least risqué thing is a criminal offense. Lol
First time watching?…….what a treat for anyone in 2023! First saw this on TV, back in the late 60’s and it still stands up today…..a true classic. There have been attempts to remake it……at one point Irvin Kershner was to direct, with possibly Sean Connery as Morbius but it went the way of all flash.
Forbidden Planet's advertising posters ALL show Robbie carrying Anne Francis, while in the movie, the only one he carries is Warren Stevens (the doctor).
There's a memo from Gene Roddenberry from the time he was developing the first pilot for Star Trek. He mentions that he and his production staff had screened Forbidden Planet. He asks for any photos from the film and if it was possible to blow up frames from the film to send to the designers working on Trek to inspire them.
Star trek, star wars, Battlestar Galactica, All were inspired and built on this movie! It's special effects, sound design, and cinematography are exceptional! Years before it's time, This is the first true outer space masterpiece! It's concept comes from classic literature, Notably Shakespeare's The tempest!
The little-known sequel made a year later, explains a lot about what killed the Krell. They had unleashed a singularity, an A.I that had no room for any rival gods. The sequell is NOT, absolutely not a bad film, in fact maybe even deeper than "Forbidden Planet". There are 2 non-spoiler things to know. Remember that Robby was piloting the ship at the end. Why did they allow this ? You mentioned that maybe the full extent of Robbie's powers were not revealed. You don't know how right you are. Robbie was built from Krell Technology. He had the ability to secretly upgrade himself and also hypnotize people. Also remember that the monster was invisible. Robby had all these powers with the potential to grow these powers exponentially, but he had a conscience, was a noble creation made in the image of man's higher self. The sequel is titled, "The Invisible Boy". It takes place in 1958 in a black ops facility where scientists live with their families in a gated residential community. They are involved in a whole world of secret projects. In 1958 there is a secret moon base and the space race is just a cover. They have already been on the moon for years. Robby had navigated the ship through a time warp. A scientist in the 40s had been contacted by Robby. He had explained that he had developed a time machine and retrieved Robby from the future. But that was a lie designed to conceal the true nature of his work. After his death the Krell Technology from Robby is used in an artificial intelligence project. The man who leads the project has a small son. The electronic brain, seen somewhat as Robbie's "God" has secretly hypnotized the boy and had him reassemble Robbie. Unlike Robby, this Earth-Krell hybrid A .I. is evil. Robby makes the boy invisible. Robby, under the control of the singularity kidnaps the boy and takes him into space. They intend to blackmail the scientist into giving the source code and use the boy as a hostage. The machine intends to rule the universe and destroy all life in the universe, even the tiniest microbe that might someday evolve to challenge it. It takes the evil mistaken for the "id" from the first film to a whole new level. By the way, the ship that services the moon base looks EXACTLY like the space shuttle from the 80s, though the film was made in the 50s. It is a shuttle known as "the glider". This film will blow your mind but is over some people's heads. The fxs are great though the film is in black and white. But that enhances the 50s motif. "The Invisible Boy" stars Robby and an excellent cast of oddball geniuses.
In 2017, George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones), tweeted: "Who says the science fiction is not prophetic? 'The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once...' The Krel Machine has been built. We call it The Internet."
When I was growing up in the 60's the theater screen were about 125 feet wide over 70 feet tall so you can imagine the effect with massive speakers on the walls.
people can argue with me all they want, but I watched this since I was 7 years old in 1971 (the first time I ever saw it on TV, and it scared the snot out of me!), and even TODAY, more than 60 years later, the special effects were just insane, long before George Lucas made Star Wars! and if you ever read Willaim Shakespear's The Tempest, you will see the story in a different setting.
Leslie Neilson basically had two careers. From the 50's, up to the point he did "Airplane" he was considered a "serious" actor and was the leading man in more than one film. From that point onward he pretty much did comedies and that's how most younger audiences know him.
He was cast in Airplane *because* was a serious actor - and he was told to play the role straight… which is why it worked so well
@@txheadshots There were a few guys like that in those films. Robert Stack (best known as Elliot Ness in "The Untouchables") and Lloyd Bridges, who had done serious films for years. All 3 of them ended their careers doing comedies.
Anne Francis, along with other actors, have said that Leslie Neilson was one of the funniest men they had ever met. He always kept the cast and crew laughing. This was years before "Police Squad" and "Airplane." Also he kept a whoopee cushion with him on every movie.
Nobody ever called him Shirley in Forbidden Planet.
Except in Creepshow where he played a great villain. Ok, with some comedy.
A fun fact is that this story is inspired by "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare. 😎
Lots of fun facts. 1st all-electronic soundtrack, ID monster created by disney animators, Leslie Neilsen with non-white hair :)
Absolutely in my top 10 movie list.
@@zybch ID monster and name also inspired the name iD Software for the company that developed DOOM, and the Pinkie Demon from that franchise was directly inspired by the invisible monster.
3rd fun fact: Robby's "sub-electronic dilemma" later became famous as the first two of the Three Laws of Robotics (as quoted in the Will Smith version of I, ROBOT). First Law: a robot must obey whatever order it is given. Second Law: a robot must never harm (or, through inaction, allow to come to harm) any human being.
Just simply one of the greatest science fiction films of all time.This is a film I can watch time and time again.
It truly is amazing
This movie inspired Gene Roddenberry, the creator of "Star Trek" in many ways. Warp drive/speed describes faster than light speed among many others.
Walter Pigeon who played Morbius starred in another big Sci-Fi film "Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea", which spawned the TV series of the same name!
A wonderful classic sci-fi movie is "The Day The Earth Stood Still" - well worth checking out.
I just reacted to that movie a couple of days ago
@@RKnights Thanks! I need to see that.
It's so good, just topnotch in every way. I'll put it on just to watch one scene that I like, then invariably I'll start the movie from the beginning and watch it all the way through.
Don't bother with the new one, the original is the best.
Hey guys,
glad you liked this one! Now that you kow this, I'm sure you'll see later sci-fi movies from a different perspective 😉 If you want to see more of this "classic sci-fi", have a look at "Fantastic Voyage" (1966), which was also a banger for it's time when it comes to special effects. One of the main characters is played by Donald Pleasance, who you might know as Dr. Loomis in the "Halloween" movies. 😉
Another notable character was played by Racquel Welch.😁
@@Alan_CFA Raquel in her wet suit drove me to the theatre as an adolescent.
I am 62 years old and German. I can say that I've seen a lot of SCI-FI movies. Among them were very good, good and not so good. For me, this film belongs to the group of exceptionally good ones, that is to say, it is a milestone in this genre. Tricks and technique are still absolutely worth seeing today (were often copied,
but the originals are still the best) and show how seriously the team worked.
The topic of the film stands out from the crowd of all films, it is absolutely captivating. Thank you for accepting this film.
In the 60's, there was a tv show called "Lost in Space" that had a robot called "B-9" but otherwise known as "Robot". The guy who designed Robby also designed B-9. There was even a episode where B-9 squared off of Robby. The show also starred Billy Mumy who you will recognize as Lenier from Babylon 5.
As I recall, all the planetary exterior scenes were painted by the artist Chesley Bonestell who was pretty much THE artists at the time for paintings of moons within our own solar system and also alien landscapes the guy was absolutely a tremendous artists and worth looking up on Google.
They really went all out on this production- oh so pretty cool that they base the story on Shakespeare's play "The Tempest".
Earl Holliman was the guy who asked for Robby to create whiskey. He was a regular on the television show, “Policewoman”. Anne Francis was on the tv show, “Honey West”.
Also in the cast, future TV stars Jack Kelly (Maverick), Richard Anderson (The Six Million Dollar Man) and James Drury (The Virginian).
My dad got me hooked on this as a kid in the 80s. It’s one of the most intelligent sci-fi movies ever, & its special effects wouldn’t be topped until the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey.
As for Nielson: he was a serious leading man until he appeared in Airplane. People at the time of Airplane’s release found it hilarious in part because you had a well known dramatic actor playing that strange doctor.
I remember being so angry at the movie industry after watching this movie in the 90's. I grew up watching all those bad sci fi horror movies where one would see the zipper in the monster suits or the wire holding up the space ship. Knowing how well this was made before those cheaply made productions just got me angry. A great sci fi movie.
Forbidden Planet was big budget film for the mid 1950's. It did make money, but not enough to justify such big budgets on other science fiction films. Using Shakespeare for an inspiration was really smart (the cook was a classic comedy foil found throughout his plays). You had the ship's Captain, First Officer, and Doctor, visiting that guy with a big ego, and an even bigger id. No wonder Gene Roddenberry said it was one of his inspirations for Star Trek.@@wasgreg
I am 65, and what I loved was seeing your minds blown on 2 fronts. Fantastic early Si-Fi and the generation gap to the male attitudes from the 1950s to now. So different to today and both from their own time. You cannot take offence by modern standards to history. That's the whole point of watching this stuff and learning from it.
54 year old Gen X here, wondering if audiences in 1956 would still have been slighly embarrassed by the men's pervy behavior? I mean, it's whole sections of dialogue, not just one or two lines.
Agreed
I only knew Leslie NIelson as an actor in comedies. So when I actually paid attention to the credits one time and realized he's playing the captain I was actually pretty surprised.
So many props in this movie have been reused several times in The Twilight Zone as well as other sci fi movies of the time. Robby even guest starred one time on Lost in Space and also Twilight Zone I think.
My mother introduced me to so many movies from the 50's and 60's and I'm so glad. Mixed in with the all the cheesy ones there are ones like this which are good and stand the test of time.
Gene Roddenberry has said that Forbidden Planet was a major inspiration for the Star Trek series.
Warren Stevens plays Doc in the film and was a guest star in the Star Trek episode, By Any Other Name (1969)
The Enterprise is 1701. That comes from the moment when the C57D (spacecraft) enters orbit around Altair IV (The DC point referred to in the film)
When Josh Whedon made the follow-up film to the Firefly TV series he created an homage to Forbidden Planet. When the crew get to the planet Miranda and there are exploring there is a crashed shuttle of sorts with the an id on the side which reads, "C57D".
Anne Francis is the Twilight Zone episode, The After Hours. Wait till you see what she plays.
As we say in Texas; y'all be safe.
In Babylon 5, the “Great Machine” on Epsilon III is a direct homage to the machine from Forbidden Planet, including the shot of the walkway through the cavernous interior.
This is also the first science fiction movie that takes place only in space and on an alien planet...Earth is never seen, not as a starting place or the finale, or as the location of any action.
This movie is a classic. The effects are so great for the time it was made. Great story. It’s a must for all sci-fi fans.
I am now an old man, and still I remember being taken to see this movie the Sunday after it came out in the theaters. After church my oldest brother took me to the Maple Theater, we paid 25 cents to see "Forbidden Planet" back in 1956 - I was six. There was never a second I was terrified of anything in this movie, not Robbie, not the energy-lion-sloth-monster - my six-year-old eyes were glued to the big screen. I may not remember what I had for breakfast today - but I remember the Maple Theater, Raisinettes, and "Forbidden Planet" like it was yesterday. So happy to watch others enjoy it in 2023.
Lucky you, to have seen it on the big screen! Happy you are made happy again!
One of my favorite Sci-fi movies ever. Great special effects for mid-50s. No CGI remember.
I'm still blown away by the scenes below the planet's surface in the power station. Those are all paintings super imposed in the live action shot. People seeing this in theaters in the 50's were as blown away as the opening scene of the star destroyer on the first star wars.
This movie definitely inspired the whole Star Trek universe.
Fun Fact: This movie is loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest.
The soundtrack and sound effects were done by a husband and wife team. It was one of the first movies to integrate an analog synthesizer.
Great review! I had a lot of fun with it, and felt like I was sitting in a room with friends watching a new movie. Fun fact about Forbidden Planet. The very first time it was shown in public was at the Southeastern Science Fiction Convention in Charlotte, NC in 1956, about 2 miles from where I live. My father saw this film there when he was 9 years old. Be safe guys, and thanks!
Alta was born on the planet, and her father has been there 19 years, so she is approximately 18 years old. She acts the way she does because her father is the only other human being she's ever known, and so she is very innocent despite being intellectually accomplished. Her innocence and purity is part of what allows her friendship with the wildlife, and her attraction to Leslie Nielson changes her relationship to them, and that's why the tiger is suddenly hostile to her: she's no longer "one of them".
The smooth-talking skirt chaser is played by Jack Kelly. Kelly also played Bart Maverick, older brother to James Garner's Bret Maverick of TV western fame. Make no mistake - in the '50s, even more than today, dads would have been grabbing their shotguns and ending slimes that creeped on their daughters and no charges from a D.A. because no jury would convict them...
Such a classic movie!! My brother, who is 15 years older than me, loved sci fi and introduced me to all these classics when i was young. I had a great childhood!!
Babylon 5 paid homage to the forbidden planet by including a scene from the movie in an episode in the first season. Let's see if you recognize it when it appears.
Can you imagine what it was like to see this movie as a child in 1957? A flying saucer inhabited by men and not aliens? A robot? Psychokinesis? WOW! Genuine science fiction masterpiece.
Since Anne had not ever been around many folks.. she was innocent. She hadn't been socialized. That is also why the deer and tiger were friends with her. Morbius wasn't really a bad person.. but the angst and such in his subconscious mind [just like any one else's] fueled the Id monster. A fellow from Disney provided the blaster, ship and monster effects. I first saw this in a theater when I was 7.. It still remains one of my all-time favorites. BTW, there is a fellow who makes reproductions of Robby.. and very expensive. You can buy just the 'head', or a full body reproduction.. which includes the original voice.. I also loved the electronic sound track.
The robot suit for Robbie was designed by a Japanese designer who normally builds washing machines. The suit is considered to be an iconic piece of science fiction and has been reused or copied dozens of times in TV and movies.
Also video games especially the Fallout series.
big fan as a kid for Lost in Space...when Robby showed up for 1 episode it was cool...
@@SolarTiger OMG Yes! I remember Robot saying it can't be! Greatest crossover event of my childhood, with the exception of Godzilla vs Kong.
Robbie the robot even guest starred in an episode of Columbo.
@@raphaelperry8159 That's awesome I love Columbo! I had no idea he had appeared on it. now I have to find that episode thank's
Leslie Neilsen was a Canadian actor known for playing "heavies" until his role in the spoof, "Airplane".
The other "big" science fiction film of its decade was Richard Fleischer's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER SEA, which has unfortunate moments of Disney-type slapstick, but is otherwise an impressively expensive production that holds up beautifully. It's a gorgeous example of high-tech 19th Century design, and if you have the chance, I'd urge you to see it.
This and War of the worlds, invaders from Mars, and later x the unknown the original thing ,from another wotld and a host of others including the Day the Earth Stood Stilll..... gort ,clay, harada nicto......
Also a rare signing performance by Kirk Douglas
In case no one mentioned this, Forbidden Planet was the first time a studio put major money and resources in a Sci Fi film. Previously, most of the sci-fi films were cheaply made and shown to teenagers in drive ins. For this film, they casted Walter Pigeon, who was a very accomplished actor, to be the Dr. I think they spent $4 million to produce this film, making it the most expensive film (at that time) of this studio and possibly all of Hollywood.
And interestingly, this movie is based on a Shakespearean play "The Tempest" but brilliantly updated with modern concepts. Hard to beat The Bard.
" in the original Klingon..."
One of my all time favourites. Shakespeare's Tempest in Sci Fi. Really, really enjoyed "The Return to the Forbidden Planet" stage play - telling the same story but full of Shakespeare puns "what light through yonder porthole breaks" and by far the best, "Beware the Id's that march!" and not to forget the rockin music! Great stuff.
Forbidden planet has influenced every major sci fy movie and tv show for decades. It still stands up on its own for sheer creativity and story telling, it was also ray harihausens tour de force .
Jurassic Park? Westworld?
This flick was part of a wave of awesome sci-fi and fantasy: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Time Machine, Journey to the Center of the Earth, First Men in the Moon, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the list goes on...
The disintegration of the tiger should prove, once and for all, that those blasters were more than just vacuum cleaners. 🤣🤣🤣
And the psychic backlash caused by Morbius giving up all that subconscious power no doubt resulted in a cerebral hemorrhage.
Leslie Nielson also played a serious role in The Poseidon Adventure (1972) which you all might enjoy reacting to. The cast list was star-studded with 1970s icons.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) deserves way more notice than it gets. An Epic Disaster movie.
I first saw this on some early morning movie broadcast back in the 60s as I was getting ready for school. That creature going through the force field stayed with me for life. So cool.
You have to cut them a little slack on their positions when they're shooting their weapons... The special effects had to be added on later and in the case of moving energy bolts they have to stay in line with the bore or the tip of the weapon so if they're waving it all around is going to make the animation a lot more difficult to synchronize with the line-of-sight of the raygun. Even early Star Trek and others you'll notice the actors freezing for a moment in order for the phaser beam to go from them to the prospective target.
The whole reason Leslie was chosen for Airplane was because he was a serious actor who also happened to a sense of humour.
Matthew Yuricich was a legendary matte painter on this, he was also a matte painter with his son Richard on Bladerunner 1982
Now you guys gotta watch another classic sfifi film from the same era: THIS ISLAND EARTH (1955)
Leslie Nielsen was a very serious actor up until the 1970s when he switched to comedy thanks to a part in a Mel Brooks film.
Captain Adams: Alta, there's a problem with Robby.
Altaira: Robby? What is it?
Captain Adams: Robby? He's a robot, a machine made to do the work of a man, but thats not important right now.
Another suggestion for you... movie that came out three years after this one... On The Beach (1959)
After World War III, Australia is the only remaining haven for mankind. However, wind currents carrying lingering radiation all but condemn those on the continent to the same fate suffered by the rest of the world. When the survivors receive a strange signal from San Diego, Cmdr. Dwight Towers (Gregory Peck) must undertake a mission with Lt. Peter Holmes (Anthony Perkins) to see if there is hope for humanity -- leaving behind Moira (Ava Gardner) and Mary (Donna Anderson), the women they love.
Love that Film! .... However it's Ultra-Depressing!
Part of this movie's claim to "serious" is that it's basically an adaptation of William Shakespeare's The Tempest.
One of my favorite movies. Great screenplay by Cyril Hume. You can see where Gene Roddenberry got many of his ideas.
My mom saw this when it came out. She told me it gave her nightmares. This movie was groundbreaking. Look in a future Babylon 5 episode for an homage.
The men’s behavior is very cringe by today’s standards. Remember, sit back and enjoy. Open minds! 🤣
I hope you guys do “Robinson Crusoe On Mars.”
A while ago I found a DVD of Robinson Crusoe on Mars. The commentary by the lead actor was very interesting, and rather sad, too.
I saw it on a tiny B/W TV at my aunt's house when I was 7. F'ed me up for weeks lol
Yes Robinson Cruso on mars the fore runner of the Martian
5:45 Not only did 1965 Star Trek (the Cage, one year before The Menagerie) get teleporters from this, but on an episode of Next Generation from 1992, The Relic. A character keeps alive for 75 years in stasis inside a teleporter matrix, and everyone on the Enterprise was stunned that the idea was even plausible.
One of the guesses that wasn't in the movie was close. Decades ago I found the book for this movie in the public library. The project Morbius mentioned that he was working on was to create life. All the Earth animals in the movie had been made by him, not brought there by the Krell. They discovered this when the monkey was killed, accidentally I think, and they autopsied it and found that it was different internally than it should have been.
The big guns are literally the ship's main batteries dismount it like an old fashioned pirate ship
Robbie the robot was at that time the most expensive single movie prop ever made about about $100K - consequently he went on to star in a few more movies before he retired to recoup the initial expense.
There is actually a sequel to this film called "The Invisible Boy". It's set on earth and the only character from this film is Robbie the Robot, but technically its sequel.
The story line is based on Shakespeare's "The Tempest".
It might be hard to understand but this movie hit the local theater when I was a child just 1 month before I turned 5yrs old. I can remember how it took me by the shirttail and shook me to the core from that moment on I was totally a Sci/Fi - fantasy fan and not just 3 months before my 72nd birthday I have never regretted it. Robby is my all time favorite robot even more so than C3PO and R2D2. Anne Francis was 25yrs old during filming of the movie and played a 19yr old Altaira in Forbidden Planet. The effects of this movie were nominated for best-effects Oscar that year.
How cool would it have been if Robby got an Oscar and then gave the acceptance speech.
Star Trek the original series has an episode that is partially an adaptation of the film Forbidden Planet: "Requiem for Methuselah" Season 3, Episode 19.
They were on Altair IV. In Star Trek TOS in the episode called "Space Seed" they dropped Khan and his people off on Altair IV. In the 2nd movie, The Wrath of Khan, they meet up with him again.
The very opening narration was by my friend Les Treymane. If you grew up in the mid 70's. He was Mr.Mentor sort of the wizard Shazam. On the Shazam/ original Fawcett /DC Comics Capt.Marvel. He also was a famous radio voice for decades, appeared several times on Perry Mason and the Any Griffith tv series too.
All of the music and sound effects were done electronically, one of the earliest forms of electronic music ever. It was actually nominated for an Oscar for the music, but because it wasn't made with actual instruments it didn't qualify.
As for influences, this movie had the captain, first officer, and ship's doctor as best buds, just like in Star Trek: TOS.
And you can't help but notice the homage that was done towards this film in Babylon 5 with the interiors of the planet below the station! They lifted that imagery directly and on purpose! JMS said so himself. He was very inspired by this film.
Also, all the animation was done by Disney animators!
Besides Robby, the spaceship landing taking off and their space uniforms. Were used on a few episodes of the original Twilight Zone episodes also.
Remember the whide shots of the great underground machine in this movie. There will be a great little homage to it coming up in something else you're watching. :)
The movie is loosely based on Shakespeare's THE TEMPEST. According to Richard Anderson, the studio intended to only make half the movie and use it as a tax write-off but the footage from the first few days of shooting were so good they decided to complete it. According to Anne Frances, Walter Pigeon and Leslie Nielson competed with each other on set telling filthy jokes. Robbie the Robot made later appearances on LOST IN SPACE and COLUMBO.
And yes, that is Leslie Nielsen as the Commander, John J. Adams, the same guy from The Naked Gun movies and Airplane! and Dracula: Dead And Loving It!, Just when he was much younger. :)
Really good reactions, guys.
One of you mentioned Captain Kirk or William Shatner, who is Canadian. Both male leads of this movie were also from Canada. The older actor playing Dr. Morbius was from Montreal, as is Shatner. He was in a 1930s Science Fiction film called "Things to Come", which was also visually beautiful.
The captain was played by Leslie Nielson, who in the 80s and 90s was the lead in the comedy movie series, "Naked Gun", plus the wild comedy "Airplane".
Always reminds me of my Dad who introduced me to this great movie so many years ago.
People have said that the plot is loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Altair is an actual star - Alpha Aquilae - brightest star in the Eagle constellation. You can see it in the night sky in Spring.
I think this was the first big budget SciFi movie.
Before this, they were generally treated as schlocky B-movies for children or teens, with a low budget (although a few diamonds still snuck through, like "Day the Earth Stood Still").
The cost for Robbie himself was probably higher than most Scifi movies of the era and airforce engineers were involved in his construction. Robbie was one of the first semi-believable on screen robots and was introduced as a character in the credits, this led to alot of people thinking he was a real robot, rather than a man in a suit.
They used Disney artists to create the animated special effects and matte paintings, which is probably why they still stand up today (no they haven't been redone, just cleaned up a little when up upscaled).
The score was another first, it was made entirely using electronics (before synthesisers, Moogs, etc).
It was done buy a couple that actually constructed the electonics to make the noises.
One of my favorite movies of all time...... Based on one of my favorite stories .........William Shakespeare's The Tempest. The special effect were cutting edge. Especially for 1956. Also the Music was so different from anything ever heard in a movie before. Great acting and a moral to boot...........ha ha. Was very influential in other movies made after it. Thanks for (2nd) reaction to this movie. You made something great...... even better.........
So glad you reacted to this masterpiece. I saw it pretty young and fell in love with the movie immediately. I had such a crush on Ann Francis when I saw it, such a pretty lady.
They used to use Matte paintings back then until CGI came to look great. Sometimes they were even painted on glass. The ray gun shots and the monster at the end. Was actually done by Walt Disney they did it as a favor to this studio back then MGM? One of the very rare and early times other studios help their competition. If you grew up since the 1930's-70's or watched the original animated Disney and Superman/Popeye cartoons. You'll know immediately these were very same animators beautiful work. This was all top of the line high tech for 1956. I just wish they had did this with. The Day the Earth Stood Still *1951). By filming it in color and had like twenty more minutes of the giant robot Gort. Like had him save some children from a burning building or from a car wreck. I still think the Day the Earth Stood Still has the best story and also THEM! (1954)
The Disney style is also evident in some other optical effects like the C57D landing sequence.
Morbius isn't worried about Altaira with the crew because he didn't hide anything from her. She knows all about sex and sexuality. She hasn't used any of it, but she's intelligent, and skeptical, albeit in an innocent way. She doesn't necessarily know the sorts of flirtatious games the men are likely to play, but she's got a good bullshit detector and won't easily fall into any common traps. They'll talk some game, and she won't know the game, so she'll question it, they'll make excuses because they themselves don't really understand the game, or her, and she'll call them out when they fuck up.
Morbius knows she can handle herself. He's not worried about any of that. And he's mostly internally rolling his eyes at the fact that all these guys think they have a shot at all. It's not until near the end when it's clear that the Commander has a quality that Altaira especially enjoys, and that the same sincerity also means he genuinely appreciates her for who she is (not just because she hot af). That's when he starts to really lose his cool.
Good commentary and one of the best post-viewing conversations I've ever heard. Very enjoyable. You make a great team. Thanks.
Thanks guys for the re-up. thanks John! Let's go! Great Classic Science Fiction ,trail blazing FX! Good story and acting too. love the weird sounds from the "Theremin" it's the only instrument that the person playing it never touches, the instrumentalist appears to be summoning otherwordly sounds from the device by sheer telekinesis🛸👾🐅🤟
A true masterpiece!
The electronic score by the Barrons does not feature the theremin. It's all electronic loops and such from equipment they threw together themselves. Quite remarkable.
@@alanfoster6589 True. The theremin is used in the soundtracks of the classic sci-fi movies "The Day the Earth Stood Still" and "The Thing" as well as other movies.
Although, as @alanfoster6589 commented, the theremin was not used in "Forbidden Planet," it is a fascinating instrument.
The theremin was the product of Soviet government-sponsored research into proximity sensors. The instrument was invented in October 1919 by the Russian physicist Lev Sergeyevich Termen, known in the West as Leon Theremin. After a lengthy tour of Europe, during which time he demonstrated his invention to packed houses, Theremin moved to the United States, where he patented his invention in 1928.
The instrument's controlling section usually consists of two metal antennas which function not as radio antennas but rather as position sensors. Each antennae forms one half of a capacitor with each of the thereminist's hands as the other half of the capacitor. These antennas capacitively sense the relative position of the hands and control oscillators for frequency with one hand, and amplitude (volume) with the other.
The theremin uses the heterodyne principle to generate an audio signal. The instrument's pitch circuitry includes two radio frequency oscillators set below 500 kHz to minimize radio interference. One oscillator operates at a fixed frequency. The frequency of the other oscillator is almost identical, and is controlled by the performer's distance from the pitch control antenna.
The electric signals from the theremin are amplified and sent to a loudspeaker.
"Nice climate you have here. High oxygen content."
"I seldom use it myself, sir. It promotes rust."
Fun Fact: The famous poster for the film shows a menacing robot carrying a struggling pretty girl, a staple of monster movie posters from the 1950's. In fact, no such scene occurs in the film itself and the robot portrayed in the poster is the very likeable Robby The Robot (Marvin Miller).
Fashion Censorship Fact: The miniskirt worn by Anne Francis was seen to be the first worn in a Hollywood movie and resulted in the film being banned in Spain (it was not shown there until 1967), due to General Franco's dictatorship that considered it dirty and obscene that a woman wore a miniskirt to show off legs.
Sea Change Fact: This film marked one of the first times a science-fiction project had received a large budget. The genre had rarely been taken seriously by studio executives, and sci-fi films generally received the most meager of budgets. The critical success of this film convinced many in the film industry that well-funded science-fiction projects could be successful. Film historian Ben Mankiewicz has claimed that this film's success made future big-budget science-fiction films possible.
Navel Rank Fact: A boatswain, bo's'n, bos'n, or bosun, also known as a petty officer, deck boss, or a qualified member of the deck department, is the most senior rate of the deck department and is responsible for the components of a ship's hull. The boatswain supervises the other members of the ship's deck department and typically is not a watchstander, except on vessels with small crews. Additional duties vary depending upon ship, crew, and circumstances. It's not so much a rank as it is a job title.
The part at the beginning where they stepped onto the pads for a while with the green "beams" was because their ship was decelerating. It was a really interesting concept at the time, and still is, because nobody really knew what traveling faster than light would be like. So they assumed you'd have to either spend a very long time speeding up or slowing down, or you'd try and speed up or slow down too quickly and get pancaked.
The movie Event Horizon had a similar but less technologically advanced idea they called "grave couches". In that movie, they were basically big coffins filled with a slightly viscous liquid that would distribute the force of the G's from acceleration so you didn't get crushed. Like a shock absorber for your body.
In this, it's just a kind of inertial damper, of some sort. Presumably everyone gets an individual one, because a single field trying to restrain multiple distinct objects would run into problems of some kind. Hard to say.
But yes, much of this movie was a partial inspiration for Star Trek later on. Many other sources were also just as important, but this particular inspiration is unmistakable.
25:36 Isn't that "Jingle Bells?"
Don't overlook the soundtrack, the 1st use of a SYNTHESIZER!
A 1950's vacuum tube HIGH VOLTAGE multi ton Synthesizer.
Leslie Nielson was a leading man in B movies but mainly played police officers/criminals on many, many tv series through the 1970's.
Story's based on the tempest by Shakespeare
No. It is based on partially recovered Homeric play about a Greek hero demigod: Bellerophon. He tames the flying horse Pegasus and kills the Chrimera monster. He feels he should be a god of Olympus and tries to fly Pegasus to the home of the gods. Zeus sent a gadfly ti sting the horse, who then throws Bellerophon to his death. FYI Dr.Morbious' ship was named , Bellerophon.
The plot of The Tempest is: a shipwreck brings a number of diplomats and educated men, plus a few crewmen to an island ruled by an exiled scholar and noble, who has a daughter that has never seen any man but her father, who has told her that other men are all monsters.
The ruler has a secret cave, and a servant who understands the magic of the island, and the ruler has learned enough magic to cause a storm... he seeks revenge on some of the men on the ship, as they exiled him. He torments them with visions and power they cannot have, intending that they kill each other.
The daughter encounters men, falls in love with one, and the ruler lets her go, then breaks his magical staff, denying revenge and his anger at the end.
This film has a ship named for Bellerophon as they, by finding this planet of godlike power, that is forbidden to man, yes.
That part is based upon Bellerophon, but the story that plays out in this movie is mostly, but not all Shakespeare's The Tempest.
1950s Sci-Fi movies you should watch. In terms of story and acting, these are great! The special effects were excellent for the time and still not too bad now. If the titles are familiar, its because the ones you know are all remakes.
👍>>>The War of the Worlds (1953)
I have reacted to a couple of those. Here are the links
m.th-cam.com/video/PGVUMCP4xT8/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUbUiBrbmlnaHRzIHdhciBvZiB0aHcgd29ybGRz
m.th-cam.com/video/IIluWaPDIT4/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUmdGhlIGRheSB0aGUgZWFydGggc3Rvb2Qgc3RpbGwgcmVhY3Rpb24%3D
m.th-cam.com/video/_lWhVm7Km5w/w-d-xo.html&pp=ygUnaW52YXNpb24gb2YgdGhlIGJvZHkgc25hdGNoZXJzIHJlYWN0aW9u
One of the intriguing things in the film (at least) is the animals encountered: did the Krell bring them back, or did they appear when the Bellerophon arrived and Morbius had got the brain boost? If the latter, they are projections of matter by the Machine that have the semblance of animals. Recall that Bellerophon was a hero who slew the Chimera, a hybrid unnatural creature, so my leaning is that the companions of Altaira were unnatural.
Why did the tiger leap toward Altaira? Presumably, this alludes to the myth that maidens can tame wild beasts. When her innocence is lost, the animals no longer reacted to her the same. However, it can also be seen that the tiger was imbued with her father's benevolence towards her, until such time as this, at which point the unconscious resentment was manifested in the tiger's new willingness to destroy.
The novelization addresses much of this and takes the position the animals were unnatural. It is up to individuals whether they accept this interpretation. However, it does go a long way towards a deeper message of the film: The Krell had advanced to the point that with the Machine they had set themselves up as gods with the ability to create anything, including life, and this hubris was why they were destroyed. As Adams says to Altaira "... we are, after all, not God".
All the visual effects of the saucer, landscape vistas and the underground technology was animation. MGM was able to get some of the top animators on loan from the Disney Studio. As far as the way the men treated Alta was somewhat acceptable for the times in this post-WWII era. (WWII mentality had a lot to do with the behavior of the crew). When the ship was checking on their safety by scanning the room, and they first saw her, they let out what was called a “wolf whistle”. It was considered not quite proper behavior, but it did happen that in certain social settings, a random man could whistle at a random woman on the street like that. Many woman took it as a normal, harmless compliment.
What is considered truly terrifying in my opinion, is the fact that even though the monster Morbius created was a being of solid matter, it was invisible to everyone as a result of the creature being a product of his own subconscious mind and no one else's.
This movie was such a great influence for so many movies and shows we have now. The sound and visuals were so ahead of its time.
This is one of my favorite old Sci-Fi movies. I saw it when I was a young boy, and would watch it everytime it came on TV. I wasn't a big fan of Star Trek; as I felt it was too silly. This was a more serious take on Sci-Fi; which really made you think about it's ending. It held my attention the whole time. When Robbie showed up on Mork and Mindy; many years later, it was a treat.
Side note; the theme song for Rocky Horror Picture Show, mentions Forbidden Planet in the lyrics.
"Science fiction double feature
Doctor X will build a creature
See androids fighting Brad and Janet
Anne Francis stars in Forbidden Planet"
I highly recommend "The Thing From Another World" to your viewing list. That not only is the basis for John Carpenter's "The Thing", but you can see a TON of influences it had on James Cameron for "Aliens" and the like.
This is one of my most favorite movies growing up.
I'm glad you three had a chance to experience this great movie and are able to share it.
I alway get so tickled at the shocked reaction to young people today when it comes to how men and women flirted back in my day. That and cigarettes. Young people act like the least risqué thing is a criminal offense. Lol
First time watching?…….what a treat for anyone in 2023! First saw this on TV, back in the late 60’s and it still stands up today…..a true classic. There have been attempts to remake it……at one point Irvin Kershner was to direct, with possibly Sean Connery as Morbius but it went the way of all flash.
Forbidden Planet's advertising posters ALL show Robbie carrying Anne Francis, while in the movie, the only one he carries is Warren Stevens (the doctor).
There's a memo from Gene Roddenberry from the time he was developing the first pilot for Star Trek. He mentions that he and his production staff had screened Forbidden Planet. He asks for any photos from the film and if it was possible to blow up frames from the film to send to the designers working on Trek to inspire them.
The comic relief in this movie is provided by the cook, portrayed by Earl Holliman, still kicking at 94.
Star trek, star wars, Battlestar Galactica,
All were inspired and built on this movie!
It's special effects, sound design, and cinematography are exceptional!
Years before it's time,
This is the first true outer space masterpiece!
It's concept comes from classic literature,
Notably Shakespeare's
The tempest!
This film is awesome! The special effects hold up well, even today. It's basically a reimagining of Shakespear's ''The Tempest''.
The little-known sequel made a year later, explains a lot about what killed the Krell. They had unleashed a singularity, an A.I that had no room for any rival gods. The sequell is NOT, absolutely not a bad film, in fact maybe even deeper than "Forbidden Planet". There are 2 non-spoiler things to know. Remember that Robby was piloting the ship at the end. Why did they allow this ? You mentioned that maybe the full extent of Robbie's powers were not revealed. You don't know how right you are. Robbie was built from Krell Technology. He had the ability to secretly upgrade himself and also hypnotize people. Also remember that the monster was invisible. Robby had all these powers with the potential to grow these powers exponentially, but he had a conscience, was a noble creation made in the image of man's higher self. The sequel is titled, "The Invisible Boy". It takes place in 1958 in a black ops facility where scientists live with their families in a gated residential community. They are involved in a whole world of secret projects. In 1958 there is a secret moon base and the space race is just a cover. They have already been on the moon for years. Robby had navigated the ship through a time warp. A scientist in the 40s had been contacted by Robby. He had explained that he had developed a time machine and retrieved Robby from the future. But that was a lie designed to conceal the true nature of his work. After his death the Krell Technology from Robby is used in an artificial intelligence project. The man who leads the project has a small son. The electronic brain, seen somewhat as Robbie's "God" has secretly hypnotized the boy and had him reassemble Robbie. Unlike Robby, this Earth-Krell hybrid A .I. is evil. Robby makes the boy invisible. Robby, under the control of the singularity kidnaps the boy and takes him into space. They intend to blackmail the scientist into giving the source code and use the boy as a hostage. The machine intends to rule the universe and destroy all life in the universe, even the tiniest microbe that might someday evolve to challenge it. It takes the evil mistaken for the "id" from the first film to a whole new level. By the way, the ship that services the moon base looks EXACTLY like the space shuttle from the 80s, though the film was made in the 50s. It is a shuttle known as "the glider". This film will blow your mind but is over some people's heads. The fxs are great though the film is in black and white. But that enhances the 50s motif. "The Invisible Boy" stars Robby and an excellent cast of oddball geniuses.
That 'what are they doing?' at the start, that looks like Star Trek's 'beaming' is 'D.C. stations' = deceleration below light-speed.
But the image obviously stuck with Roddenberry and/or the set designers of Trek.
In 2017, George R. R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice and Fire (aka Game of Thrones), tweeted: "Who says the science fiction is not prophetic? 'The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once...' The Krel Machine has been built. We call it The Internet."
When I was growing up in the 60's the theater screen were about 125 feet wide over 70 feet tall so you can imagine the effect with massive speakers on the walls.
I saw FB Planet in19956 when I was seven. It changed my life. A movie filled with ideas.
people can argue with me all they want, but I watched this since I was 7 years old in 1971 (the first time I ever saw it on TV, and it scared the snot out of me!), and even TODAY, more than 60 years later, the special effects were just insane, long before George Lucas made Star Wars!
and if you ever read Willaim Shakespear's The Tempest, you will see the story in a different setting.