Forbidden Planet [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

MGM's first big-budget science fiction film, Forbidden Planet, combined state-of-the-art special effects with a storyline based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. In the 23rd century, Cmdr. J.J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) guides United Planets cruiser C-57-D on a rescue mission to faraway planet Altair-4. Twenty years earlier, Earth ship Bellerophon disappeared while en route to Altair-4. Only the ship's philologist, Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), survived; in the intervening decades, Morbius has created an Edenlike world of his own, for the benefit of himself and his nubile young daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis). His private paradise is zealously guarded by Robby the Robot, a piece of technology far in advance of anything on Earth. When Adams and his crew land on Altair-4, Morbius announces that he has no intention of being rescued and returned to Earth. When Adams attempts to contact home base, he finds that his radio equipment has been smashed by some unseen force. Holding Morbius responsible, Adams confronts the scientist, who decides to tell all. At one time, according to Morbius, Altair-4 was populated by the Krel, a wise, intellectually superior race. Using leftover Krel technology, Morbius has doubled his intellect and gained the ability to shape a new world to his own specifications. Forbidden Planet was a big influence on future sci-fi outer-space efforts, especially Star Trek. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Audio: DTS-HD Master Audio
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 2.40:1
• Subtitle: Eng/Fre/Spa
• Features:
  • Deleted Scenes and Lost Footage
  • 2 Follow-Up Vehicles Starring Robby the Robot: Feature Film The Invisible Boy
  • The Thin Man TV Series Episode Robot Client
  • TCM Original Documentary Watch the Skies!: Science Fiction, the 1950s and Us
  • 2 Featurettes: Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet
  • Robby the Robot: Engineering a Sci-Fi Icon
  • Excerpts from The MGM Parade TV Series
  • Theatrical Trailers of Forbidden Planet and The Invisible Boy

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Nominated Best Special Effects - 1956 (Wesley C. Miller, Irving G. Ries, Arnold A. Gillespie)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Walter Pidgeon - Dr. Edward Morbius
       Anne Francis - Alta Morbius
       Leslie Nielsen - Commander John J. Adams
       Warren Stevens - Lt. "Doc" Ostrow
       Jack Kelly - Lt. Farman
       Richard Anderson - Chief Quinn
       Earl Holliman - Cook
       George Wallace - Bosun
       Bob Dix - Grey
       Jimmy Thompson - Youngerford
       James Drury - Joe Strong
       Harry Harvey, Jr. - Randall
       Roger McGee - Lindstrom
       Peter Miller - Moran
       Morgan Jones - Nichols
       Richard Grant - Silvers
       Frankie Darro - Robby the Robot

• Director:

  Fred Wilcox

• Producer:

  Nicholas Nayfack

• Screen Story:

  Irving A. Block

• Screenwriter:

  Cyril Hume

• Play Author:

  William Shakespeare

• Screen Story:

  Allen Adler

• Cinematographer:

  George Folsey

• Composer (Music Score):

  Louis Barron, Bebe Barron

• Editor:

  Ferris Webster

• Art Director:

  Cedric Gibbons, Arthur Lonergan

• Set Designer:

  Hugh Hunt, Edwin B. Willis

• Costume Designer:

  Walter Plunkett, Helen Rose

• Makeup:

  William J. Tuttle

• Special Effects:

  Arnold A. Gillespie, Joshua Meador, Warren Newcombe, Irving G. Ries

• First Assistant Director:

  George Rhein

REVIEW:

• At the time Forbidden Planet came along, science fiction hadn't existed for all that long as a movie genre, having really only established itself after World War II as distinct from horror films and movie serials. And there had been some serious science fiction films made up to that time -- most notably, Robert Wise's The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951). But science fiction was still considered primarily a genre that appealed to children, centered on action and adventure, without undue plot complexities or character relationships. Forbidden Planet changed all that, without sacrificing a genuine sense of wonder and other elements that juvenile audiences could enjoy. At the time, people mostly noticed the special effects, perhaps the best ever done up to that time and for many years beyond; it was the first movie that could convince viewers, moment to moment, that they were out in space or on some alien planet. Forbidden Planet's real importance, however, lay in respecting its audience, including the kids, enough to steep its plot in psychology and to make some statements about human nature that were pretty strong stuff in the midst of the Cold War, with both sides detonating H-bomb tests on a regular basis. The movie walks an even more precarious tightrope with its subplot about nubile Anne Francis' relationship with her father and the officers of the starship that has just landed in their two-person paradise. The plot was adapted from William Shakespeare's The Tempest, which flabbergasted (and distressed) some critics but helped draw a new, more serious viewer to this kind of movie. Forbidden Planet was so good, in fact, that it proved an impossible act to follow, and no one tried for almost a decade. But its influence trails out for a half-century beyond: Gene Roddenberry drew most of his ideas about the crew, officers (and their personal relationships), and setting of Star Trek from Forbidden Planet's script and set designs, and George Lucas' funny androids (not to mention Lost in Space's helpful robot servant) have their origins in Forbidden Planet's Robby the Robot. And one can only guess at what luck Stanley Kubrick might've had getting financing for 2001: A Space Odyssey, especially out of MGM, had it not been for the precedent of Forbidden Planet. ~ Bruce Eder, Rovi