Classic 70s Movie: “Logan’s Run”
September is Classic 70s Movie month. Today’s guest post comes from Eric Rodriguez.
Movie Title: Logan’s Run
Year: 1976
Writers: Screenplay by David Zelag Goodman, Novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson
Lead Actors: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, and Richard Jordan
Director: Michael Anderson
Plot Summary — The opening title card reads:
Sometime in the 23rd century the survivors of war, overpopulation, and pollution are living in a great domed city sealed away from the forgotten world outside. Here, in an ecologically balanced world, mankind lives only for pleasure, freed by servo-mechanisms which provide everything. There is just one catch: Life must end at thirty unless reborn in the fiery ritual of Carrousel.
Long before there was Bodhi, Tyler and Johnny Utah, Logan Run gave us Logan 5, Jessica 6, and Francis 7.
Domed City, fantastic as it is, has a small counter-culture that does not buy into the Carrousel/die-at-thirty concept. These people, called “runners” try to escape their fate in Carrousel by evading “Sandmen,” government enforcers dispatched to terminate these civil-disobediants (made up that word cause Dome City put me in the mood). The story follows Logan 5, sent under cover, and Jessica 6 on their journey to find a place called “Sanctuary.” The two must escape other Sandmen to include Logan’s BFF, Francis 7, before the time on their life-clocks or threads on their costume run out.
Why I Think This Is A Classic 70s Movie: Logan’s Run has many 70’s themes. There is a healthy mistrust of government, a fear of overcrowding, the rise of the leisure state, and proliferation of sex and drugs. The look of the movie has that classic 70’s sci-fi palette, lots of strong primary/complimentary colors. The music tends to be heavy on the synthesizer. The future in the 70’s contained monorails, jetpacks, and peace. Logan’s Run bangs on all those keys.
Neither Logan nor Francis is a bad guy. Logan is basically a good cop turned anti-establishment and Francis is a true lawman. It’s a state vs. humanity argument which was common for this era.
The main reason it’s a classic 70’s film — freedom of speech baby. Many of the 70’s movies chosen for this month, Logan’s Run included, preceded the fascist PC gatekeepers, pirates, spoilers and techno savvy a-holes that ruin the current market. No one complained about the lack of diversity in Dome City where shape, color, or creed were concerned. Jenny Agutter didn’t take flack for spending the first half of the flick in a collar (where she had the key to Sanctuary), or the rest of the flick in less and less costume. People in Domed City are supposed to be shallow and superficial. The whole movie feels freer, and therefore, more honest on every level. Foam sets and models don’t trump truth in story and the movies of the 70’s picked and clawed for truth in fiction. Filmmakers used clever framing and composition in place of shaky-cam and quarter-second cuts to enhance scene action.
My Favorite Moment In The Movie: Logan 5 reports in to Sandman HQ to debrief the governing computer on his patrol for the day. The computer asks him to “Approach and identify.” This is the scene where he is given his covert mission to join the runners and locate the place they call “Sanctuary.” When called forward, he is both worried and curious, but the job calls for a curious soul. However, Logan is informed through his Q&A with the computer that no one has ever been “renewed.” His world, every thing he believed in, is shattered and he is asked to protect the big lie. From this moment on, this guy who just wanted to shoot runners and have sex carries a bag of secrets. He cannot tell anyone about his mission, not the other runners and not his brutal Sandman buddy, Francis. Furthermore, to sell the ruse that a Sandman has turned runner, the computer does a procedure on Logan that turns his life-clock from red, to blinking. This means his time is up. Logan, who still had four years on his red-light, is devastated. “Question. Do I get my four years back?” The computer does not answer.
My Favorite Dialogue In the Movie: There is a great scene in the third act, which covers the naming of cats, but my favorite in act one just before Logan receives his covert mission. He’s at his apartment after a rough day of shooting runners. He’s feeling a little anxious and orders up some companionship. These are not rent-boys and girls, just people on the “circuit” available to cuddle. Jessica 6 arrives, but decides it was a mistake. She tries to leave, but Logan stops her and questions why she showed up there at all:
Jessica: I felt sad. I put myself on the circuit. It was a mistake.
Logan: Sad. What did you feel sad about?
Jessica: A friend of mine went on Carrousel. Now he’s gone.
Logan: Yes, well I’m, I’m sure he was renewed.
Jessica: He was killed, like the others.
Logan: Killed. Why do you, why do you use that word?
Jessica: Isn’t that what you do, kill?
Logan: I’ve never killed anyone in my life. Sandmen terminate runners. What’s your name?
Jessica: Jessica.
Logan: Jessica. Well sad or not, you’re beautiful. Lets have sex.
Key Things You Should Look For When Watching This Movie: There is a lot of weird/fun stuff in this movie and none of it is overdone; there is the Cirque du Soleil type Carrousel with human skeet attraction, blinking lights, monorails, jetpack corpse roombas, smart phones, orgy clubs, instant plastic surgery, strobe lights, sex/drug parties, a robot cryo-rancher/murderer, and cats just to name a few things.
The Sandmen carry a small black clutch to put evidence in and the costumes of both Michael York and Jenny Agutter disintegrate piece by piece throughout their journey.
There is something more subtle happening in story. This is about the things we are willing to trade for comfort. Logan is curious from the beginning. Not so much like the runners, but in the afterlife, something they call renewal. This idea is blown apart before the end of act one of course. The story lacks an uber-villain. Francis is the main antagonist and he is shown being brutal playing a sort of gun pong with a runner in the beginning. He likes the ways things are and will not change. In place of an uber-villain, the story uses a series of locational villains as Logan and Jessica journey to “Sanctuary.” The takes are high, which helps. Jessica and Logan are both runners and targeted for termination. Jessica never really believed in the concept of renewal, but Logan is dealing with compelling emotional/spiritual stakes. Everything he believes in has been proven to be a lie and he is chosen to protect that secret while dodging his long time partner/BFF Francis. Emotionally, Logan is on a one way trip and that is one of the reasons this movie endures.
Thanks, Eric! To show our gratitude for your guest post, here’s a dash of creative juju for you. Whoosh!
We already have a set of 80s Movies and 90s Movies. This month, we’re working on 70s Movies.
Thanks to all of you for your participation in this project, creating a resource for writers, movies we should all watch to help learn the craft of screenwriting!