Yes it did and that's because they had a good story to tell. (It's apparently based on The Tempest by Shakespeare.) If you have a good story you don't really need special effects to make a movie interesting.
@@TheLecherling-hu1vu Yes, and they were fantastic for the time. I watched it myself for the first time in the early 80s and remember thinking how well they held up even then. By today's standards they are dated to say the least. But that doesn't take away from the movie as they are still perfect adequate to tell the story. And that's my point. This movie would not be improved one bit with a couple hundred million dollars in modern special effects added. The story is what really matters.
@@ThubanDraconis Hell, I find that it even stands up to those crappy computer simulations of more recent movies (in case that's what you mean by "today's standards").
Back in the ‘50’s, there were a boatload of cheesy low budget sci-fi features made for the sole purpose of making a quick buck. “Forbidden Planet” was one of the first science fiction productions to take it’s subject matter seriously (you might want to also check out the original “Day the Earth Stood Still” and “This Island Earth” for examples of this newfound attitude). It was also one of the first sci-fi films to to have a decent studio backed budget, which is part of the reason the FX, sets and costumes still look great today. The producers even went to the trouble of poaching animators from Disney to render the Id monster as outlined in the perimeter fence. The film was more of an inspiration to ‘Star Trek’ than just the theme of ultimate power corrupting even the most moral person. The whole idea of Starfleet was a direct result of the space fleet depicted here. This film is a touchstone for science fiction in so many ways it’s difficult to express it all in just a few paragraphs.
*Technically, EVERY Hollywood movie was made for the purpose of making a quick buck. And MANY of those "cheesy" science fiction and sci-fi movies were intended as serious works.* Please, don't mistake the limited technology and stage acting for schlock. The concept behind _The Thing from Another World_ (1951) is pretty groundbreaking.
The artistry in this film was incredible. The underground facilities of the Krell still blow me away. Also, a Disney animator animated the ID Monster, hence the look.
Very, very enjoyable reaction! The special effects in this movies ruled until they were surpassed in 1968 by 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then in 1977, science fiction special effects hit an even higher level with a little movie called "Star Wars". There are some "clues" about what is happening but they are subtle such as Morris's premonitions and nightmares. The ID can never be eliminated because it is part of evolution. Even the Krell who were so benevolent and rational evolved from the (as Morbius put it), the mindless primitive. The ID is ALL irrational EMOTION! Just like the Krell, Morbius could not "understand" what was happening. The first thing the non-ID portion of Morbius's mind did was to warn them not to land; he truly felt grief for all the deaths. But Morbius became more frustrated as time went on and his ID created a monster to sabotage, then kill one person, and then kill everyone. His ID was even going to kill Miranda, his own daughter. Remember, the ID is all irrational emotion; like cutting your nose to spite your face. I look forward to more of your reactions. P.S. Leslie Nielson was dramatic actor until 1980 when he was in a comedy called "Airplane"; he enjoyed it so much pretty much he just did comedies from then on such as "The Naked Gun" and many more.
I duno if I'd say that Star wars took them to a significantly "higher level" than 2001. In fact, I'd say Star Wars really just took the SAME style of effects that 2001 had pioneered and revolutionized and applied them to a more action/adventure type story.
@@IanFindly-iv1nl Star Wars brought motion cameras into the next era, as that was the biggest leap forward into special effects: the ability to synchronize camera motions utilizing rudimentary computers for better action sequences.
They stood on the transporter-like pads to protect themselves from the effects of faster-than-light travel. It looks similar to a Star Trek transporter pad, but isn't for teleportation.
Is it a matte painting or a backdrop? As I understand matte paintings, they are done on optically clear glass with one or more blank regions where live-action footage can be "matted" in. Digital effects have made the technique largely unused today.
Forbidden Planet was the first big budget sci-fi movie. It was in color, widescreen and the soundtrack was the first electronic soundtrack and in stereo! This movie proved to all the other movie studios that a big budget sci-fi movie could turn a very good profit if done right😮😊!
A near perfect SF film. My only criticism is the attempts at humor with the cook. They don't really work. But the rest of the movie is magnificent. It is my Mt Rushmore of SF films.
@@trhansen3244 I get what you're saying, maybe a tad overdone, but it was also used to provide a context to show that Robbie was able to detect the "Planetary Force." So, a bit of foreshadowing, there.
It was actually a bit of a flop on release. Some other cheesy movie was the biggest hit that year. Most cinema goers didn't understand it and reviewers panned it for being too slow and philosophic.
This is, basically, Shakespear's The Tempest. The concept of our own subconscious mind given physical form and unlimited power being the most terrifying monster was WAY ahead of its time.
There was a stage musical in the 80s called Return To The Forbidden Planet that retold this movie with mock Shakespearean dialogue and rock music from the 50s and 60s. I saw it in London and then later in an Australian production in Melbourne. It remains one of my favorite theatrical experiences. "Beware the ids that march!"
I was about to comment the same thing, until I saw yours. When this was remastered in the 1990's and rebroadcast on TV, it was LeVar Burton that was providing the commentary that night. I remember watching it live. If you've ever read Shakespeare's "The Tempest" it's clear this is a direct translation.
J. Micheal Strazynski -- the creator of Babylon 5 -- was supposed to do a rewrite of this classic. If he had applied the same level of creativity as he had to B5, I think it would have been excellent.
I can honestly say this us the first time I have seen ANYONE react to this classic. This also shows a young Leslie Nielsen when he was still a dramatic actor.
True. I used to look down on any films, especially SF films, made before Star Wars. But then I started watching them and realized there are many great SF films, especially in the 50s.
Right, but the design of the scene is what makes "the great machine" so magnificent that it inspired many scenes of cavernous space ships and at least one direct imitation (Babylon 5 and its "great machine").
The Krell’s machine was designed to make anything they thought of manifest physically, but it also made everything they thought of manifest physically.
And they weren't allowed to call it 'music'. The credits say 'Electronic tonalities.' Even into the late 1970s, the musicians' union was fighting the use of electronic instruments, saying that a saw-tooth wave created on a synthesizer wasn't as good as a saw-tooth wave created on a violin.
Fun Fact - On February 9th, 1966 "Robby the Robot" was renamed as "Robotoid" and made a guest appearance on the original 1960s "Lost in Space" TV series in a black & white video episode titled "War of the Robots." He is continuously condescending and insulting. He tells the Robinson Family's robot "You are ignorant and obviously of a very primitive design"
Robbie 's second LIS appearance was in season 3 premiere episode Condemned of Space as a lone Robot guard on a space station full of prisoners serving out their sentences in Cryo.
3:40......What you just witnessed, Miranda, was the deceleration process from hyper-drive. Those beams protect the crew from the sudden reduction in speed. I'm looking forward to your reaction to this classic!!! ✌️
For those of us gals who paid attention in science class it is inertia. The force something has or doesn't have when it is moving or stationary. They are going from FTL travel to "normal speed." What do you do with all that force you have accumulated with your mass times your acceleration. (Sort of. I paid attention but have not had to use a mass decelerator in some time )
Miranda, This is a reworking of Shakespeare's play "The Tempest", this is one of the best adaptations of it ever in my opinion. Funnily enough, the female character in Shakespeare's tale is called Miranda too.
Yes: Morbius = Prospero Cdr. Adams = Ferdinand Altaira = Miranda A big, big question is whether Robbie is Ariel or Caliban, and whether the "Id Monster" is Caliban or Ariel. Each of them has features of each of the others.
Yes, the human interaction somewhat resembles " The Tempest." However, this medium is Sci-Fi, and that means the Krell are the message. The story comes9 from a Homeric play called " Bellerophon " ( also the name of Dr. Morbius' ship ). It's about a warrior who is given gifts from the gods to aid his quest, including special armour and weapons, plus the ability to tame Pegasus. Bellerophon feels he is now as powerful as a god so he demands to be let into Olympus. He is denied. So, he decides to fly to Olympus. Zeus sees this and sends a gnat to sting Pegasus, causing it to send Bellerophon plummeting to his death. Just like the Krell thought they didn't need the machines. ( Star Trek Replicators ? )
I think what makes it more terrifying is that because it's a product of Morbius's subconscious mind, no one else can see it until such a time when it chooses to make itself known. But when it murdered Quinn, there was a brief glimpse of the monster just as it tripped the force field.
As I recall, the planetary terrain images were painted by notable space artist Chesley Bonestell. Growing up during the 50's, my imagination of alien worlds was defined by Bonestell 's art. While in late Elementary/early Middle School I was a member of a Junior offshoot of a local Stars Club based at my city's science museum. We held our meetings in a large ornate conference room with a huge wood table. Surrounding the table on the beautiful dark panelled walls were at least a dozen full size framed Chesley Bonestell originals. I was so enthralled by the aiien vistas that I always had to be dragged away from them so the meeting could proceed. About 10 yrs ago I contacted the museum to find out whatever happened to the paintings but the people there now had no idea that they had ever been on the 😂property at all. Unfortunate, but I still have my incredible memories. And this movie is among my all-time favorite old school sci-fi epics....along with THIS ISLAND EARTH.
Great reaction. Your are so smart and understanding what is going on as you watch the movie. When I first watched, as with other complex movie stories, I find myself overwhelmed by it all, and am just enjoying the ride. Only after re-watching later I am able to figure out what is going on more fully.
This gets even more Star Trek when you realize that, in the first concepts, the Enterprise was supposed to have the saucer section detach and land in planets... Just like this saucer.
As you saw, this film was exceptionally well done and is a testament to the extraordinary efforts to make such a sci-fi classic. Thank you again for your thoughtful review. I’d like to again recommend the 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still.
All those guys in the crew going forward had notable careers in Hollywood or on TV. But Anne Francis had her own TV Show where she portrayed a private investigator, Honey West with a pet ocelot. She was the first female private investigator with her own featured character on American TV.
@@higgme1ster I just watched Honey West for the first time and thought it reminded me of Remington Steele. A chick running the show while needing Male Muscle around to be taken more seriously. What surprised me was how much older Anne Francis looked only 10;years after FB. Then I looked up her age and she was in her early-med 20s when she did FB and was just a few years younger then Leslie Nielsen. Don't get me wrong she's still cute in Honey West but the bloom was definitely off the rose-to coin a phrase. Both Nielsen and Francis died around the same time. Francis might still be with us if she didn't smoke like a chimney but they lived fairly long lives.
This is a Truly great Sci-Fi Classic! This movie inspired Star Trek. The number 1701 (the Enterprise numbers), is the DC fix called out in the beginning of the movie. Hyperdrive is the inspiration for Warpdrive. The music is credited as "tonalities" because the musician union refused to allow it to be called music. The music was inspired by "Poeme Electronique" by Edgard Varese. It was all done with a primitive electronic sound generator, composed by Louis and Bebe Barron, who were huge fans and pioneers of experimental music. The classic story, based on The Tempest, the fantastic Special Effects, the Forward thinking. This movie really holds up and is a lot of fun to watch. The Invisible monster (created from the subconscious Id), was Brilliant! I was fascinated when I saw this movie on TV while I was in College, and have been a fan of this ever since. Thank You so much for Reviewing this.
I saw this on TV a few years after it was released. I was enthralled. It really does hold up well, so much better than the drek that is produced today (although it's hard to see Leslie Nielsen without chuckling.) The Id monster messed me up, precisely because it was invisible. I had nightmares for weeks
The music in this was "electronic experimental" music. The musician unions raised a fuss about calling it music as they feared they would be replaced by machines, so the music was called "electronic tonalities".
This was the first movie that took Sci-Fi seriously. Back then it was thought it would take 500 years for humans to get to the Moon. And there was this attitude that it was silly and that, "People who are interested in these fantasizes; are not right in the head and should be watched." Even 10 years later Gene Roddenberry had a hell of a time selling Star Trek to TV. They told him, "Gene, your a good writer. Go back to westerns and forget about this crazy space stuff." Since these props were all hand made and so detailed, in the 50's they were outrageously expensive, Robbie cost $50,000, you could buy two small houses for that back then! Also the "car" and the saucer were reused in some episodes of The Twilight Zone in the 60's. Robbie also made a guest appearance on Lost in Space, and small parts in some other movies and shows. The DVD of the restored film has a bonus disc with The Invisible Boy and The Thin Man TV series episode; Robot Client. in which Robbie starred in.
I don''t know about the 500 years part. By the time this film came out in 1956 rockets have already reached space in sub orbital flights. Wernher Von Braun had already created designs for spacecraft capable of reaching the Moon. A year after this movie came out the first orbital satellite was launched. The first man into space was just five years later in 1961 and the first men on the men were just 13 years after the movie.
The Doctor played by Warren Stevens, was also a guest actor in one of the Star Trek episodes: By Any Other Name. He has also appeared in the Outer Limits and Twilight Zone.
Classic SciFi: -the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) -the original "War of the Worlds" (1953) -the original "The Time Machine" (1960) -the original "Planet of the Apes" (1968) -"Soylent Green" (1973) -"Bladerunner" (1982) -"John Carter" (2012) Lesser known should-be-classics: -"Fantastic Planet" (1973) -"Zardoz" (1974) -"A Boy and His Dog" (1975) -"Enemy Mine" (1985) -"Demolition Man" (1993) -"12 Monkeys" (1995) -"Waterworld" (1995) -"Bicentennial Man" (1999) -"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001) -"Minority Report" (2002) -"Warm Bodies" (2013)
It always makes me smile when Nielsen gets on the intercom and talks to the crew, and their all literally within 6ft of him. Interesting fact that most might know, but in case you didn't, the grey uniforms were used in other productions, notably for me in The Time Machine. The Time Machine can be seen in the convention scene in Gremlins and who happens to walk by in the same scene, Robby the Robot.
Great soundtrack created by early pioneers in electronic music. They created circuits for more staccato waveforms and added a Theremin for the legato sounds. The effect is otherworldly to this day.
41:39......I've seen this movie many, many times, Miranda, and I always get chills at this scene. MGM borrowed an animator from the Disney Studios to help give life to the Monster. Absolutely amazing work!!! 👏👏👏👏👏 After almost 70 years it still looks great!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏❤
In some countries the animated monster was removed from the scene and so was completely invisible. This was because the censors thought the animation was too frightening. However, many viewers thought the revised version was even scarier!
At the end you said; "What an interesting story." Forbidden Planet is Shakespeare's "The Tempest" done in outer space. This is a modern interpretation of a Shakespearean play. That is why the story is so good.
In the novel, when the planet blows up, the girl disappears. She turned out to be a creation of the lonely Morbius. When I was in college, there was a TV show called "College Bowl Quiz." Kind of like an advanced version of Jeopardy where each round had teams of 4 from three different schools. The University of Illinois, instead of picking a team, had a competition run by the same organization that ran the intermural sports teams. I got 3 friends together and entered a team. The teams usually represented fraternities or dorm halls so, on the entrance form, you had to list the Team Name and what Group you were representing. I named us the Altair IV and said we were representing the Krell. I was never sure if the people running it knew what either of those meant.
@@jimdetry9420 I never knew that there was a novel of this! Thanks! I'll have to see if I can track down a copy. Maybe from Thrift books. I love your anecdote about the "College Bowl Quiz", BTW!! ✌️😂
@@tomstanziola1982 I read it about 45 years ago. I suspect it is long out of print. I'm pretty sure, like the 2001 novel, it was written as a novelization of the movie but after all this time my memory could be off.
My father introduced me to this movie. When he was in college, he was working as the ticket-taker and movie projector operator at "Movie Night" at a theatre near Michigan State. One of the perks was that he got to watch all these movies for free. Every year they had "Forbidden Planet", and he got to watch it often. By the time he graduated, he had seen it over twenty times. It is his favorite Sci-Fi movie. So of course he had to introduce it to his children.
I loved Miranda's thoughts, comments and reactions to this fantastic, classic sci-fi movie. Forbidden Planet features incredible special effects, an amazing story and the awesome Robby The Robot. And what great performances from Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis.
I love this movie! The first time I saw this was at the film festival at Gen Con 14 in 1981. I watched in awe and said "OMG! This is totally a Star Trek episode! "
Seat belts began to be introduced into American cars in the 1950's but were optional. Seat belts in cars were probably considered novel new tech in the 1950's.
They were considered novel in 1948 when Preston Tucker added them to his Tucker Torpedo, along with many innovations considered standard today. You should watch "Tucker: The Man and his Dream" to learn more. My favorite line of that movie is, "...don't get too close to people. You'll catch their dreams".
The term "hyperdrive" was used in Forbidden Planet, two decades before Star Wars. According to ChatGTP4: The term "hyperdrive" was first used in science fiction in a preview of Murray Leinster's story "The Manless Worlds," which appeared in *Thrilling Wonder Stories* in 1946.
Based on the Tempest by William Shakespeare Altaria, Morbius and Monster of the Id are Miranda, Prospero and Caliban, and Robbie the Robot is the Spirit Ariel. The rest of the crew represent other characters from the Play
This movie typifies the statement, "Necessity is the mother of invention". Technological and other limits of the time required everyone to get very creative, and it shows. No cheating with CG. I suppose matte paintings might have been the mid 50's version of "cheating", but they also required amazing craftmanship to create and utilize so effectively.
This movie was so well done. They didn't resort to camp or ongoing joking and smart-a** dialogue. Excellent movie, and the effects and matte paintings were sublime.
Even though the special effects are almost 70 years old, I still find the air conditioning duct scene to be astonishing. I can only imagine what it was like to see it back then.
There are 3 great sci-fi films from the 1950's. They are "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "War Of The Worlds" and "Forbidden Planet." They are all serious attempts to tell a story for the entertainment of grown-ups. Until NASA actually started to prepare to send men to the moon, science fiction was considered pure silly fantasy for children, like stories about unicorns.
Actually, the machie turned them into a gas so that they wouldn't become grease stains during deceleration. They had to shed hundreds of millions of miles per hour of speed in a minute.
Everyone should watch next Airplane 1980 or The Naked Gun 1988 to contrast Lesley Nielsen's comedic acting with his serious leading man played in Forbidden Planet.
Leslie Nielsen always had a sense of humor even early in his career.In fact he was playing practical jokes on the crew and cast during the filming of Forbidden Planet.
My first of yours, and it’s a great reaction to a classic. I like your overall presentation and editing choices. Thanks for not cutting it too short, which is all too common for reactors. Looking forward to seeing more as time passes.
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I first saw Forbidden Planet when I was 8, many many many years ago. It is still my favourite sci-fi film and feel it had some influence on the original Star Trek series. It was an absolute joy watching your reaction to seeing this film for the first time. I was pleased to see this old classic could still create a sense of awe and wonder in a young person like yourself.👍
I gotta say the sound effects really do it for me. I grew up on those. Whoever came up with those was a genius. Love this movie. haven't seen it in decades, but I remebr it more than most of the movies I've seen since.
3:40 At the beginning, it wasn't transporter pads, it was essentially "protect the human body from the effects of massive acceleration / deceleration" pods.
I saw this movie in 1958 and it still impresses me even now. It's so incredibly beyond its contemporaries. Freudian psychology was the dominant idea back then, so we all knew what the id was and how the ego (conscious mind) has no direct access to it or control over it, yet the Krell thought-reading machine could still pick it up. Can you imagine such a machine turning your nightmares into literal reality? That's what is happening here. By the way, all the business at the beginning with the guys vying for the attention of the Short-skirted One set up the motive, and the Machine turned Morbius' unconscious jealousy into an actual monster. I love this movie as much as I love Casablanca - two very different genres yet I would include both movies in the ten best of all time.
You can read between the lines of dialogue and fill in many gaps... The wife of Morbius died of natural causes.. probably in the childbirth of Altair. A lot of the dialogue mechanisms also were later used in subsequent sci fi... Doctor Ostrow became Doctor McCoy, the planet called Altair 4 ( 4th planet from Altair ) was prototypical of the Star Trek method of identifying planets by their relative orbits around their stars.One of the earliest personal computers, years before IBM PCs was named Altair, probably in honor of this movie. I've heard the plot was borrowed from a play by Shakespeare, "Tempest" which also dabbled with supernatural events. That's why the plot holds up so well... it was a work of Shakespeare... The lack of wiring between the gauges and lack of wear or age in anything was simply due to the fact that everything in the lab was also a "mass projection" created by the big machine. The "plastic educator" was probably intended to teach the Krell how to use the big machine with their minds. Everything makes sense in the end, but only in hindsight.... that's true of a lot of things in life.
Hello Miranda!😊 Very weird to see Leslie Nielsen young in a serious role.😉 The fact that they could make this 68 years ago is amazing!🤯 They really used all the tricks of the time to make a futuristic world. "This Island Earth" (1955) is another interesting film with a take on futuristic technology from the 50's prospective. It also is famous for a creature that was very popular in sci-fi magazines. Great reactions to this sci-fi classic, Miranda!!!!🎬👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
In the 70s Leslie Nielsen was well known for dramatic roles in made-for-tv movies and episode television. His second act as a comedian is basically a meta take on his earlier very serious image.
There's something about the minimalist aesthetic that really sticks with you, and the soundtrack certainly helps. Still suspenseful and compelling. And love the Disney animated ID-beast.
the green light was like a seat belt to prevent bodily harm in the deceleration from FTL. there are three parts to the human mind Ego, Id, and Super Ego.
I used to teach a SciFi class in high school. We classified several movies as "Super Science Fiction". Those movies that embedded themselves is our culture. This is one of them. They are, in order, 1)Metropolis 2)King Kong 3)The Forbidden Planet 4)2001 5)Alien 6)Matrix. Star Wars is not included because it is classified as Science Fantasy. With the exception of Metropolis they all hold up to be very entertaining even today. Metropolis is silent so it has certain limitations but it is has dazzling special effects for the 1920s. Besides ground breaking special effects they all make you both think and feel - the perquisite for good science fiction.
Even though it is often derided by fans of Metropolis, I have a special love for Giorgio Moroder's special 1984 reconstruction of METROPOLIS, with color tinting, and a modern rock musical score. This was made before a lot of the missing scenes were found and restored. The result is a much faster paced story and the music really works in setting a bizarre and alien tone to the whole film.
You omitted Star Wars (Which I understand) but included King Kong in your list of "Super Science FIction" ? More horror than science anything. Nobody MADE Kong. Not any "science" involved in the story.
3:55 What looks like transporter pads are deceleration units. They hold the crew in safe stasis while the ship goes from hyperspeed back to sub lightspeed. The implication is that the human body could not survive that stress, normally.
In 1942, science fiction Master writer Issac Asmov wrote his Three Laws of Robotics... 1: A robot may not injure a human being, or by omission of action, allow a human to come to harm. 2: A robot must obey any order given it by a human, but not if it violates the first law. 3: A robot must protect it's own existance except where it conflicts with the first and second laws. Robbie could destroy the bush, but knowing that the Captian was a sentent species, he could not due to his programing. This movie informed much of the sci-fi today... look closely at the design and function of the self distruct device and compare it to the one Ripley activates on the Nestromo in Alien! The story line was borrowed from Shakespere... even the name of they colony ship, the Bellrepheron!
The original Robby the Robot from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet is currently owned by film director Bill Malone, who is considered the world's top Forbidden Planet collector. In 2017, the original Robby the Robot was sold at auction for $5,375,000, making it the most expensive hero prop ever sold at auction. The sale took place at Bonhams/TCM Auctioneers in New York City and included Robby the Robot, his Jeep, and other items
Leslie Neilsen was the male lead in the romantic musical _Tammy and the Bachelor,_ starring Debbie Reynolds (Carrie Fisher's mom). She sings the title theme wonderfully. Anne Francis would go on to star in the TV adaptation of _Honey West,_ from the same producer who would later create _Charlie's Angels._ West was a tough as nails detective, who had a platonic relationship with her male partner (and she kept a wildcat as a pet). A fun show, but it was a one-season wonder. There's an episode of classic _Jonny Quest_ that clearly was inspired by this movie. It, too, features an invisible energy monster leaving footprints wherever it goes. Yes, Robby has made numerous appearances in other productions, but so has the spaceship, most notably in an episode of _The Twilight Zone._ Walter Pigeon (Morbius) plays Admiral Nelson in the movie version of _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_ (one of the most unintentionally laughable sci-fi films ever made because of the sheer amount of stupidity in it that gets passed off as fact). The novelization by Theodore Sturgeon is way better. It did spawn the TV series, which is marginally better than the movie, but only just.
Disney did the monster special effects for this movie, hence she really was a Disney princess. I love how you can see a steel workers poker coming through the white hit Krell metal to show the door collapsing.
The story is loosely based on "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare. Morbius, with his almost wizard-like powers echoes the character, Prospero, who is also marooned/confined to his own island with his daughter named...(are you ready) *Miranda*, who in the movie is, of course, Altaira.
Dear Miranda, so glad you liked the movie! I watched when I was a kid, on TV in Egypt actually. was really scary back then and the special effects and visuals and set designs, and the sounds, still hold up like you say!!
DC stations that looked like Trek transporters were for deceleration for the transition from hyperspeed to sublight speed. Presumably some sort of stasis to help them deal with the change in inertia. Decades later, Star Trek: The Next Generation would refer to "inertial dampeners" to compensate for the same thing. While Gene Roddenberry initially denied that Forbidden Planet was an influence on Star Trek, a memo from Roddenberry during development of the first Trek pilot refers to he and others seeing a screening of Forbidden Planet and a request for stills and frame enlargements from the film to send to the design staff as inspiration. He also requests a list of the design and effects credits for the film. Robby the Robot's second appearance was in The Invisible Boy from 1957. A line of dialogue seemed to indicate that the film might be considered a sequel/prequel to Forbidden Planet as it is said that Robby was brought back from the future and is probably the same Robby from FP. Freud's theory of the Superego, Ego, and Id (Superego representing the ideal self and the Id being the subconscious self determined by basic instinct. While the Ego is the actual self being the product of both the Superego and Id) reminds me a bit of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Spock being the purely logical Superego and McCoy being the highly emotional Id, while Kirk is a combination of the two.
Nobody can deny that this movie is the basic foundation for TOS, It's completely obvious... your freudian analogies are interesting but, sincerely, It doesn't make any sense, unless you believe in that little religion
@@JulioLeonFandinho The Freudian theories are not some little religion, they are steps along the way for psychology that changes and refines as we learn more. It's like saying wing design in WW1 was some little religion because it is primitive, but they were early steps along the path that gets us to a greater understanding. The other possibility is that you are one of the Scientologist Xenu followers who are against psychology as a scientific endeavor. If that is the case there is no helping you.
Loving your reactions and reviews Miranda. Forbidden Planet was first ever film to use a complete electronic score for it’s soundtrack, made together by a married couple. I have a great affection for the soundtrack also, as it played at the entrance for a sci-fi horror exhibition at local fun fair amusement park seaside resort here in North Wales. May I also add Miranda you have a remarkable resemblance to an actress of a much loved and great sci-fi series that aired in 2008 for 5 seasons.
One of my all time fave films. Great story (adapting Shakespeare'The Tempest to scifi) and the whole thing looks and sounds amazing. To see this on the big screen in the best possible presentation is on my bucket list.
Another great classic 1950's sci-fi movie is the 1953 adaptation of "The War of the Worlds." I highly recommend watching this before the Tom Cruise version. -The "transporters" at the beginning were just chambers the crew entered before their ship decelerated (the DC fix) to sub-light speed so they didn't get thrown around the ship. This effect was one of Gene Roddenberry's inspirations for the transporter. He barrowed heavily from this movie when creating Star Trek.
So happy to watch you react to this one Miranda! Watching it with you here, I still marvel at how amazing it is. Glad you were able to appreciate all that makes this film such a classic… I mean, we all knew that was probably be the case! I saw this before ever having read Shakespeare's "The Tempest" so imagine my surprise when I read that excellent play! Cheers! Ps. I never get tired of you geeking out over practical sets or matte paintings, and in general appreciate this kind of film-making.
The "transporter" only dematerialized them so they wouldn't go flying around inside the ship when it dropped from "light speed" to "normal space speed." But clearly, the concept is the same as in "Star Trek." They also had a "flat screen" tv as the "viewing screen!" The Krell aimed to be god-like, able to create matter/things by mere thought. That's hubris, of course, and they were punished for it. So, "Forbidden Planet" is like an ancient Greek Tragedy. As others have noted, it's also based on "The Tempest" by Shakespeare. "Forbidden Planet" is an exceptionally intelligent story. A fantastic film. There's definitely foreshadowing that Morbius is the "Planetary Force." Even his name, Morbius, suggests sickness/death. A lot of the props/sets used in this film were reused in other movies and tv shows. That's why Stanley Kubrick destroyed all the "2001" props etc.
A wonderful film! SFX that hold up pretty well almost 70 years later, a great story, and an unexpected ending about the mind and our inner ugliness. Even today we can draw parallels to those in society who place their own self-satisfied smugness and values above God. I just watched a short documentary of this film. In today's dollars, Robby's construction cost nearly $2 million dollars! The influence of this film in Classic Trek is everywhere, with Shakespeare ("The Tempest") being the basis of the story, the ship and crews relationship, the feel of the production, pace and setting. Without this film, we would not have had Star Trek, at least as we know it. About 15 years ago I had the chance to see this in a movie theater. The visuals were so enjoyable, and the sound and music were taken to a new level of greatness
I do think this movie aged magnificently
Yes it did and that's because they had a good story to tell. (It's apparently based on The Tempest by Shakespeare.) If you have a good story you don't really need special effects to make a movie interesting.
@@ThubanDraconis THIS movie DOES have special effects.
@@TheLecherling-hu1vu Yes, and they were fantastic for the time. I watched it myself for the first time in the early 80s and remember thinking how well they held up even then. By today's standards they are dated to say the least. But that doesn't take away from the movie as they are still perfect adequate to tell the story. And that's my point. This movie would not be improved one bit with a couple hundred million dollars in modern special effects added. The story is what really matters.
@@ThubanDraconis Hell, I find that it even stands up to those crappy computer simulations of more recent movies (in case that's what you mean by "today's standards").
@@ThubanDraconis And that's why this movie has to be cherished and never remade.
Back in the ‘50’s, there were a boatload of cheesy low budget sci-fi features made for the sole purpose of making a quick buck. “Forbidden Planet” was one of the first science fiction productions to take it’s subject matter seriously (you might want to also check out the original “Day the Earth Stood Still” and “This Island Earth” for examples of this newfound attitude).
It was also one of the first sci-fi films to to have a decent studio backed budget, which is part of the reason the FX, sets and costumes still look great today.
The producers even went to the trouble of poaching animators from Disney to render the Id monster as outlined in the perimeter fence.
The film was more of an inspiration to ‘Star Trek’ than just the theme of ultimate power corrupting even the most moral person. The whole idea of Starfleet was a direct result of the space fleet depicted here.
This film is a touchstone for science fiction in so many ways it’s difficult to express it all in just a few paragraphs.
I second TDTESS. Brilliant.
If she watches This Island Earth, she needs to then watch Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.
The Day The Earth Stood Still is fantastic. It's one of my favourites.
*Technically, EVERY Hollywood movie was made for the purpose of making a quick buck. And MANY of those "cheesy" science fiction and sci-fi movies were intended as serious works.* Please, don't mistake the limited technology and stage acting for schlock. The concept behind _The Thing from Another World_ (1951) is pretty groundbreaking.
What about War of the Worlds (1953)?
The artistry in this film was incredible. The underground facilities of the Krell still blow me away.
Also, a Disney animator animated the ID Monster, hence the look.
Came here to mention the ID Monster animation factoid - glad someone hopped in with it....
Very, very enjoyable reaction! The special effects in this movies ruled until they were surpassed in 1968 by 2001: A Space Odyssey. Then in 1977, science fiction special effects hit an even higher level with a little movie called "Star Wars". There are some "clues" about what is happening but they are subtle such as Morris's premonitions and nightmares. The ID can never be eliminated because it is part of evolution. Even the Krell who were so benevolent and rational evolved from the (as Morbius put it), the mindless primitive. The ID is ALL irrational EMOTION! Just like the Krell, Morbius could not "understand" what was happening. The first thing the non-ID portion of Morbius's mind did was to warn them not to land; he truly felt grief for all the deaths. But Morbius became more frustrated as time went on and his ID created a monster to sabotage, then kill one person, and then kill everyone. His ID was even going to kill Miranda, his own daughter. Remember, the ID is all irrational emotion; like cutting your nose to spite your face. I look forward to more of your reactions. P.S. Leslie Nielson was dramatic actor until 1980 when he was in a comedy called "Airplane"; he enjoyed it so much pretty much he just did comedies from then on such as "The Naked Gun" and many more.
I duno if I'd say that Star wars took them to a significantly "higher level" than 2001. In fact, I'd say Star Wars really just took the SAME style of effects that 2001 had pioneered and revolutionized and applied them to a more action/adventure type story.
@@IanFindly-iv1nl Star Wars brought motion cameras into the next era, as that was the biggest leap forward into special effects: the ability to synchronize camera motions utilizing rudimentary computers for better action sequences.
It's cool that Miranda appreciates the film-making aspects of movies, especially the effects.
Joshua Meador of the Disney studio did the animation. Walt was an amazing man.
Its all fake bro its AI deep fake humon
@user-jr6bl9ih3e, It seems pretty clear she's very knowledgeable about filmmaking, which one would expect.
They stood on the transporter-like pads to protect themselves from the effects of faster-than-light travel. It looks similar to a Star Trek transporter pad, but isn't for teleportation.
Ah, that makes way more sense!
“Electronic” seat belts that physically held not only their bodies in place but all of their internal organs too.
@@MirandaLikestoWatchMiranda. You are doing an excellent job analysing these Movies and Episodes. Keep up the good work!!
Star Trek invented a fictional tech called "Inertial dampeners" to explain how a ship can jump to speed and not Turn the crew into chunky salsa.
@@hawkmaster381kinda like the crew was suspended in the beam😉when they decelerated.
7:14.......That matte painting, Miranda, took up an entire wall of one of the MGM sound stages! It was that big!
Is it a matte painting or a backdrop? As I understand matte paintings, they are done on optically clear glass with one or more blank regions where live-action footage can be "matted" in. Digital effects have made the technique largely unused today.
@@enscroggs it's a painted backdrop. No optical compositing around the full size saucer.
11:16 Morbius - "Don't attribute feeling to him gentlemen, Robby is simply a tool"
Robby - (muttering) "You're a tool!"
@@OrangeApocalypse 😂😂😂😂
Hilarious.
then morbius said - ITS MORBIN TIME
Ann Francis reported that Walter Pigeon and Leslie Nielson competed with each other on the set telling filthy jokes.
@@vincentsaia6545 😂😂😂😂
Nielsen probably also had his fart machine with him.
It was 1956, boys will be boys! This was long before the Me Too Movement. 🙄😏
Forbidden Planet was the first big budget sci-fi movie. It was in color, widescreen and the soundtrack was the first electronic soundtrack and in stereo! This movie proved to all the other movie studios that a big budget sci-fi movie could turn a very good profit if done right😮😊!
A near perfect SF film. My only criticism is the attempts at humor with the cook. They don't really work. But the rest of the movie is magnificent. It is my Mt Rushmore of SF films.
@@trhansen3244 I get what you're saying, maybe a tad overdone, but it was also used to provide a context to show that Robbie was able to detect the "Planetary Force." So, a bit of foreshadowing, there.
It was actually a bit of a flop on release. Some other cheesy movie was the biggest hit that year. Most cinema goers didn't understand it and reviewers panned it for being too slow and philosophic.
@@Mopantsu In other words, too intellectual.
Yeaa, and you also see that 2:13 in the CARS and FEMALE MOVIE STARS of the era (1950's). It was called "streamlining".
This is, basically, Shakespear's The Tempest. The concept of our own subconscious mind given physical form and unlimited power being the most terrifying monster was WAY ahead of its time.
There was a stage musical in the 80s called Return To The Forbidden Planet that retold this movie with mock Shakespearean dialogue and rock music from the 50s and 60s. I saw it in London and then later in an Australian production in Melbourne. It remains one of my favorite theatrical experiences. "Beware the ids that march!"
I was about to comment the same thing, until I saw yours. When this was remastered in the 1990's and rebroadcast on TV, it was LeVar Burton that was providing the commentary that night. I remember watching it live. If you've ever read Shakespeare's "The Tempest" it's clear this is a direct translation.
J. Micheal Strazynski -- the creator of Babylon 5 -- was supposed to do a rewrite of this classic. If he had applied the same level of creativity as he had to B5, I think it would have been excellent.
And in Shakespeare's The Tempest, the daughter of Prospero (the main character) happens to be named ...Miranda.
@geminicricket4975 it would have been crap "for modern audiences," i.e. dumbed down
I can honestly say this us the first time I have seen ANYONE react to this classic. This also shows a young Leslie Nielsen when he was still a dramatic actor.
This was his first major role.
Robbie is programmed with the 3 laws of robotics, established by Issac Asimov books.
Yes and the description of how Robbie's brain works using electric potentials is similar to that in Asimov's positronic robot brains.
So nothing could go wrong then.
@@ramonacosta2647 One of my favorite lines from the 1972 film Westworld. "Nothing can possibly go wrong". 😱
@@tomstanziola1982 Actually, with the Asimovian robot laws nothing can go wrong. It actually goes against most robot tropes in that
I always thought there should be 2 more laws to keep robots from becoming slaves!
This demonstrates that production design is much more important than special effects.
True. I used to look down on any films, especially SF films, made before Star Wars. But then I started watching them and realized there are many great SF films, especially in the 50s.
@@trhansen3244 See "Colossus: The Forbin Project."
Well, the SPECIAL EFFECTS in THIS flick ain't exactly bad either.
Right, but the design of the scene is what makes "the great machine" so magnificent that it inspired many scenes of cavernous space ships and at least one direct imitation (Babylon 5 and its "great machine").
The Krell’s machine was designed to make anything they thought of manifest physically, but it also made everything they thought of manifest physically.
Boom!
"Why, oh why didn't we fit this thing with an 'off' switch?!?"
It is the same hubris that leaves the switch for planetary destruction in every lab to be tripped over...
As Adams said to Morbius... "The secret devil of every soul on the planet all set free at once to loot and maim. To take revenge and kill."
The film featured the first entirely electronic musical score, created by Louis and Bebe Barro.
You are correct, except that their last name is Barron (small typo). But you are correct.
And they weren't allowed to call it 'music'. The credits say 'Electronic tonalities.' Even into the late 1970s, the musicians' union was fighting the use of electronic instruments, saying that a saw-tooth wave created on a synthesizer wasn't as good as a saw-tooth wave created on a violin.
Barron, yes. And the sountrack is still available for purchase.
Love the flip that it is humans in flying saucers in this.
Fun Fact - On February 9th, 1966 "Robby the Robot" was renamed as "Robotoid" and made a guest appearance on the original 1960s "Lost in Space" TV series in a black & white video episode titled "War of the Robots." He is continuously condescending and insulting. He tells the Robinson Family's robot "You are ignorant and obviously of a very primitive design"
Robbie 's second LIS appearance was in season 3 premiere episode Condemned of Space as a lone Robot guard on a space station full of prisoners serving out their sentences in Cryo.
Stop saying Fun Fact.
Stop saying stop. It was a fact. And fun.
@@Mantikal War Of the Robots is one of my favorite Lost In Space episodes of the entire series! 👏👏👏👏
Robbie also appeared in an episode of Columbo.
3:40......What you just witnessed, Miranda, was the deceleration process from hyper-drive. Those beams protect the crew from the sudden reduction in speed. I'm looking forward to your reaction to this classic!!! ✌️
For those of us gals who paid attention in science class it is inertia. The force something has or doesn't have when it is moving or stationary. They are going from FTL travel to "normal speed." What do you do with all that force you have accumulated with your mass times your acceleration. (Sort of. I paid attention but have not had to use a mass decelerator in some time )
@@Laceykat66 AWESOME!!! ✌️ ABSOLUTELY AWESOME!!! ✌️👍
Miranda, This is a reworking of Shakespeare's play "The Tempest", this is one of the best adaptations of it ever in my opinion. Funnily enough, the female character in Shakespeare's tale is called Miranda too.
This movie can also be styled as "Phenomenology Made Simple," Husserl would have LOVED it!
Yes:
Morbius = Prospero
Cdr. Adams = Ferdinand
Altaira = Miranda
A big, big question is whether Robbie is Ariel or Caliban, and whether the "Id Monster" is Caliban or Ariel. Each of them has features of each of the others.
"Oh brave new world that has such people in it" --> "Oh Dr, you're lovely! But the other two are magnificent!"
Don't bother! She's going to have to probably look up and find out what Shakespeare actually is!
Yes, the human interaction somewhat resembles " The Tempest." However, this medium is Sci-Fi, and that means the Krell are the message. The story comes9 from a Homeric play called " Bellerophon " ( also the name of Dr. Morbius' ship ). It's about a warrior who is given gifts from the gods to aid his quest, including special armour and weapons, plus the ability to tame Pegasus. Bellerophon feels he is now as powerful as a god so he demands to be let into Olympus. He is denied. So, he decides to fly to Olympus. Zeus sees this and sends a gnat to sting Pegasus, causing it to send Bellerophon plummeting to his death. Just like the Krell thought they didn't need the machines. ( Star Trek Replicators ? )
The guy picking up the radar scan was later the boss of the Six Million Dollar Man.
@@BobSingerDaGunslinger Richard Anderson. He also was great as the 120ish year old killer in the second Kolchak TV movie, "The Night Strangler".
And the “Doc” was Rojan in Star Trek episode By Any Other Name. Actor Warren Stevens.
To this day the Monster from the Id is one of the scariest and creepiest sci-fi monsters ever.
It's crazy to see how powerful it is too. Even the doors made from alien technology couldn't withstand it.
I kinda think it's scarrier when its INVISIBLE though. Like with the footprint and stairs scene for example.
I think what makes it more terrifying is that because it's a product of Morbius's subconscious mind, no one else can see it until such a time when it chooses to make itself known. But when it murdered Quinn, there was a brief glimpse of the monster just as it tripped the force field.
"NO, Me-Too-Sir will stand twenty extra watches!" ... always loved that line and the delivery by Leslie Nielsen.
Why should he had extra twenty watches. He was sleeping. Not on guard duty!
@@Eddie-i4n That was the Captain's "ID". He was lashing out, abusing his authority.
Great line indeed. But as a manager, I always cringe when I see leaders be unfair and irrational.
As I recall, the planetary terrain images were painted by notable space artist Chesley Bonestell. Growing up during the 50's, my imagination of alien worlds was defined by Bonestell 's art. While in late Elementary/early Middle School I was a member of a Junior offshoot of a local Stars Club based at my city's science museum. We held our meetings in a large ornate conference room with a huge wood table. Surrounding the table on the beautiful dark panelled walls were at least a dozen full size framed Chesley Bonestell originals. I was so enthralled by the aiien vistas that I always had to be dragged away from them so the meeting could proceed. About 10 yrs ago I contacted the museum to find out whatever happened to the paintings but the people there now had no idea that they had ever been on the 😂property at all.
Unfortunate, but I still have my incredible memories.
And this movie is among my all-time favorite old school sci-fi epics....along with THIS ISLAND EARTH.
@@quentinmichel7581 did he do the When World's Collide mattes also? And war of the world's
Great reaction. Your are so smart and understanding what is going on as you watch the movie. When I first watched, as with other complex movie stories, I find myself overwhelmed by it all, and am just enjoying the ride. Only after re-watching later I am able to figure out what is going on more fully.
This gets even more Star Trek when you realize that, in the first concepts, the Enterprise was supposed to have the saucer section detach and land in planets... Just like this saucer.
As you saw, this film was exceptionally well done and is a testament to the extraordinary efforts to make such a sci-fi classic. Thank you again for your thoughtful review. I’d like to again recommend the 1951 The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Yes I was going to say this! A must for Sci-Fi fans. Still holds up.
yes, yes, yes !
All those guys in the crew going forward had notable careers in Hollywood or on TV. But Anne Francis had her own TV Show where she portrayed a private investigator, Honey West with a pet ocelot. She was the first female private investigator with her own featured character on American TV.
@@higgme1ster I just watched Honey West for the first time and thought it reminded me of Remington Steele. A chick running the show while needing Male Muscle around to be taken more seriously.
What surprised me was how much older Anne Francis looked only 10;years after FB. Then I looked up her age and she was in her early-med 20s when she did FB and was just a few years younger then Leslie Nielsen.
Don't get me wrong she's still cute in Honey West but the bloom was definitely off the rose-to coin a phrase.
Both Nielsen and Francis died around the same time. Francis might still be with us if she didn't smoke like a chimney but they lived fairly long lives.
The character debuted on Gene Barry's series BURKE'S LAW.
This is a Truly great Sci-Fi Classic! This movie inspired Star Trek. The number 1701 (the Enterprise numbers), is the DC fix called out in the beginning of the movie. Hyperdrive is the inspiration for Warpdrive. The music is credited as "tonalities" because the musician union refused to allow it to be called music. The music was inspired by "Poeme Electronique" by Edgard Varese. It was all done with a primitive electronic sound generator, composed by Louis and Bebe Barron, who were huge fans and pioneers of experimental music. The classic story, based on The Tempest, the fantastic Special Effects, the Forward thinking. This movie really holds up and is a lot of fun to watch. The Invisible monster (created from the subconscious Id), was Brilliant! I was fascinated when I saw this movie on TV while I was in College, and have been a fan of this ever since. Thank You so much for Reviewing this.
I saw this on TV a few years after it was released. I was enthralled. It really does hold up well, so much better than the drek that is produced today (although it's hard to see Leslie Nielsen without chuckling.) The Id monster messed me up, precisely because it was invisible. I had nightmares for weeks
The music in this was "electronic experimental" music. The musician unions raised a fuss about calling it music as they feared they would be replaced by machines, so the music was called "electronic tonalities".
One of the best Sci-Fi movies of all time!
This was the first movie that took Sci-Fi seriously. Back then it was thought it would take 500 years for humans to get to the Moon. And there was this attitude that it was silly and that, "People who are interested in these fantasizes; are not right in the head and should be watched." Even 10 years later Gene Roddenberry had a hell of a time selling Star Trek to TV. They told him, "Gene, your a good writer. Go back to westerns and forget about this crazy space stuff." Since these props were all hand made and so detailed, in the 50's they were outrageously expensive, Robbie cost $50,000, you could buy two small houses for that back then! Also the "car" and the saucer were reused in some episodes of The Twilight Zone in the 60's. Robbie also made a guest appearance on Lost in Space, and small parts in some other movies and shows. The DVD of the restored film has a bonus disc with The Invisible Boy and The Thin Man TV series episode; Robot Client. in which Robbie starred in.
I don''t know about the 500 years part. By the time this film came out in 1956 rockets have already reached space in sub orbital flights. Wernher Von Braun had already created designs for spacecraft capable of reaching the Moon. A year after this movie came out the first orbital satellite was launched. The first man into space was just five years later in 1961 and the first men on the men were just 13 years after the movie.
The Doctor played by Warren Stevens, was also a guest actor in one of the Star Trek episodes: By Any Other Name. He has also appeared in the Outer Limits and Twilight Zone.
Classic SciFi:
-the original "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951)
-the original "War of the Worlds" (1953)
-the original "The Time Machine" (1960)
-the original "Planet of the Apes" (1968)
-"Soylent Green" (1973)
-"Bladerunner" (1982)
-"John Carter" (2012)
Lesser known should-be-classics:
-"Fantastic Planet" (1973)
-"Zardoz" (1974)
-"A Boy and His Dog" (1975)
-"Enemy Mine" (1985)
-"Demolition Man" (1993)
-"12 Monkeys" (1995)
-"Waterworld" (1995)
-"Bicentennial Man" (1999)
-"A.I.: Artificial Intelligence" (2001)
-"Minority Report" (2002)
-"Warm Bodies" (2013)
It always makes me smile when Nielsen gets on the intercom and talks to the crew, and their all literally within 6ft of him. Interesting fact that most might know, but in case you didn't, the grey uniforms were used in other productions, notably for me in The Time Machine. The Time Machine can be seen in the convention scene in Gremlins and who happens to walk by in the same scene, Robby the Robot.
Great soundtrack created by early pioneers in electronic music. They created circuits for more staccato waveforms and added a Theremin for the legato sounds. The effect is otherworldly to this day.
"Electronic tonalities" by Louis and Bebe Barron. Think of how much work that was, building and rebuilding circuits, cutting and splicing tape.
41:39......I've seen this movie many, many times, Miranda, and I always get chills at this scene. MGM borrowed an animator from the Disney Studios to help give life to the Monster. Absolutely amazing work!!! 👏👏👏👏👏 After almost 70 years it still looks great!!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏❤
In some countries the animated monster was removed from the scene and so was completely invisible. This was because the censors thought the animation was too frightening. However, many viewers thought the revised version was even scarier!
@@mrwomby5007 I didn't know that. Thank you for sharing that, my friend!!! ✌️
The ID monster is supposed to look like Morbius which, if you squint, kinda does. I can see his goatee a little bit.
@@thegodlessvulcan Morbius mixed with Leo the Lion, from the MGM logo.
@@trolleyfan Awesome!!! 👍✌️
At the end you said; "What an interesting story." Forbidden Planet is Shakespeare's "The Tempest" done in outer space. This is a modern interpretation of a Shakespearean play. That is why the story is so good.
In the novel, when the planet blows up, the girl disappears. She turned out to be a creation of the lonely Morbius.
When I was in college, there was a TV show called "College Bowl Quiz." Kind of like an advanced version of Jeopardy where each round had teams of 4 from three different schools. The University of Illinois, instead of picking a team, had a competition run by the same organization that ran the intermural sports teams. I got 3 friends together and entered a team. The teams usually represented fraternities or dorm halls so, on the entrance form, you had to list the Team Name and what Group you were representing. I named us the Altair IV and said we were representing the Krell. I was never sure if the people running it knew what either of those meant.
@@jimdetry9420 I never knew that there was a novel of this! Thanks! I'll have to see if I can track down a copy. Maybe from Thrift books. I love your anecdote about the "College Bowl Quiz", BTW!! ✌️😂
@@tomstanziola1982 I read it about 45 years ago. I suspect it is long out of print. I'm pretty sure, like the 2001 novel, it was written as a novelization of the movie but after all this time my memory could be off.
@@jimdetry9420 I'm a bookworm. Maybe one of my friends can help. I'll try.
And Altair was picked for the currency reference in HHGTTG as the Altairian dollar.
@@martinhafner2201 No idea what you mean. HHGTTG sounds like some kind of gene sequence.
I am so glad you are covering this! Definitely deserves a watch and still holds up pretty well for when it was made.
Robby and the Lost in Space robot were both designed by Robert Kinoshita. You could say they're brothers.
My father introduced me to this movie. When he was in college, he was working as the ticket-taker and movie projector operator at "Movie Night" at a theatre near Michigan State. One of the perks was that he got to watch all these movies for free. Every year they had "Forbidden Planet", and he got to watch it often. By the time he graduated, he had seen it over twenty times. It is his favorite Sci-Fi movie. So of course he had to introduce it to his children.
I loved Miranda's thoughts, comments and reactions to this fantastic, classic sci-fi movie.
Forbidden Planet features incredible special effects, an amazing story and the awesome Robby The Robot.
And what great performances from Leslie Nielsen, Walter Pidgeon and Anne Francis.
I love this movie! The first time I saw this was at the film festival at Gen Con 14 in 1981. I watched in awe and said "OMG! This is totally a Star Trek episode! "
Seat belts began to be introduced into American cars in the 1950's but were optional. Seat belts in cars were probably considered novel new tech in the 1950's.
They were considered novel in 1948 when Preston Tucker added them to his Tucker Torpedo, along with many innovations considered standard today. You should watch "Tucker: The Man and his Dream" to learn more. My favorite line of that movie is, "...don't get too close to people. You'll catch their dreams".
The term "hyperdrive" was used in Forbidden Planet, two decades before Star Wars. According to ChatGTP4: The term "hyperdrive" was first used in science fiction in a preview of Murray Leinster's story "The Manless Worlds," which appeared in *Thrilling Wonder Stories* in 1946.
Hyper is a Greeko Roman word that simply means 'fast'. I believe.
I first saw this on black and white TV, when I was a boy in the sixties. I've always loved it.
Based on the Tempest by William Shakespeare
Altaria, Morbius and Monster of the Id are Miranda, Prospero and Caliban, and Robbie the Robot is the Spirit Ariel. The rest of the crew represent other characters from the Play
Yeah. The adaptation works very well.
This movie typifies the statement, "Necessity is the mother of invention". Technological and other limits of the time required everyone to get very creative, and it shows. No cheating with CG. I suppose matte paintings might have been the mid 50's version of "cheating", but they also required amazing craftmanship to create and utilize so effectively.
I'm really pleased it aged so well, it looks so cool.
Very cool reaction for this film. Good surprise for me to discover this video. It's a film that has been part of my media library for a long time.
49:43 "We are all part monsters inside, that's why we have laws and religion!" The best line ever on the nature of people from any movie ever...
This movie was so well done. They didn't resort to camp or ongoing joking and smart-a** dialogue. Excellent movie, and the effects and matte paintings were sublime.
Cyril Hume wrote brilliant screenplay. And you can see where Gene Roddenberry got many of his ideas.
Even though the special effects are almost 70 years old, I still find the air conditioning duct scene to be astonishing. I can only imagine what it was like to see it back then.
There are 3 great sci-fi films from the 1950's. They are "The Day The Earth Stood Still", "War Of The Worlds" and "Forbidden Planet." They are all serious attempts to tell a story for the entertainment of grown-ups. Until NASA actually started to prepare to send men to the moon, science fiction was considered pure silly fantasy for children, like stories about unicorns.
DC stands for deceleration, the beams held them in place so they wouldn't bounce around during deceleration.
Actually, the machie turned them into a gas so that they wouldn't become grease stains during deceleration. They had to shed hundreds of millions of miles per hour of speed in a minute.
Wrong the Dceleration devices, are more like high tech seatbelts, they hold a person in a sort of bubble during acceleration and deceleration.
the day the earth stood still is another great classic sci-fi.
Everyone should watch next Airplane 1980 or The Naked Gun 1988 to contrast Lesley Nielsen's comedic acting with his serious leading man played in Forbidden Planet.
Leslie Nielsen always had a sense of humor even early in his career.In fact he was playing practical jokes on the crew and cast during the filming of Forbidden Planet.
My first of yours, and it’s a great reaction to a classic. I like your overall presentation and editing choices. Thanks for not cutting it too short, which is all too common for reactors. Looking forward to seeing more as time passes.
I first saw Forbidden Planet when I was 8, many many many years ago. It is still my favourite sci-fi film and feel it had some influence on the original Star Trek series. It was an absolute joy watching your reaction to seeing this film for the first time. I was pleased to see this old classic could still create a sense of awe and wonder in a young person like yourself.👍
I gotta say the sound effects really do it for me. I grew up on those. Whoever came up with those was a genius. Love this movie. haven't seen it in decades, but I remebr it more than most of the movies I've seen since.
Proposed tittles .. .
Silent Running
The Andromeda Strain
The Questar Tapes
Wizards
Westworld
Enemy Mine
3:40 At the beginning, it wasn't transporter pads, it was essentially "protect the human body from the effects of massive acceleration / deceleration" pods.
I saw this movie in 1958 and it still impresses me even now. It's so incredibly beyond its contemporaries. Freudian psychology was the dominant idea back then, so we all knew what the id was and how the ego (conscious mind) has no direct access to it or control over it, yet the Krell thought-reading machine could still pick it up. Can you imagine such a machine turning your nightmares into literal reality? That's what is happening here. By the way, all the business at the beginning with the guys vying for the attention of the Short-skirted One set up the motive, and the Machine turned Morbius' unconscious jealousy into an actual monster. I love this movie as much as I love Casablanca - two very different genres yet I would include both movies in the ten best of all time.
You can read between the lines of dialogue and fill in many gaps... The wife of Morbius died of natural causes.. probably in the childbirth of Altair.
A lot of the dialogue mechanisms also were later used in subsequent sci fi... Doctor Ostrow became Doctor McCoy, the planet called Altair 4 ( 4th planet from Altair ) was prototypical of the Star Trek method of identifying planets by their relative orbits around their stars.One of the earliest personal computers, years before IBM PCs was named Altair, probably in honor of this movie.
I've heard the plot was borrowed from a play by Shakespeare, "Tempest" which also dabbled with supernatural events. That's why the plot holds up so well... it was a work of Shakespeare...
The lack of wiring between the gauges and lack of wear or age in anything was simply due to the fact that everything in the lab was also a "mass projection" created by the big machine. The "plastic educator" was probably intended to teach the Krell how to use the big machine with their minds. Everything makes sense in the end, but only in hindsight.... that's true of a lot of things in life.
Hello Miranda!😊 Very weird to see Leslie Nielsen young in a serious role.😉 The fact that they could make this 68 years ago is amazing!🤯 They really used all the tricks of the time to make a futuristic world. "This Island Earth" (1955) is another interesting film with a take on futuristic technology from the 50's prospective. It also is famous for a creature that was very popular in sci-fi magazines. Great reactions to this sci-fi classic, Miranda!!!!🎬👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
In the 70s Leslie Nielsen was well known for dramatic roles in made-for-tv movies and episode television. His second act as a comedian is basically a meta take on his earlier very serious image.
There's something about the minimalist aesthetic that really sticks with you, and the soundtrack certainly helps. Still suspenseful and compelling. And love the Disney animated ID-beast.
the green light was like a seat belt to prevent bodily harm in the deceleration from FTL. there are three parts to the human mind Ego, Id, and Super Ego.
One of my all time favourites. Way ahead of its time with the special effects.
I used to teach a SciFi class in high school. We classified several movies as "Super Science Fiction". Those movies that embedded themselves is our culture. This is one of them. They are, in order, 1)Metropolis 2)King Kong 3)The Forbidden Planet 4)2001 5)Alien 6)Matrix. Star Wars is not included because it is classified as Science Fantasy. With the exception of Metropolis they all hold up to be very entertaining even today. Metropolis is silent so it has certain limitations but it is has dazzling special effects for the 1920s. Besides ground breaking special effects they all make you both think and feel - the perquisite for good science fiction.
Even though it is often derided by fans of Metropolis, I have a special love for Giorgio Moroder's special 1984 reconstruction of METROPOLIS, with color tinting, and a modern rock musical score. This was made before a lot of the missing scenes were found and restored. The result is a much faster paced story and the music really works in setting a bizarre and alien tone to the whole film.
You omitted Star Wars (Which I understand) but included King Kong in your list of "Super Science FIction" ? More horror than science anything. Nobody MADE Kong. Not any "science" involved in the story.
Odd that King Kong is on a science fiction list. While no doubt important for culture, cinema, and special effects it has no science in the story.
Interesting Alien is there, many classify it as horror, not sci-fi.
Atheists point of view regarding Star Wars, the best sci first film ever.
This is a true classic SciFi movie. Glad you were able to appreciate it.
This movie was a total inspiration for Star Trek.
3:55 What looks like transporter pads are deceleration units. They hold the crew in safe stasis while the ship goes from hyperspeed back to sub lightspeed. The implication is that the human body could not survive that stress, normally.
The weird sounds and animation were ground breaking for the age, forbidden planet was the film that began the new age. Feel honoured to see it.
In 1942, science fiction Master writer Issac Asmov wrote his Three Laws of Robotics...
1: A robot may not injure a human being, or by omission of action, allow a human to come to harm.
2: A robot must obey any order given it by a human, but not if it violates the first law.
3: A robot must protect it's own existance except where it conflicts with the first and second laws.
Robbie could destroy the bush, but knowing that the Captian was a sentent species, he could not due to his programing.
This movie informed much of the sci-fi today... look closely at the design and function of the self distruct device and compare it to the one Ripley activates on the Nestromo in Alien!
The story line was borrowed from
Shakespere... even the name of they colony ship, the Bellrepheron!
In the '60s Anne Francis (Altair) starred in the detective show, "Honey West." Some episodes are available on UA-cam.
And a famous Twilight Zone episode too.
This film was probably the inspiration for Star Trek.
The original Robby the Robot from the 1956 film Forbidden Planet is currently owned by film director Bill Malone, who is considered the world's top Forbidden Planet collector.
In 2017, the original Robby the Robot was sold at auction for $5,375,000, making it the most expensive hero prop ever sold at auction. The sale took place at Bonhams/TCM Auctioneers in New York City and included Robby the Robot, his Jeep, and other items
Leslie Neilsen was the male lead in the romantic musical _Tammy and the Bachelor,_ starring Debbie Reynolds (Carrie Fisher's mom). She sings the title theme wonderfully.
Anne Francis would go on to star in the TV adaptation of _Honey West,_ from the same producer who would later create _Charlie's Angels._ West was a tough as nails detective, who had a platonic relationship with her male partner (and she kept a wildcat as a pet). A fun show, but it was a one-season wonder.
There's an episode of classic _Jonny Quest_ that clearly was inspired by this movie. It, too, features an invisible energy monster leaving footprints wherever it goes.
Yes, Robby has made numerous appearances in other productions, but so has the spaceship, most notably in an episode of _The Twilight Zone._
Walter Pigeon (Morbius) plays Admiral Nelson in the movie version of _Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea_ (one of the most unintentionally laughable sci-fi films ever made because of the sheer amount of stupidity in it that gets passed off as fact). The novelization by Theodore Sturgeon is way better. It did spawn the TV series, which is marginally better than the movie, but only just.
Both Neilson and two time Oscar nominee Pidgeon were Canadian.
Disney did the monster special effects for this movie, hence she really was a Disney princess. I love how you can see a steel workers poker coming through the white hit Krell metal to show the door collapsing.
Greatest sci-fi movie of ALL time. Sci-fi would not be the same without this movie.
The War of the Worlds (1953) and The Time Machine (1960) are two other good movies from that period with excellent visual effects by George Pal.
Anne Francis was so wonderful. God rest her.
Transporters were used in the 1939 Buck Rogers film serial starring Larry “Buster” Crabbe
Robbie, first robot to steal the show.
The story is loosely based on "The Tempest" by William Shakespeare.
Morbius, with his almost wizard-like powers echoes the character, Prospero, who is also marooned/confined to his own island with his daughter named...(are you ready) *Miranda*, who in the movie is, of course, Altaira.
Dear Miranda, so glad you liked the movie! I watched when I was a kid, on TV in Egypt actually. was really scary back then and the special effects and visuals and set designs, and the sounds, still hold up like you say!!
DC stations that looked like Trek transporters were for deceleration for the transition from hyperspeed to sublight speed. Presumably some sort of stasis to help them deal with the change in inertia. Decades later, Star Trek: The Next Generation would refer to "inertial dampeners" to compensate for the same thing.
While Gene Roddenberry initially denied that Forbidden Planet was an influence on Star Trek, a memo from Roddenberry during development of the first Trek pilot refers to he and others seeing a screening of Forbidden Planet and a request for stills and frame enlargements from the film to send to the design staff as inspiration. He also requests a list of the design and effects credits for the film.
Robby the Robot's second appearance was in The Invisible Boy from 1957. A line of dialogue seemed to indicate that the film might be considered a sequel/prequel to Forbidden Planet as it is said that Robby was brought back from the future and is probably the same Robby from FP.
Freud's theory of the Superego, Ego, and Id (Superego representing the ideal self and the Id being the subconscious self determined by basic instinct. While the Ego is the actual self being the product of both the Superego and Id) reminds me a bit of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Spock being the purely logical Superego and McCoy being the highly emotional Id, while Kirk is a combination of the two.
Nobody can deny that this movie is the basic foundation for TOS, It's completely obvious...
your freudian analogies are interesting but, sincerely, It doesn't make any sense, unless you believe in that little religion
@@JulioLeonFandinho The Freudian theories are not some little religion, they are steps along the way for psychology that changes and refines as we learn more. It's like saying wing design in WW1 was some little religion because it is primitive, but they were early steps along the path that gets us to a greater understanding. The other possibility is that you are one of the Scientologist Xenu followers who are against psychology as a scientific endeavor. If that is the case there is no helping you.
No religion is little to those who follow one.
Freud's work is largely forgotten now but I'm sure was common knowledge when the movie first came out.
Fun fact for Doctor Who lovers: this movie provided Tom Baker with his famous method for disabling any alien technology - reverse the polarity!
Loving your reactions and reviews Miranda. Forbidden Planet was first ever film to use a complete electronic score for it’s soundtrack, made together by a married couple. I have a great affection for the soundtrack also, as it played at the entrance for a sci-fi horror exhibition at local fun fair amusement park seaside resort here in North Wales.
May I also add Miranda you have a remarkable resemblance to an actress of a much loved and great sci-fi series that aired in 2008 for 5 seasons.
Who does Miranda look like? I’m guessing you’re referring to epic sci-fi series ‘FRINGE’ with the lovely Anna Torv.
One of my all time favorites. Great story that sticks with you, and gorgeous sets/effects. They don't make em like that anymore.
Forbidden Planet is foundational science fiction.
One of my all time fave films. Great story (adapting Shakespeare'The Tempest to scifi) and the whole thing looks and sounds amazing. To see this on the big screen in the best possible presentation is on my bucket list.
Another great classic 1950's sci-fi movie is the 1953 adaptation of "The War of the Worlds." I highly recommend watching this before the Tom Cruise version.
-The "transporters" at the beginning were just chambers the crew entered before their ship decelerated (the DC fix) to sub-light speed so they didn't get thrown around the ship. This effect was one of Gene Roddenberry's inspirations for the transporter. He barrowed heavily from this movie when creating Star Trek.
So happy to watch you react to this one Miranda! Watching it with you here, I still marvel at how amazing it is. Glad you were able to appreciate all that makes this film such a classic… I mean, we all knew that was probably be the case!
I saw this before ever having read Shakespeare's "The Tempest" so imagine my surprise when I read that excellent play! Cheers!
Ps. I never get tired of you geeking out over practical sets or matte paintings, and in general appreciate this kind of film-making.
The "transporter" only dematerialized them so they wouldn't go flying around inside the ship when it dropped from "light speed" to "normal space speed." But clearly, the concept is the same as in "Star Trek." They also had a "flat screen" tv as the "viewing screen!" The Krell aimed to be god-like, able to create matter/things by mere thought. That's hubris, of course, and they were punished for it. So, "Forbidden Planet" is like an ancient Greek Tragedy. As others have noted, it's also based on "The Tempest" by Shakespeare. "Forbidden Planet" is an exceptionally intelligent story. A fantastic film. There's definitely foreshadowing that Morbius is the "Planetary Force." Even his name, Morbius, suggests sickness/death. A lot of the props/sets used in this film were reused in other movies and tv shows. That's why Stanley Kubrick destroyed all the "2001" props etc.
Those models of the alien Machine blew my mind when I was young. So cool.
And stop calling me Shirley!
A wonderful film! SFX that hold up pretty well almost 70 years later, a great story, and an unexpected ending about the mind and our inner ugliness. Even today we can draw parallels to those in society who place their own self-satisfied smugness and values above God. I just watched a short documentary of this film. In today's dollars, Robby's construction cost nearly $2 million dollars! The influence of this film in Classic Trek is everywhere, with Shakespeare ("The Tempest") being the basis of the story, the ship and crews relationship, the feel of the production, pace and setting. Without this film, we would not have had Star Trek, at least as we know it. About 15 years ago I had the chance to see this in a movie theater. The visuals were so enjoyable, and the sound and music were taken to a new level of greatness