"Logan's Run" (1976)

Above, Jenny Agutter and Michael York in Logan's Run. MGM Photo.

During the same week that Elvis Presley died, I went with my parents to the Studio Drive-In Theater in Culver City to see a double-feature: The Spy Who Loved Me and Logan's Run.

On Logan's Run, the following is from Wikipedia:

Logan's Run is a 1976 American science fiction action film directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Roscoe Lee Browne, Farrah Fawcett, and Peter Ustinov. The screenplay by David Zelag Goodman is based on the 1967 novel Logan's Run by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. It depicts a utopian future society on the surface, revealed as a dystopia where the population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by killing everyone who reaches the age of thirty. The story follows the actions of Logan 5, a "Sandman" who has terminated others who have attempted to escape death and is now faced with termination himself.

Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film uses only the novel's two basic premises: that everyone must die at a set age, and that Logan and companion Jessica attempt to escape while being chased by another Sandman named Francis. After aborted attempts to adapt the novel, story changes were made including raising the age of "last day" from 21 to 30 and introducing the idea of "Carrousel" [sic] for eliminating 30-year-olds. Its filming was marked by special-effects challenges in depicting Carrousel and innovative use of holograms and wide-angle lenses.

Since that viewing, I have only seen bits of it here and there on television. Until now. 

A Blu-ray copy of Logan's Run arrived in the mail today and I watched it this evening. It was as enjoyable today as when I first saw it. Jenny Agutter was alluring as always. Farrah Fawcett-Majors had a small role, but it was good to see her in her prime again.

I was struck by the premise that this "utopia", as with all so-called utopias, provided pleasures and anything else the population of the city wanted. But with a catch (naturally). Everyone must die at age 30. The utopian police-state government (it is hard to say who, except maybe the computers) knows what's best for everyone, while at the same time has to lie in order to stay in power. It it only after Logan comes back from "the outside" and reports what he found, the computers go haywire and destructs. It reminds me of the "utopia" the Democrats have been pushing these past few years. The change from age 21 (the book) to age 30 (the movie) actually makes more sense to me. 

Logan's Run holds up quite well after 44 years.