Dystopian Future Double Feature: Logan's Run & Dark City
Dystopian Future Double Feature:
Logan's Run & Dark City
Often when we think of dystopian future science-fiction we picture films like Mad Max, but another style of dystopian futures, are a future that looks perfect on the surface, until you realize just beneath the surface there is a dark truth behind it. Logan's Run falls into that style of dystopian future science-fiction. Then there is Dark City, a type of dystopian future where everything looks like the life we are familiar with, however just beneath the surface there is a dark truth behind the works of it all. I feel like the style of dystopian future that Logan's Run creates, is quite similar to the future that HG Wells wrote about in The Time Machine, where on the surface is the peaceful Eloi live lives of leisure and pleasure, while just below the surface (literally in that novel) there lives the race of Morlocks, who do the labor, and the reality is that the Eloi are raised as cattle to feed the Morlocks, which is why there are no Eloi that live into old age. In Logan's Run everyone lives peaceful lives of leisure, however when they turn 30 years of age they are killed, it doesn't really go into who does the work in the dome cities to keep people in food and clothes, however there are definitely elements of the future in The Time Machine in the film. Then in Dark City, the people live lives quite as ours are, but there is that society under the surface that pulls the strings, the "Strangers" use the humans in a vast experiment, so the humans are little more than lab rats for the other race of beings that pull the strings. The futures in dystopian science-fiction tell of a grim future where society as it exists does not survive and the reality for future humans is a bleaker and darker reality than that which we currently know, whether it is a devolution into chaos, as is the case in films like Mad Max or A Boy And His Dog as a dystopian post apocalyptic landscape, and then there are films like Logan's Run and THX-1138, where humans live in dome cities after whatever cataclysmic event creates an apocalypse for those living on the surface of the earth, and life seems good, but there is an element of social control, and a dark truth that lies just beneath the surface of the (in the case of Logan's Run) utopian society that the films starts with, and then there are dystopian science fiction films like Dark City, where an alien force pulls the strings, so that though life looks "normal" on the surface there is a dark truth at work, and as far as the fate of the earth itself and the rest of the people on the planet, we have no idea, because we find ourselves no longer on that ball of space rock that we currently call home.
Logan's Run was directed by Michael Anderson with a screenplay written by David Zelag Goodman, and is based on the 1967 novel of the same name by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. The film was released in 1976 and produced and distributed by Metro Goldwyn Mayer. Though the film was a success in the box office grossing $25 million against it's $9 million budget, the film didn't fare so well among the critics, who gave it mixed to negative reviews. However in hindsight Logan's Run has continued to be a classic and ranks among some top science fiction film lists. There was also a failed television series, a short lived Marvel comic book series, and a planned remake that is still in developmental hell. Logan's Run was also in developmental hell from 1969 until around 1975 when it started moving forward again, so based on that who knows maybe we will see a remake made, which promises to be more faithful to the original novel.
Logan's Run stars Michael York as Logan 5, Jenny Agutter as Jessica 6, Richard Jordan as Francis 7, Roscoe Lee Browne as Box (a robot that they meet as Logan and Jessica try to find "Sanctuary"), and Peter Ustinov as "Old Man" (who Logan and Jessica meet after they leave the dome city, he is the first person over the age of 30 that they have ever seen). Farrah Fawcett also makes a brief appearance as Holly 13. The film is well cast, especially with the two lead characters. At first I found Michael York's acting to be a bit off putting, but the more I became acclimated to the world in which the character exists, I started to warm to his acting of that character. I feel like his aloofness fits the wistful world of pleasure and leisure that he lives in. I like that with Jenny Agutter's portrayal of Jessica, a young woman who is exactly that, a YOUNG woman. She is strong-willed and has an element of defiance, but there is also a level of naivete to her, as both her and Logan are children in many ways, children of this sheltered life of leisure and pleasure, children who don't have to do real work to exist or to feed themselves, and they are ignorant of the world that exists beyond their sheltered existence. Jenny Agutter is able to perfectly capture all of the elements of her character, and she is also a very beautiful person too, which has this captivating beauty, and element of purity to her which makes her character all the more believable and realistic. Then of course Peter Ustinov perfectly plays the Old Man, who lives alone with his cats in the rubble that was once Washington DC. He is cute and charming, and just plays his character so perfectly. At the time I am sure that Farrah Fawcett was one of the big draws to the film, as she was on becoming a huge star at the time, and everyone at that time thought that she was just soooo beautiful, personally I felt that her acting was very weak, and I have never thought that she was as beautiful as everyone says, especially when on screen next to the far more beautiful Jenny Agutter, who far surpassed her in acting ability in this film as well.
Logan's Run wasn't popular among the critics, however it did really well in the 1977 Saturn Awards. Logan's Run was a beautiful feat of special effects, utilizing beautiful sets, including some wonderful miniature works, and even utilizing holograms and laser light effects. To look at the film is absolutely beautiful and breathtakingly welldone. Most of the film's budget was spent on the spectacular special effects, which was not lost on most critics, who claimed that the film was all style with no substance. I don't quite agree with that, I thought that the film had a great plot, and broke some grounds at the time. I really appreciate the casual way that it handles homosexuality, when Jessica declines to have sex with Logan, and he casually asks her if she prefers sex with women, in such a manner that it shows that in this society that it is absolutely normal, and for 1976 that is a pretty bold way to handle sexuality. The film also acts well as a critique on the "Me Generation" (as the Baby Boomer generation was often referred to as) with their culture of narcissism. In a way this film was a 1976 film saying "Ok Boomer", and criticizing the insufferable narcissism and selfishness of the "Me Generation". This film criticizes the loss of the self and individual identity that the Boomer generation was creating, which is in my opinion the same type of selfish narcissism that lead to the rise of Disco, and then in 1976 when the late Boomer and early Generation X kids were becoming teenagers and rebelling against the whole narcissistic and hedonistic, everyone looking the same Boomer culture that lead to "Disco" started the Punk movement, and they were like Logan and Jessica running and discovering themselves, and beginning to discover their self and their identity outside of the cultural bubble of conformity. So to look at it as a cultural critique, this film works really well, as well as just being a great and entertaining dystopian science fiction film. In my opinion, maybe the Punk movement of the late 1970s saved us from a potential future of living in a bubble after the greedy "Me Generation" blows up the world in a senseless war for money, leaving us living in a dystopian bubble that we all mistake as a utopia...but then again maybe I am just having wishful thinking.
Dark City was directed by Australian film director Alex Proyas, who also wrote the story, which was developed into a screenplay with the help of Lem Dobbs and David S Goyer. The film was released in 1998 and distributed by New Line Cinema. Though Dark City was well received by the critics, it barely broke even in the box office. I think that there was one Titanic reason that the film failed in the box office. Dark City was in the theaters at the same time as the 1998 mega blockbuster Titanic, and let's be honest, there is no way that a film could compete with that, and then add to that the fact that the film was poorly promoted and advertised by New Line. The film has become a cult classic among fans of science-fiction, but many never saw it in the theater, and weren't even aware that it even had a theatrical run. I don't remember Dark City coming out, I remember going to Titanic, but I don't even remember seeing posters for Dark City, or it being released, and that seems to sadly be common of fans of the film.
Dark City stars Rufus Sewell as John Murdoch, Jennifer Connelly plays his "wife" Emma Murdoch, William Hurt plays Inspector Frank Bumstead, and Kiefer Sutherland plays Dr. Daniel P Schreber. The primary "Strangers" are played by Richard O'Brien as Mr Hand, Ian Richardson as Mr. Book, and Bruce Spence as Mr Wall. We all probably know Jennifer Connelly from the Labyrinth, Richard O'Brien from Rocky Horror Picture Show, and Kiefer Sutherland from The Lost Boys. Interestingly enough Richard O'Brien's look as Riff Raff in Rocky Horror Picture Show was the inspiration for the look of the "Strangers", and he was the first person in mind for playing Mr. Hand. Kiefer Sutherland's character Dr. Daniel P Schreber was named after a German judge named Daniel Paul Schreber who suffered from narcissistic paranoid psychosis and possibly schizophrenia. Schreber wrote an autobiography about his experience with his mental illness called Memoirs Of My Nervous Illness, which was an inspiration for elements of the film. The film has an amazing cast, and they do an amazing job at bringing their characters to life. Some of the characters are quite complex, and struggle with some pretty serious philosophical questions about what is reality, and the actors play out these roles perfectly.
It is sad that Dark City wasn't a bigger box office success, it is quite a beautiful and thought provoking film. I always figured that the film's effects and looks were done mostly with CGI, which would have been quite impressive, but maybe even more impressive is the fact that most of the effects and sets in the film are practical effects. Most of the sets are real life-sized sets, and some of the bigger shots are achieved through the use of miniatures and models, the actual CGI effects were kept to a minimum. The film utilizes effective uses of lighting to create the tone for the shots, and this pays off well for the film. Over all, this is a really great looking film, however it is not all style and no substance, because this film has a great multi layered story with a complex and rich setting. One of the big criticisms of the film is that it is too complicated and confusing (which I don't really see, I feel like if you stick with the film until the end everything makes sense), and that also hurt it in the box office, because though the fans that the film was meant for, had no trouble getting it, there is a certain segment of the US film viewers that are lazy, and desire simplistic films that spell everything out for them, so that they don't have to actually put any of their own work into it. I loved Dark City though, and I highly recommend checking out this underappreciated film if you have not yet seen it.
If you have not yet seen either Logan's Run or Dark City, I highly recommend checking both films out. They are both great examples of amazing dystopian future science fiction, and were both highly influential films in their time period. Sadly Dark City is one of the best movies that you have likely never seen, however it is becoming a cult classic, which means that hopefully new audiences are continuing to discover what a great film that it was, I wish that it could get another chance in the theaters, because it would be so much fun to see on the big screen. Also if you can try to find the directors cut of Dark City, it fixes some of the problems that existed in the theatric release. So if you are looking for two great dystopian sci-fi films, I highly recommend checking out both Logan's Run and Dark City, both are amazing examples of the genre, and are both quite unique in their own ways. Both films are thought provoking and have something to say about the reality that people take for granted, and both have something to say about conformity and just going along with what you are told is your reality. Both of these films are must-see films, and have a place in every film collector's library.
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