In 2274, humans live decadent lives in an enclosed city. To keep the population consistent, everyone is killed at age thirty in an elaborate ceremony called Carousel. The few who try to escape this death, by “running,” are hunted down by executioners known as sandmen. Logan (Michael York) is a sandman with four more years to live. The computer that controls the city sets him on a mission to infiltrate the underground that helps runners, and find the mythical Sanctuary. To make his status believable, his “life clock” is changed to thirty so that it appears he is a runner. Finding Jessica (Jenny Agutter), a girl who wears the secret symbol of the dissenters, Logan teams with her in the search for Sanctuary, but his ex-partner (Richard Jordan), believing he is a traitor, pursues them both.
One of the last films in the political science fiction movement of the ’60s and ’70s, Logan’s Run is the conservative answer to the youth movement of the ’60s, so is less relevant today than most of its siblings. When watching, you can almost hear an old man shaking his cane as he yells, “You lazy kids, you never take responsibility for anything! Why don’t you get a job!”
Logan’s Run is both dystopian and post-apocalyptic, in equal parts. For the first half, we’re shown a future society where everyone lives in a big mall and most have a great time, although many of them appear to spend their days walking around on the hard tile floors (much like in Star Trek: The Next Generation where there’s a constant stream of people in the halls). Everyone is young and beautiful and few have responsibilities (why a few have jobs, such as plastic surgeons, while a majority do not, is never explained). They have sex with whomever they please without jealousy or guilt, take drugs without addiction or consequence, and appear to have no sickness. The downside to all this is that everyone dies at thirty. However, the film does a poor job of making that seem problematic. Until the post-apocalyptic portion, it is taken for granted that the viewer will see this as bad. But, from watching the society, the short lifespan of its citizens doesn’t make this a dystopia. Rather, the problems lie in the inequality of the classes. The sandmen are violent thugs, who enjoy killing and who intimidate everyone. Then there are the outlying slums for the disobedient children. Again, there is little explanation except that some children end up in a Lord of the Flies world, locked away from the rest of the city.
While in the city, the film moves along at a satisfying clip. Between the well-executed effects of the Carousel, the hunts for runners, the scantily-clad and occasionally nude citizens enjoying their hedonistic lifestyle, and the dangerous lasers of the plastic surgeon, there is always something worth seeing on the screen. Plus, the confused philosophizing of Logan and Francis and the mystery of Sanctuary keep the story moving.
But the movie doesn’t fare so well once it enters the post-apocalyptic half. After a laughable special effect explosion (laughable even by 1975 standards, or 1945 standards for that matter), the activity slows. Logan and Jessica walk through some trees. Then they walk through some more trees. Then they take a nap. There’s some more walking, and then a swim. And none of it is as exciting as I’m making it sound.
Eventually, they reach Washington DC, which is represented by amusing map paintings (who doesn’t like to see the seat of our government trashed?). Unfortunately, there is then an endless segment filled with chatting to a babbling Peter Ustinov. For some reason, the filmmakers thought it would be entertaining to see Logan and Jessica notice things we already know, then have Ustinov, playing a comedy version of a 100-year-old, make silly comments. They get to see cats, where Logan gets brilliant lines like “You call those cats?” Ustinov then adds, “What else would you call them?” Things continue in this uninteresting vein until an unsatisfying conclusion that uses a sad Star Trek cliché to wrap things up.
The march through the ruins is supposed to finally present a reason why you want old people around, but once again, it fails. Logan looks at some paintings and realizes that the past civilization was ruled by old white guys. Thus, it must be good to have old white guys around. I’d have thought the sight of the civilization in ruins, destroyed by the decisions of those same old white guys, would imply the opposite message. Add in the annoying, senile, old man and what we have is an argument for exterminating the elderly.
Not content with its unsupported rant against ’60s youth, Logan’s Run goes the whole conservative route. It turns out none of the citizens of the city can feel love because they aren’t in committed, monogamist relationships and aren’t naturally birthing babies. This, like so many assertions, is stated with no support.
Oh well. The first part of the movie looks cool.