Forbidden Planet (50th Anniversary Special Edition) (DVD)

...goodies.

The Forbidden Planet was produced in 1956 by Nicholas Nayfack (Vengeance Valley) and directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox (Lassie Come Home), the story was later turned into a novel by W J Stuart.
The film was also nominated for an Oscar for it’s Special Effects. The film is packed with great sets and the use of matte paintings (scenery) and of course the first appearance of Robby the Robot. (later to be used in many things ...
...based on Shakespeare's The Tempest
As mentioned, the film was influenced by Shakespeare's The Tempest, though the plot of the film only superficially resembles the plot of the play. Some of the characters can more clearly be opposed:

Prospero = Morbius
Miranda = Altaira
Ariel = Robby (or alternately, Monster from the Id)
Caliban = Monster from the Id (or alternately, Robby the Robot).

... more

This 50th Anniversary of 'Forbidden Planet' is fantastic, not only do you get the feature film, after being lovingly restored and put on to DVD, but you also get a bonus disc packed full of goodies.

The Forbidden Planet was produced in 1956 by Nicholas Nayfack (Vengeance Valley) and directed by Fred McLeod Wilcox (Lassie Come Home), the story was later turned into a novel by W J Stuart.
The film was also nominated for an Oscar for it’s Special Effects. The film is packed with great sets and the use of matte paintings (scenery) and of course the first appearance of Robby the Robot. (later to be used in many things including Lost In Space.
The story is also loosely based on Shakespeare's The Tempest
As mentioned, the film was influenced by Shakespeare's The Tempest, though the plot of the film only superficially resembles the plot of the play. Some of the characters can more clearly be opposed:

Prospero = Morbius
Miranda = Altaira
Ariel = Robby (or alternately, Monster from the Id)
Caliban = Monster from the Id (or alternately, Robby the Robot).

However, although the identification of Ferdinand with Commander Adams, Stephano and Trinculo with Cookie, and Gonzalo with "Doc" Ostrow is tempting, the characters do not really match up. There are no further identifications for important characters such as Alonso, Antonio, or Sebastian.

The story...

The United Planets Cruiser C-57D is sent to the planet Altair IV in the Altair star system, sixteen light-years from Earth, to find out what happened to the Bellerophon Expedition, sent out some twenty years earlier. As their ship arrives after a year's voyage, the crew detects an immense power source scanning the ship.

Doctor Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), the expedition's philologist (language expert), from the Bellerophon contacts the cruiser and tells the commander (Commander John J Adams - Leslie Nielsen), that he is the last surviving member of the ship and doesn't need any assistance. Commander Adams is not happy with this and demands co-ordinates to land, and is promptly given them.

They land and are met by Robby The Robot and taken to Morbius. Morbius explains that he is the last survivor due to a terrible unforeseen force that ripped each of the Bellerophons crew apart. He then urges them to leave before the same should happen to them. Commander Adams insists that he must remain until he gets orders from Earth as to what to do.
Much to the landing parties surprise an attractive young lady appears and is introduced by Morbius as Altaira Morbius (Anne Francis) daughter to Morbius. She is innocent and has never seen a man with the exception her father, which concerns her father a great deal.

Morbius explains that he is making great advances in science because he is studying the ancient civilization of the Krell, who once lived there 200,000 years ago, who died in one nights moment of madness.....
He then shows them the underground world of the Krell and some of the inventions created by them including the plastic educator, which helped train the young Krell to improve on their knowledge capabilities.

As time goes on an unforeseen force then penetrates the defences of the cruiser and some crew men die horribly.

The climax sees them fighting a foe of immense power and the struggle of life over death begins. I won't spoil the film by telling you what the twist is in the end or the ending, but the film is great.
If you like sci-fi films such as 'When Worlds Collide' and War Of The Worlds' ( See my reviews on these), then the same technique of creating the scenery using matte painting is used. Then you will understand what this film is like.

This film is a must for any sci-fi buffs out there, and if you are not, but like a good old fashioned film, then this is the one for you. With a very young serious Leslie Nielsen and Walter Pidgeon playing the key parts then you can understand how good the characters are.

Robby the Robot was the most expensive sci-fi prop ever (up to that time) at a cost of $125,000, the prop was then used in 'The Invisible Boy' and more notably in ‘Lost In Space‘. This combined with use of the animation expert Joshua Meador (20,000 leagues under the sea) who was the animation Director for Walt Disney and was specially loaned to MGM for the production of this film, create the perfect animation sketch for the ‘id‘ the unforeseen foe.

Cast

Walter Pidgeon — Dr. Edward Morbius
Anne Francis — Altaira Morbius
Leslie Nielsen — Commander John J. Adams
Jack Kelly — Lt. Jerry Farman
Warren Stevens — Maj. 'Doc' Ostrow, M.D.
Frankie Darro — Robby the Robot (stunt)
Marvin Miller — Robby the Robot (voice)
Earl Holliman — Cookie (the Ship's Cook)
Richard Anderson — Lt. Quinn

Running time 94mins approx.
Cert PG
Colour

Bonus Disc
Contains the following items:-
Deleted scenes and lost footage
Feature film - The Invisible Boy
The Thin Man TV series Episode Robot Client
3 Documentaries
Excerpts from the MGM Parade TV series
New Digital transfer from restored picture and audio elements
Soundtrack remastered to Dolby 5.1
Science Fiction Movie trailer Gallery

Cost £9.99 and well worth it..... 

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