(1956)
Directed by Fred M. Wilcox
Starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Nielsen, Anne Francis, Warren Stevens, Jack Kelly, Richard Anderson, Earl Holliman, Robert Dix, James Best, and Les Tremayne as the Narrator
Yeap, here we are again with another NON-horror title!?!? What is going on here at the Krypt? Okay, okay… hang on. There is a monster in here, and one like you’ve never almost seen before, so I think I’m good. But in reality, I do like this movie because of its originality, of course the incredible look of the whole thing, but also giving audiences not just a monster we’ve never seen before, but an idea that was new and something different, especially its origin. But enough of that…no spoilers! Nonetheless, there are so many things in this film to admire.
Loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest, the story is about a spacecraft that is traveling to the planet Altair to check on the survivors of an expedition to that planet two decades ago. But before they land, they are contacted by Morbius from the planet, telling the captain they don’t need to land, and that everything is fine. But the captain has orders to check out the planet so he must land, much to the dismay of Morbius. Even stranger that Morbius is the only survivor from the original expedition. Once they land, they are greeted by the famous Robby the Robot to take them back to Morbius. As the crew learns more about Altair, Morbius, and the fate of the rest of the expedition, the commander is not sure what to do, especially when Morbius does not want to go back to Earth. And… that he has a beautiful young daughter.
Leslie Nielsen, in his film debut and years before he’d be known for his slapstick shtick, plays Commander Adams, trying to follow his orders but not getting much help from Morbius. He is played by Walter Pidgeon, giving a performance that he’ll always be remembered from, even though he’d been working since the silent film days, and had been nominated for 2 Oscars (though didn’t win). The crew of the spacecraft runs the gambit of a few familiar faces, mainly because a good chunk of them worked in a lot of television, some having from 100 to almost 200 screen credits. We do have Richard Anderson as Chief Quinn, who would later play Oscar Goldman, the one behind creating the Six Million Dollar Man. Also, we have Earl Holliman as the comic relief cook, who is thrilled when Robbie the Robot can replicate his bottles of alcohol. We even get to see Robert Dix as one of crew! And of course, the lovely Anne Francis as Morbius daughter, Altaira, who was born on the planet.
The longer they stay on the planet, the more that Commander Adams is told about the race that lived there before, and the technology they had left behind. But also, the longer they wait, something is attacking the ship and the crew but apparently goes unseen by the guards posted. Morbius once again stresses that they should leave this planet, but Adams wants to take Altaira back to Earth, which then causes other issues.
With the new 4K release of this, that alone is worth getting this new version, restored from the original 35mm negative by Arrow Films, in the original 2.55:1 ratio. The colors are what really pops in this print, making this new world look just incredible. But besides the movie itself, the disc of extras is also almost worth the price of this set as well. We got a brand-new audio commentary by film historians Kim Newman and Barry Forshaw. There is an archival documentary called Watch the Skies! Science Fiction: The 1950s and Us, which is a lot of fun, getting to hear from a variety of filmmakers. There is also another archival documentary called Amazing! Exploring the Far Reaches of Forbidden Planet. The really cool thing about these older featurettes is that we now have them in our collection to bust out every now and then, revitalizing the admiration for this work. The is also a featurette on Robby the Robot, which was fascinating, since a good portion of the film’s budget went into building this famous robot. There is also deleted scenes, lost footage, two excerpts from an MGM Parade, the original shooting script, trailer, and even a second bonus feature, The Invisible Boy, which featured Robby the Robot in his second feature. There is also an episode of The Thin Man TV series called Robot Client, again featuring Robby the Robot.
But out of all the extras, my favorite is Unearthly Aura, which is new featurette on Bebe & Louis Barron, who did the score for the film. Oops… sorry, not score, but “Electronic Tonalities”, since the musician’s unit blocked the Barrons from being credited as composers, even though the entire movie’s soundtrack was created by them, using different electronic equipment. Forbidden Planet is a classic of the sci-fi / horror genre, and there’s reasons for that. The look, the feel, the sound of the film gives it one of the most unique experiences for the viewer. Maybe I’m just an old movie fan, but watching this film today still makes me feel like a little kid again, bringing out the wonderment of seeing something like never before. Pure cinematic experiences to enjoy over and over again.
