by Adam Frank

 

"Hey, wake up.  I want you to see this."

I was about 9 years old and my dad was gently shaking me back into consciousness.  I knew it was going to be another late night TV movie.  He did this every now and then, getting me up to watch some gem that I, in my 1970s youth, was bound to miss without him.  Once it was the original Christmas Carol, another time it was Gregory Peck in Moby Dick.  I shuffled out into the living room bleary eyed and excited.  I had no idea what a world of wonders I was about to enter.

The move was Forbidden Planet and I now know that it is, without question, one of the most perfect science fiction films ever made. As the nation spends the weekend delighting in another Iron Man romp (my boy and I are heading to the theater tonight) it’s worth remembering what was possible before the realms of computer animation.

Forbidden Planet is the perfect pulp science fiction Universe brought to live with vivid colors.  The plot is, of all things, loosely based on Shakespeare’s The Tempest (a point my lit-loving dad made sure I knew). From the ray-guys to a cosmos strangely filled only with white people it was the 1950s all the way

20 years after losing touch with the colony on Altair IV the Earth sends a ship to determine the colonists’ fate.  They find only one survivor, Dr Morbius, and his beautiful young daughter living amidst impossibly advanced technology (including the delightful Robby the Robot).  As the handsome and stalwart captain seeks to reveal the mystery of Morbius and the planet, a terrible unseen power begins attacking the ship and killing its crew. 

With perfect pitch for both the camp and visual sensibilities of 1950s pulp, Forbidden Planet would have shined if that were the extent of its ambitions. Instead, the film is strangely intelligent in both its dialogue and its underlying story of the Krell, a long dead race whose technological achievements were the reason for their own undoing and the source of Morbius’ power. Anyone who sees the film with fresh eyes can't help but be taken by the stunning image of Morbius leading captain and colleagues on a tour of the vast Krell machine that extends for miles in every direction.  Every great science fiction film since from Star Wars to the Matrix has had to pay its tribute to that scene.

So, yeah, go enjoy Tony Stark flying around in the wizardry of his computer-animated suit.  Iron Man is, of course, not science fiction but it is part of a cinematic tradition of dazzling our eyes with visions of the impossible.  Its good to remember that with its perfect balance of intelligence and wit a 50 year old movie can still bring us to that point. From the iron man Robby the Robot, to the brilliant flying saucer of United Planets Cruiser C-57D, Forbidden Planet kicks it old school all the way to greatness.