Forbidden Planet - a vintage SF classic

Thx, I'll add it to my Netflix que

Forbidden Planet is a classic of the genre and the BluRay presentation is about as good as its going to look. The scenes involving opticals are understandably softer than the rest of the film but for a 55 year old movie, it still holds up remarkably well. Gene Roddenberry liberally lifted themes and concepts from Forbidden Planet when first mapping out Star Trek (Kirk's relationship with McCoy has more than a passing resemblance to Commander Adams and Doc Ostrow) and Robby is still one of the classic movie robots.

Every sci-fi fan owes it to themselves to add this masterpiece to their collection.

I was able to see this in the theaters when it first came out (boy am I aging myself!!) and it was and has always been one of my favorite Sci Fi movies. I already had it on DVD (of course!) and as soon as it came out on Blu Ray I got that too. And yes, for a 55 year old movie the Blu Ray is quite good. Not reference quality but quite good. Anyone who is a Sci Fi fan owes it to themselves to see this movie!

Gerry

Got it during HDDVD, still works!

Forbidden Planet has gotten a lot of kudos since it first came out on HD-DVD and from what I can tell the BD is the same transfer. I just wish more sci-fi films from that era would be put on BD like the George Pal films.

For those who are still on the fence on buying this Sci-Fi classic:

I saw this Bluray at a local Best Buy yesterday ..in a $7.99 bin.

yeah it's in the bargain bins at best buys all over

I purchased a copy at BB for the same price. I saw this on Laserdisc years ago, love this transfer and extras. I agree if you are a Sci Fi fan pick up a copy.

It's a fantastic looking disc AND a benchmark sci-fi film all in one. GET IT!

I love sci-fi. Grew up watching all the old movies. Got this one on HD-DVD. Great transfer.

Unfortunately, this is one of those titles that I found I enjoyed less than I thought I would. It was fun to re-visit the look of this movie. But in terms of acting, plot, pace etc, I found myself pretty bored. The "neato" factor of seeing an old sci-fi film just didn't carry me far enough to get past the fact I felt no empathy with any characters, no sense any of them were "real people," no particular sense of fear or suspense. It's sort of like the "Ed Wood" factor. Some people can actually be pulled through a bad old movie because it's so bad. For me, it's just bad so I get bored.
This movie is NOT on the "Ed Wood" level, being considered a classic of the genre. But it's nonetheless invokes the same feelings when I watch it: FX that may have been "good for their time" but which are creaky, obvious sets and paintings now. A rather silly monster. Cardboard characters and acting. No actual suspense or tension etc.

As a life long movie buff, part of the joy in making my home theater has been the idea of seeing all those "great" old films actually projected on a large screen at home, rather than seeing them on a teeny 4:3 TV set as was the case growing up. Fortunately, sometimes this has indeed been thrilling and glorious...for those films that to me hold up. At the same time I've found myself less patient with, and less interested in those movies that may have been fine when I was a kid, or were some sort of landmark at their time, but which really show their age in terms of "old-style" acting, cardboard characters, lack of any actual suspense, tension etc. This was one of those times, for me.

I don't expect that many others in this thread will share my opinion though.

I had a review here. I wasn't doing BR thumbnails back then; maybe next time I see it.

Also The Invisible Boy (1957) on the same disc.

-Bill

Don't let the "needs a brand new 4K transfer otherwise it sucks" mob hear that.

Wonderful film and terrific PQ too.

Huh. Watched it when it came out on blu with a couple of then 10 year olds, and enjoyed it quite a bit, as did they. Maybe their enthusiasm for it buoyed my experience. I had only previously seen it on "TV".

Your 10 years old got great taste.

I love this movie. It's a classic and while the production values are dated the story sure isn't. Highly recommended to scifi fans of any age. Great thread, thanks for writing that up.

Guys. Thanks for the heads up on Best Buy having this classic for $7.99. I use to have it on HD-DVD but I sold my copy (the limited edition tin) years ago and have waited for a good price. Best Buy here I come.

IMO one of the best Sci Fi films ever made. Yes slow paced but I find myself always wishing that an extended version would be found.

Art

The premiere example of High Concept 50s science fiction. Complaints about the FX are rather beside the point--it's the ideas in the film that make it so interesting. And it has some of the best techno-dialogue ever! "How to short-circuit the continuum on a 5 or 6 parsec level". Love it!

Anne Francis also belongs in the "hottest girl I've seen in a movie" thread - I would imagine it's also one of the first films to feature the mini-skirt; that's got to count for something

Check out the skirts in FLIGHT TO MARS from 1951 (fast forward to about 1:04)

http://youtu.be/8m63WNcILpc

I owned FORBIDDEN PLANET on HD DVD (and DVD, of course) and quickly bought the Blu-ray when I made the switch. And Anne Francis is super smokin'! I'm glad she's in a couple of episodes of TWILIGHT ZONE on Blu (as is the C57D). I'm saddened that we lost the principles in FORBIDDEN PLANET in such close succession (Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis).

Perhaps it's my middle age or my affection for old movies but these are the only types of films where I can tolerate the pacing. I remember putting a modern movie into my player and after counting about 30 cuts to different camera angles in the first two minutes, I ejected the disc and never watched it again.

Done.

The HD-DVD also came with a Robby the Robot toy and other stuff which may be collectible someday. I don't have any desire to get the Blu-ray copy. The HD-DVD is excellent.

I have the BD and have zero desire to have the toys.

Maybe if Robbie was more than a plastic figure molded figure with no moving parts...

His arms move! I've got him on my desk right here.

AFAIK, it is an early 4K restoration effort from WB from what was said here.

Yea, it was an excellent set. Believe me, I only sold it because at the time these were getting crazy amounts of money. It's too bad a Blu-ray version was never made.(

These soft dissolves are not a "problem" with the transfer, but rather, are a result of the use of optical printers to create the dissolves in the original creation of the film. This is often seen in many older films. Sometimes you can anticipate a dissolve when you see the image go like sharp...soft...dissolve...soft...sharp.

See The Dirty Dozen for the worst examples of this. It's rated poorly in the Tier thread because of this. It's an excellent transfer otherwise, but the optical printer based dissolves are often very jarring when the image goes from super sharp and detailed to practically blurry.

Interesting! I've often noticed that effect and wondered if it had a name.

-Bill