Classic Movie Review: Forbidden Planet (1956)

This is going to be a wildly controversial statement, but Forbidden Planet is probably the most important science fiction movie of the 20th century. It's influence can be seen in many of the major sci-fi movies and TV shows that would follow and it's also a spectacular feat of filmmaking in it's own right.

The crew of spaceship C-57D is sent to the planet Altair 4 to discover what happened to a colony that set up there 20 years prior, but has had no contact with Earth since. Commander John Adams (Leslie Nielsen) insists on landing despite warning from Dr Morbius (Walter Pidgeon), who claims to be the lone survivor of the colony. Once they land, they are met by Robby The Robot, who transports Adams, Lieutenant Farman (Jack Kelly) and Lieutenant Doc Ostrow (Warren Stevens) to the home of Morbius.

Dr Morbius reveals that a mysterious "natural force" wiped out everyone in his crew and destroyed the planet. The only other person left is his daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis). He also recounts to the men the story of the Krell, an alien civilisation who inhabited the planet 200,000 years ago, showing them the super-advanced technology that could be very advantageous to Earth, but also tells them that it would be too advanced for Earth.

Forbidden Planet was the first big budget Hollywood sci-fi movie that was ever made. Up until this time, sci-fi movies were small budget drive-in style movies that would be shown with another film and were mostly poorly made. Forbidden Planet on the other hand is a masterfully made film. Even though it is still shot on interior sets, it is one of the first movies to be shot on widescreen colour. This was at a time when Hollywood was afraid of the competition of television and this was MGM's response to that. There is an animated monster that comes in one scene that blends seamlessly with the actors and environment.

This movie influenced film and TV for the most part of the century. The overt influence on TV series such as Star Trek and Lost In Space is apparent, with the latter having a bigger connection to this film. Robert Kinoshita, who built Robby The Robot, went on to become the art director on Lost In Space, with that show's robot and spaceship, the "Jupiter 2", being a complete copy inside and out of the C-57D. You can also see the influence this had on Star Wars, maybe not in design, but definitely in structure and sci-fi elements.

A young Leslie Nielsen and Anne Francis

The acting for the most part is unremarkable, but performances from Nielsen, Pidgeon and Francis are superb. It is almost bizarre to look at a young Nielsen, who is nigh on unrecognisable and is in a serious role. For someone who grew up watching Leslie Nielsen in movies like this, his performance here is amazing. Walter Pidgeon is fantastic as the mysterious Dr Morbius and Anne Francis, although playing a damsel in sort of distress, does give a decent performance. She probably has the most racy scene in the whole movie, as she goes swimming naked in a pool.

Forbidden Planet is a fantastic film to watch, primarily because it is a marvel of filmmaking and the fact that it has influenced so much pop culture all the way up to Futurama.