# Have you ever heard of Logan's Run? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 22, 2016, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616 "2016-08-22T12:13:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/121 "2016-08-23T04:21:44Z")
> [@Hypno-Toad](#): > > A few years ago I watched LR with a friend and we wondered about Richard Jordan and what else he’d been in. We drew a blank, but the very next night we put in Lynchs _Dune_ and there he was: Duncan Idaho! Total coincidence. I remember him from the TV mini-series _Captains and the Kings_. And I remembered he had died at a relatively early age. But what I hadn’t known until I just read his Wikipedia article is that Jordan’s grandfather was Learned Hand. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/122 "2016-08-23T04:50:39Z")
Yes, 47 and I own the DVD. I’ve been a fan since I was a kid. I remember the TV series but can’t recall anything specific about it. I’m pretty sure I watched at least some of the series when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Blisters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Blisters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blisters)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/123 "2016-08-23T05:08:07Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > From this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=802238) So my question is, have you ever heard of the movie _Logan’s Run_? Yes. I’m 43. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/124 "2016-08-23T05:43:08Z")
Being a sort of second-generation science fiction dork born in the 1970’s, I have actually heard of it, going back to childhood. I don’t remember ever actually watching the whole thing. ---
**Author:** ![Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/58956e/32.png) [@Emtar\_KronJonDerSohn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Emtar_KronJonDerSohn)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 7:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/125 "2016-08-23T07:57:03Z")
The movie came out before I was born. In middle school I came across an old book or magazine article (I think) about special effects which was clearly written immediately after the movie was released which explained how the effects were done and generally declared that the movie was a timeless masterpiece. A few months later I was at a friend’s house and saw the VHS in his entertainment center and said “Ooh! I’ve heard of this! We should watch it!” His dad made a face but we watched it. I liked the movie just fine but it was pretty dated at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/126 "2016-08-23T12:04:27Z")
Just wanted to say I would have never guessed a thread on Logan’s Run would have gotten so long so fast. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/127 "2016-08-23T12:17:25Z")
> [@Quimby](#): > > Just wanted to say I would have never guessed a thread on Logan’s Run would have gotten so long so fast. Ironically, it _just. won’t. die_. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/128 "2016-08-23T13:10:56Z")
This is kind of making me want to rewatch it, but I’m sure it won’t have aged well and I hate to tarnish my good (though hazy) memory of it. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/129 "2016-08-23T16:23:07Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In my opinion, 1968 to 1977 was the golden era of science fiction movies. In addition to the ones you mentioned, there were the Planet of the Apes series, A Clockwork Orange, Solaris, Dark Star, THX 1138, Westworld, Futureworld, Silent Running, Slaughterhouse Five, Sleeper, A Boy And His Dog, The Terminal Man, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Welcome to Blood City, Damnation Alley, Crimes of the Future, Demon Seed, Fantastic Planet, God Told Me To, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Phase IV, Zardoz, No Blade Of Grass, The Stepford Wives, and Barbarella. Now I’ll grant you, not all of these are great movies - some of them aren’t even good movies - but they were all trying to be genuine science fiction where the idea was the key factor. We lost that with Star Wars; science fiction just became a setting. I was going to write the same list, more or less. 70s sci fi was about lack of hope, for want of a better descriptor. Look at Heston’s 'Big 3"; Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, Soylent Green. There’s nothing optimistic about any of them. Colossus - what a downer of an ending (it should be required viewing for anyone working on AI. Remember, kids, always have an off switch!). Silent Running - all that is left is a sterile, paved, temperature controlled earth. What’s even sadder, is everyone but Lowell WANTS it that way. What I will disagree is your comment “science fiction became just a setting”. They are still making “cerebral” sci fi that isn’t all flash-bang. It exists. Primer, Time Travelers Wife, Looper, Ex Machina, maybe even The Martian, and (god help us) Snowpiercer. It’s not all Star Wars and Marvel comics. Of course, not all of the current crop is good. But then, as you note, neither were the ones in the 70s. Zardoz, anyone? Anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/130 "2016-08-23T16:32:28Z")
Too late for the edit. While looking for examples of current sci fi, I see that Gravity is classed as such. Would movies like it even be sci fi? We do have space travel. It takes an existing, realistic situation and spins off drama from that. I’m not sure it should be. It’s no more sci fi than Open Water, or All Is Lost, or Flight. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/131 "2016-08-23T18:43:20Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > What I will disagree is your comment “science fiction became just a setting”. They are still making “cerebral” sci fi that isn’t all flash-bang. It exists. Primer, Time Travelers Wife, Looper, Ex Machina, maybe even The Martian, and (god help us) Snowpiercer. It’s not all Star Wars and Marvel comics. > > Of course, not all of the current crop is good. But then, as you note, neither were the ones in the 70s. Zardoz, anyone? Anyone? Sure, in four decades you’re going to have some good movies. But they’ve become the rare exceptions in science fiction. Even good science fiction movies are often really movies from another genre that are placed in a science fiction setting; _Alien_ is a haunted house movie, _Outland_ is a western, _Blade Runner_ is a film noir. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/132 "2016-08-23T18:45:11Z")
I remember the movie Logan’s Run. Can’t say I remember a TV series. The movie was fun to watch, but the plot was full of holes, and the acting was labored. Mindless entertainment at its best. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/133 "2016-08-23T18:45:34Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > Zardoz, anyone? Anyone? You can never get enough freckled boobs or animated penises. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/134 "2016-08-23T20:01:16Z")
I always thought this game was loosely based on Logan’s run: > **[Paranoia (role-playing game)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia_(role-playing_game))** > > Paranoia is a dystopian science-fiction tabletop role-playing game originally designed and written by Greg Costikyan, Dan Gelber, and Eric Goldberg, and first published in 1984 by West End Games. Since 2004 the game has been published under license by Mongoose Publishing. The game won the Origins Award for Best Roleplaying Rules of 1984 and was inducted into the Origins Awards Hall of Fame in 2007. Paranoia is notable among tabletop games for being more competitive than co-operative, with p Sev... It was the first “dystopian society” movie I saw. Now I just watch reality TV to see dystopian society. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/135 "2016-08-23T20:08:53Z")
> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#): > > …What I will disagree is your comment “science fiction became just a setting”. They are still making “cerebral” sci fi that isn’t all flash-bang. It exists. Primer, Time Travelers Wife, Looper, Ex Machina, maybe even The Martian, and (god help us) Snowpiercer. It’s not all Star Wars and Marvel comics. > > Of course, not all of the current crop is good. But then, as you note, neither were the ones in the 70s. Zardoz, anyone? Anyone? Terminator, Total Recall, Bladerunner, Day after Tomorrow, Jurassic Park (arguably), Matrix, Aliens, the new Planet of the Apes stuff, District 9, Armageddon. Not all classics but there are a lot of good scifi movies coming out now that geeky can be cool. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/136 "2016-08-23T20:20:32Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > In my opinion, 1968 to 1977 was the golden era of science fiction movies. In addition to the ones you mentioned, there were the Planet of the Apes series, A Clockwork Orange, Solaris, Dark Star, THX 1138, Westworld, Futureworld, Silent Running, Slaughterhouse Five, Sleeper, A Boy And His Dog, The Terminal Man, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Welcome to Blood City, Damnation Alley, Crimes of the Future, Demon Seed, Fantastic Planet, God Told Me To, Colossus: The Forbin Project, Phase IV, Zardoz, No Blade Of Grass, The Stepford Wives, and Barbarella. Now I’ll grant you, not all of these are great movies - some of them aren’t even good movies - but they were all trying to be genuine science fiction where the idea was the key factor. We lost that with Star Wars; science fiction just became a setting. I have to disagree. I wasn’t terribly fond of most of those, and I don’t think most were very good science fiction. My choice for the Golden Age of SF films was, believe it or not, the 1950s (there’s even a book on the topic – **Science Fiction Gold** by Dennis Saleh ( [https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Gold-Film-Classics/dp/0070544670](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Fiction-Gold-Film-Classics/dp/0070544670) ) Sure, there was plenty of incredibly awful stuff in that decade, but it also gav e us \*\*The Day the Earth Stood Still The Thing Forbidden Planet Destination Moon Operation Moonbase When Worlds Collide It! The Terror from Beyond Space The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms\* Conquest of Space The Quatermass Xperiment Quatermass 2 Quatermass and the Pit \*\* on TV, at least – the movie came out the next decade) \*\*The Lost Missile Atomic Submarine Gog Kronos This Island Earth\*\* (The last two mainly for looks, not for intellect) There were lots of other interesting flicks of some value, but it more than makes up for all the guys in rubber suits attacking miniature cities. \*You might say this is just a typical 1950s Monster-on-the-Loose fulm, but it’s not. Among other things, it’s the _first_ beating _Them!_ and _Godzilla_ by a long shot. When it portrayed all those things on screen, they weren’t clichés yet. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/137 "2016-08-23T20:36:17Z")
One of my first date movies! ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/138 "2016-08-23T20:55:49Z")
I saw this in the theatre and was mightily impressed. I read the book soon after and was surprised at the differences; frankly, the book kinda meandered from one set piece to another. The TV series…meh. Only really interesting part was Donald Moffat as the android Rem. I still can hear Roscoe Lee Brown as Box: **"Wait for the wind…my birds sing…and the deep grottoes…whisper my name…BOOOXXX."** ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/139 "2016-08-23T21:06:14Z")
For context, I was born in 1968 in Germany and saw it on German TV ca. late '70s. It was one of those movies us boys ALL talked about the next day in school (there were only three channels back then), so for me it is a classic of my childhood. Though the German title was the utterly idiotic “Flucht ins 23. Jahrhundert”, “Escape to the 23rd century”… Sometimes, I still catch a glimpse of a rerun on TV. ETA: similar examples for which you can apply exactly what I wrote above: Westworld and Soylent Green. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616/140 "2016-08-23T22:26:12Z")
> [@CaptMurdock](#): > > I still can hear Roscoe Lee Brown as Box: > > **“Wait for the wind…my birds sing…and the deep grottoes…whisper my name…BOOOXXX.”** His whole repetitive speech, showing how psychotic he’d become, was wonderfully terrifying. A sort of proto-Lecter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-heard-of-logans-run/763616.md?page=8)