Just saw Logan's Run - some questions

Cafe Society
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I haven’t seen the movie in a long time.

– What was the deal with the babies Logan and his fellow Sandman were looking at in the beginning? Who raises and educates the children?

– What was the deal with the young kids running wild (the “cubs,” I think they were called)? Why doesn’t the computer deal with them?

– What happens five minutes after the end of the movie when everybody realizes they still need the computer to make their food for them? Does it still work at all or do they all starve to death (after eating that idiot Logan, of course)? :smiley:

42

[QUOTE=a35362]
– What was the deal with the babies Logan and his fellow Sandman were looking at in the beginning? Who raises and educates the children?
[/quote]
The computer overlord(s).

They were “off the grid,” but not worth hunting down.

The old man will teach them at least one way to skin a cat (and then eat it).

43

[QUOTE=Argent Towers]
That robot near the end in the ice caverns - where the fuck did that come from?! Was he built by the authorities of The City as a last line of offense against runners trying to escape? Why was he freezing all those people?
[/QUOTE]

People? What people? All I saw was FISH!!! PLANKTON!!! PROTEIN FROM THE SEA!!! :cool:

44

[QUOTE=Baldwin]
I was living in Dallas, Texas, when some of the movie was filmed there in 1975 (the scenes with the plaza of futuristic-looking concrete fountains; that was part of the new civic center or something).
[/QUOTE]

The Water Gardens in Ft Worth. I went there a few times while attending college in Ft Worth and recall being somewhat disappointed the first time as I was expecting them to be much larger.

Very good. Now name one from Family Guy. Brian’s being chased by a Sandman and he points to Snoopy saying he’s gotta be at least 50.

45

[QUOTE=Fiver]
Thanks to the IMDB, we don’t have to trust our memories for such things.

Charlie’s Angels premiered in fall of 1976, and that’s when she became a star, although she’d been acting for several years. She had a recurring role in then-husband Lee Majors’s The Six Million Dollar Man from 1974-1976.

Logan’s Run came out in June of 1976. Her famous red-swimsuit poster also came out in 1976, but I don’t know when exactly.

I would expect her star was on the rise in 1976, but not in 1975 when the movie would have been made. So she had only a small role which was overstated in the movie’s ads.
[/QUOTE]

I don’t think they were able to make much of it with the movie ads, but I do very vividly remember that when the movie was first shown on TV, FF’s star was definately at its brightest. All the bumper segements leading out of and into commercials said 'And now back to Logan’s Run, starring FARRAH FAWCETT and Micheal York".

Pretty much a ripoff since she had about 5 minutes of screen time.

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[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
People? What people? All I saw was FISH!!! PLANKTON!!! PROTEIN FROM THE SEA!!! :cool:
[/QUOTE]

There was an entire gallery of frozen people on display. None of them had boobs as nice as Jenny’s but then she hadn’t been freeze dried yet either. Loved the silky wisps of nothing that the female cast wore. Hope they come back in style some day.

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[QUOTE=OneCentStamp]
People? What people? All I saw was FISH!!! PLANKTON!!! PROTEIN FROM THE SEA!!! :cool:
[/QUOTE]
What are sea greens, chopped liver? :stuck_out_tongue:

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[QUOTE=Ludovic]
What are sea greens, chopped liver?
[/QUOTE]

If they are, they’re from some damned unhealthy fish.

49

[QUOTE=Fiver]
Based on earlier threads on the subject, I’ll be bitterly disappointed if there’s not a Dragon*Dopefest this year.

Oh, Baldwin. You poor, innocent lamb…
[/QUOTE]

Thanks, but I’m 46. I remember back in the early 1970s hearing all this stupid slang from people in fandom; at the time it sort of made sense as a deliberately created jargon to allow science fiction fans (a weird minority at the time) to emphasize their fellowship.

But now, “sci-fi” (a term no self-respecting fan used in my day) has become so thoroughly mainstream, what’s the point of pretending it’s still a misunderstood subculture?

Never mind; I’m sure all this has been slogged over ad nauseum on the SDMB in the past. I’m curious about DragonCon, though; maybe I’ll actually take MARTA down there this year. Is it all about movies, tv and comic books, or are there still fans that read those old-fashioned books without pictures?

For a silly movie, Logan’s Run really does bring up a lot of questions. Here’s one: why is it that apparently they have teleportation, and only use it for that Dial-a-Date system? I can’t help thinking there could potentially be other uses for that there thing.

And that Carousel – since apparently the computer overlords have created a pseudo-religious belief that one might “Renew”, why disappoint the crowd by exploding everybody instead? (That is, my impression – possibly a faulty memory – is that people thought one might Renew and be reborn as one of the new infants. So why not just let them believe that everybody did in fact Renew? Might reduce the number of Runners.)

ETA: Fiver, reviewing your posts, I see that you do in fact read books. My apologies for being snarky. I’m just feeling old, and whenever I read about a con these days, books just don’t seem to be mentioned much. Hell, I don’t even know what’s going on in written science fiction these days. All my favorite writers are dying off.

50

Spurred on by this thread, I grabbed my old paperback copy of the book to take with me to Jury Duty today, and ended up reading the whole thing while waiting. I first read it when I was about 10, and this is my first re-read. I picked up the movie on DVD a few years ago when I saw it for $5, and other than Jenny Agutter (I love you), I didn’t think much of it.

Re-reading the book now, at age 27, it’s really interesting what a product of its era it is - the youth culture thing, the hilariously psychedelic elements of their society, and so on. It’s also kind of funny how there are some HUGE plot holes that I never noticed, like how cathedral (where the cubs live) is apparently a two-minute run from the center of their society. How does anyone ever get caught by the Sandmen if they can get from the hub of things to “no man’s land” in a minute? Likewise, the whole maze system that allows Logan and Jessica to escape seems kind of convenient - why does anyone even stay in the city if they can just disappear into the maze at their earliest convenience? I also started wondering why people hang around in the cities waiting for their flowers to turn black if it’s so easy to get off the grid, but I guess they’re hypnotized by the idyllic life of leisure.

Still a great read. I think it would make a great TV miniseries, especially with how episodic the chapters are.

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[QUOTE=Baldwin]
I’m curious about DragonCon, though; maybe I’ll actually take MARTA down there this year. Is it all about movies, tv and comic books, or are there still fans that read those old-fashioned books without pictures?
[/QUOTE]
Actually, it’s not a great con for comic books. There is comics-related programming, but it doesn’t bring the biggest crowds.

And print fiction is huge. There are entire programming tracks devoted to Tolkien and Robert Jordan, and whenever Anne McCaffrey or Harlan Ellison come they draw huge crowds.

Ray Bradbury was to come a couple of years ago, but his health failed him, so he did a video conference instead. It packed a ballroom.

It’s a big-tent convention. Movies, books, gaming, television, comics, hackology, science, podcasting…if there’s the faintest connection to fandom, there’s programming for it at Dragon*Con.

And which is easier to say: “cosplay,” or “dressing up as ____”? It’s all about economy.

52

[QUOTE=VCO3]
Still a great read. I think it would make a great TV miniseries, especially with how episodic the chapters are.
[/QUOTE]
After the movie, there was a TV series.

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[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.]
Saltire]: A few weeks ago I saw a Mustang in Seattle with your name on the plate.
[/QUOTE]
Well, I guess I’ll have to start thinking of a new screen-name. The other guy obviously won (Mustangs are just that cool), by the simple expedient of never letting me know the competition was being held.

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[QUOTE=VCO3]
It’s also kind of funny how there are some HUGE plot holes that I never noticed, like how cathedral (where the cubs live) is apparently a two-minute run from the center of their society. How does anyone ever get caught by the Sandmen if they can get from the hub of things to “no man’s land” in a minute?

[/QUOTE]

Cathedral is a dangerous place to run to, the Cubs tend to tear runners & sandmen up. Early in the movie, there is a cut Sandman who says he got the wounds from Cubs when chasing a runner in Cathedral. Furthermore, In the movie, the runners can also be tracked via the handheld sensor systems.

I go the impression that Box made certain nobody made it out of the city once they got through the maze. One suspects the runners aid group was not aware they were sending people to freezing death. Kinda weak, maybe, but they might have only been working on legend.

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[QUOTE=Robot Arm]
After the movie, there was a TV series.
[/QUOTE]

Ick.

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[QUOTE=Fiver]
Actually, it’s not a great con for comic books. There is comics-related programming, but it doesn’t bring the biggest crowds.

And print fiction is huge. There are entire programming tracks devoted to Tolkien and Robert Jordan, and whenever Anne McCaffrey or Harlan Ellison come they draw huge crowds.

Ray Bradbury was to come a couple of years ago, but his health failed him, so he did a video conference instead. It packed a ballroom.

It’s a big-tent convention. Movies, books, gaming, television, comics, hackology, science, podcasting…if there’s the faintest connection to fandom, there’s programming for it at Dragon*Con.

And which is easier to say: “cosplay,” or “dressing up as ____”? It’s all about economy.
[/QUOTE]
Thanks; interesting, and I’m glad to hear that people still read (even if it’s Robert Jordan). I’m sure there’ll be folks from my SCA group there. After 18 years in Atlanta, maybe I’ll check it out.

Note that in the economy of language, clarity is of more value than simple brevity. Using a single word of made-up jargon instead of an easily understood phrase is a false economy if people don’t know what you mean.

57

[QUOTE=Baldwin]
Note that in the economy of language, clarity is of more value than simple brevity. Using a single word of made-up jargon instead of an easily understood phrase is a false economy if people don’t know what you mean.
[/QUOTE]
What was missing from the previous explanation is that cosplay is a Japanese term, and such portmanteaus are common in their language. The word in has become popular in English because of the same anime cultural crossover that has popularized terms such as “yaoi” and “otaku”.

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[QUOTE=Baldwin]
Thanks; interesting, and I’m glad to hear that people still read (even if it’s Robert Jordan). I’m sure there’ll be folks from my SCA group there. After 18 years in Atlanta, maybe I’ll check it out.
[/quote]

You slight Robert Jordan fans in the same paragraph you admit you’re in SCA? Hmm, sir! I say “hmm” to you!

Yeah…but, you did know what I meant.

59

I just watched this movie for the first time since about 1976. I remember seeing it way, way back when, but I don’t remember the second half of the movie, after they escaped the city, so I suspect I fell asleep before Box. (I would have been about, oh, 10, at the time.) It seemed pretty dated to me–I had a hard time getting over the dialogue, which didn’t sound natural to my ears, either the way the actors spoke it or the actual writing itself. It was a lot longer than I expected, but that’s probably an artifact of mis-remembering the movie in the first place.

Farrah certainly had that distinctive hairstyle in the movie, though! I kinda wish they’d lingered in The Love Shop a bit longer… (okay, that’s the wine talking).

Very strange to watch a sci-fi movie that appeared to be set entirely in a shopping mall, and the scenes showing the city from above seemed to scream “miniatures!”

The plot holes didn’t make sense until I read the Wikipedia entry and this thread. I’ve seen a lot worse movies, however.

60

This thread inspired me to read the book again. I hadn't read it in a few years (it's one of my favorite light reads). I laughed out loud at this:

I wonder how long the slippage took? 20 minutes, maybe? :wink: