Movie Review: Forbidden Planet
By Bryan K. Scott

June 18th, 2005


      
    This 1956 feature film, starring Walter Pidgeon, Leslie Neilson, and Anne Francis, was the special effects giant of its time.  The story revolves around an expedition sent by Earth to Altair, a system in the Aquilae constellation (some 17light-years from earth), to find out why contact had been lost with a colony on the fourth planet.

    When Commander John Adams (Leslie Neilson) and his crew arrive at Altair IV, they discover that everyone in the colony had been killed with the exception of two people, Dr. Edward Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his beautiful daughter Altaira (Anne Francis).  Adams learned that the colony had been killed by an invisible monster that roams the planet.  Unknown to Adams, Morbius is hiding a terrible secret and he does not intend to share it (or his daughter) with anyone.

    The commander learns from the Doctor that the colony was not the first advanced civilization to exist on the planet.  A race of geniuses had lived there in the very distant past.  Once the commander finds this out, he begins to try to figure out how and why the race died off relatively overnight leaving their behind their technology intact and running for so many years.

    This film is a must-see for any sci-fi enthusiast that enjoys the old sci-fi genre.  Forbidden Planet also stars James Best (best known for his role Sheriff Roscoe P. Coletraine on “The Dukes Of Hazard) and Earl Holliman (best known for his role as Lt. Bill Crowley on the 70’s police drama “Police Woman”). 



Bryan Scott is a part time writer/columnist who comes to The Fedora Chronicles from Oklahoma.  He’s a big fan of sci-fi in general.  Also enjoys baseball, football, basketball, hockey, and soccer… As well as  anything dealing with computers and NASA. He’s the security supervisor at a auto parts manufacturing plant.  He's married with THREE beautiful little girls…

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