In the distant future, after a devastating war, people inhabit a domed city where they each live for thirty years. When they reach thirty, they are "renewed" on the Carousel, and anyone who tries to escape this fate is hunted down by the Sandmen and "terminated". One Sandman, Logan (Michael York), decides to try and make it to the world outside - whatever's left of it.
Would be sci-fi blockbuster Logan's Run was adapted from William F. Nolan's novel by David Zelag Goodman. Very much of its time, it depicts a far off world not unlike a seventies shopping mall, where Logan has his consciousness raised by wide-eyed Jenny Agutter. They both go in the run, pursued by Logan's ex-best friend (Richard Jordan).
The civilians in this world dress in togas, presumably to evoke parallels with the decadence of Ancient Rome. They all live for casual sex, jacuzzis and plastic surgery, watched over by a sinister supercomputer and executed for their own good in a particularly tacky display which they attend as if it were an event at some future Coliseum.
Naturally, this hedonistic world is no place for a sensitive person to live. The film says that we should accept ageing instead of preventing it, grow old gracefully like, er, Peter Ustinov has. Be at peace with yourself, don't be so shallow. Yes, it's all that 1970's self-improvement in action, and the story conveniently fades out at the end before any of it is put into practice.
The film looks glossy but remains fairly unimpressive - just look at the killer robot (Roscoe Lee Browne) for cheap hilarity. In the end, it's comes across as being as empty-headed as the cityfolk. The finale, where a computer malfunction leads to mass destruction, seems like a slight overreaction, to say the least.
But if it's a slice of 1970's cheese you're looking for, look no further than this more than faintly silly production. Music, a mixture of electronic beeps and a sweeping orchestra, is by Jerry Goldsmith. A couple of points to ponder: are Michael and Jenny attempting to put on American accents? They can't seem to decide. And is that really an extra performing the Vulcan salute as employed by Mr Spock on Star Trek during the final crowd shot?
