During the early 1960s, rock music went through a hard time. Many feel that in 1958-59 a series of events such as Elvis entering the Army and Buddy Holly's death really took the wind out of rock's sails, and that things wouldn't rebound until 1964 when the Beatles made their mark in the US. This viewpoint seems somewhat narrow-minded - it ignores the positive contributions of acts like the Beach Boys and the Motown groups - but in many ways it appears pretty accurate: there sure was a lot of crappy music flying around during that time period.

Of course, there's always a lot of crappy music in whatever time period - it's just that there was so little good following rock's "Golden Age" and there was so much bad. The biggest hit of 1963 - Sugar Shack by Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs – epitomizes the problems of those lean years. Is this the worst song of all time? I won't make that claim, but it must be close. (Don't believe me? Find out for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqjVAgT74_A) No wonder the Beatles did so well the following year.

So what does this have to do with movies? Not much, but I wanted to draw a historical comparison to the situation in which science fiction films found themselves in the mid-1970s. Lots of dreck, pretty much nothing of worth until 1977 when Star Wars did to films what the Beatles did to music in 1964. If things are historically comparable, I guess that means that the biggest hit science fiction film of 1976 must have been a cinematic Sugar Shack, right? Definitely! (You think I would have gone this far if that wasn't the case?)

What was this science fiction hit from 1976? Logan's Run. That clunker apparently was the best the genre had to offer before George Lucas came along to liven things up - now that's a scary thought.

I never saw Logan's Run during its theatrical release, although you'd think I would have been in the target audience. After all, I was nine in 1976, and it seems like the kind of film I would have seen, but for whatever reason, I didn't. In fact, I'm not sure I ever saw it prior to watching the DVD. I recall seeing the TV spinoff in the late 1970s, but I can't attest with any certainty that I ever viewed the film itself.

That's probably why I had a happy childhood. I didn't expect much from Logan's Run and yet it managed to underperform all of my expectations. I won't claim that it's the worst movie of all time, but it has to be a contender.

That's kind of sad, because the story itself isn't bad. It offers an interesting idea of a possible future society, and even if the science fiction aspects of it didn't work, it could have at least made for a good "chase" film. Unfortunately, it succeeded on neither front and managed solely to be a thoroughly frightful piece of work.

Other than the possibilities that the story could have offered, I can find nothing of merit to Logan's Run. Actually, that's not completely true - there's a little bit of nudity that I rather enjoyed. Other than that, the movie has virtually nothing going for it.

The acting? Atrocious. The worst episode of Star Trek surpassed the performances found here. Leads Michael York, Jenny Agutter, and Richard Jordan? Tremendously campy and hammy, each one of them; even the scenes that could have worked became laughable because of their work. Amazingly, the actors in smaller roles did even worse, including then-newcomer Farrah Fawcett-Majors. Of course, the fact that nothing was done to make the 23rd century look at all unlike 1976 didn't help. All those ridiculous hairstyles are bad enough in a movie that takes place in that era - it's positively unbearable when the setting is about 300 years down the road.

I briefly thought that Peter Ustinov's bit as Old Man toward the end of the movie might redeem some of the acting, but I was wrong. I initially mistook his horribly artificial and faux-whimsical performance for something decent, but I soon realized that he sucked as well. He just sucked differently than anyone else.

Virtually every technical aspect of Logan's Run stinks as well. The direction and editing show no signs of life. The whole thing just plods along until they finally reach something that appears to be a conclusion - or maybe they just ran out of film). Even for the time period, the special effects seem terrible. The "laser guns" appear to be modified lighters, and when they hit the mark, silly sparks fly from the target. Again, even the worst episode of Star Trek looked better than this.

Jerry Goldsmith's score fares no better. It alternates between cheesy future schlock - lots of "bips" and "bonks" - and an extremely overwrought traditional score that makes scenes that potentially may have contained suspense even more ridiculous than they already would have been. The latter sections sound like bad outtakes from the Psycho recording sessions. A good score could have redeemed some dignity for this mess, but Goldsmith's work makes the entire package even worse.

I don't know if I can overstate what an irredeemably terrible film this is. It starts out bad and it goes downhill from there. Not one scene of Logan's Run offered any respite from this onslaught of crap. Oh, the humanity! It's hard to believe that science fiction would enjoy such a renaissance just one year later.

In some ways, it doesn't seem quite fair for me to compare Logan's Run to its brethren of the following year. Both Star Wars and Close Encounters of the Third Kind are classics that represent the best the science fiction genre has to offer. Not many films could stand up to that kind of comparison, so of course Logan's Run looks poor in that regard.

However, I do think it's a fair comparison since all these films were big budget studio affairs. It's not like I'm attacking some indie effort because it lacks the production values of the big boys. I'm not condemning Logan's Run because it's not as good as Star Wars or CE3K. I'm condemning it because it's terrible and those films show that it didn't have to be. In other words, no one can defend Logan's Run through an argument that its flaws are endemic to the time period. One year later, Spielberg and Lucas managed to greatly outdo it in every way, so there's no excuse for the poor quality of this effort.

Logan’s Run appears in an aspect ratio of approximately 2.40:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Though not without flaws, the transfer largely appeared to accurately replicate the source material.

Given the frequent use of various visual effects, the film came with quite a few opportunities for problems. Green screens and composite shots meant that the movie could come across as somewhat iffy at times; those elements were somewhat soft and less than dynamic. Otherwise the movie usually provided nice delineation, and sharpness occasionally looked great. On average, the flick showed above average definition, though some non-effects shots were a little soft.

No issues with jagged edges or shimmering appeared, and edge enhancement seemed to be absent. Source flaws were largely non-existent. Of course, the effects shots could be a little messy, but that was to be expected, and those problems were kept to a minimum. Otherwise, I noticed the occasional speck but nothing major distracted.

With its broad pastel palette, the colors of Run usually seemed quite good. Some vivid and full hue appeared throughout the film. On occasion, the tones were a little heavy, but they worked well most of the time. Blacks were dark and tight, while shadows were decent. Like other elements, they were weakened by the film techniques, but they seemed acceptable given all the restrictions. Though I didn’t think the picture looked good enough for a grade above a “B”, it still was a good representation of the original footage.

In addition, the Dolby TrueHD 5.1 soundtrack of Logan’s Run worked very well for a movie from 1976. The soundfield proved to be quite impressive, as it used all the various channels to good effect. Music showed nice stereo presence and also popped up from the rears frequently. We got a lot of directional speech, and effects appeared in their accurate locations. These fixed us with a good sense of place, especially during the action sequences. Although the elements occasionally seemed a bit “speaker-specific”, given the flick’s age – and the fact it came from an era in which mono was the rule – I could easily forgive this minor distraction.

Audio quality was a little weaker but good overall. Though speech seemed a little reedy at times, the lines remained intelligible and reasonably natural. Edginess was a minor concern. Music sounded quite good, as the electronic score demonstrated very positive life and vivacity. Effects occasionally packed a punch and were pretty decent, though some louder bits – such as the crowds at Carrousel – were somewhat distorted. The rougher edges kept the track from “A”-level consideration, but I thought it was a fine mix nonetheless.

How did the picture and sound quality of this Blu-ray Disc compare with those of the original DVD release? Though the lossless audio added a little kick, I thought that side of things was a wash. The DVD sounded good for its age, and the Blu-ray offered only minor improvements in that realm.

On the other hand, the visuals received a major upgrade. The DVD came out in 1998 and provided a non-anamorphic transfer. The Blu-ray was substantially clearer, cleaner and crisper. Colors looked brighter and more dynamic as well. Literally everything about the transfer demonstrated improvements; the Blu-ray completely blew away the ugly old DVD image.

The same extras from the DVD appear here. These start with an audio commentary from director Michael Anderson, actor Michael York and costume designer Bill Thomas. Each man sits separately for this edited track. We learn about how both Anderson and York came onto the project, cast, characters and performances, story issues and deleted scenes, costumes and sets, locations and visual design, various effects, and a mix of other production subjects.

Across the board, this piece gives us a terrific look at the creation of Run. We find lots of nice insights and facts about the film. I may not like the flick in the least, but I find a lot to enjoy about this tight, informative commentary.

In addition to the movie’s trailer, the disc includes a vintage featurette. Called Logan’s Run: A Look Into the 23rd Century, this nine-minute and 18-second piece mixes movie clips, behind the scenes materials, and interviews. We hear from Anderson, York, producer Saul David and actor Jenny Agutter. “Look” discusses the movie’s story and characters as well as it sets, visuals and effects. We get a glimpse at how the production used all of these elements. Don’t expect a lot of detail here, but we find many good shots from the set and learn more than we usually find in this sort of promotional featurette.

It probably doesn't take a fortune teller to see where the conclusion to this review will go. Logan’s Run offers a goofy, extremely dated piece of sci-fi cheese. It borders on unwatchable. The Blu-ray presents very good audio and picture. Extras seem light, but at least we get a terrific audio commentary. I think this is an awful film, but fans should be pleased with the Blu-ray, as it’s by far the best home video presentation of Run.

To rate this film, visit the original review of LOGAN'S RUN