A sci-fi classic from 1976, LOGAN'S RUN belongs in the same nostalgic bucket of fond memories of that era as "Westworld", 'Soylent Green" and "The Omega Man".
Michael York stars as Logan, a 23rd century Sandman (policeman) who chases down "runners" alongside his partner Francis (Richard Jordan).
In this idyllic, perfect society, everyone lives in domes that offer perfect weather, free love without commitment as desired and every whim that the future can provide.
The only catch is on your 30th birthday, when you take part on Carousel and hope to be "reborn" as an infant to start over again.
Runners are those intelligent folks that would like to live long enough to get a 31st birthday card, so they try to escape off the grid.
The Sandmen track them down and execute them, at which time they are picked up like yesterday's trash.
One day, Logan discovers a trinket in a runner's hand that he turns in at the end of his shift. He's soon assigned to track down the mysterious "Sanctuary" where all these runners are heading. To help him go undercover, they mark him as a runner.
Logan finds himself paired up with Jessica (Jenny Agutter) as they run for their lives through plenty of episodic adventures.
Farrah Fawcett Majors is gorgeous (but really awful) as an assistant at "New You" which offers a futuristic plastic surgery, Roscoe Lee Brown is "Box" a robot with a penchant for collecting species of every variety and the excellent Peter Ustinov steals every scene he is in as an Old Man they discover outside the dome.
The production design is excellent, with effects that were state of the art then but look pretty tacky now. The scenes outside the domes in a 23rd century Washington DC taken back by nature still hold up and Jerry Goldsmith elevates everything with one of his best music scores.
This is pure fun in seventies mode, with big hair, bright clothes and fantastic sets and large scale models galore.
York is earnest and fine, Agutter gets plenty of young male hearts racing in advance of her most famous turn in "An American Werewolf in London" and its colorful, classic MGM sci-fi fun.
Time's up runner! Logan and company get a nostalgic B.
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