Forbidden Planet

1956
G
1h 38m

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

54K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

Play trailer3:41

Space Sci-Fi Adventure Sci-Fi

A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilizat... Read allA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.5/10

54K

YOUR RATING

POPULARITY

3,401

166

See production info at IMDbPro

Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total

Trivia
The famous poster for the film shows a menacing robot carrying a struggling pretty girl - a staple of monster movie posters from the 1950's. In fact, no such scene occurs in the film itself and the robot portrayed in the poster is the very likeable Robby the Robot.

Goofs
When Doc describes their C-57D star ship's weapon capacity as 3 billion electron volts, that value is actually quite minuscule, something less than the energy expended by a flying mosquito.

For example, a weapon like a 20 kiloton nuclear detonation would be on the order of 10 to the 32 exponent electron volts.

Quotes
Commander Adams: Nice climate you have here. High oxygen content.
Robby the Robot: I seldom use it myself, sir. It promotes rust.

Alternate versions
Whe Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reissued this film as part of a kiddie-matinée package, the scene where Jerry Farman cons the socially naive Altaira into kissing him was excised.

Connections
Edited into The Twilight Zone: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960)

User reviews429

Review

Featured review

Yes, this IS the best sci-fi film ever made.

Well, of course, "Star Wars" defined the genre, and "Alien" and "Blade Runner" perfected it; but "Forbidden Planet" created it. Argue, if you must, that movies like "The Day the Earth Stood Still", "Them" and "Five Million Years to Earth" are the cerebral grand-fathers of the film genre (and I won't disagree with you), but for "science-fiction-as-plot-driven-action-epic," this is it. This is the one.

It's so unerringly on target, in fact, that it still plays very well even today. The modern audience has to overcome the "Leslie Nielsen Factor" (and it is difficult to watch him in a totally straight role), but once you do, the movie is pure enjoyment. Forget about dated plots and special effect. Robbie the Robot is a guy in a suit, yes, but he is thoroughly believable. He even adheres nicely to Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics, a trick that the digital robots in this summer's "I, Robot" had a great deal of difficulty with.

And the monster! I defy anyone to avoid getting the willies when the monster first shorts the security fence. Great special effect, then and now!

Finally, the universal theme of man's (and Krell's) individual flaws inserting themselves into an otherwise perfect system and TOTALLY gumming up the works is as relevant today as it was then. More so.