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Forbidden Planet Celebrates 50th Anniversary

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By GustavoLeao / 06:36, 29 March 2006 / General Genre/SciFi

The seminal science-fiction movie Forbidden Planet, starring Leslie Nielsen as starship Commander Adams and Anne Francis as Altaira, premiered on the big screen in March 1956 and celebrates its 50th Anniversary this month. In the movie, the crew of the United Planets starship C-57D goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.



Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry often credited Forbidden Planet for its influence on Star Trek. "Roddenberry spoke with me about how he had lifted a number of things from Forbidden Planet," Francis says, "like the hologram and beam me up, Scotty."

"Forbidden Planet could have been the pilot film for Star Trek," Nielsen says, adding with a laugh, "And maybe it was."

"The '50s are famous for a proliferation of science-fiction movies, most of them intended to be cheap entertainment," says M. Keith Booker, author of Alternate Americas: Science Fiction Film and American Culture "Forbidden Planet had the highest budget (an estimated $1.9 million) to date of any science-fiction film. It has Technicolor and widescreen. It was a conscious effort to make a quality film. It had predecessors like The Day the Earth Stood Still, but Forbidden Planet is much more of an exploration of the artistic possibilities."

The original article can be found here.



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Star Trek Influences | Report this post to moderator
By: Rick (Odo's file, contact) @ 19:45:36 on Apr 03, 2006

While Forbidden Planet was certainly a major influence on Star Trek (not only the original series, but the features and subsequent series as well - I ought to know), I don't think I'm out of line by saying that great SF classics like Destination Moon belong in the list of influential films. While a trio of strong characters is not new to movies, one can certainly see the Kirk-Spock-McCoy analogues in Jim Barnes-Dr. Cargraves-General Thayer as they pioneered the space frontier. I would also propose that the 1959 film (1962 English release) Silent Star (First Spaceship on Venus) had a profound effect on the design of the TOS Enterprise, from the bridge layout to the barest inkling of warp nacelles and pylons present in the Cosmostrator.

Rick
www.spacemodelsystems.com

--------

--
Rick Sternbach
Senior Illustrator
Star Trek 1978-2001


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And what do we get? | Report this post to moderator
By: Diabolik (Odo's file, contact) @ 07:27:40 on Mar 30, 2006

It's the fiftieth anniversary of my favorite vintage SF film (The Time Machine is next on my list), and what are we getting for it? A double disc special edition with all sorts of extras and features? Are we even getting a single disc DVD with some "making of" features, interviews with the surviving cast members, and some photo galleries? Heck, no. Nuthin'.

I don't understand it. What are they waiting for? The 100th anniversary when all the stars are dead, and us too? WE WANT A SE DVD OF FP!

-Diabolik


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RE: And what do we get? by Davy Pavel Chekov-Jones @ 16:09:15 on Mar 30
    RE: And what do we get? by GustavoLeao @ 21:36:10 on Mar 30

All hail FORBIDDEN PLANET!!! | Report this post to moderator
By: Davy Pavel Chekov-Jones (Odo's file, contact) @ 16:39:05 on Mar 29, 2006

Forget ENTERPRISE... if you're looking for the true TREK Prequel, it really is FORBIDDEN PLANET. I can almost imagine Kirk, Spock and McCoy standing in for Leslie Nielsen, et al, and vice versa. I love everything about this film... the look, the sound, Robbie, that spooky, non-traditional soundtrack, the beautiful matte paintings right out of a 1930s pulp magazine. The ONLY thing that dates the film, IMHO, is the blatant sexism and almost downright offensive way all the men want to jump into Altara's pants. Granted, they've been in space for months/years, but Jeez Louise, they didn't even TRY to hide their intentions in front of her own father! High on the "ick" factor, those scenes.


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RE: All hail FORBIDDEN PLANET!!! by Daisy @ 18:00:43 on Mar 30
RE: All hail FORBIDDEN PLANET!!! by GustavoLeao @ 05:48:28 on Mar 30
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