LOgan’s rUn
Exit Sandman
released OUt NOW! 1976 | 12 | blu-ray & dVd (dual format)
Director Michael anderson Cast Michael York, Jenny agutter, richard Jordan, Peter Ustinov
Based on a novel co-written by William F Nolan (who also co-scripted Burnt Offerings – look left!), Logan’s Run is a dystopia in the vein of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World rather than George Orwell’s 1984.
It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world of care-free abundance, where automation meets all material needs, reproduction is artificial, and casual sex is freely enjoyed. One snag: when you hit 30 you must submit for destruction, with the promise of “renewal”.
It’s a lie of course, as Michael York’s “Sandman” discovers when sent to find and destroy “Sanctuary”, where many of the “Runners” it’s his job to eliminate have escaped to. Jenny Agutter’s Jessica joins him on the lam, providing a budding romance.
Mentioning Logan’s Run in the same breath as Huxley and Orwell feels faintly improper, since it’s as shallow as its two naive, knownothing central characters. It also sags a little in the middle, as it becomes a chase through industrial locations. But either side there’s delicious eye-candy to be enjoyed, from the rebirth ritual of Carousel to the matte-paintingassisted vistas of Outside, where Washington landmarks have been reclaimed by nature.
Extras Commentary by York, the director and the costume designer is carried over from the old DVD, as is a period Making Of. You also get four art cards. This is one of 10 releases in the new HMV-exclusive Premium Collection range. Others of note include Them!, The Omega Man and Soylent Green – all making their UK Blu-ray debut. Sadly these titles were announced so late in the day that we could only squeeze in a review of one. Ian Berriman
A sequence where York and Agutter pose nude for an ice sculpture was one of several trimmed to ensure a US PG rating.
As shallow as its central characters