Z.P.G.
Tags: dramatic

Plot synopsis:
Set in the future, the Earth has become severely polluted (people need to wear breathing masks when outside) with severe overpopulation affecting available resources. Because of the permanent thick smog that has settled over the dismal cities that now cover the Earth’s entire surface, all animals – even common household pets - are extinct; people eat tasteless bright-colored paste out of plastic containers. To reduce the world's population, the world's government decrees that no children may be conceived for the next 30 years. Breaking this law will result in a death penalty for both the parents as well as the newborn. Brainwashing and robot substitutes are used to end the yearning for children with the death penalty as the ultimate deterrent, by being placed under a plastic dome and suffocated to death. Couples of child-bearing age visit "Babyland" and are given life-size animatronic children instead.
Russ (Oliver Reed) and Carol McNeil (Geraldine Chaplin) work in a museum recreating life in the 20th century. Carol, desperate for a child, avoids the abortion machine installed in their bathroom to remain pregnant. After the child's birth, the couple must shield the baby from being discovered. Once Carol decides to break the law and have a baby, they must not only avoid the prying eyes of the Big Brother-like government, but also the growing jealousy of their own friends, whose initial offer to help conceal the baby leads quickly to trouble. Neighbors finding a couple with a real child will go into the streets screaming "baby baby," until authorities show up.
When neighbours George (Don Gordon) and Edna Borden (Diane Cilento) find out about the baby, they blackmail the McNeils to help raise it. Jealousy and envy arises as their neighbors want to share the baby as if it is a new car. The McNeils and the Bordens begin to fight over the baby and the Bordens then seek to keep the child for themselves. Finally the McNeil couple are captured and placed under one of the state's execution domes, but the couple, along with the baby, manage to escape by digging into the underground, making their way through darkened tunnels in a raft to a remote island where the pollution isn't so bad.

Review: If you are a fan of Logan's Run this film is an interesting must see since it plays as a decent prequel (story wise) to that better known sci-fi film.
ZPG takes place in an over-populated future so polluted that people wear gas masks outside (we eventually find out it is war related), animals are found only in a museum (stuffed), and food is found only in paste form.
The edict: no more babies (or face death), so those born to already pregnant women have an invisible BE (Before Edict) scanned onto their foreheads.
In Logan's Run, much later in the future, babies have small crystals placed in their palms that light when the human turns 30.
In ZPG we are introduced to a couple (Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin) who work and live as a 1971 typical swinging couple exhibit in the museum along with another couple (best friends/neighbors).
When the couple decides to have a baby anyway they are forced to share it with their neighbors or face certain death.
There is a scene where Oliver Reed is checking out premature births in a futuristic library very reminiscent of the scene in Logan's Run where Logan researches Sanctuary.
Eventually the film becomes an escape picture much like Logan's Run.
I can't help but think the baby grows up to be the Peter Ustinov character in Logan's Run.
When I bought this film from a secondhand videoshop I was amazed by the quality of this movie.
Twisted utopia genre is allways interesting (like Zardoz), and this movie is no exeption.
Russ and Carol McNeil (Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin) decide to defy the law and do their best to raise a child in secret.
Their neighbours & friends the Bordens (Don Gordon and Diane Cilento) learn their secret and their desire to be a part of this childs' life only serves to permanently scar the friendship.While obviously done on a low budget, this is dealt with fairly successfully by having the outside world in this future be overcome by smog, forcing people to often wear masks.
However, the film is never quite as involving as one would like.
It does succeed at being somewhat disturbing at times: first, whenever the authorities bring around their special killing domes, and second, when Russ goes to the library to learn what he can about premature birth, raising the suspicions of those in charge and leading to his being tortured.Filmed on location in Denmark, "Z.P.G." gets by mostly on the performances of its four principal actors.
Reed is commanding with his typical whispery delivery, and Chaplin is endearing as the young woman wanting a human child more than anything.
The lovely Cilento and the under-rated Gordon are equally fine as the envious friends.There is a sombre quality to the whole thing yet by the conclusion it does create a sense of hope and peace.
As it is, it's good, if not great, and it does have a place among genre films of the time that dealt with the idea of dystopian futures.Six out of 10..
This is a great example of a great story idea undone by listless direction...and it's a shame as I wanted to like this film..
I love dark sci-fi films--particularly those that portray a dystopic future (where society is horrid and NOT the nice Star Trek sort of world).
"1984", "Soylent Green" and "Brave New World" are just a few dystopias that I adored--so I really, really was hoping I'd love "ZPG".
However, sadly, the great story idea was completely undone by horrid directing...and I mean horrid.The film is set sometime in the future--and apparently in the near future.
And so, to try to stop the rapid decline of the planet and feed everyone, the governments of the Earth implement a new program--making having children illegal for the next 40 years.
And, a young couple (Geraldine Chaplin and Oliver Reed) are determined to somehow have a baby and not face immediate execution.
I loved this story idea--and it really was strongly reminiscent of "Soylent Green" (a great film).So why if I loved the plot idea did I give the film only a paltry 5?
You'd think there's be LOTS of emotions concerning this birth edict...but Chaplin and the rest muddle through the film in a somnambulistic state.
It could have easily been renamed "ZPG--Zero Plot Growth"!
Usually most any film with Oliver Reed has its moments, even the worst, and he made some stinkers (LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF, SPASMS).
This little sci-fi offering about a LOGAN'S RUN type society where babies are disallowed, animals exist in stuffed form only and the weekly roast comes out of a tube, just never engenders any audience interest.No ONE particular fault - direction is competent, cinematography suitably bleak and the cast suitably depressed, just no SOUL to the thing and inclined towards the so-whattish?If you want to see Reed and Chaplin on the run having been way too naughty one night, then this is the film for you.
I carry a permanent memory of this film in my head as a mini black and white "trailer" Good companion piece to the much bigger budgeted but in the upshot, no better, LOGANS RUN..
In the future world of zpg (Zero Population Growth), they have become objects of fear.The world is overpopulated, polluted and on the verge of a collapse from centuries of environmental abuse.
The governments of the world have had to make the painful decision to ban birth for 30 years in an attempt to save the human race from extinction.
It is one fake, sterile place to live in.The government uses all kinds of methods to quash the yearning for children with the death penalty being the ultimate deterrent.
One such couple are the Mcneils (Geraldine Chaplin and the late and great Oliver Reed).
The Mcniels have to find a way out before time runs out.This film very much reflects the hopes and fears of the era it was made (including the flares on the protective suit the populace have to wear outdoors).
Zpg showed a disturbing outcome to way that the environment is treated and like in other films like 'Soylent Green' shows the affect on the quality of life.
There was also nylon clothing and the first 'ready meals' and of course, the 'Pot Noodle'.The technology of this world offered so many distractions including the horrible robot children, but could not hide the yearning that people wanted things to be real.
Including children.The government of this world pretty much like in 1984 has a grip on the peoples minds from interfering on almost every part of daily life.
Okay, there might not be a camera in every home, but one such example is an official government video that was playing while the McNiels were 'getting it on'.
Such is the control that the government have, one such scene shows a baying mob surrounding a couple with their baby.
The Mirror newspaper printed a picture of a dead newborn baby in a gutter in a street in China, with people just walking by like it was just a bit of trash.
The one child, 1 family policy has caused many newborn girls to be murdered because a lot of couples want boys.
This is a good if sometimes disturbing film that should be viewed on the one chance it is shown on TV..
I rather liked the ending and wish that there had been more of the movie.
Some comments compared ZPG to Logan's Run????
And Soylent Green, though not brilliant, SG is a far better movie than this one, and a more plausible future.
Avoid this film like the plague!.
Jaw-dropping Sci Fi. Films with a premise like "Z.P.G." are the most disturbing ones imaginable.
In the distant future, when people standard have to wear oxygen masks to walk over the streets and visits museums to see what a 20th century domestic family diner looked like, the government suddenly decides that no couple is allowed anymore to produce any children for the next thirty years.
But a severe crime like this can't be kept secret forever "Z.P.G." is a tremendously astonishing film.
It's often compared with "Logan's Run" and "Soylent Green" but this movie predates the both of them and it's immensely underrated whereas the others are more likely overrated.
The surveillance over the population is harrowing (for example: when you show interest in reading articles about parenthood in the library, you're promptly put in isolation for questioning) and the overall depiction of our future society is just downright depressing.
"Z.P.G." was made at the peak of Reed's career, as he starred in numerous classic horror/cult movies around that time, like "The Devils", "Revolver", "The Hunting Party" and "Blue Blood"..
It has been years since I've seen this film and I remember enjoying the premise very much.Like "LOGAN'S RUN", it takes a similar "What If?" scenario, and places it in a bleak, controlled society.
While the film itself may not be great, the concept does prove interesting and qualifies as good science fiction.In my opinion, Oliver Reed is always worth watching.
Along with Geraldine Chaplin and the great (and often underrated) Don Gordon, Reed delivers a solid performance, giving the film it's real thrust rather than placing it in the usual special effects laden territory.In closing, "THE BLOB" is a great film.
ZERO POPULATION GROWTH is a very cool little, subtle/in-your-face, sci-fi movie from 1972.
It's literally LOGAN'S RUN meets CHILDREN OF MEN but staring Oliver Reed (and released in theaters before either film).
I had 8 beers before I watched this and I suggest you do too (and I'm sure Oliver Reed had at least that before the cameras rolled so when in Rome...).
Anywho ZPG is one of those "utopian future but utopia is actually totally f'd up" movies where most of the inhabitants are like "hey, I'd complain, but nobody would listen" but one guy manages to step up and fight the power.
I love that theme so if you're into that kind of thing too then you should absolutely check this movie out.
Sure, the beer helped, but I sort of loved this movie..
Only the fourth PLANET OF THE APES film, and THE OMEGA MAN, could compare to this lame mid-70's sci-fi (except for maybe LOGAN'S RUN).
Yes, I dare to say it, all those films were pretty lame, but ZPG is the leader of the pack.Oliver Reed is living in a society where the government controls everything, especially reproduction.
Well, that's the plot, and it goes on and on like that.
Perhaps I didn't allow myself to become as emotionally attached to this film as some people may, but I found it thought-provoking only in the sense that I was think,'When is this going to end?'Don't get me wrong, I respect the sentiment behind the story.
"Z.P.G.", also called "Zero Population Growth", is a Sci-Fi/Thriller/Dystopian film from 1972.
This is Michael Campus' directional debut.Basic plot: Due to bad pollution, every people have to wear a breathing mask whenever they have to go outdoors.
But the story doesn't get better when the government makes a ban on giving birth to any child for 30 years, because of the Earth being overpopulated.
Breaking this law results in death penalty by suffocation inside an unbreakable glass.Russ and Carol McNeil (played by Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin), who work at a museum recreating life in the 20th century, are not satisfied with the substitute robot baby they've got.
So they end up getting a real baby.
The story is a little bit original compared to most other Science Fiction movies I've seen earlier, because it's not often we get movies about a ban on child birth.
Well made, Michael Campus.For special interested, it is not usual to see the global-like MPAA logo literally (SURPRISE) covering the whole screen after the end credits have finished scrolling.
Truth to be told, I have not seen this logo that big as it was in this movie.If you like watching Science Fiction/Dystopian movies in general, then this film might be a good choice to check out.
possible a must see if not to "improve" any future films, as you can always say, "Well at least it wasn't as bad as ZPG".Mark.
This movie is one rarity in my country scarcely here are copies in DVD or Blu Ray almost in the 2006 was edited one cheap version rated to 89 minutes of the 105 minutes of it's original duration by Vellavision with quality of image very bad.The Spanish public know very well whose are Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin but them at present day to ignore the existence of this film, I as fan of the science fiction was one of them until that I read the novel by Max Ehrlich when I was a child.The book is excellent for me so much as the film, and it's a good material to make a remake if someone producer wants to make one new version of this history.It's a movie that must be revised of it's landing forgotten and discredited by critic and public in it's time.The story is merit to second opportunity in the actual times..
I think this is a great attempt at future life.
the main cast Reed, chaplin, cilento & gordon are really as good as youd hope for.
and the women yelling "BABY" look just like 2018 democrats.
This is a film that should not be overlooked or forgotten in the present day , 42 years ago this film production joined trends would describe as a society in the future, in the film world .Today aesthetically speaking of Z.P.G. We may seem a modest B-movie with a visual poverty and barely beat in his narrative, but the message is still highly topical , and can even be cases of countries with China and Spain , which in the case of China is a major economic power level, with a high birth rate, which is required to apply the one-child policy.The case of Spain, is set roughly in the film what we are shown a declining country with over 40 million people, statistically speaking, cease to procreate from the year 2017, that the middle classes and low, are being submitted by an authoritarian government of Mariano Rajoy is, a policy of completely unfair cuts following the dictates of Germany, Angela Merkel as the highest authority in Europe.The film speaks not only of children of couples to which the conviction for violating a law, and a government as we are shown , in his excessive fascist control the world's population , also initially shown to planet Earth devastated by uncontrolled excesses which man is the head of the excessive use made of materials , energy resources and forestry and animal species, a terrible future that nobody in their right mind would want.This film has to be seen to reflect what we are men as a species together with their achievements and failures throughout its existence, but it is a movie to be aware , not because of his good cast of actors , but also by the whole story itself .How the cult cinematographic work itself, is a reflection of the defense throughout the life of the most vulnerable and defenseless as in the case of children, and in conclusion is a great movie to be loved and vindicate see from the perspective of the time it was performed as the 70s..
Geraldine Chaplin was awarded as Best Actress for her play.
This is a film very representative of its time, early '70.
It is curious to note that some guides and encyclopedias of fantastic films are not favorable to this film, and eve one of them indicates that the movie ends without no sense.
Could be that some versions of the film omitted this end?
The best scene is, perhaps, when Carole (Geraldine Chaplin) is going to have a baby in the cellar: a very good scene.
In the not too distant future, overpopulation with its resultant pollution has made most of the earth unfit for habitation.
There is a scene where women scream at another woman with a young child "Baby!
It turns out that the child has a B.E on his forehead.Despite the danger, the characters played by Reed and Geraldine Chaplin decide to have a baby anyway.
Gripping was the scene when Reed was researching via a virtual library on how to perform a baby delivery.
The leader of the civilization rides in some kind of whimsical toy-like flying saucer that plays "Pop Goes the Weasel" every time he makes an appearance.
It is what makes it a fine one.The horrors governments would be willing to perpetrate to achieve Zero Population Growth was accurately predicted in this movie.
But why pick on China and India, abortion in the U.S. and in most of the EU is also done on a massive scale under the alleged "right to privacy" and of "freedom of choice."If you are intrigued by societies that seal themselves off from the rest of the world and humanity, check out Zardoz (1974 with Sean Connery) and Logan's Run (1976 with Michael York).
There is also, of course, The Time Machine of which I know of at least two film versions.
Dystopia with Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin.
A fairly depressing view of a future in which having a child is punishable by death.
Oliver Reed & Geraldine Chaplin decide to have one anyway.
There's a good central idea here that's actually quite frightening & the actors, particularly Chaplin & Cilento convey a real sense of misery as wannabe mothers forbidden to give birth.
I wanted to like this film, but there were so many gross leaps of logic that I just kind of gave up.
Well, if there's this pollution, and it's so bad you have to wear a face mask when you go outside, don't you think it would accelerate the deaths of thousands of people?