Logan's Run

Plot synopsis:
In the year 2274, the remnants of human civilization live in a sealed city contained beneath a cluster of geodesic domes, a utopia run by a computer that takes care of all aspects of their life, including reproduction. The citizens live a hedonistic life but, to maintain the city, everyone must undergo the ritual of Carrousel when they reach the age of 30. There, they are vaporized and ostensibly "renewed". To track this, each person is implanted at birth with a "life-clock" crystal in the palm of their hand that changes color as they get older and begins blinking as they approach their "Last Day". Most residents accept this promise of rebirth, but those who do not and attempt to flee the city are known as "Runners". An elite team of policemen known as "Sandmen", outfitted in predominantly black uniforms and serving in an agency of the city called "Deep Sleep", are assigned to pursue and terminate Runners as they try to escape.
Logan 5 and Francis 7 are both Sandmen. After terminating a Runner, to whose presence they were alerted during a Carrousel ritual, Logan finds an ankh among his possessions. Later that evening, he meets Jessica 6, a young woman also wearing an ankh pendant. Logan takes the ankh to the computer, which tells him that it is a symbol for a secret group whose members help the Runners find "Sanctuary", a mythical place where they will be safe to live out the rest of their lives; it points out that the Sandmen have lost one thousand and fifty-six (1,056) Runners that way. The computer instructs Logan to find Sanctuary and destroy it, a mission he has to keep secret from the other Sandmen of Deep Sleep, which it code-names "Assignment 033-03". It then, by a procedure it calls "retrogram", changes the color of his life-clock to flashing red, making him technically and suddenly four years older. In order to escape Carrousel, Logan is now forced to become a Runner. Logan meets Jessica and explains his situation. They meet with the underground group that leads them to the periphery of the city. Logan finds that the ankh symbol is actually a key that unlocks an exit from the city. They come out into a frozen cave, with Francis following closely behind. In the cave, they meet Box, a robot designed to capture food for the city from the outside. Logan discovers to his horror that Box also captures escaped Runners and freezes them. Before Box can freeze Logan and Jessica, they escape, causing the cave to collapse on the robot.
Once outside, Logan and Jessica notice that their life-clocks are no longer operational. They discover that the remains of human civilization have become a wilderness. They explore an old, seemingly abandoned city, which was once Washington D.C.. In the ruins of the United States Senate chamber, they discover an elderly man. His appearance is a shock to them since neither has seen anyone over the age of 30. The old man explains what he remembers of what happened to humanity outside the city, and Logan realizes that Sanctuary is a myth and had been all along. However, Francis has followed them and he and Logan fight. Logan fatally wounds Francis and as he dies, he sees that Logan's life-clock is now clear and assumes that Logan has renewed. Logan and Jessica persuade the old man to return to the city with them as proof that life exists outside the domed city. Leaving the man outside, the two enter and try to convince everyone that Carrousel is a lie and unnecessary. The two are captured by other Sandmen and taken to the computer. The computer interrogates Logan about Assignment 033-03 and asks if he completed his mission. But Logan insists, "There is no Sanctuary." What he had found was "old ruins, exposed", "an old man", and that the missing Runners were "all frozen". These answers are not accepted by the computer, even after scanning Logan's mind, and the computer overloads, causing the city's systems to fail violently and release the exterior seals. Logan, Jessica, and the other citizens flee the ruined city. Once outside, the citizens see the old man, the first human they have met who is older than 30, proving that they can indeed live their lives much longer.

Tags: sci-fi

Review:
Gregory Harrison was perfect as Logan and Heather Menzies was great as Jessica.
Logan's Run, based on the 1976 movie of the same name, was a good show.
Gregory Harrison was Logan, a Sandman, Heather Menzies was Jessica.
Donald Moffat played the android Rem. Logan's Run originally aired on Friday nights at 9:00 pm, but was bounced around the time slots so much by CBS that when it finally ended in 1978, CBS didn't care whether it survived or not.
(This often seems to be the case with shows that are too good.) I've no idea how it would hold up now, since it has never, to my knowledge, been repeated on British TV, but I have fond memories of this series.
My friends and I thought that Heather Menzies was very pretty, but we were especially impressed by the android, Rem. If "Lost In Space" and "Land Of The Giants" were my preferred viewing in the late 60s, "Planet Of The Apes" and "Logan's Run" (in their TV-series manifestations) were my shows of choice in the late 70s..
All of my friends and I thought that Heather Menzies was a goddess!!The fact that it ran for only 14 episodes makes the prospects of ever watching reruns (specially here in my country) so much harder!!
I saw "Logan's run" (the movie) yesterday and it reminds me of this TV series I used to watch a long time ago.The movie which I saw in a movie theater drastically wandered from the novel:for instance the part of sandman Francis would amaze people who only know the movies and the TV series.The TV episodes kept only Jessica,Logan and Francis and added REM ,a robot (but a human one ,not the nasty robot who freezes the fugitives).It roughly followed the pattern of "the fugitive" of the sixties ,although Francis did not appear in all the episodes.My favorite one was based on "the most dangerous game" and featured German actor Horst Buchholz as the hunter,Jessica and Logan being the preys.Unlike the movie,neither Jessica nor Logan showed love feelings and when REM hinted at it ,the heroine simply answered: "He's only a friend" .Correct me if I'm wrong ,but the last episode was not really an "end " :they probably intended to make more episodes.They did not,and it was too bad..
I didn't watch the Logan's Run tv series during it's original run, I actually watched it after I saw the 'Logan's Run' movie (feature film) on the TNT Network (USA): One of Ted Turner's networks.
The beautiful Melody Anderson was in a episode(Manimal tv series star).
REM was a great character and a cool idea.
One of Heather Menzies relatives was in the classic 'Things to Come' movie.
I did manage to get a rather poor quality video to DVD copy of all the episodes of this series.
The props and sets were tweaked and manipulated about as far as the budget would take them to create an imaginary dystopic future, complete with gun wielding bandits and robots gone haywire.Shot on a shoe string budget the shots and stories look like they were cranked out in record time.
Which is all the more shameful, for had this series just waited perhaps another eight months, then the powers that brought it into being could've drawn some very good lessons from Star Wars, and infuse some real production values into a series coasting off the diminishing wave of its feature film predecessor.
Instead we have a TV translation of a major motion picture, that, like a lot of TV series based off of major theatrical releases, really doesn't hold up to well.
And this is from a man who saw the 1980s revamp of Buck Rogers, and liked it.TV's "Logan's Run" is what it is; an attempt to bring some G-rated adventure from source material is firmly in R-territory.
I enjoyed it, and perhaps that's all that really matters.If you've got a hankering for retro-TV, then scope out the nearly forgotten "Logan's Run" TV series..
Time Has Not Been Good To This "Manhunt" Sci-Fic Series.
Logan's Run was hot stuff to my 12 year old eyes...even on my black and white television set!
Then, in Australia at least, the series vanished from the face of the earth for decades.Last year, I finally found it again on YouTube and discovered that time has not been good to Logan's Run. It looks too low budget and, since 1977 or 1978, I have seen a few "manhunt" television shows/movies and Logan's Run does not measure up to the others.
Logan's Run is one of my favorite shows from the mid 70's.
Obviously Universal won out over MGM TV with their series tho I always thought the MGM science fiction from the 50's - 60 - 70's was different, ideological & more enjoyable than the more mainstream format of other scifi TV series of this era, tho obviously MGM, in decline at this time, didn't have the same budgets to work with as Universal, Fox or Paramount.
This series was great, starring Gregory Harrison & the concepts original & engaging, even now for me.
The sets, costumes (other than the Sandmen's kit) & sfx are hammy, even camp, when it comes to the female kit & protagonists Logan & Jessica encounter, with glitter fabrics right out of a gay mardigras; probably from bolts of material left in the store house from the old MGM musicals era.The decaying MGM backlot is used to excellent effect in Logan's Run. There's something about TV series from the 60's 70's that apart from the nostalgia element has a aura all its own; is a similar feel with 'The Invaders from the mid 60's, another show I love.
The best episode from the most underrated television series from the 1970's, the aptly titled, "Man out of Time" entry, sings a story that can only be described as wonderfully compelling.
A man from the past drops in for a visit with Logan, Jessica and Rem. He's coy at first.
But will that also negate the births of Logan and Jessica, and the design and production of Rem?
"Logan's Run," the series, deserves a DVD release..
It's sad that it didn't have a longer run, or that it does not appear to have been re-shown at all.Donald Moffat as REM was the original android-that-looked-human.
Long before Brent Spiner and DATA came along, he was my favourite character of the show.The hover car looked suspiciously like one of those Citroen cars with the hydraulic suspension to me, With just a few bits bolted on and sprayed to look good.Like Star Trek and other "original" series, it'd probably be cringe-inducing to see it again now, but I'd still give it a watch..
I now realize it came before Star Wars, which makes it look even better to my eyes.
I recently got hold of all 14 episodes and am watching them all, one by one, and must say that I think the series is still great.
Of course it brings memories from those times in my life, but the way the stories are so naive is great.
The weak sexual tension between Logan 5 and Jessica 6 (the numbers instead of family names are also precious), the obvious reference to Mr. Spock in Rem's lines, the still great looking effects of the sandman's weapons...
While in this TV Series from 1977-78 of which it inspired It's set in the 24th Century and Logan and Jessica are in trouble with The Secret Society of Elders of whom are hidden behind the computers' voice saying "There's no Sanctuary." and Francis is offered a bonus to avoid "renewal" and sit on council with the elders via hunting down Logan and Jessica and bring them back alive and he knows the truth as well as they do in reality.In The Movie Francis is under The Impression that only Jessica changed Logan not knowing Logan was sent out on a mission In the Series Logan and Jessica don't really find love until the last episode.As you'll find out as the original series run got canceled before it was really finished with Logan willingly going back with Francis from the effect of the dart giving him temporary partial amnesia and Rem and Jessica have to go back to rescue him this is where the series' original run got canceled but with Logan,Rem,and Jessica leaving the city without it exploding like in end of The Movie and so it could go just a little bit further.Also before leaving Logan says "Sorry Francis."Then Francis responds "I bet!"and then Logan takes his weapons saying"You'll never admit it will you?"He then says "We've been through this before Sanctuary does not exist outside."he then said "No but Life does,that'll be all for now and you just stay put there until I'm gone."Later when other Sandmen come Francis Grabs one of the others' sensors to track down Logan and Jessica It was also in this episode that Jessica meet's up with her old friend who's an African-American woman who's surprised to see her again thinking that she thought she never would get to while in the movie none of these are seen.Also as I found out when I watched the reruns on TNT from 1990-91 season how there were a few more episodes including when they had a chance to eliminate Francis after Jessica pointed out how he hunted them & Logan also pointed out how Yes that's true but it was because of him that they were still alive and so that he instead chose to have him held back long enough for them to escape.As The episode of The Time Traveler from 2118 showed it's a typical plot that in someone trying to change history it only results in resulting causing it to happen in the first place.I really liked The Movie a lot and looked forward to the TV- Series but for the same reason that Science fiction is hard to carry off in a weekly series and that's one of the reasons why it got canceled it also couldn't have a happy ending like the movie did without getting canceled too soon too.Like "Planet of The Apes" and certain other TV Series'.This is more popular in reruns Please check out my Movie review for Logan's Run as well as all of my other reviews on IMDb too.Though when I guessed that there would be a Planet of the apes cartoon after the TV-Series and it came true and it was called "Return to The Planet of The Apes."But my guess then to follow that there would be a Logan's Run cartoon however didn't come true.Let's Also look forward to the movie remake of Logan's Run in the works since 2005 and as of the latest will be out in 2012.Also please check out the Novel Logan's Run as well as its 2 sequels of which are Logan's World and Logan's Search the latter in which without giving too much away Logan gets to fill in for his younger counterpart on a parallel earth.The Coauthor of the 1st novel William F.
Johnson is the other coauthor of the Novel of Logan's Run.P.P.S.If You want to look even further into the concept of Parallel Worlds?Then one way is the Sci-fi TV-show of "Sliders" of which had first premiered on The Fox Network and then upon there immediate release of letting it go it right immediately went on the Sci-Fi Network via being sold into first run syndication.As well as both Episodes of "Lois and Clark:The New Adventures of Superman and various Fox Cartoons Like "Crisis on Two Earths." and even the episode of "The World's Greatest Super Friends." entitled The Universe of Evil.Also other various TV-Shows..
It won for best special effects and is considered the film that lead the way for the Star Wars special effects.
May say mostly because that sci-fi what is produced this days is pretty much poor, mostly even not real sci-fi, rather some gore crap, some new age agenda disguised in sci-fi .I remember well movie - watched it in theater, just before joining army in 1977 :-)
Yes, they were pretty much poor, especially arm fire, those force field 'fences' - looked very cheap.It was good that it took very soon different path than movie.
What a terrible follow up to one of my favorite SF movies of all time!
It might have been good had it A)had some decent stories rather than simply making it a rip off of the Fugitive and B) had more than 10 dollars an episode for a budget.
Rather than slavishly follow the movie, it should have been a follow up to the movie, having Logan and Jessica and their people re-learn how to live in their new, unprotected world.
Logan's Run is easily the worst movie I've seen in two decades.
Back in the 1970s, almost every good movie wound up as a TV series, often with less than satisfactory results.
However, LOGAN'S RUN, like MASH, was not only better on TV, but aired by CBS as well.
Too bad CBS didn't give LOGAN'S RUN a chance to become the hit series that it deserved to be.Like the movie, our heroes managed to escape their Utopian city in pursuit of "sanctuary".
As a TV series, the potential to explore all kinds of strange civilians that evolved after the Holicaust which destroyed all civilization as we know it.My favorite episode involved Logan and Jessica having discovered the remains of an advanced civilization that had been abandoned with no evidence of violence or sickness.
It was as if everyone had simply packed up and gone away.Puzzled by this, Logan and Jessica investigate and discover some archives and a time machine.Seeing this as an opportunity to change history and prevent the holocaust from happening, Logan goes back into time to present day Washington DC, where he reads the newspapers about US/Soviet talks disintegrating and the threat of a nuclear war becoming more and more of a possibility.So Logan, in his futuristic costume, barges into the US Senate, warning them to resume talks and search for a lasting peace, or else!
The elected officials actually believe him and take his advice, thanking him for the warning and Logan is treated as a hero.Patting himself on the back for a job well done, he goes back to his time, expecting to see a better world.
She directs him to the archives and he sees himself in the news.Next, he sees that the Soviet Union demands that the US hand over its time machine.The US replies that it has no time machine.The Soviets accuse the US of lying and backs its demands with a nuclear strike.The US denies having a time machine.The Soviets react with a nuclear strike.Jessica then tells Logan, "You caused the holocaust!" The memory of this episode, after over 26 years, still gives me a chill.Too bad this series doesn't see the light as a DVD release..
Logan's Run follows in the time-honored Hollywood attempt to translate film success into a TV franchise.
Now, thanks to a surprising commercial DVD release, I had a chance to catch up on this buried treasure.The pilot replays the basic thread of the movie, using footage from the film, with new opticals for the flameouts on Carousel.
Logan joins Jessica on the run, while Francis is dispatched by a newly revealed council of elders (which seems like a hard thing to conceal).
Logan and Jessica find a living world outside their domed city and quickly discover other people.
They continue on their journey to find Sanctuary, with Francis in hot pursuit.Gregory Harrison, Heather Menzies, and Randy Powell are fine as the three central characters, though not quite in the same league as their movie counterparts.
Donald Moffat steals every scene as REM, our series Spock; which brings up a troubling point.
The series seems to mine a lot of Star Trek plots, with people split into good and evil sides, alien prisons of the mind, and fantasy made reality.
There are plot holes, like how other Sandmen join Francis on the hunt, yet no one else seems affected by what they see outside their domed city.
It's not Star Trek, but that series has its hit and miss moments, too.
I remember seeing Logan's Run the TV series as a kid and being addicted.
I've recently saw the series reran on cable here in the UK,full marks to Gregory Harrison,he is perfect as Logan,Donald Moffatt as the android Rem,is great and he steals every scene,he's in with his wit.
Heather Menzies is likable as Jessica,but the creators were clearly going for a Farrah Fawcett look,hair and lip gloss,and credibility takes a nose dive with Jessica's perfect hair and make up as she and Logan run for their lives.
The real threat of death was removed as Francis was instructed to bring Logan and Jessica back to the City of Domes alive rather than dead,Francis not as frightening as he was in the film and indeed,he doesn't appear in a large number of episodes.
fugitives Logan and Jessica flee from a supposed Utopian city in a post-holocaust future.
LOgan's Run is yet another TV effort to cash in on the science fiction book Star Wars, and to some degree Close Ecounters of the Third Kind set off in the 1977/1978 period.
I tried to see all science fiction, or fantastic genre TV series in the 1970s at least most of the time.
I don't think I have actually seen any of LR-the TV series even on VHS since it first sired, but I enjoyed what of them I can recall.
Gregory Harrison, and the lovely Heather Menzies fit the parts of Logan and Jessica well.
There was also a very short-run comic from Marvel based on the series of which I have seen a few copies, and seem easy to find for comics fans.
Both this series, and the 1976 feature film were based on the novel Logan's Run by William F.