Running a bit late with this discussion, but here we go.
When "The Island" (starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou, directed by Michael Bay) lit up the screens in 2005, it reminded many of us of a much older movie which also spawned a TV series.
The previous movie was "Logan's Run" and was released in 1976 directed by Michael Anderson and starred a very young Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Farrah Fawcett and Peter Ustinov. The TV series came out the following year for a short (13 episode) season starring Gregory Harrison in what was possibly his first leading role in a TV series and he has continued to have a regular presence on tv since then.
There also appears to be some possibility of a remake movie of "Logan's Run" scheduled for 2010.
"The Island" and "Logan's Run" have a lot of aspects in common, yet some key points that differ to give us (fortunately) a slightly different story.
For those who do not know it, "Logan's Run" (the movie) is worth tracking down. While it would now suffer in comparison on production values, the story was challenging in its time and remains an important landmark in SF movie-making.
In "Logan's Run" (and going mostly from memory - so if I miss something please speak up), a major diaster sent most of the world's inhabitants underground in order to survive. However, in order to keep the human race going but to maintain a populaton restrained by resources, everyone was expected to submit to euthenasia once they turned 30 years of age. The surface is out-of-bounds and only a few dissidents know that "life" has returned and is sustainable above ground. At first Logan (of the title) is staunchly against the renegades but his attitude changes when he is marked for death on his 30th birthday. The rest of the movie is one of those running films where he makes contact with the people on the surface and makes a mad dash from the settlement to the possibility of continuing his life in the uncertain world above ground.
In "The Island" the inhabitants are separated into two groups - those that know about the rest of the world and what the establishment is really doing and those that don't and are kept in child-like ignorance. We eventually learn that the "products" are clones that have been grown for wealthy clients as organ replacements or surrogate mothers. The "products", however, have been given the story that the world above was destroyed in some holocaust and that they are survivers although they have no memory of it. They are looked after and kept at peak health by the other workers. They have been told of an island that is only small but untouched by the holocaust and they are given a chance to move to the island and live in luxury by way of a lottery. By a series of coincidents and superior intelligence, one of these "products" discovers that their lives are a lie and the island a sham. He tries to escape and the rest of the movie is about him running from the facility with all the military force at the disposal of the business in hot pursuit.
Some aspects of the stories overlap, others appear quite divergent - so what do you think? The same? Different? Similar but not quite? Are both of equal value? Is one dependant on/derivative of the other?
When "The Island" (starring Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean and Djimon Hounsou, directed by Michael Bay) lit up the screens in 2005, it reminded many of us of a much older movie which also spawned a TV series.
The previous movie was "Logan's Run" and was released in 1976 directed by Michael Anderson and starred a very young Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Farrah Fawcett and Peter Ustinov. The TV series came out the following year for a short (13 episode) season starring Gregory Harrison in what was possibly his first leading role in a TV series and he has continued to have a regular presence on tv since then.
There also appears to be some possibility of a remake movie of "Logan's Run" scheduled for 2010.
"The Island" and "Logan's Run" have a lot of aspects in common, yet some key points that differ to give us (fortunately) a slightly different story.
For those who do not know it, "Logan's Run" (the movie) is worth tracking down. While it would now suffer in comparison on production values, the story was challenging in its time and remains an important landmark in SF movie-making.
In "Logan's Run" (and going mostly from memory - so if I miss something please speak up), a major diaster sent most of the world's inhabitants underground in order to survive. However, in order to keep the human race going but to maintain a populaton restrained by resources, everyone was expected to submit to euthenasia once they turned 30 years of age. The surface is out-of-bounds and only a few dissidents know that "life" has returned and is sustainable above ground. At first Logan (of the title) is staunchly against the renegades but his attitude changes when he is marked for death on his 30th birthday. The rest of the movie is one of those running films where he makes contact with the people on the surface and makes a mad dash from the settlement to the possibility of continuing his life in the uncertain world above ground.
In "The Island" the inhabitants are separated into two groups - those that know about the rest of the world and what the establishment is really doing and those that don't and are kept in child-like ignorance. We eventually learn that the "products" are clones that have been grown for wealthy clients as organ replacements or surrogate mothers. The "products", however, have been given the story that the world above was destroyed in some holocaust and that they are survivers although they have no memory of it. They are looked after and kept at peak health by the other workers. They have been told of an island that is only small but untouched by the holocaust and they are given a chance to move to the island and live in luxury by way of a lottery. By a series of coincidents and superior intelligence, one of these "products" discovers that their lives are a lie and the island a sham. He tries to escape and the rest of the movie is about him running from the facility with all the military force at the disposal of the business in hot pursuit.
Some aspects of the stories overlap, others appear quite divergent - so what do you think? The same? Different? Similar but not quite? Are both of equal value? Is one dependant on/derivative of the other?
