I Finally Watched... LOGAN'S RUN (1976)

Muse from the Orb ^ | May 24, 2026 | Orb_Muse

[Angelino97]

Logan’s Run was the last great sci-fi movie of the the “tinsel/synthesizer” era — camp, fun, brightly-lit movies where production design communicated THE FUTURE with shiny interiors, rainbow colors, boop-zoop sounds, and (in the case of Zardoz and Barbarella) sets that were sometimes literally just tinsel.

In the Hollywood imagination from 1968-1977, it was expected that the third millennium would look like The Cher Show, or that Peter Brook production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream but with even more multicolored robes, wires, and tubes that made cool space sounds.

Logan’s Run is a capstone for this era, a fantastic high note on which the tinsel age would unwittingly end. No movie has done mirrors, neon, or that “extremely shiny airport” type of futurism better — every woman gets her own Sabrina Carpenter wardrobe, and you shuttle from environ to environ in little bubble domes like it’s Epcot.

Farrah Fawcett’s cameo as a medspa beautician is spot-on — her signature smile, flirtatious and innocent but weirdly sinister in its perfection, makes her the perfect symbol for this youth-obsessed world where an entire population’s energy is channeled into consumption and frivolity...

Logan’s Run had the cruel blessing of premiering one year before Star Wars. Cruel because the VFX of Star Wars singlehandedly “aged Logan’s Run a century overnight.” But in obscurer ways a blessing, because the arrival of Star Wars froze Logan’s Run like amber, dooming and preserving it at the same time.

The two represent a sharp divide in aesthetics and sensibilities — mirrors and lights vs. “used future,” middling social commentary vs. distant galaxy adventure, schlock New Age aesthetics (ankhs!) vs. deeper Campbellian mysticism.

Star Wars and Logan’s Run are enshined together as contrasts — one era of sci-fi on its last legs, another just beginning.

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TOPICS: TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: euthanasia; expirationdate; logansrun; movies; scifi; thx1138

[Tanniker Smith]

FYI: Logan’s Run is a case where the book is different from the movie, and the result is NOT a bad thing. I enjoyed the book, too, but it was different.

The biggest difference is that in the book, no one lives past 21. The movie ran with the idea of “Never trust anyone over 30” taken to an extreme. (This also helped with the casting — they were able to cast adults. Actually, not a lot of child movie actors at the time.)

As a result, some of the math in the movie is a little off.

[packrat35]

We still might get there.

[DFG]

Dallas filming locations for Robocop include Reunion Tower, Dallas Public Library, Plaza of the America’s.

[Tell It Right]

Sadly, if they remade Logan’s Run, the younger generation would cheer, “That’s right! Get rid of the boomers!!”

[jerod]

Jenny Agutter was one of the hottest actresses available at that time... And she's still pretty hot for her age.

[Resolute Conservative]

Farah was also in Saturn 3 with Kirk Douglas another sci-fi flick.

[alternatives?]

I remember the short gratuities short term change into animal skins where it was bare not barely.

[Publius]

I was friends with the producer’s daughter. She was an amazing writer. but she took her life after a spinal injury left her in permanent debilitating pain.

[Pocketdoor]

I enjoyed it a lot. I had no idea it came out in 78. I thought it was made in the 60s

[Tijeras_Slim]

Jenny made quite the impression on my high school self.

[frank ballenger]

A film critic wrote practically word for word what I was already thinking. Jenny Agutter went through dirt, getting soaking wet and being chased on foot for hours but somehow still looked great. Her hair was tousled but that’s it.

[dfwgator]

Notice no black people were in it.

“White folks ain’t planning for us to be here!” - Richard Pryor

[fwdude]

There’s another obscure cultural cult-classic with this theme from the 60’s that I like: Gas-s-s-s. It’s a film from 1968 where the accidental release an experimental agent kills everyone over 25, leaving the world in the hand of adolescents, with the chaos that implies. It’s the epitome of hippy culture and flower power, but asks some interesting questions. Filmed largely in Dallas, so it was in my backyard.

Fun film.

[dfwgator]

I wonder if that was the prequel for ....

[Publius]

“Wild in the Streets” is similar.

[Jeff Chandler]

That’s the scene I remember most.

[frank ballenger]

Images...

Thank you for posting photos that place the acting talent within the context of cinematography and the sociological implications of the film.

I think she was underrated in those days.

[fwdude]

Yes, I bought “Wild in the Streets” on DVD decades ago and Gas-s-s-s came as a flip side bonus. I’d never heard of it before but was amused by it.

Cindy Williams has a very early role in Gas-s-s-s.

[itsahoot]

In the movie, you die at 30. In the book, you die at 21. The book emphasizes that the society originated in the youth culture of the 1960s. There was a StarTrek episode with that same theme.

[ifinnegan]

Sure, we all saw it.

It’s not that good.