A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilizat... Read allA starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.A starship crew in the 23rd century goes to investigate the silence of a distant planet's colony, only to find just two survivors, a powerful robot, and the deadly secret of a lost civilization.
- Nominated for 1 Oscar
- 2 wins & 3 nominations total
George D. Wallace
- Bosun
- (as George Wallace)
Robert Dix
- Crewman Grey
- (as Bob Dix)
Robby the Robot
- Robby the Robot
- (as Robby The Robot)
James Best
- Crewman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe famous poster for the film shows a menacing robot carrying a struggling pretty girl - a staple of monster movie posters from the 1950's. In fact, no such scene occurs in the film itself and the robot portrayed in the poster is the very likeable Robby the Robot.
- GoofsWhen Doc describes their C-57D star ship's weapon capacity as 3 billion electron volts, that value is actually quite minuscule, something less than the energy expended by a flying mosquito.
For example, a weapon like a 20 kiloton nuclear detonation would be on the order of 10 to the 32 exponent electron volts.
- Quotes
Commander Adams: Nice climate you have here. High oxygen content.
Robby the Robot: I seldom use it myself, sir. It promotes rust.
- Alternate versionsWhe Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer reissued this film as part of a kiddie-matinée package, the scene where Jerry Farman cons the socially naive Altaira into kissing him was excised.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Twilight Zone: The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street (1960)
Featured review
At a time when science fiction movies were invariably cheap rubber monsters attacking our cities and scaring our women, "Forbidden Planet" offered an usually thought-provoking plot that worked on a number of levels. Today, too many sci-fi movies are nothing but computer-generated special effects extravaganzas masking the lack of thoughtful plot and characterization. "Forbidden Planet" had awesome special effects for their time (many of which still hold up well today)--but these were used to effectively support the multifaceted plot and characterizations, not try to compensate for their lack.
The Shakespearean ("The Tempest") and Freudian ("Id-monster") elements have been noted by many critics. In the 1950's, with the atomic and hydrogen bombs so new and terrifying, other sci-fi movies had asked whether man had the wisdom to use all the new science for good rather than evil. But they usually dealt with that solely on a surface level, by just having some monster created with the new science that comes out and kills a bunch of people. Only "Forbidden Planet" dared to actually delve into the depths of human psychology to see what our baser instincts are capable of when given full rein. It directly refuted the notion that all that new science and technology was somehow civilizing humanity. The Krell, a far more advanced race than we, are never seen on screen (only their artifacts are shown, leaving you to imagine what they looked like). But their disappearance is a warning that even a far more advanced race like they, couldn't escape the baser instincts and subconscious drives deep within their own brains--so what of man?
One subplot that is less often discussed, but equally well thought out, is the scenes with Altaira and the tiger, an allusion to the myth of the virgin and the unicorn. Until Altaira meets the male crew of the C-57-D, she is virginal and the tiger is a tame beast in her presence. After she has her romantic interludes with Farman and the captain, the tiger attacks her. (Being the 1950's, the dialogue only subtly suggests what has happened.)
For "Star Trek" fans, it's worth seeing "Forbidden Planet" just to list all the parallels between "Forbidden Planet" and "Star Trek: The Original Series". The basic theme (a "United Planets" spaceship explores a strange new world), the characters and characterizations, the weapons, and even the special effects all seem to have unconsciously inspired Gene Roddenberry to create his own vision.
The Shakespearean ("The Tempest") and Freudian ("Id-monster") elements have been noted by many critics. In the 1950's, with the atomic and hydrogen bombs so new and terrifying, other sci-fi movies had asked whether man had the wisdom to use all the new science for good rather than evil. But they usually dealt with that solely on a surface level, by just having some monster created with the new science that comes out and kills a bunch of people. Only "Forbidden Planet" dared to actually delve into the depths of human psychology to see what our baser instincts are capable of when given full rein. It directly refuted the notion that all that new science and technology was somehow civilizing humanity. The Krell, a far more advanced race than we, are never seen on screen (only their artifacts are shown, leaving you to imagine what they looked like). But their disappearance is a warning that even a far more advanced race like they, couldn't escape the baser instincts and subconscious drives deep within their own brains--so what of man?
One subplot that is less often discussed, but equally well thought out, is the scenes with Altaira and the tiger, an allusion to the myth of the virgin and the unicorn. Until Altaira meets the male crew of the C-57-D, she is virginal and the tiger is a tame beast in her presence. After she has her romantic interludes with Farman and the captain, the tiger attacks her. (Being the 1950's, the dialogue only subtly suggests what has happened.)
For "Star Trek" fans, it's worth seeing "Forbidden Planet" just to list all the parallels between "Forbidden Planet" and "Star Trek: The Original Series". The basic theme (a "United Planets" spaceship explores a strange new world), the characters and characterizations, the weapons, and even the special effects all seem to have unconsciously inspired Gene Roddenberry to create his own vision.
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- El planeta desconocido
- Filming locations
- Production company
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $1,900,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 38 minutes
- Aspect ratio
- 2.55 : 1
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