This film was exhibit in the Sitges Fantastic Festival 1972. Geraldine Chaplin was awarded as Best Actress for her play. The commentaries published in SF magazines of their time were enthusiastic. Unfortunately, the film was almost non-exhibit in Barcelona (one week in one theater of double program, and in 1974 in Madrid in the same conditions). Now, there is a DVD edition in Spain, but only in dubbed, not with original voices. This is a film very representative of its time, early '70. The same year when this movie was presented, another SF films ere "Solaris", "A Clockword orange" and "Silent Running": another kind of fantastic or SF films, very different of the SF and fantastic films of today (or even 10 years later...). 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. At least, the DVD edition shows clearly that the couple arrives to an inland that is a radioactive cemetery, a bitter end for their history. Could be that some versions of the film omitted this end? Certainly, it is not a enjoying movie: it is very sad, very dark. The best scene is, perhaps, when Carole (Geraldine Chaplin) is going to have a baby in the cellar: a very good scene. Z.P.G. is a rarity of its time. It is also another conception of SF movies, now forgotten and missing.
27 Reviews
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.
planktonrules2 August 2011
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. Disease has been virtually eliminated and the resulting population boom has made the planet unsustainable. Most animal life has been destroyed and the air is semi-toxic. 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? Well, the director did a particularly lousy job. The film completely lacked life and emotion--and it felt as if almost everyone was half asleep during the film. 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"! And this completely sterile and muted look of the film can only be blamed on the director--especially since the film had some very talented actors (in addition to the leads, Don Gordon was quite capable). I would really love to see this film remade--as the film should have been a clear winner.
The film is set sometime in the future--and apparently in the near future. Disease has been virtually eliminated and the resulting population boom has made the planet unsustainable. Most animal life has been destroyed and the air is semi-toxic. 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? Well, the director did a particularly lousy job. The film completely lacked life and emotion--and it felt as if almost everyone was half asleep during the film. 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"! And this completely sterile and muted look of the film can only be blamed on the director--especially since the film had some very talented actors (in addition to the leads, Don Gordon was quite capable). I would really love to see this film remade--as the film should have been a clear winner.
A very prescient movie.
Deusvolt11 November 2005
Warning: Spoilers
In the not too distant future, overpopulation with its resultant pollution has made most of the earth unfit for habitation. A portion of humanity has retreated into a hermetically sealed city. By edict couples are prohibited from having children. Exempt are those born Before Edict and the initials B.E. are invisibly engraved on those children's foreheads visible only under a special light wielded by law enforcers.
Deprivation of maternity has driven many women to psychosis. There is a scene where women scream at another woman with a young child "Baby! Baby!" and the authorities move in. 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. He was of course being monitored by a "Big Sister" computer of the authorities. How he got to the sections about maternity and delivery is interesting. He first surfed through sections about some obscure aspect of monastic art,Premonstratensian art. From there he managed to navigate to pregnancy and delivery. The computer, however, sensed that he drifted into the taboo topic of childbirth. Reed's chair clamped onto him sending volts of electricity into his body. He pretended to be disgusted at the videos he saw of childbirth and alleged that he was about to report and protest the presence of such "filth" in the library. His acting here was notable as he seemed to be really in pain with his face oily and perspiring.
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. The tone, texture and general treatment of this film is both amusing and unsettling at the same time. 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. Compulsory mass abortion was (is?) practiced in China in the '80s. There too was the testimony of a Chinese lady doctor who escaped to the West that babies who were delivered live illegally (more than two children for the couple) were murdered by injecting poisons into the fontanel. Later China amended the two-child decree to only one. During Indira Gandhi's regime in India, Rajiv (her son who later on became PM himself), regularly went on patrol gathering young men and having them forcibly sterilized. And of course, women who went to public health clinics for any reason were summarily sterilized once it was determined that they already had children. 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. I like the older George Pal production because of its lush texture and the beautiful actors (Yvette Mimieux and Rod Taylor). The Lost Horizon also has two versions one made in 1937 and the other in 1973. The newer version is the better one with Peter Finch and Liv Ullman although the parts with George Kennedy (singing at that) and Sally Kellerman made it somewhat corny.
Deprivation of maternity has driven many women to psychosis. There is a scene where women scream at another woman with a young child "Baby! Baby!" and the authorities move in. 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. He was of course being monitored by a "Big Sister" computer of the authorities. How he got to the sections about maternity and delivery is interesting. He first surfed through sections about some obscure aspect of monastic art,Premonstratensian art. From there he managed to navigate to pregnancy and delivery. The computer, however, sensed that he drifted into the taboo topic of childbirth. Reed's chair clamped onto him sending volts of electricity into his body. He pretended to be disgusted at the videos he saw of childbirth and alleged that he was about to report and protest the presence of such "filth" in the library. His acting here was notable as he seemed to be really in pain with his face oily and perspiring.
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. The tone, texture and general treatment of this film is both amusing and unsettling at the same time. 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. Compulsory mass abortion was (is?) practiced in China in the '80s. There too was the testimony of a Chinese lady doctor who escaped to the West that babies who were delivered live illegally (more than two children for the couple) were murdered by injecting poisons into the fontanel. Later China amended the two-child decree to only one. During Indira Gandhi's regime in India, Rajiv (her son who later on became PM himself), regularly went on patrol gathering young men and having them forcibly sterilized. And of course, women who went to public health clinics for any reason were summarily sterilized once it was determined that they already had children. 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. I like the older George Pal production because of its lush texture and the beautiful actors (Yvette Mimieux and Rod Taylor). The Lost Horizon also has two versions one made in 1937 and the other in 1973. The newer version is the better one with Peter Finch and Liv Ullman although the parts with George Kennedy (singing at that) and Sally Kellerman made it somewhat corny.
Logan's Run: The Early Years
SanDiego23 July 2000
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. Since LR was made after ZPG I suppose one should say LR plays like a sequel to ZPG. 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. Both films deal with escaping the restrictions of a society so messed up it restricts life itself. 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. Just a thought.
Solid premise, so so result.
Hey_Sweden13 June 2012
In the future, overpopulation has become such an issue that those in authority take some pretty drastic steps. Any couple that refuses to get with the program and stop having kids will be punished with public execution. Instead, people have to make do with dolls that prove to be highly inadequate replacement for flesh & blood children. Russ and Carol McNeil (Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin) decide to defy the law and do their best to raise a child in secret. Of course, it's only a matter of time before they're found out. 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. This gives this modest, reasonably entertaining production a certain degree of atmosphere. However, the film is never quite as involving as one would like. It's a little too slow and a little too static. 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. With a bit more style and energy, this really could have been something special. 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.
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. This gives this modest, reasonably entertaining production a certain degree of atmosphere. However, the film is never quite as involving as one would like. It's a little too slow and a little too static. 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. With a bit more style and energy, this really could have been something special. 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.
I had 8 beers before I watched this and I suggest you do too
mickeyshamrock19 January 2010
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.
Holes Everywhere
DetectiveBurst6 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
I wanted to like this film, but there were so many gross leaps of logic that I just kind of gave up. At the end we see our two lead characters wander into a radiation zone where a bunch of nuclear missiles are buried. Okay, fair enough. So, we are led to believe there was a nuclear war, right? Well, how do you wind up with a population problem -after- a nuclear war? In addition, most of the plants and animals on the planet are extinct, right? Again, if so many of the plants and animals are gone, what is this huge population eating? It doesn't make any damn sense. At least "Soylent Green" explained what people ate. Finally, there's pollution everywhere. 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? Hello? This script didn't give any explanation to a lot of things. It just expected you to come along, regardless if it made any sense.
Good British dystopian film
chribren18 October 2013
"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. And they must keep it secret from getting discovered.
This film is a good dystopian film having been made in the UK. The film's scenario itself is somewhat grim and disturbing. 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. My overall rating has to be 7/10.
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. And they must keep it secret from getting discovered.
This film is a good dystopian film having been made in the UK. The film's scenario itself is somewhat grim and disturbing. 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. My overall rating has to be 7/10.
Never asks any questions
dimestore1212 January 2020
Dystopian population control film with no finesse, just limping across a film's run-time on only 40 minutes of gas. One of the more disappointing things I found in this film is that it really asks no questions. The world government has declared a goal of zero population growth because all the animals and most of the plants are extinct. They claim they can no longer support the human population with the remaining resources. Is that true? No one questions this, that maybe leadership is hoarding those resources for themselves and living large, everyone just agrees that the population is too large and more births would lead to starvation. If so - why do we care about the protagonists and their decision to have a child? In fact, why bring a child into a joyless smog-filled concrete nightmare after you've effectively killed the planet and all other life on it? They don't have an answer, and they had plenty of time to focus on it, making it seem like the decision to "have" a baby was just an act of selfish amusement (and everyone wants in on that amusement).
Dystopia with Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin
JasparLamarCrabb26 May 2013
Warning: Spoilers
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. As expected, that proves to be a bad idea. Best friends Don Gordon & Diane Cilento blackmail them into "sharing" the child. 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. Their desperation and utter sadness is palpable. Unfortunately, the movie is directed with little finesse by Michael Campus. Additonally, this sci-fi thriller suffers from very poor art direction and very dark cinematography...there are times when it's nearly impossible to tell what's going on. Not exactly a dud, but no classic either.
One of the best movies made in 70's.
ystava7814 March 2003
When I bought this film from a secondhand videoshop I was amazed by the quality of this movie. The use of cameras, music and plot were wery artistic. Twisted utopia genre is allways interesting (like Zardoz), and this movie is no exeption. This movie is a must see 70's scifi gem.
Z.P.G
RaulFerreiraZem25 July 2019
I had no joy whatsoever watching this one.
The concept is ok, that is it,nothing more than that and still it is a little bit too close to Neo-Malthusianism; Moving along the film is ugly, it does not convince as a futuristic setting at all as it lacks in depth and detail; The streets are so foggy you cant see anything at all and the film barely even tries to convince you that this is a local characteristic not just a way to disguise how poorly designed this futuristic city really is. Even the museum is awful, there is a scene where a mother says she has been waiting in line for the museum for 4 years, how come one can stay in a museum line for 4 years and not have to work or anything like that, isn't the film supposed to be a dystopia of sorts? Which brings me to my next biggest complain, how can a world with that much trouble with overpopulation not also have a even bigger trouble with poverty and crime??? the film only shows us one or two instances of people denouncing each other for "extra ration tickets" but other than that we see nothing. No crime, no slums and not even homeless people.
I could go all day and still i wouldn't be finished describing how poorly written this was and that is not the only issue this one has either, no, far from it. The dialogues are shallow, there isn't one single slightly interesting character and the movie ending leaves a whole lot to be explained. Not good at all
Zero Plot Growth!
uds330 May 2002
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.
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.
Awful Awful Awful
MatthewBrooklyn21 July 2005
I wrote the plot description for this on IMDb a million years ago. I tried to demonstrate how horrible this movie was with my tongue firmly implanted in my cheek, while giving an accurate description, and not making it a review. Some comments compared ZPG to Logan's Run???? Logan's Run is brilliant and a frightening "what if" scenario for the human race. How about comparing it to 2001: A Space Oddyssy or even Citizen Kane while you are at it? And Soylent Green, though not brilliant, SG is a far better movie than this one, and a more plausible future. This movie should have been featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000--only on that show would it have been worth watching. Avoid this film like the plague!
Z.P.G.
CinemaSerf28 May 2023
Our planet is over-populated so the government introduces a strict no offspring policy. We must all make do with robot babies - anyone caught trying to have a real child gets shot! "Russ" (Oliver Reed) and "Carol" (Geraldine Chaplin) are determined to have a child, though, and the feature follows their escapades as they try to conceive and to keep their baby and themselves from the pervasive eyes and ears of the State. The concept is quite original, and it obviously spawned quite a few sequels (not least "Logan's Run" in 1976), but the execution and production really do let this down. Diane Cilento was a stunning woman to look at, but here, as was frequently the case, her acting - especially about something quite so visceral - lacks emotion or passion, indeed a robot baby might just have suited her character quite well. There's a decent amount of jeopardy as they try to escape with their bairn, and the socio-political criticism of a society that has lost any semblance of free will is writ large, but the whole thing is listless and, frankly, Reed is not the least convincing either. Pity - had potential, just undelivered.
Quite, the worst film ever
Midnight Mark24 November 2000
It ranks with "The Blob" as to be so bad you have to watch it to make sure someone really made a film this bad. A senseless less plot. with dubious acting from all involved. 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
Mark
Zpg
hirstwilliam10 September 2006
Whenever I go shopping with my baby son, I hear o's and r's quite a lot. I even have people coming up and talking to me because of my baby son. I can see why. Babies are cute, adorable and most importantly, a symbol of hope. 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. Food is synthetic, and so are the robotic children. 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. Despite this, many still decide to have children. One such couple are the Mcneils (Geraldine Chaplin and the late and great Oliver Reed). But their friends, the Bordens find out and want the baby for themselves and threaten to grass on the Mcneils if they don't let them have their baby. 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). The environmental movement was in full swing with the fears that human race was destroying the planet. 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. In zpg, technology had made life 'confortable'? But the populace was constantly starving because of eating only synthetic food. This very much reflected the belief that more and more things would become 'fake'. It was during this era that plastic furniture came into the home. 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 police turn up to arrest and execute the family. A women brags about spotting the baby and alerting the police. Proud of killing a baby. The awful thing is that this actually happens in China. 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.
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. Food is synthetic, and so are the robotic children. 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. Despite this, many still decide to have children. One such couple are the Mcneils (Geraldine Chaplin and the late and great Oliver Reed). But their friends, the Bordens find out and want the baby for themselves and threaten to grass on the Mcneils if they don't let them have their baby. 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). The environmental movement was in full swing with the fears that human race was destroying the planet. 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. In zpg, technology had made life 'confortable'? But the populace was constantly starving because of eating only synthetic food. This very much reflected the belief that more and more things would become 'fake'. It was during this era that plastic furniture came into the home. 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 police turn up to arrest and execute the family. A women brags about spotting the baby and alerting the police. Proud of killing a baby. The awful thing is that this actually happens in China. 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.
When natural becomes unnatural.
mark.waltz24 February 2024
Warning: Spoilers
The sudden presidential edict that women are no longer allowed to reproduce turns the world upside down for wannabe mothers, and for happily married Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin, the desire to have a baby of their own is destroyed. But nature is more powerful than laws, and with the threat of execution for breaking the law, Chaplin's ecstatic yet frightened when she learns she's pregnant. Their friends Don Gordon and Diane Cilento are initially thrilled and protective, but obsessing over the child for Cilento turns out tragically.
I found this very unique but depressing and even morbid. However, the biggest issue for me was an irritating element of weird majorly annoying sound which certainly added to the dark nature of the mood but threatened my hearing with the painful tones. It's certainly something to talk about, the threat of over population, and with the passive/aggressive voice of a sweet sounding woman wagging her metaphorical finger over issues that it causes, I doubt that I'll ever unhear her when I think about this film.
I found this very unique but depressing and even morbid. However, the biggest issue for me was an irritating element of weird majorly annoying sound which certainly added to the dark nature of the mood but threatened my hearing with the painful tones. It's certainly something to talk about, the threat of over population, and with the passive/aggressive voice of a sweet sounding woman wagging her metaphorical finger over issues that it causes, I doubt that I'll ever unhear her when I think about this film.
Jaw-dropping Sci Fi
Coventry6 July 2009
Films with a premise like "Z.P.G." are the most disturbing ones imaginable. This is the sort of science fiction concept that one day could actually become reality! Probably is a much less drastic format and fascist execution, but nevertheless the rudimentary principle of law-obtruded birth control is alarmingly plausible. 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. This incentive is launched to put a stop to the destroying of the earth by overpopulation. The last legally born children are branded with a laser and all aspiring families are welcome to apply for a fully personalized child dummy. With removal from society as the harsh punishment for illegal pregnancy, the birth rate immediately drops back to Z(ero) P(opulation) G(rowth). However, museum actress Carol McNeil's biggest wish is to bear and raise a child. When she pursuits her will, her husband Russ – the almighty Oliver Reed – is forced to entrench his belly-developing wife in a hideout shelter and think up excuses for her continuous absence on the surface. 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. This is the type of absorbing Sci-Fi that gradually becomes more disturbing if you contemplate about it too much. 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. People are stiff, emotionless and robot-like beings and unconditional friendship or even interaction between families doesn't seem to exist anymore. The purely fictional elements of the plot vary from pretty damn scary (the mechanical replacement kids) to silly & clichéd (live newscast reporting from a gigantic zeppelin floating over the Metropolis) but they always remain compelling. The most fantastic trump of "Z.P.G." is that the plot never stops evolving. Once the baby is born, other and even more challenging issues arise, like rivalry and all-overpowering sentiments of mother instinct. This movie is an incredibly absorbing Sci-Fi magnum opus that had my mate and I glued to the screen from start to finish. The atmosphere and despair and paranoia is so real you can almost taste it, the decors and set pieces (albeit occasionally cheap looking) are imaginative and the screenplay is so intelligently written that it covers every tiniest potential plot hole or possible default. Oliver Reed once more demonstrates what an incredibly versatile actor he was. His stern and masculine appearance truly adapts to all sorts of roles; even to a melodramatic one. "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".
A bleak and artful take
cartercasteel1 February 2020
I personally don't understand the amount of negative reviews for this movie, as I personally enjoyed it a lot. I was waiting for it to slow to a halt, essentially, as that's what I had read in several reviews. However, I actually found myself totally engaged all the way through.
People compare it to Logan's Run, which is fair, but that may be the reason they don't like it: while Logan's Run is a thrilling Sci Fi-adventure escape from a dangerous future, Z.P.G. is a marital drama set against a world which highlights how evil people can be. "What are you gonna do? It's a nasty world" (or something along those lines"
In that context, this movie moves exactly at the pace you'd expect, focusing on the subtle relationship between Reed and Chaplin, and the difficulties they face.
People compare it to Logan's Run, which is fair, but that may be the reason they don't like it: while Logan's Run is a thrilling Sci Fi-adventure escape from a dangerous future, Z.P.G. is a marital drama set against a world which highlights how evil people can be. "What are you gonna do? It's a nasty world" (or something along those lines"
In that context, this movie moves exactly at the pace you'd expect, focusing on the subtle relationship between Reed and Chaplin, and the difficulties they face.
Dystopian parable
snopes-881-428448 January 2020
Warning: Spoilers
As a literal narrative, it would be pretty silly. You do not achieve ZPG with zero children. Instead, this movie is in the parable-like dystopian sub-genre of SF.
In a crowded, polluted, urbanized, and globalized world, people--more particularly white people--are harangued by propaganda from the world government, backed up here by force, not to have babies. But, despite the techno-substitutes they are given, a metaphor of the prosperity, careers, consumer goods, entertainment, pets, etc., given to modern women, their natural desire to have babies still makes them unhappy, indeed psychotic. You know, SJWs who screech at transgressors.
The hyper-artificial character of modern esp. urban life is represented by the fact the protagonists live in a museum. The audience is suprised to discover that what it thought was real life (within the movie) is actually an exhibit. Or is it? Reality blurs with the staged, a premonition of life abstracted through social media.
The escape at the end indicates, as I took it, that the controllers were lying, there are other possibilities. (Or is it darker and hopeless? I am not sure.) At any rate, the unknown, unseen territory to which the protagonists flee represents the Natural World. This kind of dichotomy between the modern techno-bureaucratically managed, industrialized megalopolis and the Natural is the heritage, I suppose, of Brave New World. Back to the Land is not an actual political solution, but rather an image of what is suppressed in the modern psyche, a buried world the couple re-discover via their subterranean journey.
Midnight Mark can go soak his head!
johnmorghen25 November 2002
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. And, anyone who may think otherwise can join a previous reviewer and soak their head.
Thank you. -NM.
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. And, anyone who may think otherwise can join a previous reviewer and soak their head.
Thank you. -NM.
a great future
mlink-36-981511 August 2018
I think this is a great attempt at future life. They got the part about synthetic food right but as we now know it causes obesity. all the people in zpg are thin.
now just about 90% are overweight and 60% dangerously so.
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. meran and vicious.
I liked the ending and found it to be rather interesting.
ldsaldivar6420 April 2002
Okay, it is kind of depressing. However, it is an interesting viewpoint of the future. I rather liked the ending and wish that there had been more of the movie. I want to know what happens next. If it comes on sci-fi, give it a chance. I actually purchased the vhs version.
The future without children, a terrible reality
andreirostov7129 November 2013
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.
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.
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