1956. NASA did not exist; it would be another two years before the US government got serious about launching men into space. The transistor had just been invented but hadn't even made it into radios yet; all the world's electronics used vacuum tubes. Grad students earned their way through the University of Illinois by dashing about the computer lab in Urbana, Illinois with shopping carts full of vacuum tubes, trying to keep the monstrous Illiac computers running long enough to get through just one program. Color movies were still something that deserved special mention. "Science Fiction" films mean B movies about giant bugs. Designers in Detroit were toying with tail fins on cars. Airline flights were for rich people, and then only on propeller-driven aircraft. Robots were an idea from science fiction; automation meant strange mechanical contraptions with ball-and-plane integrators. Women's skirts ended below the knee.

Also in 1956, MGM decided to make an A-list movie with unprecedented cinematography with a strong, cerebral theme more befitting the best of SF literature of the time; and this is it. "Forbidden Planet" is the grandfather of all serious science fiction movies. It broke the ground for all the serious SF films to come, inspiring budding film makers around the globe. Without it, it's likely that we never would have seen Star Trek, Star Wars, ET, Close Encounters, or any of the other space-themed tales that we have enjoyed over the past 60 years.

Amazingly, there's very little about "Forbidden Planet" that seems dated, even today. This Blu-Ray release makes it available for a whole new generation of SF fans to enjoy! The cook is pretty corny; every Hollywood movie had some sort of comic-relief character in those days. The interior of the space ship is rather roomy and devoid of the scratches, dust, and wear we'd seen in a well-done set today.

This version comes packaged with some incredible bonus material, including the oddly named movie, "The Invisible Boy," which is kind of a sequel to "Forbidden Planet." The setting for "The Invisible Boy" is about 300 years before C57D space cruiser landed on Altair 4, but they get Robby the Robot into the story with a bit of off-screen time-travel hand-waving. It's really a story about a scary computer that wants to take over the world and how Robby saves the day. There's a boy who does turn invisible, but the film would have been much better without the boy in it at all.

The disc also includes an episode of "The Thin Man" where Robby once again steals every scene he's in, along with some great commentaries on "Forbidden Planet" featuring several of today's leading film directors. Wonderful stuff; nicely packaged.

“FORBIDDEN PLANET” was the first movie to insightfully elevate the sci-fi cinema sub-genre to an intelligent and respectable degree and place in our American culture. A strong undercurrent of psychological motifs was always prevalent among the humanoid gods of Greek and Roman mythology, and later in renaissance literature and Shakespearean plays. Nevertheless, the movie “Forbidden Planet” remains the first sci-fi film to recognize and acknowledge the reality of the subconscious human mind as mankind's true antagonist; and to examine subtle internal forces rather than external threats from giant lizards or little green men.

Aside from its romantic subplot, this innovative movie inspired many technical and conceptual aspects of the future Star Trek series, and paved the path for other sci-fi motion pictures. One of this movie’s most beloved stars, Robbie the robot, was the prototype or forerunner, and arguably the inspiration for the future robotic creations in the Star Wars series and other movies and TV shows. Thanks to “Forbidden Planet’s” brilliantly eerie electronic sound track, this award-winning movie continues to cast its other-worldly spell as majestically as it did in 1956 when it first opened in theaters to stunned and delighted audiences.

Equally awesome are this film's incisively compelling screenplay, flawless performances, dynamic directing, editing, and groundbreaking animation sequences (especially the “Id” creature and the Krell civilization’s breathtaking immense structural marvels). This blu-ray edition of “Forbidden Planet” certainly deserves a prominent reserved seat in your collection of vintage sci-fi classic movies. (Trivia: Robbie's distinctive voice belonged to the distinguished actor and announcer Marvin Miller. And the talented man inside Robbie was Frankie Darro).

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I was pleased to find this in a BluRay format. It is a very good print. Being a fan of Star Trek, I have an appreciation for this movie which many consider to be Star Trek's prototype. It was one of the first science fiction movies of the 1950's to take itself seriously. While most science fiction of that era was about invading monsters, be they giant "monoliths" or space cucumbers, "Forbidden Planet" suggested that a future could exist where we went out to explore the universe in peace and perhaps the biggest "monster" was locked up inside of us.

Before "Star Wars,"( even George Lucas said so) this was the perfect science fiction film and, alongside the original, "The Day The Earth Stood Still," stand as the great, respected sci-fi films of pre, "Star Wars," times. The writing is wonderful, intriguing and cleaver. While there is plenty of action the best part of the movie is that much of it is allowed to happen in the imagination. The characters are well-drawn, though I suspect that most people will love Robbie The Robot most. We forget that Leslie Nielsen was once a handsome, masculine leading man and he is at his best here. Even then, he was a wonderful actor. Thank God he never took his image so seriously that he couldn't grow past it to become one of the most talented, self-deprecating comical actors we were graced with.Walter Pigeon was most proud of his work on this film. No one else could have given Dr. Morbius the regal, intelligent character he deserved. The sets and color have been well taken care of and you will never forget what you make, in your imagination, of the Krell civilization. Don't miss the YouTube, 50th anniversary, cast reunion special, hosted by George Takei.