Forbidden Planet (1956) directed by Fred M. Wilcox

 

(my interpretion of elements of the film)

 Inspired by Shakespeare's "The Tempest", Forbidden Planet is film with a list of firsts in Science Fiction  cinema. It was the first science fiction film to depict humans traveling in a man-made faster-than-light starship.It was also the first to be set entirely on a planet orbiting another star, far away from Earth and the solar system. Robby the Robot character was more than just a dumb machine that walked and has a distinct personality. The film was groundbreaking as the first of any genre to use an entirely electronic score. The film was nominated for special effects and for good reason, they are really over and above other films at the time. The design of the saucer shaper spaceship is iconic and stands out to this day. 

The story centres around a crew from Earth sent to discover the fate of an expedition on the Planet Altair which was lost 20 years previous. After arriving in orbit, they warned off by Morbius telling them their safety cannot be guaranteed if they land and he has no need of them. They do land as per their orders and discover every one of the expedition except for Morbius and his daughter, who has never seen other humans, are all that is left. 

Spoilers:

It turns out the previous crew were all killed by a mysterious force when they tried to leave the planet and for reasons unknown Mobius and his daughter were spared. They feel immune to the attacks but also do not think the threat has gone away by any means. The residence they live in is on top of the entrance to what was a super advanced civilization that all died out thousands of year ago overnight. Morbius has been trying to understand how and why and learning how their tech works. His daughter seems happy enough but even he realizes she must return to earth at some point to have a normal development. 

The visiting ship is attacked and people start dying from an unseen force which turns out to be an invisible monsters which is briefly seen as it breaks though the force field around the ship as it kills several more crewman. 

The daughter decides to leave with the earthmen and the monster now seems to be after her as well. In a really great twist, it turns out the machines that Morbius has been using to boost his intelligence has tied him into the very system that doomed the origin race, the Krell. It was supposed to let them make their thoughts become real with no need of physically making things but their "Id", the subconscious mind, hid horrors and violence that an advanced race could suppress but not rid itself of. The monster was produced by Morbius himself to avoid leaving the planet and to keep his daughter in his control. When he realizes that he is at fault he he tries to unsuccessfully disown the monster of his Id but is killed in the process, but not before he has the ship captain set off a series of explosion that will destroy the planet and keep this technology away from mankind before they too disappear. 

If you have never seen Leslie Nielsen as anything other than Frank Drebin from the Baker Gun films and series this is a great film to expose you to his career as a handsome young leading man in serious films. Robby the Robot has been in so many movies and films you might not know this is where he was first seen and his design and character are fantastically realized. Ann Francis is an odd character, both naive and very aware and in control of herself and not a screamer in search of a man to save her, though she of course falls in love with the captain and they head back to Earth as a couple. 

As recent as November 15th of 2024 there was word of script for a remake but I am not sold there needs to be one, this holds up on its own!