Logan's Run
| Early edition cover | |
| Author | William F. Nolan & George Clayton Johnson |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Dial Press |
Publication date | 1967 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 133 |
| ISBN | NA Parameter error in {{ISBNT}}: invalid character |
Logan's Run is a novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson. Published in 1967, it depicts a dystopian future society in which population and the consumption of resources is managed and maintained in equilibrium by the simple expediency of demanding the death of everyone upon reaching a particular age, thus neatly and inhumanely avoiding the issue of overpopulation which was of growing concern at the time. The story follows the actions of Logan, a Deep Sleep Operative or "Sandman" charged with enforcing the rule, as he "runs" from society's lethal demand.
The introduction to the book states:
- "The seeds of the Little War were planted in a restless summer during the mid-1960s, with sit-ins and student demonstrations as youth tested its strength. By the early 1970s over 75 percent of the people living on Earth were under 21 years of age. The population continued to climb — and with it the youth percentage.
- In the 1980s the figure was 79.7 percent.
- In the 1990s, 82.4 percent.
- In the year 2000 — critical mass."
Plot Summary
| Crystal color | Age |
|---|---|
| Yellow | Birth to 7 years |
| Blue | 7 to 14 years |
| Red | 14 years to Lastday (21 years) |
| Blinking red/black |
21 (Lastday) |
| Black | End of Lastday (death) |
In the world of 2116, a person's maximum age is strictly legislated: twenty-one years, to the day. When people reach this Lastday they report to a Sleepshop in which they are willingly executed. A person's age is revealed by their palm flower — a crystal embedded in the palm of their right hand that changes color every seven years, then turns black on Lastday.
Runners are those who refuse to report to a Sleepshop and attempt to avoid their fate by escaping to Sanctuary. Logan 3 is a Deep Sleep Operative (or Sandman) whose job is to terminate Runners using a special weapon called the Gun, an unusual revolver which can fire a number of different projectiles, including a compact net. On his own Lastday he becomes a Runner himself in an attempt to infiltrate an apparent underground railroad for runners seeking Sanctuary — a place where they can live freely in defiance of society's dictates. For most of the book, therefore, Logan is an antihero; however, his character develops a growing sympathy towards Runners and in the end he himself is truly a Runner.
Jessica 6, a contact Logan made after he chased her Runner brother Doyle 10 into Cathedral where he was killed by the vicious preteen "Cubs," helps him, despite her initial distrust of him. Francis, another Sandman and a friend of Logan, catches up with Logan and Jessica after they have managed to make it to the final staging area before Sanctuary. He reveals that he is actually the legendary Ballard, who has been helping arrange their escape. The 42-year-old Ballard is working from within the system; he believes that the computer that controls the city, buried beneath Crazy Horse Mountain, is beginning to malfunction, and that the society will die with it.
Sanctuary turns out to be an abandoned space colony near Mars. Logan and Jessica escape to the colony on a rocket that departs from a former space program launch site in Florida. Ballard remains to help others escape.
Literary significance & criticism
- SF Reviews.Net - T. M. Wagner link
Style
Logan's Run is fast-paced, but dark, and was considered quite graphic for its time. The novel has a wide variety of characters including a libidinous cyborg and an army of deadly androids recreating the American Civil War.
Both the novel and the film detail a future society that is very permissive where sex and recreational drugs are concerned. Tobacco, however, is a banned substance, and police are known to raid places where cigarettes are smoked.
The 2000 AD comic strip Judge Dredd, created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, may have been influenced by Logan's Run, notably Judge Dredd's gun, which like Logan's can use several kinds of ammunition (including homing rounds), and the availability of instant plastic surgery which is exploited by fugitives.
A novel by Louis Carbonneau (1970) called Barrier World has a similar storyline, where a closed society is sustained by systematic elimination of defective people, which included old age. The age was 30 instead of 21.
Sequels and spinoffs
Nolan wrote two sequels, Logan's World and Logan's Search, published after the film's release. There is also a novelette, Logan's Return, that has been published as an e-book.
Logan's World deals with events following Logan's returning to Earth, amidst the survivors and ruins of the system he escaped in the first novel, while Logan's Search deals with Logan going to an alternate reality (with the assistance of some alien friends) to once again stop the government system he escaped in the first novel, albeit with some minor changes.
George Clayton Johnson has also been working, off and on, on a sequel to the novel, reported at various times to be entitled either LastDay or Jessica's Run. [1]
Film, TV, and theatrical adaptations
Film
The novel was adapted in 1976 as a film, directed by Michael Anderson and starring Michael York as Logan 5 (not 3), Jenny Agutter as Jessica, and Richard Jordan as Francis. The film only uses the basic premise from the novel (everyone must die at a specific age, Logan runs with Jessica as his companion while being chased by Francis). The motivations of the characters are quite different in the film. The world is postapocalyptic, the age of death is 30, and Logan is a 26 year old Sandman, sent by the computer to find Sanctuary and report back. The computer alters his palm flower to show him as a Lastday, and he becomes a runner. Sanctuary turns out not to exist, and only one old man lives in the largely intact ruins of Washington DC nearby. Logan kills Francis, in the movie simply a Sandman, not a rebel leader, and leads the man back to just outside the domed city, returns to try to lead a revolt against the culling. No one believes or listens to him or Jessica, and instead he is captured by sandmen. In his debriefing, his honest information that there is no Sanctuary causes a does not compute collapse in the computer, and the self-destruction of the colony. The ending implies that the old man will lead the young throngs in the rebuilding and reinstitution of the world.
Remake
In the mid-1990s, Warner Bros. Pictures began development of a remake of the novel.[1] In April 2000, director Skip Woods entered negotiations with the studio and producer Joel Silver to write and direct the remake.[2] The director planned to make it closer to the novel than the original film, restoring previously-removed elements including Crazy Horse Mountain and sky gypsies.[1]
In March 2004, director Bryan Singer was attached to develop and direct Logan's Run. Singer had begun working with production designer Gy Dyas from his previous film X2: X-Men United. Screenwriters Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco were hired to pen the script with the director, with the film being slated for a 2005 release.[3] In October, the director said he had begun previsualization of Logan's Run, which would be completed by the time he finished production of his project at the time, Superman Returns.[4] The following December, screenwriter Dan Harris said that he and the director had turned in a first draft for Logan's Run. Harris said that further development of the project would take place in Sydney after production for Superman Returns, for which he also collaborated, was finalized. The screenwriter said that the remake would contain more action than the original film, describing the premise to be "a remake of the concept of the movie plus the book".[5]
In February 2005, screenwriter Chris McQuarrie was hired to rewrite the script, with filming slated to take place in Australia.[6] In February 2006, Logan's Run was slated to begin production in fall of 2006 in Vancouver.[7] The following May, Singer's availability to direct Logan's Run was questioned due to scheduling conflicts with filming the sequel to Superman Returns.[8] By May, Singer confirmed that he would not direct Logan's Run, seeking a vacation from the scheduled demands of his job.[9]
In August 2006, production offices for Logan's Run were taken over by the production for the 2008 film Speed Racer.[10] In April 2007, producer Joel Silver reiterated his plan to remake the original film.[11] The following July, Silver said that since Singer's departure, no new director had come aboard the project.[12]
TV
A television series spun off from the film, starring Gregory Harrison as Logan 5 and Heather Menzies as Jessica 6, lasted one season of 14 episodes from September 16 1977 through January 7 1978 on U.S. television (CBS-TV). D.C. Fontana served as story editor, and employed several other writers from Star Trek as well as the original novel's authors. The series was produced by Ivan Goff.
To save money, the series depicted Logan and Jessica — still pursued by Francis (Randolph Powell) — on a cross-country trek to Sanctuary in a post-apocalyptic America. The domed city was seen only in the pilot and two other episodes, using recycled footage from the film. In a change from the book and film, the television series had the city run by a cabal of elderly citizens. Logan and Jessica were joined by an android, "REM", played for comic relief by Donald Moffat. Most of the plots were conventional genre clichés, including one "Logan-has-amnesia" episode.
Episode List with air dates
Logan's Run (Pilot 90 minute Episode) 9/16/77
The Collectors 9/23/77
Capture 9/30/77
The Innocent 10/10/77
Man Out of Time 10/17/77
Half Life 10/31/77
Crypt 11/7/77
Fear Factor 11/14/77
Judas Goat 12/19/77
Futurepast 1/2/78
Carousel 1/16/78
Night Visitors 1/23/78
Turnabout 1/30/78
Stargate 2/6/78
Others
 | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (June 2007) |
- A comic strip version of the story, written by Angus P. Allan, was printed in the TV comic Look-In. Marvel Comics also published a short-lived comic book series, which adapted the movie's story, and continued it shortly before it was cancelled at issue #7. Malibu Comics would later publish a Logan's Run mini-series and a Logan's World mini, adapting the books.
- Emperor Norton Records published Logan's Sanctuary, the soundtrack to an imaginary Logan's Run sequel, written and performed by Roger Manning Jr. and Brian Reitzell.
- City of Domes, an alternative reality game (ARG), was created by the web development group at VirtuQuest.com. The game was a recreation of the Logan's Run city, some 30 years after Logan 5's adventures.[2]
- Depicted as Brian's dream in Family Guy episode "Brian in Love", Brian is shown as a Runner escaping elimination on his Last Day (hence the red blinking gem on palm). As he is cornered by Sandmen, he notices Snoopy standing off to the side and comments "What about him, he's got to be in his 50s!"
- A parody on The Simpsons features an MTV VJ being dragged offscreen and replaced by a younger one when her palm flower starts blinking.
- The stop motion animation show Robot Chicken features a sketch set in a refrigerator, where the palm crystal on a carton of milk begins to blink red.
References
- ^ a b Michael McCarty (August 2000). "Logan's Run creator William F. Nolan invites readers into his dark universe". Sci Fi Channel. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
- ^ "Woods To Direct Logan's Run". Sci Fi Wire. 2000-04-19. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Michael Fleming (2004-03-04). "Warners on the 'Run'". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Capone (2004-10-12). "Capone interviews Bryan Singer - Talk of SUPERMAN, X3, LOGAN'S RUN & Fox's TV show HOUSE... & Hugh Laurie talks too!!!". Ain't It Cool News. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Jeff Otto (2004-12-02). "Dan Harris Talks Superman". IGN. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Silver Updates V, Logan, Reaping". Sci Fi Channel. 2005-02-28. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Pamela McClintock (2006-02-22). "Warner's men in tights". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Pamela McClintock (2006-05-15). "Inside Move: 'Superman' playing with Singer's sked". Variety. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help); Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Paul Fischer (2006-06-16). "Interview: Bryan Singer for "Superman Returns"". Dark Horizons. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Wachowski's Speed Racer Awaits Green Light". ComingSoon.net. 2006-08-06. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "'Matrix' producer plans remake of sci-fi classic". Yahoo! News. 2007-04-03. Retrieved 2007-04-15.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Cindy White (2007-07-19). "Silver: No Helmer For Logan Yet". Sci Fi Wire. Retrieved 2007-07-19.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help)
See also
External links
- Logan's Run at TV.com
- Chronology Central's Logan's Run page - contains a chronological listing of all Logan's Run related fiction.
- The World of Logan's Run The World of Logan's Run
- City of Domes Alternative Reality Game by virtuquest.com
- Universe of Logan's Run French Website (in English) on Logan's Run Universe.
- Logans Run Action Figures at the Megomuseum, exploring the aborted line of toys planned by Mego Corporation