Forbidden Planet (Blu-ray)

Starship C57D travels to planet Altair 4 in search of the crew of spaceship “Bellerophon,” a scientific expedition that has been missing for 20 years, only to find themselves unwelcome by the expedition’s lone survivor and warned of destruction by an invisible force if they don’t turn back immediately.

— Letterboxd

Look, it’s a stone classic. Originally released in 1956, it features two really remarkable things 1) Robbie the Robot, and 2) Leslie Neilson in a serious role.

The film is obviously heavily influenced by the two emerging science fiction trends of the 1950s, a) adventure television shows like Space Patrol, b) anthology horror programs like Tales of Tomorrow, One Step Beyond, and The Twilight Zone (yes, it predates two of those shows, but the vibes are there, and Tales of Tomorrow was absolutely the blueprint for all three.) The film is beautifully shot in vibrant, lavish color. The acting is surprisingly good for a 1950s science fiction film. The plot is mostly coherent, the characters are pretty misogynistic, and none of what I’m writing here really matters because this film has already taken its place in the Canon.

If you’ve never seen it, you’ve still seen hundreds of things that reference it. Forbidden Planet is part of the language of cinema, and therefore the language of our culture. It’s worth seeing for that, if nothing else.