If the computer knew it was starting to "die".... maybe it selected Logan to do this mission under false pretenses... subterfuge... I know it sounds crazy, but in the end, it was going to "die" anyway and everyone would be trapped in the domed city... this way, they are all free, and all because Logan was "The one"...
Perhaps the computer knew how
"We're gonna need a bigger boat"....
There was a definite pre-programmed response to the Ankh. Perhaps the fish problem was factored in, along with the rising members of the Ankh. Who knows? A lot of the motivations were obfuscated either deliberately to increase mystery/tension or just bad screenwriting. The ending was not great and I got the feeling the writers just ran out of ideas. Just because the movie is old, doesn't make it better.
The atmosphere and story were very good though.
The idea that the Computer evolved a plan involving its own destruction, to deliberately force the City's inhabitants to The Outside, has been discussed before. However, as this is not part of the original novel, it is assumed that it played no part in the development of the film screenplay. It makes a lot of sense, though, and appears to be paralleled in other science fiction of the period.
shareI never had the feeling the computer programed its own destruction. I thought the opposite. Over the years the computer noticed that people were disappearing. It investigated and learned of sanctuary and the symbol of life as a recognition sign. It saw sanctuary as a threat-both internal and external. It wanted sanctuary destroyed to eliminate the threat.
Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain (Isaac Asimov)
This is the way the film is traditionally interpreted, and this is one of the reasons it is not thought especially well of by film critics and reviewers. For what it's worth, the idea of sentient robots with a highly-developed sense of duty and self-preservation was explored in another film project around the same time period. It did rather better than 'Logan's Run'.
shareLogan's run is highly underrated and a classic in my opinion ! Peter Ustinov and his cats are wonderful !
share". . . and appears to be paralleled in other science fiction of the period."The idea of a Utopian society collapsing from its own machinery quitting goes back to a short story by E.M. Forster called "The Machine Stops", first published in 1909. If there is an earlier story, I've not yet found it -- and I've been reading classic science-fiction since the 1950s.
Observations are relative to the observer.
— Albert Einstein
We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are.
— Anaïs Nin
I recall seeing this movie in the 70s when it was released. I though that there was panel of old guys running the show and the carousel program. I always thought that it was ironic that there really old guys were sending the 30 year olds to die. There was a brief scene around the time of the second carousel showing this panel of guys. Was this edited from later versions?
shareNo. The old guys are in the TV series. There is no ruling Cabal other then the Computer Program.
shareHe didn't say there was one, he said he thought there was one.
When Logan returned with answers completely contrary to the Computer's "logical" conclusions, it broke down trying to re-evaluate it's premises and assumptions.
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"The time has come," the Walrus said,
"To talk of many things,"
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"... a panel of old guys ... sending the young ones to die."
Isn't that called "Congress"?