On March 3 and 4, 1956, at a humble science fiction convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, called SECon II (Southeastern Science Fiction Convention), roughly 30 people got an early screening of what one hardcore enthusiast, at the time, called “the first real s-f film, as fans know science fiction.” That film was Forbidden Planet, a pivotal film in the history of science fiction, and the moment that the type of SF previously found in print began making its way into the mainstream. The reviewer who called it “the first real s-f” film was Robert A. Madle, writing a brief convention report for the fanzine Fantasy Times. He also noted that the people in the audience (again, very small, made of hardcore fans) were “sitting on the edge of their seats,” and “comments following the showing were enthusiastic.”
Today, this might seem like an understatement, considering the degree to which Forbidden Planet changed pop culture, or at least pioneered a certain kind of mainstream space-oriented science fiction which would dominate mainstream TV and film sci-fi for decades to come. (For what it’s worth, they didn’t call it sci-fi back then, by the way, hence s-f.) The question now is, for being as formative as it was, if you showed Forbidden Planet to a small audience of hardcore sci-fi fans now and they’d never seen it before, what would they think? The answer is probably this: Forbidden Planet is a beautiful film, way ahead of its time visually and sonically, that now feels slow, poorly paced, and full of concepts that the 1960s Star Trek did much better, and with more joy. In short, in 2026, 70 years after its release, Forbidden Planet isn’t greater than the sum of its robot parts, but some of its parts are not only great, but now woven into the basic fabric of science fiction in general. Mild spoilers ahead.
