The Day The Earth Stood Still is another classic one from that time period.

Forbidden Planet is a masterpiece and probably one of the most important sci-fi movies ever made. This Arrow 4K is stunning! Next time you watch, watch it with the perspecta stereo as it was made for the film’s original release. The mono soundtrack was made for all the theaters that weren’t set up for the 3-channel format. Nice to see younger people appreciating the classics.

Based on Shakespeare's The Tempest.  Also one of the major influences on Gene Roddenberry to make Star Trek

Famously Stanley Kubrick watched this movie prior to making 2001:A Space Odyssey. It was shown to him by Arthur C. Clarke (amongst a whole bunch of other sci-fi flicks made up to that point). Kubrick has stated in interviews it was the only sci-fi which actually impressed him. And it still stands up to this day. It's a masterpiece.

The score was unique for the time.  It was all electronic before synthesizers.  The sounds were all created manually using oscillators and magnetic tape with extensive editing.  The sounds are both the background score and the sound effects.

My big brother took me to see this back in '59 at the Saturday matinee. I spent most of the 2nd half under my seat. Big brother thought this was hilarious, and took me to another matinee weeks later. I spent the entire movie under my seat: "War of the Worlds". He still laughs.

I used to love watching old Twilight Zone episodes and spotting old Forbidden Planet props and models that they'd dragged out of storage

It's probably my most watched movie of all time, it most of blown the minds of cinema goers in 1956.

This movie is not going only the gold standard for 50's scifi, but it inspired Gene Roddenberry to create STAR TREK ‼️‼️‼️‼️

True sci-fi is more about the human experience than alien monsters.   This 1956 classic should be in every sci-fi fan’s “must watch” list.

In my mind, what made this film so important wasn’t just the financial investment in a sci-fi genre film (as you noted, the genre was typically dismissed as low-budget trash), or the relatively ground breaking effects, but it was the base cleverness of the story and the derived script. It must have been a seriously tasty pitch that got the studios to buy into a rehash of Shakespeare’s play “The Tempest” adapted to an otherworldly sci-fi setting.

All too often, we see Shakespeare plays thrust into a modern setting, but without a considerate adaptation of the script. Personally … this jars. People do not talk in 16th/17th century prose in the modern world … if they’re setting the story in the modern world, the script should be equally adapted and the storyline likewise. What they did for Forbidden Planet was exactly right … the adaptation works very well and results in an intelligent script that rises above the superficial tat of the genre at that time. With the exception of The Day The Earth Stood Still, I can’t readily think of any other intelligent film of this genre until Kubrick’s 2001.

I’ll be interested to see in the comments if I’m going to find myself reminded of other equally important pre-1968 sci-fi films under the same banner! 😢 … (frantic panic over date of first Planet of the Apes film … )

And to think I discovered this film by accident. Back in 1990, I turned on the TV in the hotel I was staying at just for noise while dressing. I got hooked watching it but had to leave. Swore I would finish it somehow somewhere. Found it on DVD and it became one of my favorites. Still enjoy it now. Still can't believe I had never seen it before then.

You can tell it's Leslie Nielsen just by the voice.

Forbidden planet is a masterpiece for its time

Saw this as a kid, on my grandmother's black and white television. during a visit (1960s).  That was my first viewing and I was hooked.  I've now watched it 4 or 5 times and I get something new out of it every time.  A very good movie.

My first visit to this channel. It's interesting to hear a younger person encounter an old movie -- and an old science fiction movie at that -- and appreciate it so much. Forbidden Planet is one of the top 10 best science fiction movies of all time, produced by the Tiffany of studios back in Hollywood's Golden Age, MGM. They didn't skimp on things. Walter Pigeon (Morbius) was a well-regarded actor, and a good get for a film like this at this time, lending his gravitas to the character and film. The animation of the Monster from the Id was outsourced to Disney, who knew a thing or two about doing cartoons. I am looking forward to seeing this 4K release.

50s/60s sci-fi is essential to own for any decent genre film collector’s collection.

Little known fact. It was the first instance of the use of “it’s Morbin time” in a movie.

My copy is supposed to arrive on Tuesday, I'm pretty hyped for it!

I saw this in 1956 at a Loews theater on a huge Cinemascope screen and stereo sound. The ID monster scared the heck out of me. I was 11 years old at the time.