During the 60s and early 70s, as author Bruce Schulman states “Frustration and alienation pushed Americans toward the counter-culture”. Social unrest and distaste over the Vietnam War drew people toward the escapism that became typical of the era. The film Logan’s Run, placed in its own historical context can be used as a lens to further understand the underlying sentiment of the era in which it was made.

Logan’s Run takes the viewer to place at a “post-catastrophic” time where all of humanity resides inside a domed city, sealed off from the outside natural world. A mother computer runs society and all of life’s duties are taken care of by ‘servo-mechanisms’. Humanity lives only for pleasure. There are no families or relationships in this world as babies are artificially created in ‘breeders’. Sex partners are interchangeable and hedonism rules.

Life ends at the age of 30 years old where individuals are led to an arena called Carousel where they believe they are to be “reborn”, but instead they are incinerated. Individuals whom choose to escape their fate are called Runners, who are then hunted down and killed by a police force called the Sandmen. Logan-5, a Sandman, reaching the end of his 30-year existence persuades Jessica-6, a rebel, to help him escape.

Logan’s Run released in 1976, shows the viewer the changing American sentiment toward of the escapism of the era by contrasting the unreliability and the negative aspects of drug use, free love and “dropping out” with the more conservative values of the family unit, individualism and freedom.

The film depicts this scenario to the extreme, this society being typified with orgy rooms, narcotic gasses and drinking. Upon viewing this image one might recall similar images of the infamous nightclub, Studio 54, known for promiscuous sexual encounters and rampant drug use that opened its doors the same year Logan’s Run was released.


Upon Logan and Jessica’s eventual escape, they see the sun for the very first time. Logan exclaims “We’re free!” realizing that they are finally beyond the watchful eye of the collectivist society from which they escaped. They come upon the ruins of Washington D.C. where they find the statue of Abraham Lincoln, whom perhaps coincidentally freed the slaves in 1863. The general feeling of freedom and depictions of nature are exemplified by the scene change from enclosed sterile-mechanical environment to an expansive sun-filled view of the outside world. The characters joyfully dive into lakes and hike into the wilderness in search of “Sanctuary”. There are no drugs here and they must provide food, water and shelter for themselves. There is fear of the unknown and yet and overwhelming sense of optimism and possibility in the natural world.


Outside of the city, the natural order is quickly restored. The couple almost immediately adopts a heterosexual, monogamous family structure. They meet an old man who had been born in the outside, who explains to them about “living together forever”. Jessica explains to Logan that she likes the idea of “people staying together for this feeling of love”. They call each other the names from the gravestones they’ve seen, “Beloved Husband” and “Beloved Wife”.


The film effectively portrays the sentiment of the time period in which it was made by its’ contrast of the technological, machine-controlled, collectivist society of the future with the natural world. In the natural world the characters are free to make moral choices, have family and embrace individuality. This creates a positive association within the viewer of the conservative values the film totes. The film in effect becomes a memorable social commentary of its time.

Works Cited:
http://imbd.com
Logan’s Run. Michael Anderson. (Michael York, Jenny Agutter) 1976. DVD
Ryan, D, & Kellner, M (1988). Camera Politica.Indiana University Press