IMDb > Forbidden Planet (1956)
Forbidden Planet
Quicklinks
Top Links
trailers and videosfull cast and crewtriviaofficial sitesmemorable quotes
Overview
main detailscombined detailsfull cast and crewcompany creditstv schedule
Awards & Reviews
user commentsexternal reviewsnewsgroup reviewsawardsuser ratingsparents guiderecommendationsmessage board
Plot & Quotes
plot summarysynopsisplot keywordsAmazon.com summarymemorable quotes
Fun Stuff
triviagoofssoundtrack listingcrazy creditsalternate versionsmovie connectionsFAQ
Other Info
merchandising linksbox office/businessrelease datesfilming locationstechnical specslaserdisc detailsDVD detailsliterature listingsNewsDesk
Promotional
taglines trailers and videos posters photo gallery
External Links
showtimesofficial sitesmiscellaneousphotographssound clipsvideo clips

Forbidden Planet (1956) More at IMDbPro »

Photos (see all 71 | slideshow) Videos
Forbidden Planet (1956) -- A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has.

Overview

User Rating:
7.8/10   14,526 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 1% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Writers:
Cyril Hume (screenplay)
Irving Block (story) ...
more
Contact:
View company contact information for Forbidden Planet on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
15 March 1956 (USA) more
Tagline:
IT'S OUT OF THIS WORLD! (original print ad - all caps) more
Plot:
A starship crew goes to investigate the silence of a planet's colony only to find two survivors and a deadly secret that one of them has. full summary | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for Oscar. Another 1 nomination more
NewsDesk:
(43 articles)
Another Sci-Fi Remake with The Black Hole
 (From FusedFilm. 1 December 2009, 7:36 PM, PST)

News: Top Doctor Who Gifts this Christmas!
 (From Kasterborous. 1 December 2009, 2:30 AM, PST)

User Comments:
"Forbidden Knowledge" more (212 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)
Walter Pidgeon ... Dr. Edward Morbius

Anne Francis ... Altaira 'Alta' Morbius

Leslie Nielsen ... Commander J. J. Adams
Warren Stevens ... Lt. 'Doc' Ostrow M.D.
Jack Kelly ... Lt. Jerry Farman

Richard Anderson ... Chief Quinn
Earl Holliman ... Cook
Robby the Robot ... Himself
George Wallace ... Bosun

Robert Dix ... Crewman Grey (as Bob Dix)
Jimmy Thompson ... Crewman Youngerford
James Drury ... Crewman Strong
Harry Harvey Jr. ... Crewman Randall
Roger McGee ... Crewman Lindstrom
Peter Miller ... Crewman Moran
more
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Runtime:
98 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Eastmancolor) (as Eastman Color)
Aspect Ratio:
2.55 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Perspecta Sound encoding) (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Iceland:L | USA:Approved (certificate #17605) | USA:G (re-rating) (1972) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Nova Scotia/Ontario) | Sweden:15 | Australia:PG | Finland:K-12 | UK:U | Argentina:Atp | West Germany:12

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Apart from the electronic tonalities composed by Louis Barron and Bebe Barron, the music score known to many as "Forbidden Planet Fanfare - Parts 1 & 2" on the original 1956 theatrical trailer was composed by André Previn, and pieced together seamlessly by an MGM music editor. The music was originally written by Previn for the MGM films Scene of the Crime (1949) and Bad Day at Black Rock (1955). more
Goofs:
Factual errors: The robot shows up carrying lead shielding, which he says is "isotope 217", and he implies it is lighter than ordinary lead. The purported isotope lead-217 does not exist, and if it did, it would be 4% heavier than the most common (and heaviest) isotope of lead (number 208), not lighter. more
Quotes:
Robby: Quiet please. I am analyzing. more
Movie Connections:
Spoofed in The Chubbchubbs! (2002) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
60 out of 72 people found the following comment useful.
"Forbidden Knowledge", 24 August 1999
10/10
Author: Chris Christopher (rasif@inlink.com) from St. Louis, MO USA

I first saw this movie when it originally came out. I was about 9 yrs. old and found this movie both highly entertaining and very frightening and unlike any other movie I had seen up until that time.

BASIC PLOT: An expedition is sent out from Earth to the fourth planet of Altair, a great mainsequence star in constellation Aquilae to find out what happened to a colony of settlers which landed twenty years before and had not been heard from since.

THEME: An inferior civilization (namely ours) comes into contact with the remains of a greatly advanced alien civilization, the Krell-200,000 years removed. The "seed" of destruction from one civilization is being passed on to another, unknowingly at first. The theme of this movie is very much Good vs. Evil.

I first saw this movie with my brother when it came out originally. I was just a boy and the tiger scenes really did scare me as did the battle scenes with the unseen Creature-force. I was also amazed at just how real things looked in the movie.

What really captures my attention as an adult though is the truth of the movie "forbidden knowledge" and how relevant this will be when we do (if ever) come into contact with an advanced (alien) civilization far more developed than we ourselves are presently. Advanced technology and responsibility seem go hand in hand. We must do the work for ourselves to acquire the knowledge along with the wisdom of how to use advanced technology. This is, in my opinion, the great moral of the movie.

I learned in graduate school that "knowledge is power" is at best, in fact, not correct! Knowledge is "potential" power depending upon how it is applied (... if it is applied at all.) [It's not what you know, but how you use what you know!]

The overall impact of this movie may well be realized sometime in Mankind's own future. That is knowledge in and of itself is not enough, we must, MUST have the wisdom that knowledge depends on to truly control our own destiny OR we will end up like the Krell in the movie-just winked-out.

Many thanks to those who responded to earlier versions of this article with comments and corrections, they are all very much appreciated!! I hope you are as entertained by this story as much as I have been over the past 40+ years ....

Rating: 10 out 10 stars

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (212 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Forbidden Planet (1956)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
the only change I would of made... (spoilers) jleslie48
looking for decent pics of the matte paintings jleslie48
Robby the Robot vs. Wall-E heystoopid74
Star wars comes from Forbidden Planet daftoizo
Commander Adam's leadership behavior pathfinder616
My sequel to original 1956 Forbidden Planet larryman
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
2001: A Space Odyssey Superman Alien³ Star Trek: The Motion Picture Star Wars
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
News articles IMDb Romance section IMDb USA section
Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.