Rotten Tomatoes
Cancel Movies Tv shows FanStore News Showtimes

Forbidden Planet

Play trailer Poster for Forbidden Planet G Released Mar 15, 1956 1h 38m Sci-Fi Play Trailer Watchlist
Watchlist Tomatometer Popcornmeter
92% Tomatometer 52 Reviews 85% Popcornmeter 10,000+ Ratings
In this sci-fi classic, a spacecraft travels to the distant planet Altair IV to discover the fate of a group of scientists sent there decades earlier. When Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) and his crew arrive, they discover only two people: Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis), who was born on the remote planet. Soon, Adams begins to uncover the mystery of what happened on Altair IV, and why Morbius and Altaira are the sole survivors.
Watch on Fandango at Home Buy Now

Where to Watch

Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet

What to Know

Critics Consensus

Shakespeare gets the deluxe space treatment in Forbidden Planet, an adaptation of The Tempest with impressive sets and seamless special effects.

Read Critics Reviews

Critics Reviews

View All (52)
TIME Magazine [A] nifty interstellar meller. Jul 26, 2011 Full Review Dave Kehr Chicago Reader An engaging 1956 science fiction gloss of Shakespeare's Tempest. Jul 26, 2011 Full Review Nell Minow Common Sense Media Classic '50s sci-fi flick is campy fun. Rated: 4/5 Dec 24, 2010 Full Review Yasser Medina Cinefilia A dull science-fiction film that, despite the special effects, mostly remains in a safe zone of predictable clichés and one-dimensional characters that never add value to its planetary adventure in CinemaScope. [Full review in Spanish] Rated: 5/10 May 7, 2025 Full Review Alan Jones Radio Times An enthralling eye-popper. Rated: 5/5 Sep 13, 2024 Full Review Pat Padua Washington City Paper What <em>Forbidden Planet</em> lacks in iambic pentameter, it makes up for in highly saturated mid-century colors and special effects that may seem primitive but give a painterly elegance to the space-age journey. Apr 17, 2024 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

View All (1000+)
Dennis R Peter From KeycheinX And His Team is AMAZING! I can confirm that the reviews are real! I was one of those unfortunate people that misplaced password and have been lock out of a wallet for almost 10 years! Must have tried over 5,000 attempts over the years just hoping. Then I found KeycheinX! The team is truly amazing and I am forever grateful that they were able to recover ALL my funds. Do not waste another second, this team is the absolute best! I wish I could give 10 stars. Telegram: + 1(415) 7'2'7-9'8'8'0 Email: KeycheinX (@ mail. com Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/24/25 Full Review John D This is an amazing film. Kids will love Robbie the Robot, and enjoy the Monster from the Id. Adults will enjoy the intelligent script and the Freudian undertones. Sci Fi fans will love the nods to golden age hard science fiction, such as Robbie following Isaac Asimov's laws of a good robot. The film had a very 50s retro futuristic look. It's all flying saucers, vacuum tubes, and relays. So it looks like a very good version of the pulp 50s sci fi films, although the story and script are light years ahead of that. It's also the first film to have a fully synthetic score (called electric tonalities in the credits due to the creators - Louis and Bebe Barron- not being signed up to the musicians' union). The soundtrack is so influential that to this day microtonal synthesizer music is often called Krell music (named after the aliens in Forbidden Planet). It's a very clever film which gives the audience's intelligence the benefit of the doubt. The atmosphere is amazing with a building dread, and a beautifully realised and ominous world. It's one if the first films to show humans reaching the stars, and to have benevolent aliens in a era where aliens were just monsters. And it does have a monster as well, one if the best too. What it does best is leaving things to your imagination. You're left with the mystery of the Krell - aliens that you never see. In that respect it's like 2001: A Space Odyssey - only the aliens a d storyin Forbidden Planet makes perfect sense, whilst it doesn't in 2001. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 06/20/25 Full Review Ken K I just rewatched it and was struck by how well the technolgy and sets stand up. In many ways they are the underlying centerpiece of the film. One can see how Star Trek literally stiole from this. As I watched the first encounter with the "id", I went back to seeing it in a theater and how powerful and frightening a scene it is. Pidgeon is quite a presence and Francis just explodes the sexuality off the screen. Where I don't give it 5 stars is how poorly the script is for the crew, the romantic relationship, and how stiff and wooden Nielson is. But still one of the most influential scifi films of all times. Years ahead of everyone else. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 06/07/25 Full Review alan g Shakepeare would not recognize this adaptation. Sci fi classic? No, but still good. Stiff acting. Good special effects for the time period. Evil robot. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 06/05/25 Full Review Tommy L This movie is a classic si-fi for the ages. The special effects are surprisingly good even when compared with current state-of-the-art capabilities. The "monsters from the Id" theme that runs through the storyline creates a solid esoteric vibe that keeps the movie tight and focused and, most of all, coherent. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 04/22/25 Full Review Fer S The special effects are fantastic for the 1950s. You can clearly see how this movie directly influenced all of science fiction that came after. It was kinda slow though, and the acting not very good. It really deserves a modern remake to fix some outdated stuff. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 03/18/25 Full Review Read all reviews
Forbidden Planet

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW
2001: A Space Odyssey 90% 89% 2001: A Space Odyssey Watchlist The Time Machine 76% 80% The Time Machine Watchlist When Worlds Collide 81% 64% When Worlds Collide Watchlist The War of the Worlds 89% 71% The War of the Worlds Watchlist TRAILER for The War of the Worlds Journey to the Center of the Earth 84% 69% Journey to the Center of the Earth Watchlist Discover more movies and TV shows. View More

Movie Info

Synopsis In this sci-fi classic, a spacecraft travels to the distant planet Altair IV to discover the fate of a group of scientists sent there decades earlier. When Commander John J. Adams (Leslie Nielsen) and his crew arrive, they discover only two people: Dr. Morbius (Walter Pidgeon) and his daughter, Altaira (Anne Francis), who was born on the remote planet. Soon, Adams begins to uncover the mystery of what happened on Altair IV, and why Morbius and Altaira are the sole survivors.
Director
Fred M. Wilcox
Producer
Nicholas Nayfack
Screenwriter
William Shakespeare, Irving Block, Cyril Hume
Distributor
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Criterion Collection
Production Co
Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Rating
G
Genre
Sci-Fi
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Mar 15, 1956, Original
Release Date (Streaming)
Aug 25, 2008
Runtime
1h 38m
Most Popular at Home Now