It's stunning to me that Logan's Run and Star Wars were made within one year of each other. Both are science fiction films that showed audiences something they had never seen before, but Star Wars hasn't aged a day, while not one frame or sound effect of Logan's Run doesn't look horribly dated. The score, composed primarily of electronic beeps, is grating, and the sets and costumes look like a cartoon.

While "dated" is not necessarily something one should hold against a movie -- it is not a bad thing, after all, that a work of art be a product of its times -- the datedness of Logan's Run unmasks its other failures. It fails, for example, at establishing convincing characters with convincing dialogue. The film hinges on the central character's change of heart, but it's not clear when this happens or why. There's a good thirty minutes in the middle, in fact, when we have no idea if he has changed sides or is merely pretending to have done so. Perhaps the filmmaker's did not know this either, because some of his actions argue one way, while other actions argue the other. As for the dialogue, it could scarcely induce more groans if it tried.

The best asset of the movie is Peter Ustinov, who shows up late in the film but not too late to salvage some entertainment value. His performance is the only good one in the film, and his character is a delight.