Logan's Run

Differences between the novel and film

The film is reasonably faithful to the novel in its first half, with some specific differences. The movie is set in a post-apocalyptic scenario in which the final remnants of humanity live in a domed city sealed off from the outside. Thus the population control policy is designed to prevent overpopulation of the dome. In the novel there has been no worldwide apocalyptic war, but some cities from the past (such as Washington D.C.) have been ruined in a smaller war. Most cities are massive, global, and thriving, which makes the forced euthanasia premise much more cynical. The novel does not contain the Carousel nor the concept of life renewal. Also, in the movie, Logan is assigned by the city's computer to go undercover as a Runner to find Sanctuary and destroy it. In the book, Logan decides to undertake this quest himself on his own Lastday, so that he will be remembered as a hero. For most of the book, therefore, Logan is a much darker character, an antihero, with his character arc being his growing sympathy towards Runners and ultimate desire to reach, not destroy, Sanctuary.

Related Topics:
Post-apocalyptic - Domed city - Washington D.C. - Antihero

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the movie, Logan finds an ankh pendant on the body of a Runner he has killed, which is a key to Sanctuary. In the novel he finds a card that allows him to contact an underground network of Runners, through which he meets Jessica. Logan's character in the movie is amoral but also naive by comparison to other Sandmen. His character arc is more that of an innocent who is being corrupted by the system.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the novel, Logan and Jessica travel all over the globe. The character of Box, a psychotic cyborg whom the pair encounter, is much changed in the film. In the novel, Logan and Jessica find themselves trapped in an Arctic prison colony, and are told that Box, the colony's most violent and insane inmate, is their only key to escape.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

In the movie, Box is a malfunctioning food-processing cyborg located in a passage that lies along the Runners' escape route from the domed city. He seems to be a piece of technology pre-dating the collapse of outside civilization, whose job was once to freeze food delivered to the city (as he says, "Sea greens and protein from the sea. Fresh as harvest day!"), but now freezes Runners because the original food deliveries stopped coming and they started coming instead. This may be an allusion to the 1973 film, Soylent Green. Because of Box, in the film Logan concludes no Runner has ever really escaped and that Sanctuary is a myth.

Related Topics:
1973 - Soylent Green

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The film's second half is even more markedly changed from the novel, as described in the next passage.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Also, the film's life clocks have a slightly different system:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• White: Birth to 8 years.
• Yellow: 8 to 16 years.
• Green: 16 to 24 years.
• Red: 24 to shortly before Lastday (30).
• Blinking Red/Black: Lastday.
• Black: End of Lastday