80
Metascore
15 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 100The New York TimesBosley CrowtherThe New York TimesBosley CrowtherIf you've got an ounce of taste for crazy humor, you'll have a barrel of fun.
- 91The A.V. ClubKeith PhippsThe A.V. ClubKeith PhippsHere was outer space as only the lavish production values of MGM could imagine it, a journey to an alien landscape painted in bold Eastmancolor and stretched across a CinemaScope frame.
- It’s quintessential ’50s male chauvinism, and Nielsen plays it with a man’s-gotta-do-what-a-man’s-gotta-do stiffness.
- 80EmpireAdam SmithEmpireAdam SmithThe film's amazing strengths easily outweigh the odd outbreak of hammery.
- 80Time OutGeoff AndrewTime OutGeoff AndrewAn ingenious script, excellent special effects and photography, and superior acting (with the exception of Francis), make it an endearing winner.
- A superb sci-fi flick, FORBIDDEN PLANET offers an unusually intelligent script, exciting direction by Wilcox and generally good acting from a decent if rather dull cast.
- 75Film ThreatFilm ThreatWhile it may not dig incredibly deep, Forbidden Planet was a cut above the schlocky fare that dominated the theatrical sci-fi circuit of the 1950s, and I dare say it provides more meat to chew on than many of today’s bloated, effects-heavy “event films.”
- 60The New YorkerPauline KaelThe New YorkerPauline KaelIt's a pity the film, directed by Fred Wilcox, didn't lift some of Shakespeare's dialogue: it's hard to believe you're in the heavens when the diction of the hero (Leslie Nielsen) and his spaceshipmates flattens you down to Kansas.