Z.P.G.

Our planet is over-populated so the government introduces a strict no offspring policy. We must all make do with robot babies - anyone caught trying to have a real child gets shot! "Russ" (Oliver Reed) and "Carol" (Geraldine Chaplin) are determined to have a child, though, and the feature follows their escapades as they try to conceive and to keep their baby and themselves from the pervasive eyes and ears of the State. The concept is quite original, and it obviously spawned quite a few sequels (not least "Logan's Run" in 1976), but the execution and production really do let this down. Diane Cilento was a stunning woman to look at, but here, as was frequently the case, her acting - especially about something quite so visceral - lacks emotion or passion, indeed a robot baby might just have suited her character quite well. There's a decent amount of jeopardy as they try to escape with their bairn, and the socio-political criticism of a society that has lost any semblance of free will is writ large, but the whole thing is listless and, frankly, Reed is not the least convincing either. Pity - had potential, just undelivered.

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