5 Plot Point Breakdown: Logan’s Run (1976)

Screenplay Genre: Action / Sci-Fi

Movie Time: 119 minutes

1. INCITING INCIDENT

In a distant utopian future there is a world where the authority figures are called “Sandmen.” They chase and kill “runners” who are evading the rule of submitting to the system at the age of 30 and undergo the “Carousel” ritual, in which bodies are evaporated in hope of being reborn. Sandman Logan 5 (Michael York) hunts down and kills a runner. While searching his belongings, he finds an ankh. (00:13:20)

2. LOCK IN (End of Act One)

When Logan 5 reports back to the omniscient computer system, it tells him about the meaning of the ankh. Logan 5 is given the mission of finding the secret “sanctuary.” (00:26:00)

3. FIRST CULMINATION (Midpoint)

Logan 5, now on the run with his lady friend, Jessica (Jenny Agutter), reach the outskirts of the city and down into the underground where they are surrounded by hostile outsiders. (00:56:33)

4. MAIN CULMINATION (End of Act Two)

After making it to the outside world, Logan and Jessica find an old man who explains the ways of the outside world. Logan and Jessica realize that there is no sanctuary. (01:31:59)

5. THIRD ACT TWIST

After going all the way back to the city to tell the others about the outside world, nobody believes Logan as the sandmen capture him. (01:48:09)

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