Z.P.G. (1972)

User Rating:

5.0/10   

Director:

Michael Campus

Writers:

Frank De Felitta (writer)
Max Ehrlich (writer)

Genre:

Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

The Time Is Tomorrow And There's No Time Left.

Plot:

In the not too distant future, a very smoggy and overpopulated Earth government makes it illegal to have children for a generation...

Plot Keywords:

Future | Robot | Futuristic | Entire Title Is Capitalized Acronym | Overpopulation

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Oliver Reed	...	Russ McNeil
Geraldine Chaplin	...	Carol McNeil
Don Gordon	...	George Borden
Diane Cilento	...	Edna Borden
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eugene Blau	...	Baby Shop Salesman
Bent Christensen	...	Baby Shop Salesman
Belinda Donkin	...	Daughter
Birgitte Federspiel	...	Psychiatrist
Birgitte Frigast	...	Nurse
Anne-Lise Gabold	...	Mother in Baby Shop
Michel Hildesheim	...	Thief
Peter Hohnen	...	Edict Boy
Torben Hundal	...	President's Aide
Theis Ib Husfeldt	...	Jessie
Wladirmir Kandel	...	Edict Examiner
Brian Keifer	...	Edict Examiner
Lone Lindorff	...	Mother
Victor Lipari	...	Headwaiter
Carlotta Magnoff	...	Informer
Sam Maisel	...	Father in Baby Shop
Ditte Maria	...	Telescreen Operator
David Markham	...	Dr. Herrick
Bill Nagy	...	The President
Claus Nissen	...	Guard
Sheila Reed	...	Mary Herrick
Dale Robinson	...	First Guide
Wayne Rodda	...	Metromart Salesman
Peter Ronild	...	Edict Doctor
Christian Sarvig
Paul Secon	...	Tour Guide
Jeff Slocombe	...	Guard
Lotte Tholander	...	Telescreen Nurse
Birte Tove	...	Nurse
Lene Vasegaard	...	Edict Mother
Aubrey Woods	...	Dr. Mallory

Also Known As:

Edict
The First of January
Zero Population Growth (UK)

Runtime:

97 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:X | Norway:15 | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Copenhagen, Denmark

Company:

Sagittarius Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Final feature film of Bill Nagy.

Logan's Run: The Early Years

If you are a fan of Logan's Run this film is an interesting must see since it plays as a decent prequel (story wise) to that better known sci-fi film. Since LR was made after ZPG I suppose one should say LR plays like a sequel to ZPG. ZPG takes place in an over-populated future so polluted that people wear gas masks outside (we eventually find out it is war related), animals are found only in a museum (stuffed), and food is found only in paste form. The edict: no more babies (or face death), so those born to already pregnant women have an invisible BE (Before Edict) scanned onto their foreheads. In Logan's Run, much later in the future, babies have small crystals placed in their palms that light when the human turns 30. In ZPG we are introduced to a couple (Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin) who work and live as a 1971 typical swinging couple exhibit in the museum along with another couple (best friends/neighbors). When the couple decides to have a baby anyway they are forced to share it with their neighbors or face certain death. There is a scene where Oliver Reed is checking out premature births in a futuristic library very reminiscent of the scene in Logan's Run where Logan researches Sanctuary. Both films deal with escaping the restrictions of a society so messed up it restricts life itself. Eventually the film becomes an escape picture much like Logan's Run. I can't help but think the baby grows up to be the Peter Ustinov character in Logan's Run. Just a thought.