Glen et Randa

Unjustifiably ignored sci-fi indie is a lovingly handled little gem, and provides one of cinema's less trenchant visions of post-apocalyptic Earth.

Glen and Randa are young lovers, born years after the nuclear decimation of worldwide civilization. The nth-generation of a handful of survivors are tribal, searching daily for life's most basic essentials. Glen has seen a tattered Wonder Woman comic book, and believes that the fictional city of Metropolis in its pages does, indeed, exist. With his curiosity piqued, he and pregnant Randa embark on a journey to find it.

Not an action-packed film by any stretch of the imagination, GLEN AND RANDA is an otherwise very solemn, thoughtful film which won't be appealing to everyone, but will leave some to chafe inwardly. I was personally quite moved by it, and would recommend it without hesitation to anyone looking for a unique film born miles away from the questionable influence of Tinseltown.

6.5/10

I thought this was a really interesting antidote to all of the mow-hawked and black leather-wearing silliness that seems to occur after the apocalypse in every other movie of this type. There are no marauding gangs of motorbike riders here. The innocence and ignorance of the titular characters is alarming enough; seeing them foolishly expend all of their wooden matches because its amusing to them before they attempt to cross what looks like the Cascade Mountain range is painful to watch! I happen to think that if anyone ever did survive an Extinction Level Event,they might behave something like Glen and Randa; what has destroyed the world is never explained; no mention of nuclear war is made and when the characters stand at what is obviously the west coast of either Oregon or California and explain that ..."about ten miles that way there used to be a city called Boise!" you realize that whatever happened, it was massive;nuclear warheads don't re-shape the coastline! The found sets--wrecked cars sunk in sand, mobile homes that look as if Godzilla stomped on them, a rusty derailed train half submerged in a river--lend a sense of surrealistic realism to the film, if that makes any sense. This movie moves at a slow pace but i was captivated by it, wondering what would happen next. I think one of the most powerful aspects of this film is the fact that there are NO characters who provide a sense of sanity and strength; all of the older characters seem to have been driven into a sort of semi-schizophrenic absent-mindedness by whatever it was that slammed the crap out of the old civilization and the 2 youngsters seem so ignorant and unaware of the inherent dangers of their travels that you seriously worry about their safety as they tramp barefooted thru the mountains, across deserts, etc etc. I would recommend this film as an example of what can still be done with the post-apocalyptic genre. This one was a breath of fresh air.

...but unique by it's own right.

I had heard of this movie years ago, but always had an interest in watching it. It wasn't until about 15 years ago when I bought a VHS tape of it. What I saw was quite different and very unique for the time it was released, in 1971. I had read long ago that it was about a couple of teenagers surviving a nuclear holocaust and after several years, go on a quest to find the fictional Metropolis of Superman fame.

Here's where I was wrong. The couple come across some characters along their way, which kind of muddled up my thoughts of what I read. I wanted to research it, but by the time I wanted to, my ex-wifer threw it out in a yard sale.

My quest goes on to find it again...but it still very different and quite unique.

I find it interesting that nobody has yet mentioned how much casual nudity there is in this film. It's what got the film its "X" rating, even though there's no overt sexuality connected to it. It's more of a device to underline the innocence of Glen and Randa and their nomadic life. Nothing in the film would get it more than an "R" today. There are no special effects as such, just vistas of nature and of the ruined technology from which the survivors glean their living. The young actors are very appealing, and there's a quiet inevitability to the story's unfolding. I wish this were available on DVD, but given that there's no studio money behind it, this is unfortunately unlikely. This little film has stayed with me for many years since the release. It's too bad so few people know about it; it deserved a better fate.

Glen and Randa is raw and has a hedonistic feel to it. The film was originally released in 1970 with an X rating because of (gasp!) full frontal male nudity! Don't want people to see that male genitalia.

The film has a sort of low key, low budget amateurish feel to it at times. There are a few scenes which are sort of strange and silly at the same time. If it had been played serious by all the actors it could have felt sort of sleazy but most of the time it has a slight camp feel to it.

The film also has an innocence to it that makes it feel very refreshing. Glen and Randa like to frolic in the nude at times and after exposed to a traveling entertainer they decide to leave their group and travel on their own and find "metropolis", a city with people dressed all in white but find that much isn't left after the holocaust.

One other element I enjoyed was that there aren't any crazy people out to kill, rape or mame. You don't have to really worry about what will happen to these two as they travel alone.

There are moments that seem very dated and some of the scenes aren't shot that well. It's not a film that makes a huge impact but it does linger in your head a bit afterward mainly because of the youth of the lead characters.