The vintage synth dramatic chord and the Universal Studios electronic chirps are the icing on the cake!
Francis was dedicated to his service as a Sandman in both the film and series. Although in the series he has the added bonus of living past thirty on the council of the elders if he brought both Logan and Jessica back to the city to face 'justice!' Both actors were good at showing friendship to Logan as I remember too! JB
Jordan was a strong actor in just about any role, and yes, Francis was a great antagonist, where his initial confusion about Logan's behavior slowly turned into resentment that his friend was--by his act of running as a Sandman--discarding Francis' entire worldview / upending the system he dedicated his life to serving. Yes, his death scene was moving in that he let go of his hate, clearly remembering his bond with Logan--even smiling as he believed Logan had "renewed". TV Francis doggedly pursued Logan and Co., but he was not obsessed with killing Logan (that Council of Elders business prevented that character trait from being borrowed from the movie). They had to work together on a couple of occasions--something the movie versions were never going to do once Logan became a runner.
The film version of Logan hadn't lost the faith in the City at all but was sent on a mission to discover where Sanctuary was and destroy it unknown to his friend Francis who believed that Logan had turned rogue! The series shows us a Logan who has many deep thoughts about renewal, Carousel and the laws of the computers and has openly spoken to Francis about it before in doubts! Only here he does lose faith in the system and becomes the first Sandman to become a runner! Both Logan's realise that once outside the City that they had been lied to as the air has cleared and is good. The crystal in film Logan's hand has cleared so instead of being red it is white like when he was a baby! Francis on the other hand in the tv show meets the Elders who run the City from up high and if he brings both Logan and Jessica back to the City alive then he will avoid Carousel and stay alive. Logan and Jessica on the other hand will die in Carousel the first chance they get despite Logan only being 26 in the series! JB
As a kid, Logans Run was one of my favourite TV shows (right up there with Space:1999 and A Man Named Sloane ) so imagine my shock when I watched the movie for the first time As an adult, I think the movie stands up pretty well. Plus, as an adult......Jenny Agutter.
Actually, Logan lost faith or trust in the City when the Computer accelerated his Lifeclock status to blinking (for the mission), but did not answer him when he asked if he would have his years restored, and what was more damning was the the Computer's silence on the question of anyone ever renewing (implying its never happened). This is the reason the following scene has Logan find Francis (in the Sandman training facility), asking him if he's ever seen anyone renew (and of course, Francis just offers the company line). At that point, Logan lost all belief in the system, leading him to contact Jessica and reveal he was going to run. That said, some viewers had some confusion over the scene when Logan--as Jessica guided him to the underground runner hideout--activated his Follower help signal to Sandman HQ, eventually leading the Sandman attack on the runners. Logan was no longer on the job, but acted instinctively to a potentially dangerous situation (remember, Jessica had admitted she was leading him into a death trap at Cathedral earlier in the film, and just killed Doc--another runner operative), so he reacted out of fear/instinct, not because he was still working as a Sandman.
^^^When Logan murders a Sandman during the raid on the Runner HQ, he's effectively jumped off the cliff...
Logan murdered another Sandman in the television pilot too in a scene which was cut for some viewers! Francis also killed one of his own team (Anthony DeLongis) in the desert later on but this was never shown! JB
I'm not surprised you've had trouble sustaining interest. It's not really a single story so much as a succession of random episodes, and it really gets into the weeds after a while, until it arbitrarily comes to a stop. It's no surprise that the movie went off in its own direction once Logan and Jessica got out into the open.
The book was a tight, grim look into (among many things) so much of the dysfunction authors Nolan & Johnson predicted about a hopeless, materialistic society, how a culture is reared into an obsession with youth and pleasure and darker themes about mankind's failings. It is (largely) its own animal apart from the movie, but each are entertaining.
I liked the books back in the 1970s, but when I reread them not too long ago, I didn't think they held up very well. I think the narrower focus of the movie helped it, even though it introduced its own set of questions and problems. It's just easier to buy the basic premise, that no one is allowed to live past a certain age, in a closed off, isolated city instead of the whole world.
The out of control laser surgery table is what stands out. The first time you ever really saw lasers cut deep into flesh in any significant way.
That reminds me: How does Logan know, or even suspect, that one of those babies is his son? He just says "It's not every day they authorize a new Sandman" and immediately assumes that one of the babies is Logan 6. I wonder how he could possibly know that. I mean, the babies don't exactly have I.D.s, do they?