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In Logan's Run (1976), I'm confused about how people age.

The opening scene to the movie shows Logan 5 at a nursery where he is curious about his firstborn son named Logan 6. So this indicates that people are born naturally from women, and start life as babies. At the time of their birth, they have their "life-clock" installed in their hand.

This is the only time young people are shown inside the sealed city (with the exception of the feral children).

Later on, when Logan 5 first meets Jessica (by way of teleporting her to his apartment). They have a discussion about the ethics of killing by the sandman, where Logan pulls out a gun and asks her if she is thinking of running. She replies with something like this "I'm only 6 and won't even turn green for another year". I can't remember the line exactly, but I don't understand how she could be only 6 years old?

Later, when Logan and Jessica chase a runner into an abandoned part of the city where there are feral children. Logan explains to one of the youths that he (the child) will soon turn 16, and that children who turn 16 are killed by the other children.

So I'm confused as to what Jessica meant when she said she was only 6, and why the feral children appeared to be aging normally while everyone in the city were adults.

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    I'm pretty sure she says, "I'm A six," not "I'm six."
    – Cybering Catgirls
    May 26, 2022 at 23:48

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Her age is not 6...it's her designation..or just her name.

Logan is Logan-5, Francis is Francis-7 and she is Jessica-6.

Since Logan's newborn son is Logan-6 it seems likely that names are inherited. They clearly have nothing to do with age.

The script makes this clear

LOGAN (interrupting; turning over her palm)

Are you a 5 or a 6?

(we see a green crystal)

JESSICA

Six. I go red next year.

Their crystal color is age related though...yellow for a child, green at 16, and red a few years later.

As for aging...everyone ages normally. It seems that children are raised apart from their parents until they age out at approximately 16. Some go to "Academy" whereas the unruly/angry/feral ones are sent to or find their way to "Cathedral".

Even there, they are ejected at 16 by the younger "cubs"

LOGAN

No cubs over fifteen, Billy! Ever heard of a cub with a green flower?

You'll leave Cathedral then, Billy, when you're on green, because they won't let a green stay here. If you try to stay the young ones will gut-rip you apart!

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    oh wow that makes so much more sense. I didn't catch that when watching the film. I'm wondering if the number refers to generation? but that doesn't seem right because I read somewhere that the city has been sealed for over a thousand years (or something like that).
    – Reactgular
    Apr 21, 2017 at 19:20
  • Logan clearly asks her, "How old are you?" She responds, "I'm six. I go red next year." Watch it. Sonnik's answer kind of addresses it, but it's still pretty inconsistent and rather confusing to movie goers.
    – SMBiggs
    Sep 9, 2021 at 0:12
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Here's how I understood it:

  • 0 - 8 White
  • 8 - 16 Yellow
  • 16 - 23 Green
  • 23 - 29 Red
  • 29 - 30 Renewal (Red/Black)

From: http://forums.segwaychat.org/archive/index.php/t-17959.html

So the script mentioned above by Paulie_D, this means she is a "Green 6" - meaning she's somewhere around 22 (16+6), as she goes red next year. While her name is Jessica 6, this is an annotation of her generation. So she's "Jessica 6" and she's a "Green 6".

It sounds like sometimes the citizens refer to their age using both real years, and color years. Since the feral kids didn't live in the city, they may have been ignorant of the color coding - so Logan just used regular solar years.

Also, I do not believe the city had been domed for thousands of years, as mentioned in a comment. The movie was set in the 23rd century, and there were obviously references to the 20th century in the outside world (such as the weedy paved road).

The book reportedly varies from the movie, with death day being at 21.

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    At the very start of the movie there is text explaining why the humans moved into the city. I don't think it was a nuclear war, but more along the lines of over population and pollution. The text implied that humans died off except for the few that moved into the domed city. Or something along those lines.
    – Reactgular
    Apr 21, 2017 at 20:24
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    You're right, overpopulation was the catalyst (obviously) and a global war had nothing to do with it. I modified my answer accordingly.
    – sonnik
    Apr 21, 2017 at 21:31

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