Never having been a fan of the works of Michael Moorcock (he over writes and has a groupie following that is well deserved by other, better writers). I am a nobody, so dont really have an opinion worth noting. However, he has only had one of his works translated to the optimal device of entertainment, Cinema. The film, THE FINAL PROGRAMME, is a voyage into the visually excessive. The films director, Robert Fuest, was known more for his set design in the hit show THE AVENGERS before his film career took him to greats such as AND SOON THE DARKNESS and THE PHIBES films. From there he moved into the landscape of designer, writer and director (a rare trinity indeed) for this film. It became a cult classic, for a number of reasons over his involvement but the set extras direct us rightly there mostly.

Jon Finch is Jerry Cornelius, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and playboy adventurer. He has just buried his father, a famed scientist and ruler of the land of Lapland (hes not Santa mind). He is trapped in a far-off future, where mankind is stuck in a dystopian decline, there seems to be little good left. A group of scientists however, who worked with Jerry’s father believe they have found the means to move humanity on to its next level. Jerry is not interested. The creature they want to make, an ideal, self-replicating – and thus immortal – human being, is not to his tastes. Called the ‘final programme’, it is devilishly monsterous indeed. When the formula is captured on a microfilm, which was hidden in the vaults of the family’s mansion, the nightmare need be resolved, with as much style as possible…

An impressive cast was all the rage in the 1970s. This dystopian oddity, is peopled with some true heavy weights. Hugh Griffith, Sterling Hayden, Jenny Runacre and Harry Andrews, to name a few. They also had little quirks of genius. Here, it is the production design. Conjuring a rare use of visual artistry, that both decays the overall quality of the finished product (style over substance) and adds a gloried magnificence to its completed form. The transfer here, in 1080p no less, looks a little tired and drained. But Studio Canal and their Cult classics collection, have at least pulled off a good pairing of an interview that lasts some 12 minutes and a Kim Newman on top form to make up for it. Michael Moorcock’s acclaimed 1968 novel, which I hated, is given something to make it new and it delivers for those who love it..

Part of the STUDIOCANAL Cult Classics collection.

Extras:

NEW Interview with Jenny Runacre

NEW Kim Newman on Fuest & The Final Programme

Italian title sequence

Trailers