It depicts a future society, on the surface a utopia, but soon revealed as a dystopia in which the population and the consumption of resources are maintained in equilibrium by killing everyone who reaches the age of 30.

Produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, the film uses only the novel's two basic premises: that everyone must die at a set age, and that Logan and his companion Jessica attempt to escape while being chased by another Sandman named Francis.

After aborted attempts to adapt the novel, story changes were made, including raising the age of "last day" from 21 to 30 and introducing the idea of "Carrousel" [sic] for eliminating 30-year-olds.

Then, the computer changes the color of his life clock to flashing red – a procedure which it code names "033-03" – suddenly making him four years closer to Carrousel.

[7] Producer George Pal's attempt was troubled in 1969 by competing views of what the film's story should be, including the possibility of incorporating symbolism of real-life issues, in comparison to screenwriter Richard Maibaum's vision.

Pal became concerned the delays would cause the film to miss the wave of success science fiction was enjoying with 2001: A Space Odyssey and Planet of the Apes in 1968.

[8] American International Pictures offered to buy Pal's projects, including Logan's Run, for $200,000, but MGM declined, only willing to accept a minimum of $350,000.

[7] Pal left the project to produce Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze (1975) for Warner Bros. Saul David assumed responsibility in 1974, with Soylent Green author Stanley R. Greenberg assigned to write.

[7] David Zelag Goodman wrote a nearly completely new screenplay, raising the age of death from 21 to 30 to allow for more actors to be considered for casting.

[10] Stepping in for Devane was Richard Jordan, best known for his performances in Lawman (1971), Chato's Land (1972), Rooster Cogburn (1975) and the 1976 TV mini-series Captains and the Kings.

[13] Special effects artists L. B. Abbott and Glen Robinson regarded Carrousel as the most difficult part of the film to portray, requiring hidden wires to depict the levitation.

[17] Producers saved $3 million by finding readily available locations in numerous Dallas buildings, including the Apparel Mart at Dallas Market Center (The Great Hall), Oz Restaurant and Nightclub (The Love Shop) and Pegasus Place (Sandman headquarters), the Fort Worth Water Gardens, and the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Houston.

The score "adheres to two distinct sound palettes: strings, keyboards and abstract electronics only for cues inside the City and full orchestra for outside".

[25] Common dystopian themes include an evil ruling authority, the confiscation of children from parents,[26] life in a city, and the idea of human overpopulation, in this case, causing the protagonists to leave the urban environment.

[29] Aside from sexual freedom, the pursuit of pleasure is also reflected in how this was envisioned in the 1970s, including miniskirts, little career, relaxed gyms, and Farrah Fawcett's "shag" haircut.

[28] The film may ultimately serve as a warning against overthrowing older generations, aimed at young viewers following the counterculture movements in the 1960s.

[29] Another interpretation is that individualism, the "freedom to live and be", is curbed by "social mechanisms" telling citizens to have a good life for only a limited time.

[34] Ultimately, author Bonnie Noonan believes the idea of returning to the concept of "beloved wife" is a sign that, in the story, women's liberation, and not technology, is at the root of the dystopia.

[35] Martin Kevorkian (Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin) argued that Box, the character voiced by African-American actor Roscoe Lee Browne, could serve as a precursor to Darth Vader, voiced by African-American actor James Earl Jones in Star Wars (1977), in "racializing cyberphobic primers available to Generation X".

[38] Vincent Canby of The New York Times was less positive:[22] Just why and for what particular purpose Logan makes his run is anything but clear after you've sat through nearly two hours of this stuff.

[39]Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film zero stars out of four, calling it "unquestionably the worst major motion picture I've seen this year".

[41] Charles Champlin of the Los Angeles Times was mixed, writing that "its visual razzle-dazzle ... propels Logan's Run past some foolish concocting, indifferent acting, slow pacing and uncertain toning".

[42] In 2000, Ian Nathan wrote in Empire that the film "can't escape its '70s origins", but contains "warnings about decadence, ageism, and allowing technology and science to run riot, done to a disco groove".

The site's consensus reads: "Logan's Run overcomes its campier elements and undercooked plot with a bounty of rousing ideas and dashing sci-fi adventure".

[47] Inverse writer Ryan Britt argued in 2023 that the film is superior to the novel, which he notes won no awards and is not highly regarded by science-fiction enthusiasts.

But the film streamlines the plot by limiting Logan's and Jessica's odyssey across North America and eliminating entirely their ultimate escape to Sanctuary, in orbit around Mars, in favor of their return to the city, where they tell everyone they can live past 30 and begin the process of reforming their society.

"In writing the screenplay, what David Zelag Goodman understood was something Johnson and Nolan overlooked ... At some point, [the story] can't just be about running away.

[56] MGM had also expressed interest in adapting Nolan's sequel novel Logan's World, but Saul David had opted to focus on the television series instead.

[61] Directors who have been attached to the remake since then include Skip Woods,[62] Bryan Singer,[63] Joseph Kosinski,[64] Carl Erik Rinsch,[65] Nicolas Winding Refn[66] and Simon Kinberg.

[67] Screenwriters attached to the film, who in some cases wrote a screenplay, include Ethan Gross and Paul Todisco,[63] Dan Harris,[68] Christopher McQuarrie,[69] Alex Garland,[65] Andrew Baldwin,[66] Ken Levine[70] and Peter Craig.