Space explorers who land on Altair to discover the whereabouts of the crew that had been sent many years before find out that they are all dead except for Dr. Morbius (death+endless) and his daughter.
Dr. Morbius has managed to learn enough of the Krell population to remain alive because he's undergone their brain-enhancement procedure, a dangerous treatment that ultimately kills the ship's doctor.
The evil monster, it is revealed, is the "id", Freud's own id, that can be manifested as a destructive monster - how perfectly 50's - everyone was afraid of what was within the brain.
It's a disappointing "do over" for Shakespeare's The Tempest, viewed from 2013 perspective. We've all had Peter Sellar's and Ben Donenberg's resets of old that set the bar very high when there's a look-back.
What's most fascinating is the visual design, music, and special effects, which are really compelling. They look wonderfully cold and hard, like 50's modern did, and the Krell's energy production factory is really stunningly imagined.
I'm glad I took the time to view this, although I found the characters really stereotypical. Ariella, Dr. Morbius' daughter, when faced with the reality of the brave new world, never gets past cute guys and sex and turns into a loyal housewife, never marveling as Miranda did at the magnificence of what was possible.
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