The Film (3/5)

Z.P.G. is a futuristic tale about overpopulation. Because there are too many people on Earth, humanity will self-destruct. In this new society, citizens have walk around wearing gas masks as the world is polluted to make the overpopulated Earth even more difficult to survive in. The world federation council called Zero Population Growth has decided that there will be no more new births for the next twenty years. They feel this will save the planet. Child bearing is now forbidden and is a crime, and the punishment is death. Neighbors are encouraged to report parents with actual children. Couples caught with children become subject to people screaming “Baby! Baby! Kill them!!” which if captured, leads to them being exterminated. Dolls are now created to replace living children for couples.

Russ McNeil (Oliver Reed, The Devils) and Carol McNeil (Geraldine Chaplin, The Three Musketeers) defy the government, and have a child in secret but their neighbors, George Borden (Don Gordon, The Beast Within) and Edna Borden (Diane Cilento, The Wicker Man) find out. Now being blackmailed, to prevent the Bordens from reporting the illegal child birth, the McNeils share the baby with them. However the McNeils decide stop sharing the child, and an ensuing battle with the two married couples begins over the baby. The Bordens report the McNeils (Baby!!Baby!!Kill Them!!) , leading to their capture, but it’s not over yet as Mr. McNeil has an escape plan. 

Z.P.G. is an interesting film, which reminded me of Soylent Green, 1984 and Logan’s Run. This film has some great performances by Reed and Chaplin. Michael Curtis’ direction is a bleak vision of the future, which takes place in the 21^st Century.  Maybe he was trying to make a statement or heed a warning of the future. There are a couple of funny scenes of people sitting in an auditorium watching how primitive life was in the 20^th Century and people walking around with dolls in strollers, pretending to be actual children.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

Z.P.G. is presented in the aspect ratio of 1:78:1 in 1080p with an MPEG-4 and an AVC encode.  Colors look good, not overly sharp or vivid, but still strong; there is some depth and some good textures. There are some parts where the colors are what I’d call flat. It does lack that glossy look that many Blu-ray releases have, but still serviceable. Flesh tones look good, no DNR has been applied. 

The audio used by Kino for Z.P.G. is the usual English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track and it’s also in good condition. The dialog, musical scores all sounded perfectly fine and clear

Extras (2/5)

Z.P.G.  has a couple of extras consisting of an audio commentary by Film Historian Steve Ryfle; and there are trailers for The Neptune Factor, Chosen Survivors, The Earth Dies Screaming and The Satan Bug

Overall (3/5)

Z.P.G. is an interesting if depressing look at the future, which is now the present. It’s a good moody, science fiction drama. Kino has done a fine job with this release; while not the most vivid looking presentation, at least the film is available on home video in high definition and has a couple of extras to boot!