I probably didn't make myself very clear. I really wasn't trying to dismiss Forbidden Planet. I was making the statement that it didn't have the same implact on me when seeing it as an adult rather than a teen. I don't think that's too surprising. Kids are a lot more suggestible to film images than adults. And that was a very different film than others we saw at that time. When I said it was dated when I saw in 40 years later, I was not only meaning the film had aged, but I had aged as well, or matured, whatever you want to call it. That it didn't have the same impact on me surely had as much to do with me as with the film.
As a general rule, I think the writing in flilms from the 30's and 40's was much sharper than now. We've often replaced great, pithy, insightful writing with special effects. We also seem to make the majority of our films these days for the teen audience. As a result, I don't go to the movies nearly as often as I used to.
C