People are voting emotionally.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

"Z.P.G.", also called "Zero Population Growth", is a Sci-Fi/Thriller/Dystopian film from 1972. This is Michael Campus' directional debut.Basic plot: Due to bad pollution, every people have to wear a breathing mask whenever they have to go outdoors. But the story doesn't get better when the government makes a ban on giving birth to any child for 30 years, because of the Earth being overpopulated. Breaking this law results in death penalty by suffocation inside an unbreakable glass.Russ and Carol McNeil (played by Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin), who work at a museum recreating life in the 20th century, are not satisfied with the substitute robot baby they've got. So they end up getting a real baby. And they must keep it secret from getting discovered.This film is a good dystopian film having been made in the UK. The film's scenario itself is somewhat grim and disturbing. The story is a little bit original compared to most other Science Fiction movies I've seen earlier, because it's not often we get movies about a ban on child birth. Well made, Michael Campus.For special interested, it is not usual to see the global-like MPAA logo literally (SURPRISE) covering the whole screen after the end credits have finished scrolling. Truth to be told, I have not seen this logo that big as it was in this movie.If you like watching Science Fiction/Dystopian movies in general, then this film might be a good choice to check out. My overall rating has to be 7/10.

I love dark sci-fi films--particularly those that portray a dystopic future (where society is horrid and NOT the nice Star Trek sort of world). "1984", "Soylent Green" and "Brave New World" are just a few dystopias that I adored--so I really, really was hoping I'd love "ZPG". However, sadly, the great story idea was completely undone by horrid directing...and I mean horrid.The film is set sometime in the future--and apparently in the near future. Disease has been virtually eliminated and the resulting population boom has made the planet unsustainable. Most animal life has been destroyed and the air is semi-toxic. And so, to try to stop the rapid decline of the planet and feed everyone, the governments of the Earth implement a new program--making having children illegal for the next 40 years. And, a young couple (Geraldine Chaplin and Oliver Reed) are determined to somehow have a baby and not face immediate execution. I loved this story idea--and it really was strongly reminiscent of "Soylent Green" (a great film).So why if I loved the plot idea did I give the film only a paltry 5? Well, the director did a particularly lousy job. The film completely lacked life and emotion--and it felt as if almost everyone was half asleep during the film. You'd think there's be LOTS of emotions concerning this birth edict...but Chaplin and the rest muddle through the film in a somnambulistic state. It could have easily been renamed "ZPG--Zero Plot Growth"! And this completely sterile and muted look of the film can only be blamed on the director--especially since the film had some very talented actors (in addition to the leads, Don Gordon was quite capable). I would really love to see this film remade--as the film should have been a clear winner.

This movie is one rarity in my country scarcely here are copies in DVD or Blu Ray almost in the 2006 was edited one cheap version rated to 89 minutes of the 105 minutes of it's original duration by Vellavision with quality of image very bad.The Spanish public know very well whose are Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin but them at present day to ignore the existence of this film, I as fan of the science fiction was one of them until that I read the novel by Max Ehrlich when I was a child.The book is excellent for me so much as the film, and it's a good material to make a remake if someone producer wants to make one new version of this history.It's a movie that must be revised of it's landing forgotten and discredited by critic and public in it's time.The story is merit to second opportunity in the actual times.

If you are a fan of Logan's Run this film is an interesting must see since it plays as a decent prequel (story wise) to that better known sci-fi film. Since LR was made after ZPG I suppose one should say LR plays like a sequel to ZPG. ZPG takes place in an over-populated future so polluted that people wear gas masks outside (we eventually find out it is war related), animals are found only in a museum (stuffed), and food is found only in paste form. The edict: no more babies (or face death), so those born to already pregnant women have an invisible BE (Before Edict) scanned onto their foreheads. In Logan's Run, much later in the future, babies have small crystals placed in their palms that light when the human turns 30. In ZPG we are introduced to a couple (Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin) who work and live as a 1971 typical swinging couple exhibit in the museum along with another couple (best friends/neighbors). When the couple decides to have a baby anyway they are forced to share it with their neighbors or face certain death. There is a scene where Oliver Reed is checking out premature births in a futuristic library very reminiscent of the scene in Logan's Run where Logan researches Sanctuary. Both films deal with escaping the restrictions of a society so messed up it restricts life itself. Eventually the film becomes an escape picture much like Logan's Run. I can't help but think the baby grows up to be the Peter Ustinov character in Logan's Run. Just a thought.