Late 60's - 70's sci-fi recommendations.

I love films like the Planet of the apes series, The Omega Man, Westworld, Silent Running, Soylent Green ect....looking for similar recommendations to check out.

Seen logan's run as well...not so good.

 

I like Phase IV

 

There's 'Zardoz', 'Dark Star' ,'Seconds', 'The Visitor', 'Mad Max' , to name a few. Try looking at the ECCENTRIC CINEMA review website - that has a lot of horror too, however it should be helpful as it takes in cult movies, many of which fit your description. I would look at the 80's too, as many good sci fi movies (and some not so good) were made then, sharing the traits of average actors, bad plots and terrible effects - but then I love those things all put together . Some would say that combination still exists today. Hope this was helpful and that you discover some new favourites.

 

Trilogy Of Terror!

 

Solaris (the original version) might be something you'd like. I thought Silent Running was one of the all time greats...

 

2001... Colossus: The Forbin Project... The Andromeda Strain. Lots of really good SF films from this era. Silent Running was not a very successful film when it was released, but that's one I always liked. A Boy and His Dog isn't a hard science fiction movie, but it's got some very interesting "futuristic apocalypse" ideas. I would marginally consider The Boys from Brazil to be SF (1970s Nazis cloning Hitler's DNA as young children), and the '70s remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers is very good. Time After Time is one of my favorite time-travel movies, though it's all emotional and story driven, nothing to do with technology.

 

that freaked me out when i first saw it! Damn scary...

 

I'm convinced Colossus is behind the Sony hacks.

 

well it's sure scary enough! I see a commanding fear!

 

Stay away from Marooned and Capricorn One from that era. I thought neither were very good.

A Clockwork Orange could be called a sci-fi movie and was very good and very disturbing. I also liked Westworld but only because Yul Brynner made a terrific robot villain. The first half of the movie was pretty slow. Death Race 2000 is a wonderful, low budget action flick from 1975. It's essentially one long car chase. The Road Warrior, the middle and best movie of the Mad Max trilogy, was also a great dystopian car chase movie, although a quick Google search says it's from 1981.

Agreed with Vidiot's recommendation of The Andromeda Strain. Along with 2001 - A Space Odyssey, Andromeda Strain is the best hard science movie of the era.

And don't forget 1974's Flesh Gordon, the world's first sci-fi porn movie. Nowadays it would probably be just an R rated movie (I haven't seen the unrated version out on DVD) but it was pretty racy for the 1970s. Lots and lots of female nudity.

 

There was also this sleeper from 1977...what was it called?...Star something...Star Watch...Star Ward...Star Warts...damn it, I think of it in a minute.

Speaking of Sleeper, that's a really funny Woody Allen sci-fi parody from this era.

 

You're absolutely right. Dumb movies.

I hesitated on Clockwork Orange. I liked a lot of the movie, but it's overall a pretty negative, downbeat film, particularly in hindsight. I have to admire Kubrick taking a violent, villainous punk kid and making him the hero of the story, somebody the audience can still empathize with.

 

one of my favorite Woody! it cracks me up every time I watch it! the tin foil!

 

Planet Of the Vampires

Not a movie, but movie worthy - the pilot episode of Star Trek - The Cage

 

Anything but tar warts...

Outside the time frame, but escape from New York would be another of those type of films.

 

I actually enjoyed Escape from New York quite a bit. But man, that's kind of a downer film, where about 80% of the characters in the movie are horrible people -- including the ones that Kurt Russell has to save.

 

Good call on "The Andromeda Strain" and "Time After Time", Vidiot. The former is a truly taut thriller (and how was this rated G?!?) which further supports my long-held opinion that Robert Wise was the most diverse director to successfully jump genres since Howard Hawks. As for "Time after Time", it has a cool premise that's also quite riveting and contains one of the best out-of-left-field (as in relatively restrained) performances by Malcolm McDowell of his career. Great stuff!

Aaron

 

I think the main difference between a "G" rating and a "PG" rating is violence, mainly fight scenes and bloodshed. There's very, very little blood in the movie, save for David Wayne getting shot with poison darts while trying to climb up the ladder. Bullet wounds and dead bodies will get you a PG, and curse words, sexual situations, slight nudity, and on-screen violence and death will get you a PG-13. It's a very fuzzy line between a PG and a PG-13, but a much bigger chasm between PG-13 and an R.

 

Westworld is a lot of fun, Yul Brynner is great in it. Along with that Rollerball (avoid the disaster that is the modern remake), The Man Who Fell to Earth, A Boy and his Dog, No Blade of Grass, Damnation Alley, Demon Seed, Slaughterhouse Five. Of course, the mother of all Sci-Fi films came out in 79 - Alien.

 

Hey, let's not forget "Close Encounters." I love that movie!

 

I remember liking Futureworld when I saw it at age 12 or so, but I watched it again recently and it didn't measure up.

And let's not talk about Barbarella.

 

My all time favorite movie is 2001.I have it in about every format you can think of.But for the total 60s mind trip check out Patrick McGoohans "The Prisoner".If they make better tv,I haven't seen it yet.I am not a number....

 

Wasn't Planet of the Apes rated G?

 

Yep, so it shows how the intent of the MPAA ratings has skewed in different arbitrary directions since it started:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motion_Picture_Association_of_America_film_rating_system