70's Sci-Fi Appreciation Thread (pre-Star Wars)

Before Star Wars hit the theaters, the 70's were filled with thought provoking, eerie, disturbing, and downright weird Sci-Fi films. Don't get me wrong, I love Star Wars and all its pre/sequels, but the earlier 70's Sci-Fi films were just less commercial and more appealing to me. This "wave" of thoughtful, disturbing Sci-Fi probably started with 2001: A Space Odyssey, in 1968. (Note: for the purposes of this thread, I am ignoring earlier Sci-Fi works such as Forbidden Planet, This Island Earth, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Things to Come, Metropolis, etc.)

I have compiled a list of these films--and some honorable mentions. What do you think about these movies? What are your memories? Which are your favorites? Does my list have any glaring ommissions? What films would you add?

The list, in no particular order:

Logan's Run
A Boy and His Dog
Soylent Green
The Omega Man
THX-1138
The Ultimate Warrior
Westworld
Futureworld
The Andromeda Strain
Silent Running
All of the Planet of the Apes films
Deathrace 2000
Phase IV
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
Colossos: The Forbin Project
Dark Star
The Man Who Fell to Earth
Mad Max
Genesis II (TV movie)
Planet Earth (TV movie)
Earth II (TV movie)
Rollerball
The Stepford Wives
Barbarella
Zardoz
A Clockwork Orange
Solaris

Honorable mentions (because they are post-Star Wars):
Outland
Alien
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
The Black Hole
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Honorable mentions (pre-1970's):
Fahrenheit 451
2001: A Space Odyssey
Alphaville

Honorable mentions (because they are TV shows):
The Starlost (Never seen it, but the fact that it was a Douglas Trumbull production interests me)
In Search Of . . . (more science fiction than science fact)
Planet of the Apes TV series
Logan's Run TV series
Space 1999
The Prisoner (at 1968, too early for this list)

Never seen:
The Final Programme

 

Check your dates: the first Planet of the Apes was 1968, Barbarella was 1968, Fahrenheit 451 was 1966, Solaris 1972, Invasion of the Body Snatchers 1978...you get the idea.

I do agree that the early 70s was a time of more "serious" science fiction, just as it was a time of more realism in films in general. See the other thread I started about 70s cinema too. Star Wars changed a lot of things.

Jason

 

Yup. That's why I have those disclaimers in the honorable mentions. Although I did have Fahrenheit 451 in the main list until I fixed it--but before your post showed up!

Anyway, the point is not to nitpick the details but to discuss the movies!

 

Barbarella was also 1968.

Of those that I've seen in your list (probably about 75%), I've enjoyed all of them. Good choices!

I would add "Phantasm" and "Demon Seed" to the list. Okay, so phantasm was '79, but I can't help adding it anyway.

 

I have mentioned before that I'm a big fan of Fantastic Planet. As for TV shows, I was also a great enthusiast of Ark II and Space: 1999.

 

I know, I'm just being anal retentive

Jason

 

Agreed on Phantasm and Demon Seed--I first saw Demon Seed around 1981 and I mistakenly had thought it was current then! Anyway, that's not the point--everybody put your inner film dorks to rest and just get to the meat n' potatoes--do you enjoy these films? What are your memories? Any other films you would add? (OK, I admit that last question is already being covered nicely)

And--are you p.o.'ed some of these STILL aren't available on DVD? (Such as The Ultimate Warrior, Genesis II, Planet Earth, Earth II, etc.)

 

Don't worry--I'm just being a little defensive!

 

I agree, it probably was 2001 that provided the impetus for a lot early 70s sci-fi. It pretty clearly inspired films like "Solaris", Silent Running" and even "Dark Star", but even more than that, 2001 also made quite a lot of money and (eventually) got some great reviews - a combination rarely seen prior to "Star Wars".

The other film that was also inspirational in this way was "Planet Of The Apes", for similar reasons - made a lot of money, got decent reviews. I'm not a big fan of the Apes movies but they were well made and reasonably thoughtful.

Even "Star Wars" was in some ways influenced by 2001, at least visually. 2001 raised the bar for visual effects extremely high - it was clear that Star Wars was trying to match and (in some ways) exceed the standard set by 2001. Even if they couldn't do things better, they certainly did things faster...

"Star Wars" changed the face of movie sci-fi by establishing a new template. Films released shortly after "Star Wars" were unaffected by this, eg "Close Encounters" which still seems to be part of the "2001 fanclub" and "Alien" which in many ways is just a serious remake of "Dark Star. Disney's "The Black Hole" is like a ridiculous throwback to the 50s, and not the good 50s (like "Forbidden Planet" or "The Day The Earth Stood Still") but the bad 50s! It's incredible that film was ever greenlighted - possibly a bad consequence of the success of Star Wars, so that Disney felt compelled to make some kind of sci-fi film, no matter how bad. I recall quite a rash of bad sci-fi action films coming out in the wake of "Star Wars"

 

The intro of Ark II is indelibly etched in my mind--that vehicle moving through a barren landscape, with the sun large in the sky. I remember they all wore striped uniforms--including the chimpanzee! I had to have been about 4 or 5 years old at the time. I don't remember too much more about the show. Dis they have some kind of jet pack they used? Was one of the cast members an Asian woman? Was there a young hispanic kid? The leader was some Kris Kristofferson-looking guy, right? This is going WAY back for me and my memories of the show really just consist of images, and a few isolated scenes of dialog.

I remember Space 1999 too--there were a lot of plastic tie-in toys marketed to us youngsters! To this day, one of the episodes still scares the willies out of me. Some sort of hairy ape-like alien had invaded the moon base and was an unstoppable force. The shape-shifting alien woman (forgot her name) transformed herself into a bee and flew into the alien's ear. She saw all kinds of electronics, revealing the alien to be a robot. At this point, I was so scared that I left the room. To this day, I still don't know how the episode ended. Again, I was about 4 or 5 at the time.

 

That would be "The Beta Cloud" from Season 2. The shape shifting woman's name was Maya. I don't think much happened in that episode after she flew in the alien's ear. That was pretty much it. Of course I haven't seen it in 30 years!

The alien was played by Dave Prowse better known to the world as "the man inside the Darth Vader costume"

 

Cool thread, Eric.

Was just thinking about the changing nature of Scifi on screen, compelled by a recent viewing of Space: 1999 - Black Sun. Summed up perhaps by a line from the episode:

"Just... wondering."

 

How about Land of the Lost?

First two seasons of the original show only of course.

 

There is a cool British scifi show called UFO from the late 60's, early 70's.
If you liked Alien, you may find Planet of the Vampires by Bava(a 60's movie), an inspiration for Alien, interesting.

 

Plus there is something about the way the future was projected through the eyes of late '60s/early '70s "artsy" set designers that really makes them look so cool!

 

Wow, posts 13, 14, 15, 16 and 17. I feel like I am in the twilight zone after seeing that. I love science fiction from the 50's to current. Lots of great films and like any genre, lots of horrible ones but I can watch bad science fiction and be entertained. Funny, but for me, "2001: A Space Odyssey" is not interesting. I recall walking out of the theater with my first attempt and have since tried to watch it completely on LaserDisc and satellite TV and guess I will try once again at some point with HDTV, but I don't hold much hope I will ever like it. I have been told to read the book to help with my understanding, but so far haven't tried that. I know it is highly regarded and I don't require lots of action or excitement normally to watch a science fiction film. Most of the other films mentioned here, I like.

Chris

 

Well, the repeated posts fit with the Land of the Lost thing.

Sorry. I've been having trouble posting here all day.

 

Yes, all of your memories are correct. The jet pack was real, by the way. This is one of the few post-apocalyptic children's shows ever made. Unbelievably, the entire series came out on DVD several months ago. I thought I was the only one who remembered it.

 

I watched the third season after Rhino put it out on DVD and it's much better than I remembered/expected. The stories are pretty imaginative, if silly. Even with Spencer Milligan gone, I think it's worth watching.

 

My all time fav,The Thing from Another Planet

 

Anyone remembers "The Questor Tapes", another Gene Roddenberry project.

 

The first sci-fi film I ever saw in a theater was "The Andromeda Strain" - I was around 9 years old. It really blew me away - I can remember the part where the birds were eating the townspeople and where they cut open the wrist of one of the dead and out pours dried blood.
I also dragged my Dad to "Solaris" (I think I was about 13). Most of the movie was way over my head but I still found it interesting.

 

A few other 60s entries that still hold up:

Fantastic Voyage
First Men in the Moon
Robinson Crusoe on Mars
Journey to the Center of the Earth (1959)

 

Even after Star Wars, there were attempts at serious science fiction. Robert Altman's Quintet (1979) really belongs to that early 70s ethos. It's not exactly a good film, but neither is Silent Running when you get right down to it (I know I'm going to take some heat for that comment). It's the interesting bits that keep me coming back to some of these films, though, in spite of their failings.

Two more for the list: the unintentionally silly Zardoz (1974) directed by John Boorman, and Zero Population Growth (1972), which I remember being enjoyably grim.

Someone else mentioned Fantastic Planet (La Planete Sauvage) from 1973, which is a fascinating animated French science fiction film (there's a group of words you don't see together very often). The animation and design are unsettling, and the music just makes it moreso. Definitely not for kids, but it really must be seen, no description can do it justice. Weird, in a very good way.

Jason

 

I just watched it the other night. I thought they were going to do a remake?