These '70s Sci-Fi Films Shouldn't Work in 2024 - But They Do
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- Опубликовано: 28 сен 2024
- The '70s gave us some of the most imaginative and daring sci-fi films - and while some have aged like milk, others are still shockingly relevant. In this video, we'll explore the '70s sci-fi movies that shouldn't work in 2024 but somehow still do, from groundbreaking storytelling to effects that surprisingly hold up. Whether you're a fan of retro-futurism or just curious about what's still worth watching, these films deserve another look.
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#1970s #70smovies #scifi #oldscifimovies #70sscifi
Jenny Agutter in "Logan's Run". 'nuff said.
Indeed!
Loved that movie I have it on DVD
And that out fit when she first goes in to Logan’s quarters
Her "commando" outfit. JAW-dropping! @@peterharvey1762
Yes - saw that as a high schooler and was smitten, to say the least.
The omega man is my fave 70's dystopia film.
Same here.
The problem is that most of the late 1960's/early 1970s sci-fi movies before Star Wars were dystopian.
One of the adaptations of I Am Legend
Heston became NRA president after it.
I love the music by Rob Grainer
I would also add "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970) (especially prescient today) and "Zardoz" (1974) (trippy).
I was just about to add these two. They totally need to be on this list.
Yes, Zardoz is always a pleasure to watch. A gun-wielding, saber-rattling Sean Connery in bright red underwear. And I haven't even mentioned his hairstyle!
Zardoz is at the least a contender for the absolute worst film I’ve ever seen.
Zardoz is great
Colussus was a very pleasant surprise
''SOYLENT GREEN IS PEOPLE!'' *epic line*
Yes, and it's tasty too!😋
Now if only it was Democrats...
Who cares what rotten tomatoes thinks.
Exactly!
Mainstream media movie critics are absolutely predictable.
As soon as you know the most general basic details of the plot, without anyone even seeing it you can guess with 85% accuracy whether the critics will praise it or hate it.
Rotten Tomatoes doesn't really 'think' anything - it's a review aggregation site, which means they're really just collecting other people's ratings.
The critics? Definitely ignore them in the Woke Era as most are compromised and reluctant to rubbish 'woke' products, hence high critics scores and 'rotten' audience ones. The public 'vote' and opinions are a better gauge of a film's merit, so long as RT doesn't delete some to manipulate the results.
@@PaIaeoCIive1648 as if numerous "anti-woke" 🤡 don't give bad scores on things they've never seen. Please.
@@PaIaeoCIive1648 parody post?
"The Black Hole" and "Phase IV" come to mind.
100%.
Black hole doesn’t start being a film, instead of being a waste of time, until the doctors eyes are looking out of the robot on that hellscape right at the end.
The Black Hole barely scrapes into the 70's as it was released on 18 December 1979. Phase IV (1974), however, is a good call.
@@SmartCookie2022 you do realize the actual decade of “70s” is 71-80? There is no year zero only 1bc or 1ad & like everything else that involves numbers the end of everything be it decade, century or millennia is a zero same as the start is a one. So it doesn’t just scrape by unless you don’t know how to count.
Phase iv, Ants in your pants.
Clonus Horror? A boy and his dog?
The land that time forgot? Doug McClure at his best.
My personal opinion is Soylent Green is the best on this list. I just watched the other day and it stand up really well.
Soylent green is one of the all time great sci-fi comedies ever made. I laugh my ass off every time I watch it and see how wrong they were, just as i said they were wrong at the time.
@@gnericgnome4214 I think you missed the point.
It helps that it takes place in a decayed version of our world. No need for special effects that can age.
I find it more disturbing as time passes.
Yes, very good film. And a great swan song for Edward G. Robinson. I have a soft spot for movies where an actor's last role in a movie before dying in real life has his/her character dying in the movie -- and when that portrayal was an outstanding one. Oliver Reed, as Proximo in "Gladiator", comes to mind. I used to know some others, but, darn-it, I've forgotten them. I always appreciate suggestions of others.
Great movies always "hold up." It's the audiences that don't.
😂😂😂 true
"Time After Time" is my favorite film from this era. I thought you'd mention t. But nooooooo!
That is a wonderful picture. I love Malcolm McDowell in it. It does not get the attention it deserves
A forgotten gem , i love that movie .
But is it science fiction if it doesn't take place in the future?
Still a great movie.
Glad to see I'm not alone, one of my favourite movies of the era that is too often overlooked.
@@arthurfunk3104 It does take place in the future. Technically.
My favorite sci-fi movies of the 1970s are:
- Fantastic Planet (1973)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Alien (1979)
I just wonder sometimes what exactly is the science in Star Wars? Sure it has futuristic space ships and lasers but isn't that just fiction and technology? It's more like a fictitious futuristic space adventure with some soap opera and power struggles - which can be done in any genre, like fantasy.
@@McSlobo Yes. Star Wars is more like a space Western. Alien is more like a space horror movie.
@@McSlobo
‘Star Wars’ is space fantasy there is no science involved at all.
Star Wars is a fantasy film.
What about Demon seed 1977?
Silent Running made me cry.
The ending was pretty heartbreaking, to be fair.
Its philosophy inspired 'WALL-E' and its aesthetic inspired both 'WALL-E' and MST3K.
@BilldeSarse Yes especially when one of the robots gets taken out by the metor. Basically I cried through the whole movie.
ME TOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Yes, if you paid attention and got into the story, it really was quite a tear jerker. Not quite bittersweet, but close.
Peter Cushing ruled At the Earth's Core. 'You can't mesmerize me... I'm British!'
My favourite line from Rollerball: Game? This was never meant to be a game! Ever!
he had a very similar line in another film. I can't remember the title but it was set on a train during Victorian times and involved an alien parasite that had the ability to possess people. In one scene, one of the main characters remarks that the alien being could be controlling any one of the passengers, and turning to Peter Cushing and his associates "even you."
Peter Cushing's reply: "Us? But we're British!"
@@BilldeSarse Horror Express?
In the late 1980s or 1990s there was a variant on this line.
No sex... We're British!
@@brunozeigerts6379 That's the one!
That’s right, we can’t be mesmerised!🇬🇧
One I liked from around then is Capricorn ♑ One.
It’s a classic. The action still holds.
I watched it recently and it holds up extremely well. Only the rocket 🚀 and lunar lander look out of place for a Mars mission.
IMHO the freezing robot in Logan's Run is more funny than scary nowadays.
Box. "Proteins from the sea!". RIP Roscoe Lee Browne.
Yes... but the disrobing part...
@@jcg9998 Yes, this always works ;D
It was funny to me at the time.
good old classics
Those miniatures in logan's run do NOT HOLD UP lol
The models are OK for the most part, but the water spoils it.
@@BilldeSarse They began to shoot models with a macro lens. Without it they look just like miniatures, so agree they they don't hold up.
Jenny holds up, though.
Most modern CGI is rushed and cheap, and it shows. I'd rather watch a practical effect than bad CGI.
of course it holds up
man fighting for survival in a post apocalyptic virus ridden world and Charlton Heston to boot
Any movie made in the 70's is better than today's crap.
It was a golden age of cinema
At the Earths Core, with loads of extras from Space 1999 and bigger plot holes that even the Iron Mole couldn’t match.
Of 'those' films, 'The Land that Time Forgot' was much better... 'The People that Time Forgot' was terrible.
My Dr. took me off Soylent Green it gives me gas😂.
"Soylent Green....IS PEEEOPLE!" Did you guess that plot twist long before Charlton did? Still a great film though.
I'm not fond of the taste. A bit bland, IMHO.
Solent Red for vegetarians
C'mon, it's just the Green New Deal
In typical LucasFilm fashion, THX1138 had a lot of new (questionable) footage on it recent video release. The original cut is superior.
Still crap
Land that Time Forgot.
Dark Star
If you're going to mention Starcrash, why not Message from Space?
Message from space?
That Japanese tokusatsu kinda genre ? With a wokie kinda species as a navigator and side kick to boot..
Or something entirely different movie albeit the title being similar.. ?
@@dureteheiral1793 Not sure. There was a movie Message from Space with Vic Morrow where an alien race is subjugated by another and sends magical walnuts across space looking for heroes.(no, seriously!) Cheesy effects, rather insipid story... but kind of a fun watch.
It's on RUclips.
@@brunozeigerts6379 😂😂 yeah different movie entirely all right..
Thats some ideas right there 'magical walnuts across the space' 😂😂 my tummy got hurts reading this line..
Right, that movie is at least fun to watch..
Darkstar a classic although my sons still clown me for watching it now and again , Let there be light
Andromeda Strain was great but too slow paced for modern audiences.
It actually had a story. Today's audience only wants a no brainer situation with effects.
Loved Andromeda Strain
It also had some reasonably decent science that was relatable. 🧪
@@Politano1955Speak for yourself lol.
Today's gen have poor attention spans. They want it in 10 minutes. Hahaha 😂
THX1138 is still one of my fav sf movies. I rewatched it recently and it is still very watchable. Starcrash: David Hasselhoff with lightsaber and eyeliner. nuff said. Soylent green is up there with gems like Alien and Forbidden planet. Isn't Galaxina from the 70s? It's been quite a while since I wathced it, but so bad that it's good rings a bell there.
The society portrayed in THX1138 is so bleak and sterile, it's easy to forget that it was filmed in colour.
Agree with the ones I’ve seen except At The Earths Core. That doesn’t hold up at all. It’s awful.
Yes, I watched it a few weeks ago. It really is terrible.
It makes the same team's The Land that Time Forgot look like a masterpiece compared, which it is too...
Especially considering all that's been learned about the Earth since then, and it's make up.
I think Future World’ was a “made for” as in made for television movie. Good list though not necessarily exhaustive.
I'm not sure about LOGAN'S RUN: It winds up rather implausibly easily
It's still good.
It's more the journey than the destination in that one.
Only one film out of the list I have not seen is 'Starcrash'.
I think it's available to watch on yt. Possibly in HD (which, frankly, is a terrible idea), but search it out!
Waste of time cringy Star Wars rip-off. Consider yourself lucky.
There's nothing good about it other a ravishing beauty and Marjoe Gortner having a lot of fun. Otherwise, it's just too cheap a movie. Surprised it's in the list.
Solaris (1972). Just skip the soporific driving scene.
No Stalker?
The remake is better.
Starcrash didn't even work in the '70s. It only had 1 good point, check the cast, one talented actor.
silent running was boring
Poorly written to such an extent that music is used to pad-out the plot.
The Andromeda strain
EPIC!
C'est sûrement mon préféré.
Un autre "danger planète inconnue"
"la grande menace"
Now that is an amazing movie ! Better than most modern SCI FI movies .
Good one, thanks for adding it. I watched it as a kid in the 70-ies, scared the s*it out of me.
Was going to say this. Great movie
Could also have included:
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Demon Seed
absolutely! 👍
Phase IV
I just watched Forbin Project again three days ago. It’s still a great movie with some hard hitting moments.
Demon Seed definitely
The ending of Silent Running just chokes me up every time. Joan Baez singing in the sun is like turning on an emotional faucet.
Though it was a comedy and parody, I would add Woody Allen’s Sleeper. Robotics, cloning, AI.
I'm always amazed when solid drama actors turn out to be fine comedic actors.
Like Diane Keaton (Love and Death, Sleeper) and Gene Hackman (Young Frankenstein, Superman).
"Logan's Run" (1976)
"Silent Running" (1972)
"Soylent Green" (1973)
"Omega Man" (1971)
"At the Earth's Core" (1976)
"The Asphyx" (1972)
"Rollerball" (1975)
"Westworld" (1973)
"Futureworld" (1976)
"THX 1138" (1971)
"Damnation Alley" (1977)
"Starcrash" (1978)
My dad took me to see Westworld for my 12th birthday.
I loved it. I didn't really understand the robot hookers. But overall it was brilliant.
Thanks dad!
You forgot Demon seed 1977
No seventies sci-fi collection is complete without John Boorman’s 1974 Zardoz. Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, dystopia, Beethoven’s Seventh: It’s got it all!
Surprised that Dark Star (1974) is not on the list. It was a John Carpenter low budget sci-fi comedy that is still very watchable.
Logan’s run, what a film. Mark this day , computer controlled society is coming, AI is already here. You have been warned.
I am surprised that Close Encounters of the Third Kind wasn't brought up.
Good show but don't use Rotten tomatoes's scores as everyone knows they are bought by corporations...
Dark Star anyone?
Assumed it would be there. Hugely influential on later movies such as Alien
Definitely.
Don't forget the nenacing beachball alien
What a first sentence....."Lets be real"..............ok, how about we start with your voice?
Lots of 1970's sci fi movies are way better than todays garbage . 1070's SCI FI movies are awesome
Okay, I'm going to vote that At The Earth's Core should not be on the list of working in 2024. Maybe replace it with Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Here’s something from 1970s Sci-Fi that definitely does NOT hold up: The Tesla Cyber Truck.
Elon got the idea for the Cyber Truck from the vehicles in Damnation Alley. True story.
Tragic that all these films seem to have given lunatics an idea of how the world should be and now we see it!
Omega Man always spooked me out, why isn’t West World on there?
It was.
Damnation Alley with George Peppard, Paul Winfield and a very young Jan Michael Vincent ❤❤❤
And some of the worst effects ever, which were only beaten for "badness" by "The Giant Spider Invasion".
Westworld's Gunslinger was Arnie's inspirado for the Terminator. Silent Running's philosophy and aesthetic inspired 'WALL-E', and the aesthetic (not so much the philosophy) also influenced MST3K.
9:05 "All they can do is annoy you into submission." ~George Lucas in the commentary to 'THX-1138'
9:47 Ackchyually, it came out a couple of years before Mad Max, so maybe we should think of it as "the Damnation Alley aesthetic" instead of "the Mad Max aesthetic."
You missed adding Time After Time from 1979? The best time travel movie ever. Sorry, can't upvote.
I grew up watching most of these films. Thank you for bringing them back to light. I, too, believe they have stood the test of time very well.
First time I hear about "at the Earth's core", and it is clearly based on the Pellucidar novels of E.R. Buroughs, so of course I have to find it !
“The Asphyx” is a favorite of mine. Should definitely watch that one.
Absolutely, an underrated gem.
As a huge ERB fan, I found At The Earth's Core to be unbelievably disappointing. That one I can't ever watch again.
"rollerball" est formidable.
Les films SF de cette période étaient très intelligents.
Dans les années 60 : "le jour où la terre pris feu".
I've never seen it again but in the late 60's I saw a move that was called "ZPG" or zero population growth.
The Terrminal Man
Omega Man, Soylent Green and Planet of the Apes. Charlton Heston chose Sci Fi as his defining genre in the 70's. In the same way as Burt Lancaster chose gritty, bloody, westerns, Valdez is Coming, Ulzanas Raid and Lawman.
Planet of the Apes was made in 1968 though.
The most important is Soylent Green
Out of all the sci-fi stories that dramatize the consequences of cheating death, The Asphyx may be most unique.
What about DEMON SEED? That was always a favourite of mine.
I remember that film....Julie Christie, circa 1978....tense film.
Soylent Green was ahead of its time in that there was an option for the elderly to make their own decision regarding end of life. Edgar G Robinsons character as the father of the main character decides he's done, old and wants no more of the world he endured, goes to a place where he has the choice of music, visuals all in the comfort of his choosing as he eventually is dosed with drugs to slowly and humanely put him to sleep forever, and expire. If there was someway to make that happen for alzheimer's individuals, or any terminal people would be something I would be interested in. Of course nobody wants to be turned into food .... but that one part always stuck with me.
1. 1976 - Logan's Run
2. 1972 - Silent Running
3. 1973 - Soylent Green
4. 1971 - Omega Man
5. 1976 - At the Earth's Core
6. 1972 - Asphyx
7. 1975 - Rollerball
8. 1973 - Westworld
9. 1976 - Futureworld
10. 1971 - THX 1138
11. 1977 - Damnation Alley
12. 1978 - Starcrash
My favorite here was Soylent Green, although there's some really decent films here.
You could have mentioned that one of the stars in "At the Earth's Core" also starred in "Starcrash". IMO, the only reason to watch either movie, Caroline Munro.
As if she's to everyone's taste.
Interesting that Michael Crichton ripped himself off to write "Jurassic Park," using generically engineered dinosaurs instead of the androids of "Westworld." The relentless pursuit by Yul Brenner's cowboy seems to have in turn inspired part of "The Terminator." A pity they limited themselves to just the 1970s, as Charlton Heston's science-fiction trilogy started with "Planet Of The Apes" in 1968, the same year as "2001: A Space Odyssey." That's when the trend of thoughtful, adult science-fiction films really began, carrying forward all the way to "Alien," and even, I would argue, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," as its story, tone, and presentation is radically different than any of the sequels.
In the thumbnail pic that big red light is an infrared illuminator. To the unaided eye it is actually quite dim, but bright in the infrared as seen through that era's infrared night-vision scopes, one of which can seen just below the illuminator. In the 1970s and late 60s these were often featured in magazine ads for military-surplus gear and could be had for a song.
The big problem with them of course was that if the enemy _also_ had that tech, your IR-bright illuminator at night told them exactly where to shoot: at you!
This spurred the development of so-called 'starlight scopes' which literally depend on starlight and other faint ambient sources, and so didn't require an illuminator.
Andromeda Strain
The omega man is one of my favourite films ever, it’s better than the will smith version
I grew up in the "cheesy movie era" (I'm 62 at this writing) and it all comes down to the story. Sirius has a classics radio show channel peppered with some old Sci Fi shows, and some stories were written by the greats like Ray Bradberry - I highly recommend it, as there are stories that are relevant today. The original "Outer Limits" was similarly all about the story, most of which stand the test of time (the animation, not so much). IMO, the best of this list in terms of originality was "West World", although "Soylent Green" and "Silent Running" are close behind.
Not a 1970s movie this movie came out in 1984. Grig in the last star fighter has an i phone 23 years before they really came out in 2007
I grew up in the 1970s, so this was a nice chunck of what I saw in the movies. When I was 11 or so, my mother and her sister used to take us along to see R rated movies almost every week. It was a great experience.
One big problem with "Soylent Green", it was supposed to happen two years ago.
If you're eating processed food in 2024 you really can't trust the ingredients.
The Omega man scared the jeepers out of me when first saw it in the 70s.
My kids saw it in the 90s and one of them got scared because he thought they were in his closet😂😂😂
The decade ended with the ultimate sci-fi prize: *ALIEN* ✨🏆✨
Roller Ball!
Silent Running!
Westworld!
The Omega Man!
The 70's film makers had a handle on dystopia that has never been beaten!
Man I hate AI voices!!!
Starcrash was one of the worst movies I saw at the cinema back in 1978. I would've walked out but for Caroline Munro in the lead role.
I'm am always moved when Thorn and Sol have a meal of a few paltry beef and veggies and fruit and act like it is a feast fit for kings. It makes me appreciate what I have.
I grew up late 60s 70s and love to watch these movies. And so do my kids😂
StarCrash was so bad it's TERRIBLE. Never want to see it again.
Silent Running is too preachy for my taste.
Het, where is A Clockwork Orange?
*¡OverAll rotten tomatoes 🍅 lost integrity!*
Star Crash I'd only list as a guilty pleasure.
Never knew that in the book the 'cut off' age was 21.
I thought it had something to do with Charlton Heston's character saying "Don't trust anyone over 30." in the original Planet of the Apes.
In "A Clockwork Orange" , 1971...Alex is only 15, in the original book by Anthony Burgess....published in 1962....it was more science fiction than social commentary....but the two go together, anyway.
@@gerhardthen8851 The violent rape did happen to the author's wife when his home was invaded by three AWOL American GIs.
So I guess he got that off his chest.
Star crash? Really? That rubbish movie?
Zardoz???
Who cares about Haselhoff in Star Crash; it’s Carolyn Munro we went to see the film for.
Maybe who YOU went to see Carolyn, but you're not everyone. Others have other tastes, fortunately.
Yeah, she's the only reason to watch it.
》prof.brunotsouza 》(🌎⚙️🌍⚙️🌏)
No Zardoz!?
Sean Connery was vastly overrated, IMHO.
New York City is in chaos but not because of overpopulation.
Because of Democrats in charge.
How can you say most of these films shouldn't work after fifty years? 🤔
It's like you picking the best films of the 1970s and going full clickbait in this video's title. 🙄
The Andromeda Strain 1971, Where Have All The People Gone 1974.
This video really needs a "spoiler" alert, especially for Soylent Green! You're kind of giving away the house with that clip!
You forgot a few - "A Boy and His Dog" (1975) Don Johnson and Jason Robards. "Collosus : The Forbin Project" (1970) - Based on the novel "Colossus" by D.F. Jones. "Dark Star" (Directed by John Carpenter). "Death Race 2000" (???). "Journey to the Far Side of the Sun (Doppelganger) (1969 - close enough). "SOLARIS" (1972) NOT the remake). "The Andromeda Strain" (1971) Based on Michael Crichton's novel
I was 10 when my brother took me to see Soylent Green and I was stunned. Edward G. Robinson died about three months after filming was completed. Beethoven's 6th Symphony has always had a special place in my heart after seeing that movie. I was probably too young for this movie but it was a kick to my brain that I needed at the time.
I was gonna say Robinson Crusoe on Mars, but i checked, and its from 1964! 😅 Still good and plausible, especially now after theyve found rocks that made oxygen.