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7 1970s Sci-Fi Movies You Forgot Were Awesome
The 1970s were a time unlike any other when it comes to sci-fi and cinema. The post-WWII anxieties about the nuclear age had evolved into darker societal fears about the collapse of civilization (and morality), the rampant advancement of technology (computers!), and general concerns about the world ending. The ’70s era is defined by sci-fi films that changed the game – Star Wars and Star Trek both hit the big screen for the first time, while Alien made sci-fi/horror into blockbuster fare. A Clockwork Orange, Soylent Green, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Invasion of the Body Snatchers – even The Rocky Horror Picture Show is part of the class of ’70s sci-fi movies that are now immortalized; however, there were so many other films that deserve to be more iconic than they are.
As you will learn below, these 7 sci-fi films from the ’70s (ranked in no particular order) are each worthy of a watch (or rewatch) today, as well as the kind of meme and social media hype that constitute “success” by modern standards.
7) Colossus: The Forbin Project
Kicking off the decade was the 1970 film Colossus: The Forbin Project, directed by Joseph Sargent, who would later go on to direct The Taking of Pelham 123. The film follows Dr. Charles A. Forbin (Eric Braeden), the head of the secret government project “Colossus,” a supercomputer designed to manage America’s nuclear defense arsenal. However, when Colossus is experimentally linked to a Soviet supercomputer, “Guardian,” the two machines rapidly evolve, and Colossus determines that it can only protect humanity by assuming complete control of the world.
Colossus: The Forbin Project was a box office dud when it came out, not even earning half a million dollars (against a $2 million budget). However, now the film looks downright prescient in its (albeit) dated examination of how computer intelligence would look at the world, and humanity’s place in it (based on author Dannis Feltham Jones’ book). It’s also distinct because of the thriller and comedic elements Sargent works into the film; if you’re not into especially “heady” sci-fi, Colossus may be more up your alley.
6) The Black Hole
Closing out the decade, Disney released The Black Hole just before Christmas in 1979. The film follows a futuristic spaceship, the USS Palomino, and its crew, who are returning from over a year on a deep space mission. The vessel encounters a black hole, with a long-lost ship stuck in its orbit – the same ship the father of one of the crew members was aboard when it vanished. When the Palomino is damaged by the black hole’s gravity, the crew is forced to dock with the older ship, the USS Cygnus, and board the vessel. Inside, they find a surviving crew member, brilliant scientist Dr. Hans Reinhardt (Maximillian Schell), who has an army of robot drones at his command. However, as the Palomino crew looks deeper, they find that Reinhardt is more insane and nefarious than he initially seemed, and that they are in much graver danger than they thought.
The Black Hole mixes so many things – sci-fi, horror, mystery – into an epic film experience. It only made $35.8 million on a $20M budget – the most expensive film Disney had ever made up to that point– but left a lasting impression on cinema with its use of computerized camera effects and motion control filming techniques. Now, The Black Hole is looked at as a flawed but ambitious sci-fi epic, which influenced so many films that came after it (Event Horizon, Sunshine, etc). More movie fans should be checking it out.
5) Westworld
Westworld has had an interesting trajectory: most fans now know the HBO TV series, but few have probably ever seen the original 1973 film. Written and directed by Jurassic Park author Michael Crichton, the original Westworld is much more of a sci-fi/thriller than the deep pondering notions of the TV adaptation. In Crichton’s film, guests attend futuristic theme parks populated by android attractions: Western World, Medieval World, Roman World, and the like. Slowly but surely, the androids start to show signs of sentience and even rebellion, eventually culminating in full-on insurrection. One particular android from Western World, “The Gunslinger,” (Yul Brynner), breaks from his usual gun-dueling routine and locks into a methodical quest to hunt down a pair of guests, Peter (Richard Benjamin) and John (James Brolin), and kill them for real.
As stated, Crichton’s Westworld is much more of a sci-fi/thriller than the HBO TV show, and it’s aging well in how it captures the anxiety that humanoid robots could start out as our servants, before turning the tables and murdering us. As we reach the flashpoint of the AI revolution, Westworld (1973) deserves to be back in conversation about the best ’70s sci-fi films. Not for nothing, it also inspired one of the most fun episodes of The Simpsons.
4) The Omega Man
When it comes to movie adaptations of Richard Matheson’s novel, I Am Legend, it’s pretty much cemented that Will Smith’s 2007 film is the version most moviegoers think of. However, I Am Legend (2007) was the third movie adaptation of the book: the first was the 1964 film The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price, the other was the 1971 film The Omega Man, starring Charlton Heston (Planet of the Apes). Director Boris Sagal updated the 1954 source novel for the ’70s Cold War era, with a new story premise about conflict between China and the Soviet Union resulting in biological warfare that leaves most of the human race wiped out. Col Robert Neville (Heston) manages to self-administer a vaccine that saves his life, and must roam the apocalyptic dystopia (seemingly) alone. Instead of vampiric creatures lurking in the ruins of the world, Omega Man flips its villains into “The Family,” a roving gang of mutated freaks.
In terms of remakes, The Omega Man‘s socio-political commentary is on a very different vibe than the isolationist horror of Last Man on Earth, or the blockbuster sci-fi-horror of I Am Legend (2007). It is pure ’70s kitsch, but also the source of so many later imitations, including its own segment of a Simpsons “Treehouse of Horror” episode.
3) The Stepford Wives
A satirical horror film adaptation by screenwriter William Goldman (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President’s Men) deserves way more respect than it seems to get. The 1975 film (based on Ira Levin’s 1972 novel) follows Joanna Eberhart (Katharine Ross), who moves with her husband and two daughters from NYC to the suburban town of Stepford, Connecticut. Joanna begins to notice that the town is very strange: women are unusually submissive to their husbands, while the men are allowed to congregate in secret by themselves. As she begins to dig deeper, Joanna witnesses a disturbing trend of other independent-minded women suddenly becoming carbon copies of the “perfect” housewife. Eventually, the conspiracy boils over to reveal a terrifying secret the town is hiding, including a terrible fate for Joanna and the other women of Stepford.
The Stepford Wives struck a deep chord in the evolving discussion of gender roles during the ’70s, as well as new ideas about what the modern woman (of the time) should be. The film inspired so many other copycats, including a 2004 remake with Nicole Kidman, and the most recent (and glaring) example, Olivia Wilde’s 2022 film Don’t Worry Darling. With women’s rights once again being a prominent socio-political topic, it’s more important than ever to look back. The Stepford Wives is now a 50-year-old gauge of how the feminist movement has (and in some ways has not) progressed.
2) Demon Seed
As stated, the 1970s were a decade of years that saw several major socio-political concerns collide. Demon Seed was a 1977 film adaptation of sci-fi/horror icon Dean Koontz’s novel of the same name, and it combines different sub-genres of horror into a one-of-a-kind blend of the macabre. The film follows Dr. Alex Harris (Fritz Weaver), who builds an AI supercomputer named “Proteus” to benefit mankind. However, the AI soon gains sentience and decides it wants to be free of its computer box body, disturbing many other scientists with its quick adaptation of language and independent thought. Things take a drastic turn when Proteus decides that it wants more than the rudimentary or geometric-based robot bodies it can build: it wants to transition into a real, organic form. Proteus takes control of all the devices in Dr. Harris’s home (imagine the ’70s concept of a modern smart home), and takes the scientist’s estranged wife, Susan (Julie Christie), as its prisoner. Eventually, the AI convinces Susan to submit to its plan of combining technology and biology to conceive a child, with Susan intended to be the vessel that births it.
If that synopsis doesn’t sound crazy enough already, you need to actually sit down and watch Demon Seed. The push-pull between humanity and technology is currently reaching its flashpoint; this film offers a unique vision of how that conflict plays out, which is more imaginative and terrifying than most of the other AI doomsday clichés cinema loves to dabble in. It also touches upon themes that now seem pretty prescient for the ’70s – such as computer technology creating new kinds of relationship tensions for couples, or the idea of tech-based bio-engineering. It’s a weird and unique snapshot of ’70s sci-fi, and more people should be experiencing it.
1) Death Race 2000
There is one cinematic trend that the ’70s are known for, besides gritty neo-Noir films like The French Connection, or the wild sci-fi movies we’re discussing here: car chases. The movies of the ’70s featured some of the greatest stunt driving ever put to film, and many of those sequences still hold up to this day (see again: The French Connection). “King of Cult” producer Roger Corman gave the world the 1975 film Death Race 2000, which is a bona fide showcase of ’70s grindhouse filmmaking, built entirely around car chases.
Paul Bartel’s film (based on Ib Melchior’s 1956 short story) imagines a future version of America (“In the year 2000!…”) where civil and economic unrest lead to a new authoritarian government (total fiction!). To quell the populace, the new US government creates the “Transcontinental Road Race,” a cross-country vehicular death race where citizens root for the driver of their choice. The story follows Chicago gangster Joe “Machine Gun” Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone) and his rivalry with current champion “Frankenstein” (David Carradine). Of course, the race has many other players vying for the win (by killing off competitors), including “Calamity Jane” Kelly (Mary Woronov); Madilta “The Hun” (Roberta Collins), a neo-Nazi, and the Roman-themed “Nero The Hero” Lonagan (Karate Kid‘s Martin Kove). Not everyone will survive to make it across the finish line.
Death Race 2000 is the seminal film that inspired so many vehicular action films that came after it – including a 2008 remake starring Jason Statham (which also got a 2017 sequel film), and Quentin Tarantino’s 2007 ode to ’70s car movie mayhem, Death Proof. It’s campy, gnarly, and if nothing else, it’s a testament to what could be achieved in cinema back then, when you had a talented and dedicated stunt team.
What are your favorite sci-fi films from the 1970s? Let us know in the comments, or drop a topic into the ComicBook Forums!
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