You have excellent taste. I agreed with nearly all your selections. My cousin, Farrah Fawcett played Holly. It was a very small role, but at least a speaking part. Michael York had seen her playing tennis and insisted Michael Anderson cast her immediately. He referred to her as "... a blonde vision of loveliness." He was right.
Michael York and that girl he ran with was the real star. That Actress looked great in that mini skirt costume. I think she was in American Werewolf in London, also ????
"Silent Running" was actually shown by my teacher in our Fifth Grade Science class back in late 1972 or early 1973. My compliments to him - he was a great teacher and this movie had a profound effect on us kids.
While she wore tight and revealing outfits she was not a voluptuous woman. Instead, she was very feminine and that I think was her most attractive aspect.
This statement is so true it hurts. My god that show had me glued to the TV -- sci fi, robots, space ships, and scantly clad hot 70s babes. I think I wasn't yet 10 at the time... which means it very well could've induced puberty. What an era of movies and TV the mid-70s to 1999. We had no idea that they planned to flush it all down the tubes for some half-baked political fantasy that destroys everything it touches. You can make art when you can no longer look for beauty in the world.
I'm shocked, SHOCKED you didn't have Soylent Green on your list. If you have Rollerball (and you must!) then you have to have Soylent Green. Here's my list of notable 1970s Sci-Fi epics... 1970: Night Slaves, No Blade of Grass. 1971: A Clockwork Orange, Andromeda Strain, Earth II, Omega Man. 1972: The People, Solyaris (Rus.) 1973: Genesis II, Sleeper, The Stranger, World on a Wire. 1974: Planet Earth, The Terminal Man, Where Have all the People Gone?, Young Frankenstein. 1975: Strange New World, Stepford Wives. 1977: Close Encounters, Damnation Alley. 1978: Capricorn One. 1979: Alien, Mad Max. Thank you.
Mad Max came AFTER Star Wars, doesn't really belong on this list. Soylent Green - it's AMAZING this was missed, and "Make Room Make Room" that it was fairly closely adopted from was a very good novel by Harrison as well. Andromeda Strain I don't think is "forgotten" - it was TOO BIG at the time, and deservedly so. Arguably Crichton's best novel, and an excellent adaptation (most of his novels seem to have been written TO be adopted). To the other commenter with "Collosus" - another good adaptation of a good novel, though the sequels to the novel weren't as good.
Silent Running was one of the greatest movies ever produced. It is also the first movie in which the viewer develops feelings for the three robots that take on human traits.
Bruce Dern was filming silent running, and John Wayne the Cowboys movie simultaneously. Scheduling errors, conflicted, delaying both movies overall but not by much. Some of the scenes in silent running looked, hurried and rushed because they were. It wasn’t a lot of time to do multiple takes of certain scenes because Bruce Durn had to leave and go out to the set of the Cowboys. It is said that John Wayne told Bruce D that I hope your movie silent running does good because America is going to hate you for killing me in this movie. John Wayne only died in a small handful of his movies and Bruce D killed him in the Cowboys.
Did you watch the Logan's run TV series? How about the planet of the apes TV series? Both excellent, if low budget a lot of the time. But good writing for the most part.
Awesome list. I remember watching Silent Running with my father and him being so proud that there were containers on the ship with the Dow Chemical logo as we lived in the city of that company's origin and he worked there his whole life. When I started playing "No Man's Sky" I built a low-orbit base that looked like the Valley Forge. And I remember going to the theater to see Buck Rogers. It was a shame they changed the format of the tv show after the first season.
I've never seen Laserblast, but very familiar with all the others. Great list, thanks for sharing - and I think it's time for me to watch a few of these again!
@Ron4885 Yes i cried because the main character of Silent Running is trying to save the pods but some toolbag says that he has to destroy them. And then when one of the robots gets killed that is sad.
What made the 1970s Sci-Fi great was prior to 1977, it was made by nerds for nerds. People knew they would be lucky to make their money back, and often had a tight budget. After Star Wars, it was filled with big studios trying to cash in, and were throwing money at people who did not care about or like Sci-Fi.
Idunno, a lot of these movies are made by cool guys pretending to be counter culture and looking for ways to get actresses to take their tops off. Lucas and Spielberg are two of the nerdiest people ever.
1970s was a great decade for sci-fi movies but the 1980s probably topped it. - Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - The Andromeda Strain (1971) - The Omega Man (1971) - A Clockwork Orange (1971) - Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) - Solaris (1972) - Fantastic Planet (1973) - Soylent Green (1973) - Westworld (1973) - Dark Star (1974) - Zardoz (1974) - A Boy and His Dog (1975) - Rollerball (1975) - The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976) - Logan’s Run (1976) - Demon Seed (1977) - Star Wars (1977) - Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) - Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) - Stalker (1979) - Time after Time (1979) - Mad Max (1979) - Alien (1979) - Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980) - Altered States (1980) - Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982) - Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982) - Blade Runner (1982) - The Thing (1982) - E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Krull (1983) - Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983) - The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) - Dune (1984) - Starman (1984) - Terminator (1984) - Back to the Future (1985) - Enemy Mine (1985) - Brazil (1985) - Aliens (1986) - The Fly (1986) - RoboCop (1987) - Predator (1987) - They Live (1988) - The Abyss (1989)
My youth was a hair behind yours very much the same. I watched all these on television as I was too young (for the most part) to see these in the theater, but these were the movies that had me glued to the set when they aired. Sunday night was usually the best time for the latest big movie to be aired for the first time and I would just flip through the major networks to see if I was gonna get lucky or stuck with a dud (it was the one time during the week I WOULDN'T consult the TV guide because I wanted to be surprised!). There was nothing better than seeing a movie come on that you'd never heard of and getting a gem!
@@zacmumblethunder7466 Curiously enough, the music for "Silent Running" was created by Peter Shickle (sp?), the man who "discovered" the classical music parodies of PDQ Bach. Worth checking out if you can find any of his albums like "The Stoned Guest".
Seen them all bar 2, Laserblast and slaughter-house-5. Rollerball is one of my favourite films, Silent Running is a very good film that showed the eco disasters caused by humanity long before anyone else thought it would ever happen and the robots were fantastic characters. Also, liked logans run as a distopian future and the Yul Brunner Westworld is the best version that was made. The man that fell to earth is a very strange film and as you say, he sucummbed to humanaties worst dispair where he forgot about his own family in the end. Good selection of movies that I think still stand up today, also not forgetting invasion of the body snatchers!
@@cliveapps7105 The film censors (UK) cut most of the scene of the ED209 boardroom incident, they made it so much worse (as in violent) than if they had left the original scene in. Not seen Future World for a long time, looking up the synopsis I then remembered it. Will have to get round to watching them both again.
Great video. I remember in the early 80s when my family got our first VCR my dad rented Silent Running and made it out first movie night. Had a huge impact on me.
I believe you are mistaken when you say that there is unused footage from 2001 used in Silent Running. In the book, The Lost Worlds of 2001, which details how much of 2001 was made, it talks about the fact that the book has Discovery One going to Saturn, but the movie shows it going to Jupiter. This was because Douglas Trumbull (who directed Silent Running) created the special effects for 2001 and did several tests trying to create Saturn using his slit scan camera, but ultimately wasn't happy with the way the rings appeared in his footage. Following the release of 2001 he continued to work on the technique until he was satisfied with the result and that footage was used in Silent Running.
I grew up in the 1970s, and remember all of these well. Look, as one who experienced the shock and awe of seeing Star Wars without having any idea what it was about, it clearly stands alone. But, as you point out, these other excellent movies are worth celebrating as well.
The 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers will always be my favorite adaptation of this story. It was an excellent film way ahead of its time. The same can be said about the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds.
@@jimbruton9482 The visuals in Spielberg's 2005 _War Of The Worlds_ remake were far better- but I hated the acting performances from the main characters (even Tim Robbins) and the dialogue felt completely unnatural. ...and don't even get me *started* on everything wrong with the 2008 version of _The Day The Earth Stood Still_
As a man of a certain age, I can confirm your observation on Erin Gray. I saw that in the theater and never forgot. They completely redid the title sequence for television but I never forgot ..
I've seen Westworld, Rollerball, Logan's Run, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, and Buck Rogers. They were all worth seeing. The others, other than Laserblast, are on my to-do list.
Silent Running was the second science fiction movie that I saw in the theater after 2001 and I am a big fan of science fiction have been ever since and will never change
It's worth noting that the version of THX-1138 available now, is a different version than the 1971 version, and the version that was released in theaters in 1977 (and later on home media). In 2004 a Director's Cut was released on DVD with updated special effects, and extending some scenes. The 1977 version was never released on DVD as far as I know, and is only available on VHS and Laserdisc.
@@somercet1 No. I have the original Star War Trilogy on DVD with actor Sebastian Shaw as a force ghost at the end. They were released alongside the 'Special Edition' DVDs in the UK, in 2004.
Agreed. I thought it might be misleading to show these CG scenes in a 70s context, but in light of what you said it makes sense, that this is all that's available.
THANK YOU! I remember seeing parts of silent running years ago on some random TV station in the middle of night. In the past year I've got into watching old sci-fi. I remembered the movie but didn't know the name or even how to search for it
If you really want a forgotten/overlooked Scifi movie from the 70's, they don't seem to get more overlooked than Colossus: The Forbin Project. Another movie that is interesting (if a bit slow) is Phase IV. And of course there is The Andromeda Strain.
Your mentioning of Phase IV is making me question whether I should dump a load of Anti-Ant Antkill where my house connects to the drive in case it leads to formicidae retribution.....
@@rantingoldgit5125 Do what I did when ants started invading my house. I had a serious word with them and told them that they can live in the garden with my blessing and I won't disturb them. But if they come into the house then they will regret it. Madness, of course. But it actually worked.
I saw that on TV and thought it was brilliant. Got the DVD years later and although I still enjoyed it greatly, there was something not quite right about it. Spoiler alert Later still, I found out that when it was shown on TV, the technician who prepared it for broadcast saw the scene where the labels in the bathroom were reversed and thought that the film had been flipped for some reason. So he flipped it back. This meant that we had no idea why Roy Thinnes was so freaked out by the labels, making the discovery that he was on a mirror image Earth more of a shock. Of course, the DVD carried the original version.
Silent running is a great film. I would definitely recommend. It's really well directed and the effects are brilliant for the time. I never knew about the 2001 outtakes, which explains the quality.
@@Nautilus1972 I guess it depends on what you define as a science fiction movie. They're not all aliens and interstellar travel. I'd say Jurassic Park was sci-fi as well.
@@GiantFreakinRobot “Too well known”...? So I guess this really isn’t a list of best sci-fi movies; it’s merely a list of movies you want to talk about.
@@johnlacey3857 You need to read the fine print. It states that these forgotten movies are worth checking out. It was avoiding movies that haven't been forgotten.
One glaring omission from the list is 1972's ZPG - Zero population growth starring Oliver Reid, i saw it as a young teen and it took me years to find out the name of it then find a copy to watch again. THX 1138 was another one that i saw as a kid and loved the whole idea of society controlled by robots and like ZPG and Logans Run the escape from this control into the unknown.
Nice selection Giant Freakin Robot! Sci Fi matured in cinema (prob'ly) more than any other genre of fiction (Mystery, Romance, Western, War, so-on). I'm thinking because of the greater impact of visuals in Sci Fi vs other genres. And that Sci Fi cinema was able to draw talent that only Sci Fi cinema could. FYI; "David Bowie" was just his stage name, his real name was Ziggy Stardust. A once in a lifetime unique talent!
Nice list, but where is "Dark Star" (1974)?? A John Carpenter movie that combines a foreshadowing of the plot of "Alien" with a climax based on the philosophical idea of phenomenology, all wrapped in some of the most beautifully bleak humor ever filmed, deserves a spot on any list of must-see 1970s SF movies.
I miss the time when movies were a labor of love. These stories were so cerebral, done and acted in absolute excellence. It's unfortunate movie making is no longer an art form but instead a cash pump.
Historical Note on Buck Rogers. Buck first appeared in two novellas in Amazing Stories magazine. The first novella was titled "Armageddon 2419AD" in the August 1928 issue. The second novella was titled "The Air Lords of Han" in the March 1929 issue. The comic strip followed the publication of both stories in Amazing.
I not only remember the theatrical release, I was in the theater. The series had arguably one of the best opening themes, save perhaps Battlestar Galactica . . .
Especially when you realize how much texts and books, when put online, are so often changed. I have a 1959 copy of Tarzan of the Apes. I've also read 3 supposed original copies online and they change most everything. At least the Gutenberg Project hasn't changed it.
You put the case for some of the best Sci fi films pre- STAR WARS very well I always feel the best Sci fi is the social commenting stuff predicting a dystopian future such as- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, WEST WORLD,DEMON SEED, METROPOLIS, THE TIME MACHINE, & Of course ROBOCOP (NO BLADE OF GRASS & LOGAN'S RUN, deserves a mention as well).
love the discotecs in Buck Rodgers and Battle star galactica ... they always show royal style ball room dancing with neon garments or hoola hoops with floor lit panels and strobe lights, you know, you're typical rave !! Great collection of amazing movies I mayve haven't seen two superblast for sure ... or whatever it was called. Thumbs up.
South park did a bit of a time travel double episode that includes references to buck Rogers and other sci fi future worlds. Worth a watch if you are into that type of stuff. All the little nods to the old programs are fun.
Except for slaughterhouse-five, all these Sci-fi shows were my start of the sci-fi journey. Then I started going backwards to War of the World, Day of the Triffiads, The blob, the Day Time Ended, End of The World, The original Day the Earth Stood Still, and so many more.
I saw, as a double feature in the theater, THX 1138 and Zardoz, late 1970s sometime. First time for both, an excellent pairing, two versions of a potential dystopian future, highly recommended.
Slaughterhouse 5 is a great movie than any sci-fi fan would love. THX 1138 and Silent running are more cerebral, and probably wouldn't be enjoyable by action junkies. Can't believe you mentioned Zardoz! What a weird movie. I loved it, but most people seem to think it was silly. I saw all these movies except Laser Blast (Looks like I didn't miss much there.) I enjoyed all of them but Slaughterhouse 5 is the best, and I watch it every 10 years or so.
Erin Gray and spandex were made for each other. Jenny Agutter was really good in Logan's Run, or at least she looked really good in the costumes. I put the blu-ray on my Plex server!
Puberty inducing Erin Grey outfits. As a 1970s kid this could not have been more on target. Anyway, very interesting video and I enjoyed the laughs at the end. I was going to add that you missed, possibly on purpose, "Battle Beyond the Stars." But then I looked it up and it was just outside the 70s, in 1980.
Oh yes. Erin Grey. Absolute mega blast on a malleable young man's mind. Having said that, zardoz is a remarkable film despite the daffy costumes. A group of humans used their godlike supercomputer to effectively make themselves immortal.and find themselves trapped. One of them realises that their only hope lies from outside. The brutal lands in which he can force the rapid evolution of the slave masters who drive the food production. Then, as expected, one of these savages finds his way inside. The effete immortal trap him and study him thinking him no more than a curiosity. But I fact the forced evolution has mean he is in fact smarter stronger than the immortals who have wasted away in their comfort and endless stability. They are bored, with nothing to live for and Zed's intelligence and murderous inclination can free them as planned by arthur at the beginning. Humanity traps itself and has to rely on evolution from outside their little system to rescues themsel. As I said very high concept and really is due multiple watches and ignoring the silly costumes
I watched Zardov in the theater when it came out. They kept putting sean connery in the ads, but I still cannot figure out what the movie was about. The name is supposded to mean Wizardov ozz
The man diaper thing never caught on. Thank god. Perhaps they could rectify this with a little post-production cgi to make it a little easier for people to take seriously.
You have excellent taste. I agreed with nearly all your selections. My cousin, Farrah Fawcett played Holly. It was a very small role, but at least a speaking part. Michael York had seen her playing tennis and insisted Michael Anderson cast her immediately. He referred to her as "... a blonde vision of loveliness." He was right.
Farrah was really your cousin?
Michael York and that girl he ran with was the real star. That Actress looked great in that mini skirt costume. I think she was in American Werewolf in London, also ????
@@DIOSpeedDemon Jenny Agutter, she was also in a great movie called Walkabout.
@@Three_Random_Words So pretty then,,same age as me,, Poor abo boy hanged himself,,
@@Three_Random_Words Don't forget her Role as Roberta (Bobby) in the original version of The Railway Children from 1970
Jenny Agutter as Jesica 6 in Logans Run turned an entire generation of teen age boys in to hardened sci fi fans.
From this film, I knew she was beautiful. And that is a couple decades /before/ I saw she had that nude scene.
Die-Hard
And don't forget An American Werewolf in London.
@@db5823I guess her role in Call the Midwife doesn't have the same effect on the young lads nowadays.
@@ed9121But we're old lads now also. LOL
"Silent Running" was actually shown by my teacher in our Fifth Grade Science class back in late 1972 or early 1973. My compliments to him - he was a great teacher and this movie had a profound effect on us kids.
@@johnmohanmusic I loved the robots Hewey, Dewey and Louie- and Bruce Dern delivered a powerful performance.
(Those 4-wheelers were pretty neat, too!)
That's awesome great teacher 😊
"Erin Gray in a series of puberty-inducing outfits." Well said.
And the naughty space princess ... the outfits were _wild_
While she wore tight and revealing outfits she was not a voluptuous woman. Instead, she was very feminine and that I think was her most attractive aspect.
This statement is so true it hurts. My god that show had me glued to the TV -- sci fi, robots, space ships, and scantly clad hot 70s babes. I think I wasn't yet 10 at the time... which means it very well could've induced puberty.
What an era of movies and TV the mid-70s to 1999. We had no idea that they planned to flush it all down the tubes for some half-baked political fantasy that destroys everything it touches.
You can make art when you can no longer look for beauty in the world.
Erin Gray Just Spectacular and made a man of me 😍
@@gazorpazorp9798agreed she was not THHHHHIIIIIC
As someone who has seen all but one of these movies (I haven't seen Laserblast) I have to say that Silent Running really belongs in the top five.
don't bother seeing it.
LaserBlast truly deserved the roasting it received on MST3K.
Was it included just to see if we were paying attention?
I'm shocked, SHOCKED you didn't have Soylent Green on your list. If you have Rollerball (and you must!) then you have to have Soylent Green. Here's my list of notable 1970s Sci-Fi epics... 1970: Night Slaves, No Blade of Grass. 1971: A Clockwork Orange, Andromeda Strain, Earth II, Omega Man. 1972: The People, Solyaris (Rus.) 1973: Genesis II, Sleeper, The Stranger, World on a Wire. 1974: Planet Earth, The Terminal Man, Where Have all the People Gone?, Young Frankenstein. 1975: Strange New World, Stepford Wives. 1977: Close Encounters, Damnation Alley. 1978: Capricorn One. 1979: Alien, Mad Max. Thank you.
Because Soylent green is people!
I'm shocked that you didn't have A Boy and His Dog (1975) on your list. 😉
@@herrunbekannt7556 LOL, of course and THEY are keeping it quiet.
Perhaps they could have a Part 2
yes yes yes soylent and andromida omega.. you havew a better list! not going down your whole list but aa big agreed
I remember seeing Silent Running for the first time. It was so emotionally stressful, such a hidden(?) gem! Also really liked Logan's Run.
Omega Man - 1971, A boy and his dog - 1975 , Soylent green - 1973, Andromeda strain - 1971, Mad Max - 1979, Death Race 2000 - 1975...
Death Race 2000..yes..Hell to the Yes! Saw it at the drive-in...
Great list!
Colossus the Forbin project (1970)
Mad Max came AFTER Star Wars, doesn't really belong on this list.
Soylent Green - it's AMAZING this was missed, and "Make Room Make Room" that it was fairly closely adopted from was a very good novel by Harrison as well.
Andromeda Strain I don't think is "forgotten" - it was TOO BIG at the time, and deservedly so. Arguably Crichton's best novel, and an excellent adaptation (most of his novels seem to have been written TO be adopted).
To the other commenter with "Collosus" - another good adaptation of a good novel, though the sequels to the novel weren't as good.
Mad Max was the first in a series of movies most of which were filmed in the 1980s so culturally it fits the 1980s better.
Logan's Run & Silent Running were the two that I really liked.
My friend and I wanted the sandman blaster so badly. That and Starbuck's and Apollo's laser pistols from the original BSG.
Silent Running !
@@VKDM8687 Everybody has their own likes & dislikes.
The tv series is quite good, just finished seeing it, shame they canned it after 1 season.
Buck Roger's was only a vehicle for Wilma Deering... omg... my 13 year old self still remembers
Slaughter House 5 was a great excuse to see Valerie Perrine nekkid too... What was that one with Farrah Faucet and Kirk Douglass???
@@ronreyes9910 Saturn 5
@@williamscavone722 I looked it up, it was Saturn 3. From what I remember Farrah's nude scene was the only good thing in the film...
Pamela Hensley as Princess Ardala was _the_ hottie.
Can't beat a 70s sci-fi babe
Puberty inducing outfits....Nailed it! As a prepubescent boy (in the 80s) I couldn't understand why I was so fascinated with Erin Gray. WOW!
You know, you aren't the first to say that and yeah, I totally agree with you.
You were INDUCED, and so was I.
She still looks amazing at 75 y/o.
All I can say is Dark Star should be on this list.
Agree 100%. The omission of "Dark Star" from this list is at best baffling, at worst negligent.
Yup, I got to the end and was 'Wot? NO Dark Star???'
I'm surprised Dark Star didn't make the list. It was the forerunner to another sci-fi classic from the 1970s, Alien.
Saved me the trouble of having to google "astronaught surfs down to earth" to remember the title.
Damn right! A film featuring an alien beachball is got to be right up there.
Silent Running was one of the greatest movies ever produced. It is also the first movie in which the viewer develops feelings for the three robots that take on human traits.
Huey, Dewey, and Louie! I was surprised Disney didn't sue.
Indeed! It was one of the best ever sci-fi films. Bruce Dern was perfect, and nobody could forget Huey, Dewey, and Louis!
Bruce Dern was filming silent running, and John Wayne the Cowboys movie simultaneously.
Scheduling errors, conflicted, delaying both movies overall but not by much.
Some of the scenes in silent running looked, hurried and rushed because they were.
It wasn’t a lot of time to do multiple takes of certain scenes because Bruce Durn had to leave and go out to the set of the Cowboys.
It is said that John Wayne told Bruce D that I hope your movie silent running does good because America is going to hate you for killing me in this movie.
John Wayne only died in a small handful of his movies and Bruce D killed him in the Cowboys.
But you forget Soylent Green.
When the robot "dies" because it's too damaged for him to fix, man, that got me as a little kid.
I'm as old as dirt....I've seen them ALL!!!!! My favorite is Silent Running.
Did you watch the Logan's run TV series? How about the planet of the apes TV series? Both excellent, if low budget a lot of the time. But good writing for the most part.
Silent running love that film I remember watching it with my dad and still listen to it's music so relaxing. Great vid 👍🇬🇧
I absolutely loved Silent Running. Saw it in Kelowna at the drive-in theater. The ending always makes me cry😊
You're living in the ending, dear.
Remarkable. I graduated HS in 1975. I saw each of these on first run. Wonderful time for sci-fi.
Erin Grey was stunning! I used to have dreams of her from the vampire episode. The way they did her makeup for that episode haunted me for ages.
Awesome list. I remember watching Silent Running with my father and him being so proud that there were containers on the ship with the Dow Chemical logo as we lived in the city of that company's origin and he worked there his whole life. When I started playing "No Man's Sky" I built a low-orbit base that looked like the Valley Forge. And I remember going to the theater to see Buck Rogers. It was a shame they changed the format of the tv show after the first season.
I've never seen Laserblast, but very familiar with all the others. Great list, thanks for sharing - and I think it's time for me to watch a few of these again!
Excellent! All Movies from my childhood times...would like to see them again!
For my money, Silent Running, and later, The Quiet Earth are, are two of the best science fiction movies ever made.
Oh the Buck Roger’s robot sound!!!
I had forgotten it!
We went around making that Be Be De Ba dep sound all the time. LoL
THANK YOU!!! 😛🥰
OK Buck 🤖
Silent running is a personal favourite of mine. I tend to rewatch it every few years.
I cannot watch Silent Running to this day without crying.
Really, Kyle, I'll watch this then. I haven't seen it yet. I love these lists. It's how I find movies to see.
@Ron4885 Yes i cried because the main character of Silent Running is trying to save the pods but some toolbag says that he has to destroy them. And then when one of the robots gets killed that is sad.
@kyle47922 I'll watch it, too.
Shoulda been #1.
Wonderful film .
9:15 Ah, the iconic Fort Worth Water Gardens. Feels so classic when you are there, it fits into futuristic pieces seamlessly.
Thank you for including Silent Running. I haven't forgotten it.
Silent Running with Bruce Dern. Quite an excellent movie from the '70's. Saw it in the theater when I was 10 and it still holds up.
bruce gazing in awe at the shrubbery
1980 Flash Gordon! With Queen'a Sound Track. 1978 version of Battlestar Galactica.
You are fantastic!! Keep up the Great Work!!
The Queen soundtrack was a perfect fit for Flash Gordon
What made the 1970s Sci-Fi great was prior to 1977, it was made by nerds for nerds. People knew they would be lucky to make their money back, and often had a tight budget.
After Star Wars, it was filled with big studios trying to cash in, and were throwing money at people who did not care about or like Sci-Fi.
Idunno, a lot of these movies are made by cool guys pretending to be counter culture and looking for ways to get actresses to take their tops off. Lucas and Spielberg are two of the nerdiest people ever.
Er. What!
I know what you mean, but disagree. The late 70s and into the 80s was probably the pinnacle of Sci-Fi.
You have some real classics on this list, Rollerball, Logans Run, Buck Rogers.......Great list
Thanks!
1970s was a great decade for sci-fi movies but the 1980s probably topped it.
- Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
- The Andromeda Strain (1971)
- The Omega Man (1971)
- A Clockwork Orange (1971)
- Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
- Solaris (1972)
- Fantastic Planet (1973)
- Soylent Green (1973)
- Westworld (1973)
- Dark Star (1974)
- Zardoz (1974)
- A Boy and His Dog (1975)
- Rollerball (1975)
- The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976)
- Logan’s Run (1976)
- Demon Seed (1977)
- Star Wars (1977)
- Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
- Stalker (1979)
- Time after Time (1979)
- Mad Max (1979)
- Alien (1979)
- Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
- Altered States (1980)
- Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1982)
- Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan (1982)
- Blade Runner (1982)
- The Thing (1982)
- E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982)
- Krull (1983)
- Star Wars: Return of the Jedi (1983)
- The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)
- Dune (1984)
- Starman (1984)
- Terminator (1984)
- Back to the Future (1985)
- Enemy Mine (1985)
- Brazil (1985)
- Aliens (1986)
- The Fly (1986)
- RoboCop (1987)
- Predator (1987)
- They Live (1988)
- The Abyss (1989)
Oh no question the 80s is superior and those movies hold up way better. The 70s is so 70s it isn’t as universal
Thanks for the list.
Sorry, must disagree with Andromeda Strain
...fine book, an awful bore of a movie.
The Last Starfighter 1984
Good list.
Silent Running, WestWorld, Rollerball, Logan's Run, and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. The movies of this 62 year old's youth...
My youth was a hair behind yours very much the same. I watched all these on television as I was too young (for the most part) to see these in the theater, but these were the movies that had me glued to the set when they aired. Sunday night was usually the best time for the latest big movie to be aired for the first time and I would just flip through the major networks to see if I was gonna get lucky or stuck with a dud (it was the one time during the week I WOULDN'T consult the TV guide because I wanted to be surprised!). There was nothing better than seeing a movie come on that you'd never heard of and getting a gem!
Wilma or the Evil Queen? My brother and I still debate that one!
Silent Running has been grossly underestimated.
It’s a good movie. And it has held up better than some
It's a marvellous movie. I listen to the soundtrack often.
@@zacmumblethunder7466 Curiously enough, the music for "Silent Running" was created by Peter Shickle (sp?), the man who "discovered" the classical music parodies of PDQ Bach. Worth checking out if you can find any of his albums like "The Stoned Guest".
It moves slowly. Not much action . Story is good, though.
@@mikeottersole I can't stand it. It's slower than molasses running down a wall.
Jenny Agutter and Erin Gray were masterpieces of the 70s
Col. Wilma Deering 💜🫡
The Leith of Heaven never gets mentioned! Very thoughtful film.😢
As a child of the 60s, I've already had plenty of Erin Gray induced dreams. What a doll! 😋
Jenny Agutter nuff said
Seen them all bar 2, Laserblast and slaughter-house-5. Rollerball is one of my favourite films, Silent Running is a very good film that showed the eco disasters caused by humanity long before anyone else thought it would ever happen and the robots were fantastic characters. Also, liked logans run as a distopian future and the Yul Brunner Westworld is the best version that was made. The man that fell to earth is a very strange film and as you say, he sucummbed to humanaties worst dispair where he forgot about his own family in the end. Good selection of movies that I think still stand up today, also not forgetting invasion of the body snatchers!
Westworld II (Future World) has similar themes to the original Robocop
@@cliveapps7105 The film censors (UK) cut most of the scene of the ED209 boardroom incident, they made it so much worse (as in violent) than if they had left the original scene in. Not seen Future World for a long time, looking up the synopsis I then remembered it. Will have to get round to watching them both again.
Great video. I remember in the early 80s when my family got our first VCR my dad rented Silent Running and made it out first movie night. Had a huge impact on me.
really? Thats so cool, thank you for sharing. I'm glad you liked the video so much and that it brings back so many good memories for you.
I believe you are mistaken when you say that there is unused footage from 2001 used in Silent Running. In the book, The Lost Worlds of 2001, which details how much of 2001 was made, it talks about the fact that the book has Discovery One going to Saturn, but the movie shows it going to Jupiter. This was because Douglas Trumbull (who directed Silent Running) created the special effects for 2001 and did several tests trying to create Saturn using his slit scan camera, but ultimately wasn't happy with the way the rings appeared in his footage. Following the release of 2001 he continued to work on the technique until he was satisfied with the result and that footage was used in Silent Running.
I grew up in the 1970s, and remember all of these well. Look, as one who experienced the shock and awe of seeing Star Wars without having any idea what it was about, it clearly stands alone. But, as you point out, these other excellent movies are worth celebrating as well.
I adored THX-1138 and Rollerball for the way they developed the story and brought it to a very dramatic ending.
The 1956 Invasion of the Body Snatchers will always be my favorite adaptation of this story. It was an excellent film way ahead of its time. The same can be said about the original The Day the Earth Stood Still and War of the Worlds.
@@jimbruton9482 The visuals in Spielberg's 2005 _War Of The Worlds_ remake were far better- but I hated the acting performances from the main characters (even Tim Robbins) and the dialogue felt completely unnatural.
...and don't even get me *started* on everything wrong with the 2008 version of _The Day The Earth Stood Still_
@@brianknapp6215 Regarding the 2008 The Day the Earth Stood Still, let's not go there!
Same here. The original was tighter and it worked better in B&W.
Does everyone know the cameo the original guy from Body Snatchers has in the remake?
@@brianknapp6215 I actually thought the remake was decent (given that most remakes are dire - am I thinking of Dune in particular here?).
Silent Running should have topped the list as number 1. Soylent Green, Omega Man, and Andromeda Strain all deserved mention.
As a man of a certain age, I can confirm your observation on Erin Gray. I saw that in the theater and never forgot. They completely redid the title sequence for television but I never forgot ..
I subscribed. You had me at Erin Gray dreams.
Silent running has been a long-time favourite of mine. Brilliant film.
I've seen Westworld, Rollerball, Logan's Run, Invasion of the Bodysnatchers, and Buck Rogers. They were all worth seeing. The others, other than Laserblast, are on my to-do list.
Silent Running was the second science fiction movie that I saw in the theater after 2001 and I am a big fan of science fiction have been ever since and will never change
Logan’s Run still one of my favs
I loved ROLLERBALL, so many parallels with the world today
Ah man. Silent Running. As a child watching this I remember bawling my eyes out when the robot died.
That the reason as a grown ass adult I can never rewatch it. I still care for the robots over the bloody human or plants lol
I love this film and have it on my hard drive but I have not watched it for over 10 years because I find it so distressing.
@@robertb7918 it hits so hard.
@@magnus800 And what is so dreadful is that the message of the film is far more relevant now and getting more likely by the day.
It's worth noting that the version of THX-1138 available now, is a different version than the 1971 version, and the version that was released in theaters in 1977 (and later on home media). In 2004 a Director's Cut was released on DVD with updated special effects, and extending some scenes. The 1977 version was never released on DVD as far as I know, and is only available on VHS and Laserdisc.
Just like _Star Wars._
@@somercet1 No. I have the original Star War Trilogy on DVD with actor Sebastian Shaw as a force ghost at the end. They were released alongside the 'Special Edition' DVDs in the UK, in 2004.
Agreed. I thought it might be misleading to show these CG scenes in a 70s context, but in light of what you said it makes sense, that this is all that's available.
Zardoz is the best movie. Totally amazing in 1974, and even today.
THANK YOU! I remember seeing parts of silent running years ago on some random TV station in the middle of night.
In the past year I've got into watching old sci-fi. I remembered the movie but didn't know the name or even how to search for it
If you really want a forgotten/overlooked Scifi movie from the 70's, they don't seem to get more overlooked than
Colossus: The Forbin Project.
Another movie that is interesting (if a bit slow) is
Phase IV.
And of course there is
The Andromeda Strain.
I was going to be pedantic and say the Forbin Project was from the 60s, but it was just across the border is seems: 1970. Genuinely great movie.
Phase IV is a brilliant movie. Never mind the human stars - it's worth watching just for the scenes showing the ants collecting poison samples.
I love Phase IV. Glad you brought it up.
Your mentioning of Phase IV is making me question whether I should dump a load of Anti-Ant Antkill where my house connects to the drive in case it leads to formicidae retribution.....
@@rantingoldgit5125 Do what I did when ants started invading my house. I had a serious word with them and told them that they can live in the garden with my blessing and I won't disturb them. But if they come into the house then they will regret it.
Madness, of course. But it actually worked.
Yep, that's the list! Couldn't have made it better myself! Thanks for making this wonderful acknowledgment of these great films!
I could with two words, "Dark Star"!
I’m going to cheat and go with Journey to the Far Side of the Sun. Best movie nobody ever talks about. Released in late 1969
I saw that on TV and thought it was brilliant. Got the DVD years later and although I still enjoyed it greatly, there was something not quite right about it.
Spoiler alert
Later still, I found out that when it was shown on TV, the technician who prepared it for broadcast saw the scene where the labels in the bathroom were reversed and thought that the film had been flipped for some reason. So he flipped it back. This meant that we had no idea why Roy Thinnes was so freaked out by the labels, making the discovery that he was on a mirror image Earth more of a shock. Of course, the DVD carried the original version.
Great film. I watched it with my wife, it was her film choice. Somehow, I missed this.
Journey to the far side was done by the same creator as UFO series and later, moonbase 1999.?
@@DIOSpeedDemon Surely you mean Space 1999, which was set on Moonbase Alpha. But you are right about the creator, The late Gerry Anderson.
@@MsOpportunity68 UFO is my favorite Sci-Fi series, and Space 1999 was its' pale replacement due to American Market Demands.
Silent running is a great film. I would definitely recommend. It's really well directed and the effects are brilliant for the time. I never knew about the 2001 outtakes, which explains the quality.
Loved all these films and in my youth Charlotte Rampling and Jenny Agutter were erm….significant characters for me.
Lol...choke the bishop material.
Did you wear out the pause button on your VCR?
I am shocked Logan's Run has never been remade for the big movie screens.
Nobody else could be jessica
I'm glad - it's highly doubtful they could top the original.
Decent list but as someone has already stated, where's Andromeda Strain? One of the best SF movies of the decade.
Not forgotten, too well known for this list. Same with Close Encounters
It wasn’t a sci-fi movie. It’s a virus outbreak movie. Very good, very revealing about their tech.
@@Nautilus1972 I guess it depends on what you define as a science fiction movie. They're not all aliens and interstellar travel. I'd say Jurassic Park was sci-fi as well.
@@GiantFreakinRobot “Too well known”...? So I guess this really isn’t a list of best sci-fi movies; it’s merely a list of movies you want to talk about.
@@johnlacey3857 You need to read the fine print. It states that these forgotten movies are worth checking out. It was avoiding movies that haven't been forgotten.
I started this video skeptical. But your selections are excellent, great examples of the sci-fi of that era.
Thank you!!!! I'm glad you approve.
Silent Running is really really good. I recommend watching it in one viewing, not in pieces on a phone. It was beautiful.
As a horticulturist, silent running is a frightening horror!
As a future robot operator/CNC operator- I loved Huey, Dewey and Louie...
One glaring omission from the list is 1972's ZPG - Zero population growth starring Oliver Reid, i saw it as a young teen and it took me years to find out the name of it then find a copy to watch again.
THX 1138 was another one that i saw as a kid and loved the whole idea of society controlled by robots and like ZPG and Logans Run the escape from this control into the unknown.
Great list! Thanks for putting it together.
Silent Running is my favorite of your list.
By far.
Nice selection Giant Freakin Robot! Sci Fi matured in cinema (prob'ly) more than any other genre of fiction (Mystery, Romance, Western, War, so-on). I'm thinking because of the greater impact of visuals in Sci Fi vs other genres. And that Sci Fi cinema was able to draw talent that only Sci Fi cinema could.
FYI; "David Bowie" was just his stage name, his real name was Ziggy Stardust. A once in a lifetime unique talent!
Andromeda strain was technically most realistic movie for its time. It still holds up today. Edge of seat movie
Nice list, but where is "Dark Star" (1974)?? A John Carpenter movie that combines a foreshadowing of the plot of "Alien" with a climax based on the philosophical idea of phenomenology, all wrapped in some of the most beautifully bleak humor ever filmed, deserves a spot on any list of must-see 1970s SF movies.
Nice music as well
@@muhc8550 , agreed! Including the only country-western love song with lyrics about relativistic time dilation. 😁
Omega Man and The Andromeda Strain should be on the list.
I agree. Both classics!
I miss the time when movies were a labor of love. These stories were so cerebral, done and acted in absolute excellence. It's unfortunate movie making is no longer an art form but instead a cash pump.
Historical Note on Buck Rogers. Buck first appeared in two novellas in Amazing Stories magazine. The first novella was titled "Armageddon 2419AD" in the August 1928 issue. The second novella was titled "The Air Lords of Han" in the March 1929 issue. The comic strip followed the publication of both stories in Amazing.
Fantastic reads. Out of copyright and freely available online too
I not only remember the theatrical release, I was in the theater. The series had arguably one of the best opening themes, save perhaps Battlestar Galactica . . .
Comic "Books" didn't come along till several years later.
@@creech54 comic strips were in newspapers
@@david124cherrington5 Starting with "The Yellow Kid" in 1895.
Rollerball is one of the best sci-fi movies ever made.
Deathrace 2000, and Logan,s Run came out about the same time
This version is much better than the recent remake
Watching the original rollerball in 2024 and you realise that that is the future we are heading towards!
Especially when you realize how much texts and books, when put online, are so often changed. I have a 1959 copy of Tarzan of the Apes. I've also read 3 supposed original copies online and they change most everything. At least the Gutenberg Project hasn't changed it.
Silent Running has been a favorite of mine for years.
Silent Running with Bruce Dern. A forgotten masterpiece.
You put the case for some of the best Sci fi films pre- STAR WARS very well
I always feel the best Sci fi is the social commenting stuff predicting a dystopian future such as- A CLOCKWORK ORANGE, WEST WORLD,DEMON SEED, METROPOLIS, THE TIME MACHINE, & Of course ROBOCOP (NO BLADE OF GRASS & LOGAN'S RUN, deserves a mention as well).
Silent Running is one of my all time favorite Sci Fis
love the discotecs in Buck Rodgers and Battle star galactica ... they always show royal style ball room dancing with neon garments or hoola hoops with floor lit panels and strobe lights, you know, you're typical rave !! Great collection of amazing movies I mayve haven't seen two superblast for sure ... or whatever it was called. Thumbs up.
I saw Buck Rogers in the 25th Century in the theater. Definitely crushed on Erin Gray big time.
I think you can find the opening credit sequence of the film featuring the theme song on UA-cam.
Me too. Loved the 1st season of the series as well. They ruined it in season 2.
South park did a bit of a time travel double episode that includes references to buck Rogers and other sci fi future worlds. Worth a watch if you are into that type of stuff. All the little nods to the old programs are fun.
Except for slaughterhouse-five, all these Sci-fi shows were my start of the sci-fi journey. Then I started going backwards to War of the World, Day of the Triffiads, The blob, the Day Time Ended, End of The World, The original Day the Earth Stood Still, and so many more.
I loved Zardoz. It was a favorite among stoned college students. Sadly, not too many people saw it.
I think being stoned while watching it would have helped.
Never saw it but it sounds a bit too much like where we seem to be going
I saw, as a double feature in the theater, THX 1138 and Zardoz, late 1970s sometime. First time for both, an excellent pairing, two versions of a potential dystopian future, highly recommended.
ROLLERBALL is the scariest one, because we are close to the point of coming true, sadly.
Slaughterhouse 5 is a great movie than any sci-fi fan would love. THX 1138 and Silent running are more cerebral, and probably wouldn't be enjoyable by action junkies. Can't believe you mentioned Zardoz! What a weird movie. I loved it, but most people seem to think it was silly.
I saw all these movies except Laser Blast (Looks like I didn't miss much there.) I enjoyed all of them but Slaughterhouse 5 is the best, and I watch it every 10 years or so.
Erin Gray and spandex were made for each other. Jenny Agutter was really good in Logan's Run, or at least she looked really good in the costumes. I put the blu-ray on my Plex server!
She looked really good out of them too.
"Erin Gray in a series of puberty inducing outfits,"
Oh man, lemme tell ya!
Zardos is a weirdly wonderful expiration of the drug fueled visions of someone, it could never be made now, but it is quite unique.
It has some good concepts but the execution is best described as drug haze.
Sean Connery in a spandex onesie is unforgettable. The Tardis like flying head was interesting.
@@cliveapps7105 A Spandex onesie? He depends most of the film in a voluminous red nappy, as I recall.
Nice job. I just turned 68 so have differnt perspective. #1: Zardoz #2: Logan's Run #3: THX tied with Silent Running.
Thank you!!!!
No mention of Princess Ardala? Wilma Deering was certainly attractive, but Princess Ardala was the one who really launched my deep space probe.
Wilma > Ardala
@@GiantFreakinRobot Agreed. Boogie Boogie.
Strange girl,i think she likes it
No. Wilma _&_ Ardala.
Because greedy teenage fantasy. 😇😈
I loved Erin Gray, but Pamela Hensley had that voice…
Saw Zardoz when it came out in 1974. This added to my conviction that things were getting weirder, so I JOINED THE ARMY. A very good decision.
Of the movies in this list Silent Running is my absolute favourite.
It has some of the best music on the list. So many of these 70s movies have TERRIBLE soundtracks
It has the cutest robots as well.xx
You left out a long-time favorite of mine: Hammer's "Moon Zero Two" with James Olson (Andromeda Strain) & Catherine Schell (Space 1999).
Puberty inducing Erin Grey outfits. As a 1970s kid this could not have been more on target. Anyway, very interesting video and I enjoyed the laughs at the end.
I was going to add that you missed, possibly on purpose, "Battle Beyond the Stars." But then I looked it up and it was just outside the 70s, in 1980.
Thanks! Glad you enjoyed!
Loved Silent Running.
Yes these were some great movies...thanks for the memories...😊
Oh yes. Erin Grey. Absolute mega blast on a malleable young man's mind.
Having said that, zardoz is a remarkable film despite the daffy costumes. A group of humans used their godlike supercomputer to effectively make themselves immortal.and find themselves trapped. One of them realises that their only hope lies from outside. The brutal lands in which he can force the rapid evolution of the slave masters who drive the food production. Then, as expected, one of these savages finds his way inside. The effete immortal trap him and study him thinking him no more than a curiosity. But I fact the forced evolution has mean he is in fact smarter stronger than the immortals who have wasted away in their comfort and endless stability.
They are bored, with nothing to live for and Zed's intelligence and murderous inclination can free them as planned by arthur at the beginning.
Humanity traps itself and has to rely on evolution from outside their little system to rescues themsel.
As I said very high concept and really is due multiple watches and ignoring the silly costumes
I watched Zardov in the theater when it came out. They kept putting sean connery in the ads, but I still cannot figure out what the movie was about. The name is supposded to mean Wizardov ozz
The man diaper thing never caught on. Thank god. Perhaps they could rectify this with a little post-production cgi to make it a little easier for people to take seriously.
Zardoz is essentially a retelling of the episode called "The Cloud Minders" from Star Trek series three
I've watched all of the movies selected. Out of all of them, Logan's Run is my favorite.