The 1970's Science Fiction Movie Poll

we did an 80's sci-fi movie poll too, right? i can't find it.

50s one is easy to find.

Saul Bass also did the opening-title sequences for most of the films he created poster images for.

was phase iv the ants film where they walked through a house filled with ants and these people were breathing through straws, or something?

that's not in Phase IV

phase iv is super creepy & psychedelic, with some of the best acting by real ants ever filmed and a great burbling electronic score.

it's by David Vorhaus, raiding some of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop sound beds used on 'Dr. Who' and the White Noise 'An Electric Storm' album. the music in all these films is one of the main sources of appeal

I just love the fact that after a long, long career directing the title sequences & storyboarding for some of the biggest directors in Hollywood, when he finally traded in all his favors to direct his own film, he decided to make a film about superintelligent ants (and I can imagine the pitch: 'but here's the twist... it stars REAL ANTS'

http://faculty.cua.edu/johnsong/hitchcock/storyboards/psycho/bass-storyboards.html

type Saul Bass into youtube and you'll see the parade, the one for 'Seconds' is my favorite - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JGq_ON4aXew

ant sequences were directed by Ken Middleham, this is the only interview with him where he talks about Phase IV & The Hellstrom Chronicle: http://www.cinefex.com/backissues/issue3.html

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

in other news I found a cheap copy of 'Parts: The Clonus Horror'. Incompetent on almost every front, but still a 70's science fiction film. It might be better to watch the MST3K version of this one, (unlike 'Phase IV')

I also bought a copy of 'The Silver Globe' on Amazon: http://www.fright.com/edge/silverglobe.html

was phase iv the ants film where they walked through a house filled with ants and these people were breathing through straws, or something?

-- Ste, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:09 (4 hours ago) Link

you are thinking of it happened at lakewood manor aka ants!

http://imdb.com/title/tt0076214/

http://amigareviews.classicgaming.gamespy.com/pic/itcamefromthedesert-e.png

ant sequences were directed by Ken Middleham, this is the only interview with him where he talks about Phase IV & The Hellstrom Chronicle: http://www.cinefex.com/backissues/issue3.html

agh, must pay for content. I'm not much of an fx geek but I would love to know how some of those scenes were filmed.

oh yes, just downloaded phase iv, totally remember it.

stumbled across this recently, but haven't watched it yet: peter fonda's low budget eco-terror time travel movie from 1973 called idaho transfer. looks like a real treat.

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

that looks great

definitely want to recommend 'On The Silver Globe', though it could easily go in the 80's poll -- 90% of the footage was shot in the 70's, but the polish government aborted the film before the special effects were completed, so the director cut in very strange 80's footage of polish citizens & commuters wandering around while describing what the SFX space travel & alien battle scenes would have been like

if it had been completed, it'd be mentioned in company with 'Holy Mountain' and 'Sweet Movie'. the shots are beautiful, the plot is beyond ambitious. the editing is strange, the first half of the film is basically presented as an in-camera document shot by three survivors of a ship that crash lands on the moon, and who repopulate an entire incestuous colony who eventually come under attack from a horde of horrible bird creatures. for most shots, any pause of more than two seconds is edited out, so the film more disorienting than most modern reality television. many shots feature hundreds of extras swarming around beaches and caves, orgies, incomprehensible rituals, well it is the moon they're on. it's not for everyone, every line by every actor is delivered in abject histrionic wails with long monologues like 'what aren't you in what exists, nothing? the human soul justifies my deeds, delicate souls... but they are ridiculous! but the ridiculous are strong... the icy space within myself merged in hateful vision, is this the END? AAAAARRGH!' etc. etc.

in short, kind of a trial but I've already watched it twice

I just saw Andromeda Strain. First big surprise: OMG THIS IS SO FUCKING AWESOME HOW DID I NEVER HEAR OF THIS. Second big surprise: This was made in 1971?!?!?!

OMG I must see Idaho Transfer! I grew up near Craters of the Moon, it's such a terrifying and evocative place.

This was made in 1971?!?!?!
You saw the one with Arthur Hill or the remake?

Arthur Hill.

There was a remake?

I guess the "You're going to a love-in!" line should have made me think it wasn't from '77-'79 like I was guessing (based on the special effects).

I made up the remake. I don't know if there was one or not.

...teehee?

'Idaho Transfer' and 'Silver Globe' both sound fascinating. Dunno how I missed this poll, would probably have voted for 'Rollerball', which I've seen four or five times.

Strain Andromeda The

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2006/07/cool-life-and-cool-gear-of-gil-mell.html

the soundtrack is my favorite thing about it:
http://www.discogs.com/release/739020

Elvis linked to the Andromeda remake upthread, it looks normal

OK, I didn't make it up, I must've half remembered it from the part upthread that I no longer read.

I started watching but haven't finished idaho transfer (not from lack of interest). so far it's a bizarro piece of work which the minds on this thread should appreciate.

the only movie I've seen where the rules surrounding time travel are just a flimsy excuse to film cute hippie chicks with their pants off (no metal can be worn during travel; travellers must be under 20 years old). science fiction indeed... maybe influence on alien lol?

the guy who directed on the silver globe also did possession with isabelle adjani. possession is not "good" by any yardstick but is a corker that should be seen at least once for its alternating o_O and roffles effect on discerning viewers.

first time I saw Possession I loved it but kind of had it at arms length -- the dialog is perfectly coherent and civililzed, a transcript would be familiar to anyone who's been through a breakup, it's just that the acting is so psychotic and physically exaggerated that it can be hard to take the film seriously. but after four times through, I get it, it is a good film.

Only other movies I'd add to the list would be No Blade Of Grass and The Final Programme, but both of those only marginally fit (NBOG is superseded by Mad Max, and TFP doesn't get the ridiculousness of Moorcock down)

-- Elvis Telecom, Friday, January 25, 2008 6:24 AM (2 months ago) Bookmark Link

Saw The Final Programme last night -- jeez how'd I miss that, it's totally ridiculous. Not surprised the same guy directed a few Avengers episodes & Abominable Dr. Phibes, it's like Baker-era Dr. Who set in dystopian Swinging London. I shouldn't have been expecting too much of the ending, but it was fun, I watched with a few friends who had no expectations whatsoever and they didn't know what hit them.

where's the '60s sci fi poll?

I don't think we ever made one.

phase iv is super creepy & psychedelic, with some of the best acting by real ants ever filmed and a great burbling electronic score. I was talking to a friend who had vague memories of seeing it as a child, but he had perfect recall when it came to the scene where ants started crawling out of the 3 circular holes in a dead guy's hand.

DVD NOW PLZ

-- Edward III, Wednesday, 19 March 2008 14:35 (3 months ago) Link

DVD GODZ HAVE ANSWERED MY PRAYERS

where is it available? I saw a forum message that noted it appeared to be a best buy exclusive??? amazon doesn't have it.

yeah, oddly enough it's only available at best buy. netflix has it too.

I am curious about the Final Programme ref'd above but going by Milton's other recommendations I'm suspicious...

milton's otm more often than not

truth bomb

sorry stalker was unwatchable. I think I hate Tarkovsky.

fortunately he's dead

don't swear off tarkovsky until you've seen mirror.

the phase iv dvd was put out by legend films, who apparently licensed a bunch of obscure movies from the paramount vaults - student bodies, the sender, mandingo, some kind of hero, etc - and legend's promoting them as best buy exclusives.

it is v v weird to see phase iv on a promotional endcap display at best buy, but at $10 it's both a steal and a freakin nobrainer.

turn my back on this thread for one second and I miss the Phase IV DVD reissue! got to pick that up.

came here to say I'd seen a new one I'd never heard of, an East German production from 1976 called 'In The Dust of the Stars'. there were evidently only four science fiction (aka 'Utopian') films produced in East Germany from 1960 to 1989, and each had to pass party review. the plot concerns six bold, courageous & friendly cosmonauts answering a distress call, landing on an alien planet of decadent, hard-partying Capitalists who attempt to corrupt them with endless parties and psychedelic dancing to distract them from their secret -- they are actually colonists who have enslaved the resident population to work underground as slaves. the party scenes are hilarious, and long -- twenty minutes can't go by without one of the rulers clapping his hands & a squad of go-go dancers climbing out of the mirrors to dance to 'crazy electronic music'. the visual style is closer to Mario Bava circa 'Planet of Vampires' or a very low budget 'Barbarella' than anything contemporary, the dialog is ridiculous (one of the cosmonauts names is 'Thob'), so this doesn't fit at all with the dystopian themes of these other films, it's just interesting fun

also saw 'Silent Running' again. it's about as slow and ponderous as I remembered, but there's a lot in here I didn't get as a kid that makes me sort of astonished this was made -- Bruce Dern is not just self-righteous but terrifying, and I'd forgotten (spoiler) that he outright murders all his crew members to save the forest. After the last eight years of being inundated with Malkin & Limbaugh tropes of the wild-eyed crazy liberal tree-huggers, seeing this movie again made me think that Limbaugh couldn't have bankrolled a right-wing film with this extreme a caricature if he'd tried -- Bruce Dern really is not an inviting protagonist, he's basically the Unabomber. But the film is in earnest, it is absolutely For the Trees, so it ends up giving you a lot to think about precisely because it is so awkward, it's one of the only films that seems to want to go into the mentality of 70's domestic terrorism. the DVD's commentary is just Trumbull & Dern, mostly talking about the effects, it would have been interesting to hear from the the other screenwriters Michael Cimino & Stephen Bochco

long time since I've seen Silent Running - i have it on VHS but no player. Pretty spot on comments about Dern though, all his friends being non human and all.

me and my sister bawked our eyes out when the 'robots' bought it.

everybody's creaming over teh new godfather discs but this is what has me seriously considering getting bluray player

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001G7PX80/

wot, no ape head?

my cousin has the japanese alien set

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y176/edwardiii/alienquadrilogyhead.jpg

not even one vote for Beneath the Planet of the Apes. saw that again -- that's my favorite one by far. once you get to the underground city...

finally saw Fassbinder's one science fiction film 'World On A Wire' from 1973. Loved it. Are there any earlier virtual reality films?

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a6/Sprad/WorldOnAWire2.jpg

the new bluray planet of the apes set has the original cut of conquest of the planet of the apes, the version that studio heads demanded be cut lest it get an R rating and/or incite actual rioting in the streets.

goddamn, they really want me to buy a bluray player, don't they?

Martian Chronicles - 1979 TV mini-series - far less kitschy than I was expecting. screenplay by Richard Matheson! the space effects are terrible, but whenever the martian cities & outfits hit the screen I was tempted to just pause and stare at them -- I wanted to live there. (tried to find a screenshot of the Martian Mask of Conflict, but blogs are sleeping). the anti-colonial themes are front and center, not glossed over at all, and the scene where the psychic empath martian gets stuck with the Missionary and is thusly forced into the shape of a wounded Jesus, and he's in agony trying to talk the priest into looking away before he bleeds to death - that is an amazing scene, especially for broadcast 70's television. I wasn't expecting this one to fit with the other US 70's science fiction films, but it absolutely does, it's as bleak and dystopian and fatalistic as the rest of them

also saw the 1972 East German 'Eolomea'. it's just as swinging & psychedelic as 'In The Dust of the Stars', but also more serious in tone. I liked it, though it doesn't click with the Western dystopias, in fact in East Germany they couldn't call them Science Fiction films, to distinguish them they would call them 'Utopian films', and that's accurate -- the two I've seen are proscripted cheerleading. http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/eolomea.php

Das Millionenspiel - 1970

Reality TV Show where contestants win one million deutschmark if they can evade three assassins for one week, while the world watches coverage via 20 mobile film crews

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066079/

Seems like a made for TV reiteration of The 10th Victim which I remember being good campy fun, but maybe worth checking out, and obviously still way ahead of its time, plus music by Can

http://www.britmovie.co.uk/forums/ask-film-question/16845-phase-iv-saul-bass-fish-lady.html

whoah

http://io9.com/5877874/lost-films

Hu-Man (1975)

An actor (Terence Stamp, playing himself) is placed in a series of dangerous situations, while his fear is broadcast to the television audience. Their emotional reactions will determine whether he is sent into the future, or the past. Directed by Jérôme Laperrousaz and co-starring Jeanne Moreau, Hu-Man won the Trieste Festival of Science Fiction Films in 1976, but has strangely fallen into obscurity, and apparently no prints are available.

yes! i read that too! wish it were available

posting this to watch later: Idaho Transfer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXxzzpGF7O8

liked Idaho Transfer a lot. perhaps one of the lowest budget films on this entire list, but it doesn't matter; point a camera at those volcanic plains & the Idaho landscape, set it to an acoustic guitar & analog synth soundtrack and it is easy to believe that civilization has ended everywhere

and the ending is RIDICULOUS.

we should run this poll again sometime. it's missing a bunch of important ones, and some of them are finding wider audiences.