Pre-1980 Sci Fi Movie Thread

[jmilsom]

Back to Forbidden Planet, I gather this is a bit of a cult classic. I was in my favourite pop culture shop today where I generally buy SciFi books but which also sells DVDs, comics, figurines etc and ....lo<br /><br />A stack of Robbie the Robot alarm clocks!<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[spacefire]

check out this site:<br />http://www.archive.org/details/movies<br /><br /> (doesn't have forbidden planet bu seems to ahve many other movies from the era)<br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Just watched another old classic:<br /><br /><b>Project Moonbase</b> released in 1953<br /><br />This was really quite amusing to watch. In this old B&W film, the premise was that the US was setting up a presence in space for the security of the earth. They have a space station (complete with H-bomb) and are planning the first circumlunar flight to photograph the dark side of the moon.<br /><br />But evil forces are at work that want to destroy the US space effort. For the lunar orbit mission, a photographic expert will join them and the real guy is kidnapped and a phony agent put in his place. His mission is to destroy the space station - either by crashing the space ship into it or sneaking onboard and setting off the H-bomb.<br /><br />Major Moore is going to pilot it, but is replaced at the last minute by Col. Briteis, who turns out to be a woman. A futuristic vision? Not so fast, before assuming command the general tells her she only got the mission because she was light enough to pilot the first earth orbit craft and "don't get too big for your boots or I'll give you a spanking!"<br /><br />So suddenly, the Colonel, Major and the fake Dr. Werhner are dressed in shorts, T-shirts and tight-fitting cloth helmets ready to blast off. They endure the great G-force and are soon on the space station avoiding signs such as "Do not walk on the walls," "Salvation Army!" and "Danger: Rocket Blast."<br /><br />So they get into another smaller craft and set off for their circumlunar flight. Maj. Moore figures out Dr. Werhner is an impostor and in the scuffle, they accidentally fire the jets and are forced to land on the moon! They cannot contact the station and need to hike 11 miles to set up a relay point, but will the four hours of air in their space suits be enough? Maj. Moore takes the fake Dr. Werhner with him. They set up the relay and Dr. Werhner falls and dies. <br /><br />Now there is the lady commander Col. Briteis and Maj. Moore. They contact the station, which after con <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[behemoth]

Whats the name of that old black and white film ,with invisible brains and spinal columns attacking some base?you didn't see the things untill near the end when they could detect them. thats my best ever oldie.

 

[jmilsom]

Was it the 1958 film "Fiend without a Face"?<br /><br />http://www.thecinemalaser.com/dvd_reviews/fiend-without-a-face-dvd.htm <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

I just watched another strange film from 1964:<br /><br /><b>Voyage to the end of the Universe!</b><br /><br />This film focuses on a group of scientists / settlers travelling billions of miles across the Galaxy to the mysterious Green Planet.<br /><br />En route they come across a derelict spaceship in which the human occupants have been preserved for 1000 years. Then they keep encountering mysterious radiation, which makes to of the crew ill. One goes insane and much of the film is trying to get him to come to his senses. They also fall asleep due to the radiation but only for 19 hours instead of 60 (I really could not understand the relevance of this). There is a ridiculous robot called "Merlin" who Robbie would eat for breakfast and some cool trans-galactic dancing! The big twist at the end is that the green planet is actually Earth and the travellers are alien humans discovering the earth (why human beings are spread across the universe is never explained).<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[behemoth]

Yea ,thats the one!!!!! cool thanks.hehe

 

[yevaud]

Oh yes, I remember it vividly. Excellent choice. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Attack of the Mushroom People?<br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Hey thanks for that info and link. That is a purchase I am not going to be able to resist. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[yevaud]

And lest we forget... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><em>Differential Diagnosis:  </em>"<strong><em>I am both amused and annoyed that you think I should be less stubborn than you are</em></strong>."<br /> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Here is the list of films on the 50 movie set from the link ZG gave. I am definitely going to bid on abd try to procure a set!<br /><br />• The Incredible Petrified World (John Carradine)<br />• Queen of the Amazons (Patricia Morison)<br />• Robot Monster (George Nader)<br />• She Gods of Shark Reef (Bill Cord)<br />• The Amazing Transparent Man (Maguerite Chapman)<br />• The Atomic Brain (Bradford Dillman)<br />• Horrors of Spider Island (Harald Maresch)<br />• The Wasp Woman (Susan Cabot)<br />• Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet (Basil Rathbone)<br />• Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women (Mamie Van Doren)<br />• King of Kong Island (Brad Harris)<br />• Bride of the Gorilla (Raymond Burr)<br />• Attack of the Monsters (Christopher Murphy)<br />• Gamera the Invincible (Brain Donlevy)<br />• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Pia Zadora)<br />• Teenagers From Outer Space (David Love)<br />• Crash of the Moons (Richard Crane)<br />• Menace From Outer Space (Richard Crane)<br />• Hercules Against the Moonmen (Alan Steel)<br />• Hercules and the Captive Women (Reg Park)<br />• Hercules and the Tyrants of Babylon (Peter Lupus)<br />• Hercules Unchained (Steve Reeves)<br />• Lost Jungle (Clyde Beatty)<br />• Mesa of Lost Women (Jackie Coogan)<br />• Assignment: Outer Space (Rick Van Nutter) • Laser Mission (Brandon Lee)<br />• Killers from Space (Peter Graves)<br />• Phantom from Space (Ted Cooper)<br />• White Pongo (Richard Fraser)<br />• The Snow Creature (Paul Langton)<br />• Son of Hercules: The Land of Darkness (Dan Vadis)<br />• Devil of the Desert vs. Son of Hercules (Kirk Morris)<br />• First Spaceship on Venus (Yoko Tani)<br />• Zontar, The Thing From Venus (John Agar)<br />• The Astral Factor (Robert Foxworth)<br />• The Galaxy Invader (Richard Dyszel)<br />• Battle of the Worlds (Claude Rains)<br />• Unknown Worlds (Bruce Kellogg)<br />• Blood Tide (James Earl Jones)<br />• The Brain Machine (James Best)<br />• The Wild Women of Wongo (Jean Hawkshaw)<br />• Prehistoric Women (Laurette Luez)<br />• <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[vogon13]

LOL !<br /><br />Great poster.<br /><br /><br />{double entendre there, if youy caught it}<br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

I just watched <i>The Day the Earth Stood Still</i>. Indeed a classic. Will we earthlings never learn. I daresay if <i>Klaatu</i> came to earth today, he would find an even bigger bunch of ignorant, trigger-happy buffoons than he did 50 years ago!<br /><br />Out of curiosity I looked up the actors profiles on imdb. The lead actor Michael Rennie, passed away in 1971 at the age of 61. The leading lady Patricia Neal is still with us at 80 and was doing TV work as recently as 2003. Even the little boy actor (Billy Gray) has a paragraph on imdb. It says "Unable to find much acting work after Father Knows Best ended, he took up a new and successful career in motorcycle racing. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Here's more trivia from imdb that I just have to post. <i>Gort</i>, the giant robot was played by a guy called Lock Martin. Here is the info on him:<br /><br />Lock Martin (February 22, 1916 - January 19, 1959) was the stage name of American actor Joseph Lockard Martin Jr. He was from Pennsylvania and had a series of odd jobs before going into acting. He was reportedly 7 foot 7 inches (about 2.31 meters) tall. If true, this makes him one of the tallest actors in history. He is today most remembered for playing Gort in The Day the Earth Stood Still. Although this was not his first acting job, he was working as a doorman at Grauman's Chinese Theater when he was hired for the role of Gort. He was also in The Incredible Shrinking Man as a giant, but his scenes were deleted. He was married to Ethel Babcock.<br /><br />His unusual height did not translate into strength and in fact he had difficulty with managing his robot suit in The Day the Earth Stood Still. He also had trouble with scenes where he was intended to physically lift Patricia Neal. He also had a twin brother who died at birth. He was nicknamed "the Gentle Giant" as he liked reading stories to children and for a time had a local show devoted to that. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Just picked up and watched:<br /><br /><b>Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy</b> from 1968<br /><br />!!!! I guess this movie is famous. Wow, was Jane Fonda stunning in this film or what? <br /><br />A truly ridiculous film that starts with a beautiful Jane Fonda undressing in her shagpile carpeted (floors, walls, ceilings) spaceship. On a mission from earth to track down a lost scientist, she ends up on a bizarre pleasure planet and rediscovers the pleasures of full body contact (not practiced on earth for hundreds of years). <br /><br />Meeting an angel on the way she eventually tracks down the mad scientist, Duran Duran (I guess the band got their name from this film/book series) who gets devoured by the strange Matmos force of the planet.<br /><br />A weird, weird film - but entertaining for the outrageously gaudy sets, bad-movie value and beautiful bodies!!!! <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

she looks considerably taller than 50' in that poster.<br /><br />I also wondered about the view from the highway. perverse! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[MeteorWayne]

Regarding Forbidden Planet:<br /><br />This was always one of my faves. My old man let me stay up past bedtime and it scared the crap out of me (which was his sadistic intent) but it got me hooked on the movie forever.<br />MW <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#000080"><em><font color="#000000">But the Krell forgot one thing John. Monsters. Monsters from the Id.</font></em> </font></p><p><font color="#000080">I really, really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function</font><font color="#000080"> </font></p> </div>

 

[spacefire]

Damnation Alley! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[wmdragon]

Damnation Alley has stuck on my mind after all these years, specially that scene with the cockroaches. I got to see the Landmaster when I visited Hollywood ages ago. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#993366"><em>The only laws of matter are those which our minds must fabricate, and the only laws of mind are fabricated for it by matter.</em> <br /> --- James Clerk Maxwell</font></p> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

I have procured the 50 DVD set for about $18US, so expect a running commentary. Hmmm. Which will I start with? <i>The Wild Women of Wongo</i> sounds interesting! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[lampblack]

<font color="yellow"><b>Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy</b> from 1968</font><br /><br />It is a great movie -- loads of fun. It beautifully captured a certain type of free-wheeling, anarchic mindset that seemed much more prevalent in the 1960s.<br /><br />But you know, for some reason, it's hard to find interviews in which Jane Fonda talks about Barbarella. It's almost as though she thinks there's something <i>embarrassing</i> about having once been cast as a bikini-clad space bimbo. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[vogon13]

Compare to Zsa Zsa in Queen of Outer Space.<br /><br />(Or was it Eva?)<br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><img src="/images/icons/laugh.gif" /><br /><br /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p><font color="#ff0000"><strong>TPTB went to Dallas and all I got was Plucked !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#339966"><strong>So many people, so few recipes !!</strong></font></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>Let's clean up this stinkhole !!</strong></font> </p> </div>

 

[lampblack]

And while it's not pre-1980, it's certainly worth mentioning in the Barbarella context: <b><i>Slave Girls from Beyond Infinity</i></b>.<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093991/ <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>

 

[lampblack]

Whoa! I guess we all have our histories to live down, eh? <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /><br /><br />Zsa Zsa was a knock-out. Here's the IMDB link:<br /><br />http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052104/<br /><br />Here's a plot summary taken from the site:<br /><br /><i>Three American astronauts are on the first manned mission to Venus, and when they arrive, they find the planet to be inhabited solely by women with high heels and short dresses. Unfortunately, they are immediately imprisoned, for the queen who rules Venus hates men... Suspecting the astronauts to be spies, she now plans to destroy the Earth. So now it's up to the three men (and some friendly Venusians) to overthrow the wicked queen and save the Earth.</i><br /><br />Who knew that sweet Venus could be so deadly? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font color="#0000ff"><strong>Just tell the truth and let the chips fall...</strong></font> </div>