Pre-1980 Sci Fi Movie Thread

[weeman]

lol, I understand what you're saying Eddie.<br /><br />I think it mostly has to do with the difference in generations. Since it was way before my time, it seems so cheesy, probably because I am comparing it to modern day sci-fi movies. <br /><br />Although, you also have to give Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow a lot of credit, because they did a hell of a good job at smashing This Island Earth <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><strong><font color="#ff0000">Techies: We do it in the dark. </font></strong></p><p><font color="#0000ff"><strong>"Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That's relativity.</strong><strong>" -Albert Einstein </strong></font></p> </div>

 

[vagueship]

Hollywood can't remake anything well. The old movies relied on acting as a priority and now the movies rely on special effects. You can only say, "That's cool" so many times before getting bored. Good acting lasts.

 

[CalliArcale]

<blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Although, you also have to give Mike, Tom Servo, and Crow a lot of credit, because they did a hell of a good job at smashing This Island Earth<p><hr /></p></p></blockquote><br /><br />Definitely. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" /> Of course, I think the source material has to have a certain minimal quality to be any good as a MSTing. If the movie sucks too badly, it'll be too painful to watch. I've seen a lot of MST episodes where the source film is either so tedious or so badly executed that it takes a major effort of will to understand the basic plot. These cannot be salvaged by a bunch of silhouettes making snarky comments. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><font color="#666699"><em>"People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly . . . timey wimey . . . stuff."</em>  -- The Tenth Doctor, "Blink"</font></p> </div>

 

[vagueship]

I rather Sci Fi would play the movies without MSFT.

 

[MeteorWayne]

Can you translate that?<br /><br />Is MSFT Microsoft? <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>

 

[yevaud]

Mystery Science Theatre 3000. <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>

 

[vagueship]

Yep. My bad.

 

[jmilsom]

This is not really a movie, but a four part mini-series. I just picked up and watched<br /><br />Quatermass from 1979<br /><br />It revisits the popular Quatermass movies from the 1950s. Starring John Mills and Simon MacCorkindale (love that surname), it is set in an era where society is crumbling and gangs fight for superiority in the urban conglomerations.<br /><br />Professor Quatermass is drawn into the saga when he agrees to appear on a London TV show to comment on the new joint Soviet -US space station. He uses the opportunity to show a photo of his missing daughter. He meets Dr. Joe Kapp (MacCorkindale) en route who rescues him from being mugged. The Space is mysteriously destroyed. <br /><br />After this young people around the world start disappearing around standing stones. They seem hypnotised and have joined a cult called the planet people, and go to the stones to be taken away from earth. Only Quatermass realises what is happening. A mysterious alien force is 'harvesting' humanity!!!!! He and Kapp slowly realise what is happening and set out to save the world.<br /><br />Although badly edited (with fluctuations between overacted melodrama and returns to light banter), this was quite engaging and drew me in. Quite an interesting concept and plot. <br /><br /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Well after a six month break, I am back to my SciFi pack and just started on Disc 8. The first two movies on this disc are again Hercules movies. I am still wondering why the makers of this compilation conisder 1950s/60s Hercules movies from Italy to be SciFi, but anyway - because it is there - here is what I think of it.<br /><br />So <b>Son of Hercules in the Land of Darkness</b><br /><br />was made in 1963 and originally titled <b>Ercole L'invincibile</b>. This movie held together quite well and had all the elements of a classic Hercules movie. A tall muscleman in this case an actor called Dan Vadis (who interestingly died of a drug overdose in his car in the desert in 1987 at age 49). He opens the movie wrestling a lion in what appears to be a cheerleader's skirt. Having inadvertently rescued a princess, he is tasked by a king to slay a dragon and thereby gain her hand. This he does with relative ease, but he returns to a kingdom ransacked by an evil queen from the land of darkness! Joined by a goofy sidekick - he sets off to infiltrate the evil land doing a bit of bare bear wrestling enroute. He is captured and the queen orders him torn apart by four elephants. But guess who is stronger? It was the four elephants. They tore him apart and the movie ended accompanied by the evil cackling of the queen......only kidding - Argales son of Hercules of course! Because of this feat the queen frees him, oils him and invites him to her chamber. The queen is then killed by her daughter who orders Argales and the princess (who was the queen's slave) killed. Hercules then frees the slaves, demonstrates many marvelous feats of fighting strength, destroys the city by pulling over a dam holding back a river of, you guessed it - Lava! and leads the people to safety riding off into the sunset with the princess on his arm. What a classic. It must have been a marvel to watch at the movies back in 1963, the year my first c <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Aetius]

I always enjoy watching sword-and-sandal movies. It only strains credulity when Herc doesn't even resemble a bodybuilder. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />Hey, I know those boulders "Hercules" threw were only made of styrofoam, but the actor should at least look cut.

 

[jmilsom]

That is strange, I was sure a wrote a reply to you, ZG and aetius, and coming back here my post is missing - I wonder if I accidentally put in on another thread. I've done that a couple of times. What I said was 'thanks for those recommendations ZG, it was you who put me onto this lot of movies in the first place - and it is giving me hours of entertainment.' and to aetius I wrote 'it must have been fun being a special effects person in those days - competing to make the most realistic styrofoam rocks and lava!"<br /><br />Anyway, I think this is going ot be my last Hercules instalment on this thread. Somehow the Italian title <i>Anthar l'invincibile</i> - Anthar the Invincible, translated as:<br /><br /><b>Devil of the Desert Against the Son of Hercules</b><br /><br />Made in 1964, this film was a little different from the average Hercules fare. Filmed in Italy and Algeria, it was more a story of political intrigue where a despot takes over a Saharan kingdom and is eventually overthrown again by the gentle giant, Anthar, a 'son' of Hercules. The star in this case is an Italian who went by the stage name of 'Kirk Morris'. He looks uncannily like a bemuscled version of Elvis Presley (see below). Really not much to the story, but this film is interesting for the colourful sets, locational shooting and a reasonably detailed plotline. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Whoops, forgot to attach my picture. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[Aetius]

He also looks like he was related to David Hasselhoff. <img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[yevaud]

I trust he doesn't eat Cheeseburgers off of the floor. <img src="/images/icons/tongue.gif" /> <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>

 

[Aetius]

<img src="/images/icons/wink.gif" />

 

[jmilsom]

His birth name is Adriano Bellini, perhaps of the Lombardy Beliini-Hasselhoffs? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

I just watched a very interesting old SciFi film, which just scrapes into this thread (the film says 1979, but on imdb its listed as 1980), called:<br /><br /><b>Saturn 3</b><br /><br />Reading comments on imdb and a little on the history, it seems this film has been largely panned and criticized (it was nominated for three razzie awards). Being able to compare it with a lot of bad SciFi and literature, I believe this this film is under-rated. It was a serious attempt, which didn't quite work. It is a thriller set on a moon of Saturn, where a couple of scientists (Kirk Douglas and Farah Fawcett) are researching space-based food production systems. The film opens with a very young Harvey Keitel, disgruntled at having failed a pysch test, murdering his replacement and setting off for the Saturn 3 outpost. He has with him a robot (called Hector), who is to improve efficiency and purportedly take over the role of Douglas at the outpost. <br /><br />Keitel programmes the robot by direct input from his (flawed) brain, and the thriller that follows is not what you would expect. In trying to convey a future society where productivity and efficiency have superceded individual rights and human relationships, there are many unexpected turns. <br /><br />Much of the criticism of this film focuses on the nudity and and Fawcett's performance, and people question why did Douglas and Keitel do this movie. I suspect that the vision they had on set was a lot different from how the film was perceived when it was released. A general resurgence is moralism and conservatism in the late 70s perhaps doomed this film from the start. I think this is worth a look. There is far more nudity now on MTV kids hour than in this film, and it is not a plot-predictable good guy, bad guy, bad robot film. There are some interesting ideas in this film. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Hmmm. I thought I would provoke some reponse with that one. Rare is the person that gives Saturn 3 any merit! Oh well on to the next classic....! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Another classic from 1966, this may just scrape into my five worst ever SciFi films list:<br /><br /><b>Zontar the Thing from Venus</b><br /><br />This movie is apparently a low budget remake of the 1956 film <i>It Conquered the World</i>. Comforting to know people had to endure atrocious re-makes way back in the 1960s. <br /><br />Zontar, Zontar......John Agar performs dreadfully as Dr. Curt Taylor, a nutcase scientist, who with the help of a home built transmitter, guides Zontar to earth to help mankind. Zontar makes an earth satellite disappear and reappear in the space of an hour (during this time it picked him...ahem....it, up from Venus). Using it further to get down to earth's surface, Zontar then hides in cave to pursue his evil plans. Zontar cuts out all the power in the world (he even stops water running out of taps!) except for those that are helping him. Zontar, a rubber bat creature with three eyes, then grows little bat things eight at a time that swoop down on people - if they are spiked on the back of the neck, they become Zontar's minions. <br /><br />Will Dr. Taylor's wife and best friend be able to get through to him to fight against rather than support Zontar before it is too late.......?<br /><br />This movie is hilariously bad. Any movie so bad is actually funny and so, eminently watchable. Put this one alongside Robot Monster, Plan Nine from Outer Space and the Snow Creature for a night of Sci Fi wonderment. <br /><br />I feel a bad poem coming on..... <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[a_lost_packet_]

Saturn 3 wasn't a really bad flick. It just had some bad scenes in it and really played heavily on Farrah's, admittedly stunning, beauty. It didn't quite "suck." It was an interesting plot that could have had some potential. It just didn't make it. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="1">I put on my robe and wizard hat...</font> </div>

 

[Mee_n_Mac]

Naah, I'm on record that it sucked. Saying it had potential is like saying the <i>Lost in Space</i> remake had potential. It did as well, but it still sucked. <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>-----------------------------------------------------</p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask not what your Forum Software can do do on you,</font></p><p><font color="#ff0000">Ask it to, please for the love of all that's Holy, <strong>STOP</strong> !</font></p> </div>

 

[yevaud]

Check this out. <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]

I don't know. Perhaps I was just in the right mood when I watched it. I don't think you can compare to the Lost in Space movie though. I mean that had years of interesting material to draw from and they made one of the most tragic pieces of cinema for ther last ten years. Saturn 3 actually has some original ideas!!! <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /><br /><br />-Nice site Yevaud! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

Oh man, I just watched a cracker from 1976<br /><br /><b>The Astral Factor</b> - this has also been called <i>The Invisible Strangler</i><br /><br />This movie is essentially about an escaped serial 'strangler' who can turn himself invisible - the next step up from Astral Travel according to an ESP specialist consulted halfway through the movie! The police seem helpless to stop him, so murder and mayhem abound in this scratchy flick from the 70s. The movie starts with the 'strangler' escaping from the insane prison. While there he has mastered both telekinesis and the art of turning himself invisible. Robert Foxworth (who just did the voice of Ratchett in the Transformers movie) stars as the hip cop who is tasked with tracking him down. The strangler has a list of beautiful women who all remind him of his mother and one by one sneaks past the cops and does 'em in. I guess the sparkling fade out invisibility was great sepcial effects when this was made. Didn't stop me from quickly hitting the pause button in the middle of the movie and falling sound asleep. Half and hour later I woke up and managed to watch the rest. Don't watch this one unless you're desperate! <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[jmilsom]

I know this is supposed to be pre-80s, but this one warrants an honourable mention. Unbelievably, a net search reveals it was made in '85.<br /><br /><b>The Galaxy Invader</b><br /><br />This one is a winner. Congratulations Don Dohler (Director). You have made a film that can stand proudly beside <i>Plan Nine from Outer Space</i> and Phil Tucker's <i>Robot Monster</i>. This film is so bad it is funny. It is so poorly made with such bad acting that it will keep an audience entranced at a bad movie showing night. It will at times almost certainly evoke uproarious laughter. The plot outline is "An alien is hunted by a gang of drunken hillbillies who saw him crash-land his spaceship." With a stunning score by Norman Noplock and sublime cinematography by Paul E. Loeschke (his artisTIc sense is so bad, I don't think he can call what he does 'cinematograhpy'), this movie deserves a cult following and plastic toys. You will not believe the dialogue.......For the lovers of bad SciFi this one is a must see and will almost certainly join your top ten worst movies ever seen. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>