forgoton classics - Sci Fi movies

Naddig74 said:
I've seen Dark Star...

I'd add;

Life Force; Based on the book Space Vampires by Colin Wilson which I haven't read but my friend says is nothing like as good as the film. Boys, when you watch this film you will exclaim 'my god, they're almost perfect' at least once. The film also suggested to us the band names 'Malevolent Umbrella' and 'Don't Kiss Patrick Stewart.'

They Live; I've yet to meet a single other human who's seen this film except the guy who lent it me on VHS many years ago. If you're aware of the british paranoid/woo merchant/soccer goalkeeper David Icke, then the plot of this movie will be familiar, and actually pre-dates the begginning of Ickes assertions that alien lizards disguised as humans hold real humanity in bondage. It also includes the most ludicrously drawn out fight scene in cinema.

Zardoz; Hippy british ( I think, all the actors are brits anyway) seventies sci-fi starring Sean Connery, would you believe. The plot revolves around an enclave of technological survival in a post-apocalypse world. The inhabitants of the enclave extract tribute from the barbarians beyond their walls via a giant floating head, Zardoz, and brutal enforcers. Connery plays one of these enforcers who finds a way into the enclave and discovers the truth of Zardoz. Lots of gratuitous nudity and sex to demonstrate, a bit self-consciously, how liberated everyone is.
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Love all these movies and have seen them a dozen or more times each! I don't consider them obscure since all my friends know them and have seen them as well, but maybe in the mainstream sense they're not as well known as they are in my little sci-fi/fantasy/horror nerd group.

They Live! is definitely my favorite of the group, and John Carpenter's last really good movie until Vampires a few years later capped his career (IMO). They Live! is both funny and shocking in its way, and is extremely well made for such a low-budget affair. That intentionally drawn-out fight scene ("Put on the damn glasses!") leaves most audiences groaning with annoyance, but it puts me and my friends in stitches every time. 4 stars!

ETA: FYI, Lifeforce is directed by Tobe Hooper of Poltergeist and Texas Chainsaw fame; Zardoz is directed by John Boorman of Excalibur and Deliverance fame; They Live! as I mentioned is directed by Carpenter of Halloween/The Thing/Escape from New York fame.
 
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Brainster said:
I would never call it a classic, but I enjoyed the heck out of the animated movie Wizards back in the 1970s. It doesn't hold up that well, I'll admit, but it was one of the very first real "fantasy" movies.
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Another of my favorite films! It was released the week before STAR WARS and so got completely rolled over by that explosive phenomenon, but WIZARDS still managed to make more money than Disney's release of FANTASIA at the same time.

It's directed by Ralph Bakshi of the animated LOTR and Fritz the Cat fame, and is I think the only R-rated animated sci-fi movie ever produced. I think.
 
Vortigern99 said:
Another of my favorite films! It was released the week before STAR WARS and so got completely rolled over by that explosive phenomenon, but WIZARDS still managed to make more money than Disney's release of FANTASIA at the same time.

It's directed by Ralph Bakshi of the animated LOTR and Fritz the Cat fame, and is I think the only R-rated animated sci-fi movie ever produced. I think.
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You forgot Heavy Metal - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_(film)
 
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I count Heavy Metal along side stuff like Citizen Kane. Doesn't seem like much today, until you realize it invented tons of industry standards that we've since seen a million times.

As I told my wife "It wasn't that great, but I kept geeking out over the history!"

The sleazy sex angle though, ay yi yi. Not one to watch with anyone you mind being embarrassed around.
 
Vortigern99 said:
Another of my favorite films! It was released the week before STAR WARS and so got completely rolled over by that explosive phenomenon, but WIZARDS still managed to make more money than Disney's release of FANTASIA at the same time.
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And both feature Mark Hamill. :) (Ok, so the size of his role is a teensy bit uneven between the 2, still!)
 
jakesteele said:
http://search.crackle.com/v/30073946/earth-vs-the-flying-saucers.htm

Earth vs. The Flying Saucers!!!

This is the one that did it to me. When I saw it as a kid I **** myself. That movie launched a lifetime interest in sci fi and UFO stuff.

The Flying Saucers are great and what's cool now, that I blanked out of my mind as a child, is how the saucers will sometimes wobble a little bit. Great stuff!
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A Ray Harryhausen special effects extravaganza! Never got to see that one much when I was a kid, at least not in English (it showed up a lot on the French language channels). The Harryhausen film that got me was The Valley of Gwangi. Dinosaurs and cowboys together in the same movie—what more could a youngster ask for? :)
 
It would be so great if there were some way to see any of these at a moment's notice. I recently got some of these oldies from Netflix, but they were not "instant play".

Earth vs. the Flying Saucers and Colossus:The Forbin Project feature two of the creepiest voices ever heard.
 
hgc said:
The Satan Bug (1965)

The Power (1968)

Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
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I must echo "The Power" here. The fact that no one else responded (positive or negative) about it suggests that it's fairly forgotten. It's not available on DVD. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of paranoid fun. And it's a George Pal movie. I have an old "Films of George Pal" book and it's not even included in that. That's how forgotten it is. It's in TCM's library, and they showed it about a decade ago, but I haven't seen it since.

Ward
 
Bikewer said:
Someone just mentioned Kronos...I recently rented it...Still good.

Quatermass made me think of "Five Million Years to Earth" with the estimable professor...
A really good film and quite spooky.
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It's a pretty decent film, however the TV series, even though it's in black & white and done in the mid-50's, is much creepier.
 
wardenclyffe said:
I must echo "The Power" here. The fact that no one else responded (positive or negative) about it suggests that it's fairly forgotten. It's not available on DVD. It's not perfect, but it's a lot of paranoid fun. And it's a George Pal movie. I have an old "Films of George Pal" book and it's not even included in that. That's how forgotten it is. It's in TCM's library, and they showed it about a decade ago, but I haven't seen it since.

Ward
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Saw it on TV once, years ago - the one with George Hamilton and whoshisface from The Day The Earth Stood Still? Can't have been all that bad for me to remember it still.
 
I love Earth Vs The Flying Saucers, but once again it's considered a Sci Fi Classic, and hardly a forgotten film.
 
"Battle In Outer Space"

I saw it when I was in 8th grade, I think, around 1959. I believe it is a Japanese production. I have not seen it since but I remember that it had a fairly good plot and some really good special effects for that time.
 
Yeah, George Hamilton, Michael Rennie and Suzanne Pleshette. Throw in Gary Merrill, Earl Holliman, Yvonne DeCarlo, and you are starting to build a great cast. In a small role, you'll find Celia Lovsky (T'Pau from classic Trek). Track down "The Power" if you can. It's fun.

Ward
 
One more vote for Kronos.

Another for Silent Running. The other crew members die at the beginning and Bruce Dern carries the whole movie by himself (ok, with 3 robots)

I use to have the soundtrack for this. Wished I still did.

DDWW
 
Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone
.
An awful thing, but one of Molly Ringwald's first.
She was so superior to everyone else in the movie.
.
About the same time, this equally awful thing came out..
The Ice Pirates
.
Mostly notable for the disclosure of the infestation of "space herpes".. little monsters that ran around the space ship.
 
Rocketship X-M. One of those movies that you might have low expectations for, only to be surprised that it's not bad. However, it is unusual in that unlike most sci-fi movies of the time,
everyone dies at the end! :(


ETA: Does everyone remember The Green Slime, which seemed to be more blue than green?
 
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DDWW said:
One more vote for Kronos.

Another for Silent Running. The other crew members die at the beginning and Bruce Dern carries the whole movie by himself (ok, with 3 robots)

I use to have the soundtrack for this. Wished I still did.

DDWW
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2 robots (Huey & Dewie), the third one (Louie) doesn't get back inside when going thru Saturn's rings. I love Silent Running, I have it on DVD.

There were a bunch of Sci-fi made for TV movies like Genesis II, The Questor Tapes, City Beneath the Sea and Earth II (not Earth 2, the 1990's series). I remember liking them but I haven't seen them since so they might actually suck. I believe most were failed series pilots.

I like the Jules Verne movies from the 1950's "From the Earth to the Moon", "Mysterious Island", etc.
 
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