Good (or at least interesting) pre-Alien scifi movies?

[sn00zer]

I love Alien. Maybe my favorite movie of all time? But, it (along with Star Wars) committed the unforgivable sin of killing scifi as it had been known up to that time. Sure scifi was maybe better for it, by I really miss the hyper allegorical, weirdo, far out, trippy scifi of old.

Stuff like Logan's Run, Zardoz (genuinely cool movie despite the memes), Death Race 2000, Planet of the Apes series, Silent Running, Soylent Green, Between Time and Timbuktu, the Illustrated Man etc.

Not many recent movies are inspired by this era, off the top of my head the show Maniac on Netflix and maybe Devs?

Looking for more movies from that time (and movies/shows inspired by that period if more recent). It almost feels like a lost genre that is just been quietly ignored.

 

[Wrexis]

Andromeda Strain holds up. 1971.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMbSpnlOOtE

 

[PinkSpider]

Came to suggest Logans Run, love that film (Probably one of the few older films I like). The Westworld film I remember liking as a teen.

 

[sn00zer]

Came to suggest Logans Run, love that film (Probably one of the few older films I like). The Westworld film I remember liking as a teen.

Click to shrink...

Looooved Westworld.
I don't particularly like that both the new Westworld and Planet of the Apes are just a totally different (albeit good in their own right) thing

 

[Gangster Gastino]

Metropolis
2001

 

[PinkSpider]

Looooved Westworld.
I don't particularly like that both the new Westworld and Planet of the Apes are just a totally different (albeit good in their own right) thing

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Yeah I couldn't get into the Westworld series and Planet of the Apes; kinda enjoyed the first movie as its own thing but then had no desire to even care about the rest.

 

[More_Badass]

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - found this to be a forgotten 1970 sci-fi gem. A supercomputer-gone-rogue plot by way of Cold War-era dread and paranoia, basically like if the movie Fail Safe was hijacked by HAL

Quatermass and the Pit (1967) - A major influence on Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and Hooper's Lifeforce; a British sci-fi horror procedural with occult cosmic horror themes and Martian secrets beyond human comprehension buried deep in mankind's psyche

Matango (1963) - Godzilla's Ishiro Honda takes a pulpy b-movie sci-fi premise (the American title is Attack of the Mushroom People) and delivers a psychological slow-burn of survival horror, stranded group tension, and irradiated fungi terror.

Ikarie XB-1 (1963) - Czech existential space odyssey and Stanisław Lem adaptation which felt like seeing a genre Rosetta Stone. Star Trek, 2001, Alien, Event Horizon, Sunshine, Pandorum, Interstellar, and more all owe this film a little bit

 

[Motorcycle Dork]

Bookmarking this thread yo

 

[Stef]

I came here with an interesting one.

Saturn 3.

You may say "Hey, it came out 3 months after Alien!". But of course, production of the two movies happened in parallel and that's what makes it very interesting: two movies which approach similar "setting" and some of the themes in such different ways.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O-F2fvHFW4

 

[tokkun]

hyper allegorical, weirdo, far out, trippy scifi

Click to shrink...

The critical darling of this genre is Tarkovsky, with movies like Solyaris and Stalker. You need to be in the right mood for it, though, because it is really slow and the allegorical aspect can be very abstract, so you need to pay close attention.

 

[Stef]

Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) - found this to be a forgotten 1970 sci-fi gem. A supercomputer-gone-rogue plot by way of Cold War-era dread and paranoia, basically like if the movie Fail Safe was hijacked by HAL

Quatermass and the Pit (1967) - A major influence on Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and Hooper's Lifeforce; a British sci-fi horror procedural with occult cosmic horror themes and Martian secrets beyond human comprehension buried deep in mankind's psyche

Click to shrink...

Excellent choices. Colussus in particular is a very actual (and scary) movie.

I'd add Proteus: Demon Seed (1977). This scared me a lot as a kid.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dWy5LD2jyA

 

[Strings]

There's Fassbinder's World on a Wire:


View: https://youtu.be/URq7m3-SOtA?feature=shared

 

[redlentil]

Omega man, barbarella, phase iv, dark star, rollerball are the ones that haven't been mentioned that come to mind.

 

[jph139]

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

 

[AstralSphere]

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

Click to shrink...

I just entered the thread in to recommend this one myself

 

[LV-0504]

Capricorn One is a great movie, not fully sci-fi but should be along the lines of what you are looking for.

 

[andymcc]

There's Fassbinder's World on a Wire:


View: https://youtu.be/URq7m3-SOtA?feature=shared

Click to shrink...

Great pick.

 

[teruterubozu]

Andromeda Strain holds up. 1971.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMbSpnlOOtE

Click to shrink...

Yeah The Andromeda Strain is a great example of high budget sci-fi before the modern era. They were doing CGI base schematics shit in 1971.

 

[machine]

If you like Alien, be sure to check out It! The Terror From Beyond Space and Planet of the Vampires. Both seem to have influenced the story and set design of Alien.

 

[Cure Save Exit]

The Day the Earth Stood Still

 

[Fancy Clown]

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

Click to shrink...

Yeah Phase IV was what I was going to mention. Really incredibly visual journey, as you would expect from Saul Bass.

Also Quatermass and the Pit which has also been mentioned.

 

[Scottt]

Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker

 

[Gabbo]

I'll add my voice to Dark Star being worth watching. Has Alien vibes, (Dan O'Bannon's as cowriter), but is way more of a dark comedy. John Carpenter directing doesn't hurt either.

If you don't mind subtitles, Inquest of Pilot Pirx is also a solid Polish/Soviet film that came out the same year as Alien

 

[sn00zer]

Great suggestions! Really thought I'd seen them all. Curious now to see phase iv

 

[More_Badass]

Great suggestions! Really thought I'd seen them all. Curious now to see phase iv

Click to shrink...

Make sure to see the "Preview Cut" of Phase IV (the VS release has it) or follow up the movie with the full uncut original ending (it's on YouTube)

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

Click to shrink...

Genuinely might be the best first contact movie

 

[xir]

I came here with an interesting one.

Saturn 3.

You may say "Hey, it came out 3 months after Alien!". But of course, production of the two movies happened in parallel and that's what makes it very interesting: two movies which approach similar "setting" and some of the themes in such different ways.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_O-F2fvHFW4

Click to shrink...

look who wrote the screenplay
also matrix plugs
also brain computers

 

[sn00zer]

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

Click to shrink...

I swear I read a scifi short story a loooong time ago with a similar premise. Wonder if thats what this is based on.

 

[Nameless]

View: https://youtu.be/mgVHJXg6Fbo?si=K2k-ImohpSq1SzTA

 

[julia crawford]

i honestly quite liked THX 1138

 

[ArtTeitlebaum]

Came in to suggest Silent Running and Soylent Green, but already listed by OP.
Well, maybe Barbarella? Aesthetics are still quite remarkable, though some aspects didn't age too well lol.

 

[tidewatersouthern]

I'll begin and end with pitching Phase IV, which Vinegar Syndrome finally put out a 4K of a few months ago:


View: https://youtu.be/IT__jmBwG_k?si=UspbLbf4fp-vt_Z3

It's absolutely brilliant. On the surface it's a pretty goofy creature feature - man vs. ants! - but it's SO much smarter. The premise is, some ants build some monoliths in the desert, some scientists go to check it out. Turns out, the ants are suddenly and inexplicably hyper-intelligent, at least on par with humans, but while retaining their ant-like nature. It's a true "contact with an alien intelligence" story that's pretty hokey in its execution, but takes its subject with such seriousness and thoughtfulness that it blew me away.

And be sure to check out the extended/alternate ending, which dials up the trippy psychedelics to the max.

Click to shrink...

I was introduced to this via Mystery Science Theater, and it's one of a handful of movies they did that I felt was genuinely a good film. It was back in their local TV days when they would simply use whatever they could get the rights to.

Interestingly, when I watched Alex Garland's Annihilation, I felt the ending had some similarities to Phase IV.

 

[Lotto]

enjoyed futureworld even though it was extremely campy; just the ideas of the future/practical effects back then were always so silly and endearing. would have loved to see the other parks that get mentioned in it to have been explored further though.

 

[Slayven]

Silent Running - Trailer

As this science fiction classic opens, botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) has spent eight years aboard the space freighter 'Valley Forge' preserving the on...

youtu.be

 

[Man with Knife]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFRiSlcBAg

 

[Tobor]

So you're specifically looking for 70's sci-fi? A lot of good movies have already been called out.

I'll +1 Dark Star for sure.

Beyond the fact that it's a classic, one of my favorite bands of all time is named for one of the characters. Pinback.

 

[Rassilon]

Quatermass and the Pit (1967) - A major influence on Carpenter's Prince of Darkness and Hooper's Lifeforce; a British sci-fi horror procedural with occult cosmic horror themes and Martian secrets beyond human comprehension buried deep in mankind's psyche

Click to shrink...

One of my favourites!

The former Quatermass movies adaptations are good fun too

 

[nitewulf]

Forbidden Planet is really good. The original The Blob as well.

 

[Tobor]

Forbidden Planet is really good. The original The Blob as well.

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I was going to start rattling off 50's sci-fi classics, but I think the OP is looking for '70's movies.

If we are doing 50's, add in The Day the Earth stood Still and Them for sure.

 

[Dhx]

Andromeda Strain holds up. 1971.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMbSpnlOOtE

Click to shrink...

I need to watch this. I've read and reread the novel several times. One of my favorites from Crichton.

 

[Lucky Forward]

I re-watched Logan's Run recently and I was struck by how much the various settings seemed to structure the movie like video game levels:

Future City level
Old City level
Ice level
Wilderness level
Dilapidated Washington D.C. level
Return to the Future City level
Bonus Outdoor Fountain/Waterworks level.

I'd play that game!

 

[ExhaustedWalrus]

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but check out Seconds (1966). I think it's streaming on Criterion Channel right now. Not exactly set in space but it's a fantastic movie and very ahead of its time.

 

[Shadow of the Void]

Lots of good suggestions in here already, but I'll add one more to the pile: the 1954 War of the Worlds film. It still holds up visually and it's fairly well-paced. The "constantly screaming horror film damsel" trope from the era is in full effect, and it takes a lot of liberties with the source material, but it looks great for a 70-year-old film, and the sounds the Martian machines make are cool.

 

[Ostron]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFRiSlcBAg

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After seeing the film I tried to read the novel but the only translation around back then that I could (barely) read was German. I see now that it has an English translation as of 2021! Could be a good time for some proto-sci-fi (1903!).

I'll second Colossus: The Forbin Project in this thread. It's a tense and FAIRLY believable AI takeover before skynet and copilot. Well directed.

I also think that The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951) holds up very well.

Frau im Mond (1929) is also a fun watch that has some incredible visuals. It has that charm of "maybe stuff will be like this in space?"–pre moonlanding sci-fi.

 

[GillianSeed79]

I looooveee Logan's Run. Anyway, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a Spielberg classic. Zardoz is worth a watch. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I really like the early Planet of the Apes films. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes is great. Wizards is more fantasy than sci-fi, but it's a fun ride. The 1976 version of King Kong is also good.

 

[Finaika]

Bookmarking this thread yo

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Same

 

[Gabbo]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBFRiSlcBAg

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I guess this could count as both pre and post-Alien given it's problematic production.
Good choice :D

 

[Volimar]

Most of my picks have been said. I was going to mention Buckaroo Banzai, but it came out after Alien.

 

[Fisty]

Godard made a sci-fi film, which is a kinda wild notion. Check out Alphaville for sure

 

[sn00zer]

The critical darling of this genre is Tarkovsky, with movies like Solyaris and Stalker. You need to be in the right mood for it, though, because it is really slow and the allegorical aspect can be very abstract, so you need to pay close attention.

Click to shrink...

I've seen Stalker. While I wasn't a huge fan of the movie due to it being pretty glacial (and nothing like the game like 15 year old me expected), but I really loved the ending.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Same year as Alien, but I was a fan of Disney's The Black Hole when I was younger.
It's got a pair of cheesy R2-D2 knock off robots, but some genuinely creepy visuals.

Haven't rewatched it in decades, so I can't 100% recommend it, but I've been wanting to watch it again for ages.