Was there anything from the 1970s that wasn’t cheesy? The same decade that gave the world the peak of disco and sequined jumpsuits also includes a wealth of cheesyscience fictionmovies. The quality of science fiction fromage seems to have reached its peak during this decade, so only choosing a few examples isn’t easy.
Special effects were mostly practical, using models and plasticine, with CGI still a decade away. Plenty of films used these techniques to great effect, but it still gives them that undeniable 70s look. The science fiction of this decade might be some of the cheesiest out there, but it’s also some of the most creative, funny, and entertaining. Look no further than these films to see why.
6Moonraker (1979)
Who knows who came up with the idea for a name like Dr. Goodhead, but maybe we can ask the writer who thought Pussy Galore was a good idea. The end of the 1970s was a time with sci-fi really blew up, withStar Warscoming out a year before, soJames Bondhad to go into space, too. And all the suggestive jokes and smirking quips went along with him.
RELATED:Most Influential Sci-Fi Film Directors
Despite the premise of Bond in space, along with the equally wacky storyline about starting a new colony of perfect humans on the moon,Moonrakerreceived a lot of praise for its visuals and special effects. It was the highest-grossing Bond filmuntil it was surpassed byGoldenEyealmost two decades later.
5Rollerball (1975)
This film was remade in 2002, and part of the reason it failed at the box office was that it was missing that distinctive cheesy flavor unique to the 1970s. Thisdystopian vision of a futurethat entertains the population with death games would inspire other movies with similar themes, likeThe Running ManandThe Hunger Games.
4Logan’s Run (1976)
A society that looks like a paradise is often a dystopia with a dark secret underneath. Despite the melodrama, off-putting costumes, and basic special effects,Logan’s Runhad an important message about what a society values and why.
RELATED:Best Sci-Fi Movies Set In Utopias
In the world of Logan’s Run, nobody gets old. That’s not because they’ve discovered the secret of eternal youth, but because the computers that control their society have determined that nobody can live past age 30. Eventually, Logan escapes the geodesic domes that confine most of the remains of humanity and finds out the horrible truth — that people can in fact get old.
3Soylent Green (1973)
It was considered to be over the top at the time, foreshadowing a time of extreme climate change, pollution, and overpopulation. Today,Soylent Greenis considered to be one of the smarter and more prescient sci-fi movies in history, even if it is really cheesy. The final scene,in which the protagonist yells his terrible secretto the surrounding crowds, is an iconic moment in movie history.
The main character, Frank Thorn, isn’t a revolutionary or a government agent. He’s simply an NYPD detective investigating the murder of a board member of the Soylent Green Corporation. This company makes the food rations that sustain the population, and the official story is that the main ingredient is plankton. In the course of his research, however, Frank discovers that the oceans can no longer produce plankton, and the corporation has found a sordid but effective substitute.
2Sleeper (1973)
Woody Allen wrote and directedSleeper,a comedy that’s intended to celebrate not only cheesy movies, but the fromage that can be found in the politics and high society of any time period. It was intended to parody the trend of dystopian science fiction that dominated media at the time, and it also pokes fun at the whole concept of a social revolution.
RELATED:Most Dangerous Anime Scientists
Miles Monroe was living his best life running a health food store and moonlighting as a clarinet player, but when he goes to the hospital for a routine medical procedure in 1973, he is cryogenically frozen and wakes up 200 years later. The scientists who have revived him are trying to overthrow the government and send him on a quest to find the Underground, a group of revolutionaries who aren’t half as smart as they think they are.
1Death Race 2000 (1975)
These kinds of movies, ones that describe a dystopian future in which contestants in a sporting event of some kind would fight to the death, are so popular they could be their own genre. In this case, the game in question is the Transcontinental Road Race, and participants are allowed — encouraged, in fact — to win by any means necessary.
The name comes from the yearin which the movie is set, 2000. In this hellscape, a descendant of American revolutionary Thomas Paine is planning to sabotage the race, bring down the corrupt government regime, and take it all back. A modern remake was released in 2008, but without the charm of the 1970s, it didn’t resonate with viewers.
