Some 60s/70s Speculative/Science Fiction films

IMDB has the original at 7.8 and the remake with Donald Sutherland at 7.4, which is about how I see them in relation

I saw the original first. the remake doesn't have the almost claustrophobic atmosphere of the original. this may partly be because the remake is in color. b/w is in my opinion definitely the better medium for such a tale


Edited by BaldJean - July 26 2018 at 10:12

I caught Logan's Run, Zardoz, and Planet of the Apes as a child and the themes resonated with me then, and continue to (my username references Logan's Run). Zardoz is quite often considered to be a bad movie -- I think the final scenes very moving. It can be very absurd, but that's part of the fun for me. It's become a cult classic.   Every one of the films in the poll has some personal meaning to me.

That Fantastic Planet is one of my favourite animated films, and it is has one of my favourite soundtracks (Alain Goraguer's La planete sauvage).   By the way, for those who like that Alain Goraguer soundtrack, I recommend Karl Heinz Schäfer's Les Gants Blancs du Diable.

Side-note: I'm rather surprised that Woody Allen's Sleeper did not get a single vote or mention.   Since Woody Allen's Stardust Memories was mentioned in another of my polls of fantastic cinema, (the 80s edition), I thought Sleeper might get a vote or a mention.

Edited by Logan - July 27 2018 at 06:56

BaldFriede wrote: I love Zardoz. Sean Connery in a red diaper with ammo belts across his bare chest, Charlotte Rampling (one of my favorite actresses), green bread, a flying stone head, "The gun is good! The penis is evil"! - what's there not to love?

Sean Connery in a red diaper AND a wedding dress. While I think it has very interesting premise, and can be powerful, it's also a fun romp that shouldn't be taken too seriously.



This is rather gratuitous since I wrote and posted this silly "review" many years ago, and it's not well written, but...

Zardoz speakz to you, hiz chozen onez!



A really big, toothy, and freaky stone head magnificently soars through the azure sky. A group of men in red diapers (Exterminators) rush to meet it. Wearing masks with the same visage as the stone head, they gather worship-fully before the stone-head which gracefully lands. With a booming voice it addresses the Exterminators, "The gun is good. The penis is evil. The penis shoots seeds, and makes new life, and poisons the earth with a plague of men, as o­nce it was. But the gun shoots death, and purifies the earth. Now go forth and kill." The stone head, which is the Exterminator's God, Zardoz, spews forth guns which they greedily lap up.

The Exterminator Zed (Sean Connery like you’ve never seen him before) secretly enters the head which is the o­nly path into the Vortex – a land of immortals (the Eternals) with big mental powers and scanty clothing.

He has worked in the service of Zardoz, cleansing the Earth of Brutals (the masses outside the Vortex) but has learned that it was all based o­n a lie and seeks revenge! But while Zed resents the underhanded manipulation by the immortal denizens of the Vortex, who was manipulating the Eternals? And to what ends?

"We’ve all been used!"
"And re-used."
"And abused!"
"And amused."
"Hahahaha blech uhgah."

It seems that Zardoz, by director John Boorman who went o­n to make Excalibur, is a love it or hate it film – truly weird, truly different, and I think, truly wonderful. The final scenes are incredibly moving and powerful.

It’s a very surreal, satirical, sometimes disturbing, sometimes just plain bad, but ultimately poignant film. If fear of seeing Sean Connery in a bright red diaper AND a wedding dress doesn’t deter you, be warned, there are lots of topless females frolicking about, and a depraved orgy scene with seniors involved.

Scene to look out for: Super-human Zed punches through some saran wrap whilst incredulous bystanders exclaim, "It can’t be done, it’s impossible." This may require some suspension of disbelief on the part of the audience.



And Charlotte Rampling is a terrific actress -- I've liked her in everything I have seen. In terms of her recent work, I liked her character in the film version of Never Let Me Go (yes, the film is not as good as the novel, but the novel is amazing) very much, and while I wasn't terribly keen on the second season/ series of Broadchurch on the whole, she was great in it.

Edited by Logan - July 27 2018 at 08:58

I haven't seen "Farewell, My Lovely". "The Night Porter" is quite something -- understandably controversial, very provocative, and fascinating in a morbid sort of way.

Zardoz is an interesting surreal send-up...at times laughingly bad and at other times brilliantly weird.....that's what makes it so much fun.

BaldJean wrote: I saw the original first. the remake doesn't have the almost claustrophobic atmosphere of the original. this may partly be because the remake is in color. b/w is in my opinion definitely the better medium for such a tale

Since you mention Blade Runner, I bumped my 80s poll that i had done as part of this series. I love Philip K. Dick and Blade Runner is an interesting very loose adaptation of his work. I also liked Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 from 2017. As to the grok, Heinlein's Stranger in A Stranger Land is one of my very favourite novels -- I love how humanity is explored through alienation-- his otherness. Blade Runner is an interesting exploration of what it means to be human. A reason I like The Man Who Fell to Earth is because of the humanity of it.(that's a common thread in so much that I like).