Great Science Fiction Movies From The 1960s
Previously I discussed what I thought were the best science fiction movies from the 1950s. This time I would like to talk about the ones I thought were the best of the 1960s. There were certainly some very good ones. Some were so good that were remade and even the remakes were as good if not better.
I guess the first one to talk about is one movie which was made in 1968 and which was directed by Stanley Kubrick and stared Keir Dullea. It was 2001: A Space Odyssey. This was a very controversial movie. The reason I say this is many people have said they just didn’t understand this movie and they weren’t satisfied with the ending. Aside from these facts, the movie was very cerebral and beautiful. Even today some 48 years later most of us know who HAL is. A monolith is found on the moon and a ship is sent out with two astronauts to investigate an area where monolith exist. One of the things I find interesting about this movie is it indicates the main air carrier will be Pan Am in 2001 and yet this giant went out of business in 1991.
In 1964 a science fiction movie came out which is one of my personal favorites. It was directed by Byron Haskin and starred Paul Mantee. The title of the movie was Robinson Crusoe On Mars. A hapless astronaut is stranded on Mars with limited air and provisions. The story goes on to show how he discovers huge underground rivers and oxygen bearing rocks, but the best part is he finds aliens are using slaves on Mars to mine ore for them and helps one get away and the slave becomes his man Friday. I highly recommend this movie to everyone.
The next movie I want to discuss was a cheapie, but led to the making of two remakes, so it had to have something going for it. The directors were Ubaldo Ragona and uncredited Sidney Salkow. It starred Vincent Price and was titled The Last Man On Earth. A disease hits the earth and the human race becomes vampire like, except for one man who makes up his mind to hunt and destroy them. The story is a good one and I like the movie, but I thought the first remake was even better. It was called the Omega Man and starred Charlton Heston. This is an enjoyable movie for science fiction fans and I would put it on the list of movies to see.
One movie which should be on everyone’s must see science fiction list is Fantastic Voyage. It was released in 1966 and was directed by Richard Fleischer and starred Stephen Boyd and other famous actors. A scientist is the victim of an assassination attempt and there is no way to save him short of shrinking down a ship and a crew and injecting them into the blood stream of the dying scientist. Apparently being inside a human body can be a very perilous place if you are very tiny and the movie is full of close calls. A great film.
In 1964 we were all about the new nuclear submarines. This spawned a movie called Voyage To The Bottom Of The Sea and a television show a few years later. The movie was directed by Irwin Allen of disaster film fame and starred Walter Pigeon and many famous stars of the time. The Van Allen radiation belt which circles the earth has caught fire and it is felt the only way to put it out is to sail our new nuclear submarine to a point where it can fire a nuclear missile at the belt to put it out. There are problems reaching the location for the shot.
A film was released in 1969 which hit home with many people, since we had started launching humans into space. The title was Marooned and was directed by the great John Sturges. It starred Gregory Peck, Richard Crenna and David Janssen as three astronauts who are in orbit, but are not able to fire their retro rockets to return to earth. At the time there were many rumors the Soviets had lost a few cosmonauts already. It was a very suspenseful movie and everyone knows Peck never made a bad movie.
One great science fiction movie came out in 1968. It was Planet Of The Apes. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and starred Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall and Kim Hunter among others. This movie spawned several remakes and sequels. The first remake in 2001 was terrible, but the latter one was very good. Astronauts somehow fly into the future where apes are the dominant species on earth. They don’t realize they are on earth until much later in the movie. Humans are being treated like slaves and pets and apes have learned how to talk, shoot and even conduct science. A must see.
Village Of The Dammed was released in 1960 and was directed by Wolf Rilla and starred George Sanders. People entering the English village of Midwich become unconscious and the village is soon surrounded by the military. Planes flying below 5,000 feet over the village crash. Two months later women and girls of child–bearing age all become pregnant. Everyone gives birth on the same day and early. The children produced are very strange and have incredible powers. The children become more intelligent as years go by and in three years’ time are equivalent to children four times their age. I don’t want to be a spoiler, so you will have to look at the film to see what happens. It is a good one.
The Day The Earth Caught Fire came out in 1961 and was based on the idea testing nuclear bombs could be very dangerous and disastrous to the earth. The movie was directed by Val Guest and starred Edward Judd.It has a non-ending which is left up to the viewers. Not my cup of tea, but some out there may like it.
Unfortunately the 1960s produced a lot of garbage science fiction movies and here are some:
A whole series of Godzilla movies where people in a Godzilla custom crushed tiny cardboard houses.
Santa Claus Conquers The Martians. Need I say more?
Leech Woman. Leech, vampire who cares. This is what happens when you experiment with drugs.
The Amazing Transparent Man. A takeoff on the invisible man.
The Astro-Zombies. The plot says it all.
The Phantom Planet. A cheap movie not worth talking about.
The Face Of Another. A cheap movie about a mask that alters a man’s looks and personality.
There were a couple of more science fiction movies from this period which I have left off, because I have no feeling either way about them. One of the reasons is I do not like too much humor injected into science fiction movies and another reason is I may not care for the plot even thought I don’t feel the movies warrants being put on the garbage list.
