Summary
The 1970s marked a significant shift for sci-fi cinema, transitioning from a sideshow offering to a main-stage event.
Films like "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" and "Fantastic Planet" showcased the talents of notable actors and combined humor with creepy elements, making them sci-fi hits.
Iconic films like "Mad Max," "A Clockwork Orange," and "Star Wars" revolutionized the genre, introducing dystopian themes, exploring the morality of technology, and setting new standards for epic, blockbuster sci-fi storytelling.
The 1970s were a monumentally important decade in the history of sci-fi cinema. Though some may point to the 1980s as the best decade for sci-fi, it was during the '70s that the genre transitioned from a sideshow offering to a main-stage event.
Today, science fiction films are a cornerstone of the summer blockbuster season, and viewers can trace this phenomenon back to a few remarkable films. To better understand what made it such a special decade, fans just need to check out some of the greatest sci-fi movies of the 1970s.
Updated on July 31st, 2023 by Nikole Finger: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.
12 Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
Invasion of the Body Snatchers is a remake and reimagining of the 1956 sci-fi horror classic of the same name (which was itself an adaptation of a novel by author Jack Finney). The 1978 version brings a sense of campy fun to the original story while maintaining a pervasive creepiness throughout.
It's a masterclass in tonal balance as laughs and screams abound in equal measure. 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchersalso featured a stellar cast of actors who were at their prime or rising to fame in the '70s, including Donald Sutherland, Jeff Goldblum, Leonard Nimoy, Brooke Adams, and more. Their onscreen chemistry has to be seen to be believed, and it helped make the horror adaptation a sci-fi hit.
11 Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
Godzilla is one of the most iconic movie monsters in all of cinema history. It's no secret that the character and the franchise have gone on for decades and become a worldwide phenomenon, with the latest film being released in 2021.
Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla gave audiences in the '70s a taste of what monster movies could be in the science fiction genre. For fans of the latest Godzilla films, this one is a nice throwback to watch to see how far the franchise has come.
10 Fantastic Planet (1973)
A remarkable work of French animation, 1973's Fantastic Planet (La Planète sauvage) is both a visual feast and a stunningly creative sci-fi epic. Though the art and animation are the stars of the show here, the film's narrative is no slouch either, telling the story of humanity in conflict with a despotic alien race: giant, blue, semi-humanoid creatures known as Traags.
Traags keep human beings (known as "Oms" on their planet) as pets and slaves, and the film has been read as a rich allegory for human rights abuses and oppression in the real world. If the oddball visuals or funky prog-rock score don't appeal to you, Fantastic Planet's egalitarian message might still win you over. Check it out to see why AV Club says it "earns the adjective [strange] in its title."
9 THX 1138 (1971)
While THX 1138 may not be the most popular or well-known piece of science fiction from the '70s, it is a rather significant film. Before changing the film industry with Star Wars, George Lucas made his debut with THX 1138. It follows two forbidden lovers as they try to break free from a dystopian society that has outlawed free will.
THX 1138 has a small following itself, but many films that came after it with similar premises have become very popular. Unfortunately, THX 1138 suffers from limited special effects that were available in the early '70s, so the chase scenes are quite slow. However, it is yet another example of Lucas being ahead of his time.
8 Escape to Witch Mountain (1975)
Escape to Witch Mountain is a unique film compared to many others in the genre. It follows the story of two orphaned kids with strange abilities. They eventually find that they are extraterrestrial beings that got lost in a spaceship crash on Earth.
While there are many films that explore alien characters through a sympathetic lens, few ask the audience to question if the human characters are from some other planet. The Disney story has become very popular over the years and spawned both sequels and remakes.
7 Solaris (1972)
Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky released his space drama Solaris in 1972 to widespread acclaim. At the Cannes Film Festival of that same year, it brought home the Grand Prix Spécial du Jury, and it has enjoyed a stellar reputation since (earning an American remake in 2002).
Solaris took a different approach to science fiction than other films, as it chose not to focus on technological advancements — or the changes brought about by said advancements. Its intentions, then, were predominantly humanistic; it aimed to explore the human condition, a condition that has not changed very much in Tarkovsky's imagined future. As a result, Solaris is one of the most psychologically complex sci-fi films ever made.
6 Mad Max (1979)
The original Mad Max, a high-octane tale of cars and carnage from Australia, became the face of dystopian sci-fi cinema when it hit theaters in 1979. It sowed the seeds for a massive post-apocalyptic action franchise and would be followed by 1981's Mad Max 2, 1985's Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and 2015's Mad Max: Fury Road.
The first Mad Max entry is perhaps the least well-known entry in the series, but it's also one of the best. Mel Gibson stars as a (very) young police officer, "Mad" Max Rockatanskty, who butts heads with a hyper-violent motorcycle gang. When said gang takes the lives of Max's wife and son, the film explodes into vengeance-fueled fireworks. For those who like science fiction with a hearty helping of action, Mad Max may be the best choice on movie night.
5 A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Although it may not be as conventional as many other sci-fi movies of the decade, A Clockwork Orange still explored unknown technology and the morality of its use in extreme circumstances. In a futuristic England, a young man engages in all sorts of distasteful behavior. After being caught by the police and thrown into prison, he volunteers to undergo an experimental treatment designed to torture criminals into fearing the acts they once committed.
A Clockwork Orange explored just how moral it is to force "goodness" on others. While the main character is not meant to be admired or liked, the fictional technology strips him of his free will, and he only acts properly because he is afraid of being tortured.
4 Stalker (1979)
Stalker is a brilliant puzzle of a film by Russian master Andrei Tarkovsky. One part mind-bending sci-fi mystery and one part religious odyssey, it charts the journey of three men into the "Zone," an area that took on supernatural qualities after an unknown, possibly catastrophic event.
As viewers followed the titular "stalker" character and his two companions into the Zone, fans don't learn much about it beyond its supposed wish-granting power — and it's all the more interesting as a result. The film is based on Roadside Picnic, a sci-fi novel by Russian brothers Arkady and Boris Strugatsky, but it moves beyond its source material in fascinating, and characteristically Tarkovskian, ways. It's a magical journey from start to finish.
3 Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
While the fascination with aliens and unidentified flying objects may have evolved primarily during the '50s, it was still going strong into the '70s. Close Encounters of the Third Kind tells the story of a man who sees something strange in the sky, and he becomes determined to find out exactly what it was.
The artistic way the filmmaking team brought the aliens to life made this film iconic, so much so that it has been preserved in the National Film Registry. The extraterrestrials don't communicate with a spoken language but with musical sounds and lights. This adds to the beauty of the close encounter. Unlike many sci-fi films of the time, Close Encounters of the Third Kind is not about the horrors of UFOs and aliens, but rather about natural curiosity and the joy of discovery.
2 Alien (1979)
Ridley Scott's Alien holds a towering reputation. Considered to be one of the greatest sci-fi (and sci-fi horror) films of all time, it spawned a flood of sequels, prequels, and ventures into other mediums. From its beginnings as a slasher-in-space, Alien has morphed and multiplied in ways resembling the xenomorph itself, and it is now a tent-pole entertainment franchise.
It deserves this status, as the original film is nothing less than a masterwork. Perfectly cast and perfectly shot, it raised pulpy science fiction tropes to the level of high art. It's terrifying, too, thanks to the iconic design of the titular alien, who can be barely seen lurking in the shadows and air vents of the Nostromo spaceship. In a lot of ways, Alien speaks for itself, and it's one of those rare films that seems to appeal to every generation.
1 Star Wars (1977)
The original Star Wars is the best science fiction movie of the 1970s. It's a choice that's both predictable and controversial; while the impact of Star Wars on the genre (and on the film industry as a whole) was unquestionably massive, there are those who claim that it changed sci-fi for the worse. With its blockbuster sensibilities and epic scale, Star Wars gave the genre an appeal it had never had before, and audiences responded by making it one of the all-time biggest successes in cinema history.
Though some argue that it signaled the end of small-scale, speculative sci-fi productions, it was merely following in the tradition of other grandiose space epics, like Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Science fiction as a film genre was already moving in the direction of the big-budget blockbuster when George Lucas emerged on the scene with Star Wars. It's hard to do sci-fi bigger, or better, than this.
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