Rediscovering Hidden Gems: The Most Underrated Sci-Fi Movies of the 1970s That Deserve Your Attention

The 1970s marked a remarkable period for science fiction in cinema. The decade was characterized by rising concerns about the future, setting the stage for films with dystopian themes like “A Clockwork Orange,” “THX 1138,” and “Soylent Green.” While “Star Wars” offered a glimpse of hope, many sci-fi films from this era painted a bleak picture of what the future might hold if society didn’t change its course. Whether set in the vastness of space or within familiar earthly confines, these films served as cautionary tales about the potential consequences of societal inaction.

The fertile ground of the 1970s New Hollywood movement yielded a plethora of notable sci-fi films, including many lesser-known space adventures worth watching today. This list, however, focuses on the truly underrated gems of 1970s sci-fi cinema. Iconic titles like “Alien,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Solaris,” as well as “The Omega Man,” “Logan’s Run,” and “Demon Seed,” are intentionally omitted. Instead, the spotlight is on those films that have unjustly slipped into obscurity and are in need of reassessment.

In one such film, a military satellite mysteriously returns to Earth, resulting in the deaths of nearly everyone in Piedmont, New Mexico. Only a 6-month-old infant and an elderly alcoholic survive. A team of scientists, led by Dr. Jeremy Stone (played by Arthur Hill), is tasked with uncovering the mystery. They theorize that the satellite may have carried an alien microorganism, transforming into a bioweapon upon contact with humans. As time runs out, Dr. Stone and his colleagues race to contain the virus within a lab equipped with a self-destruct feature to prevent a wider outbreak.

• Cast: Arthur Hill, James Olson, Kate Reid
• Director: Robert Wise
  
• Rating: G
  
• Runtime: 131 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
  

When a military satellite mysteriously returns to Earth, almost all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico wind up dead. A group of scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone (Arthur Hill) are dispatched to figure out why only two townspeople — a 6-month-old baby and an elderly drunk — survived. The scientists suspect the satellite might have harbored an alien microorganism that turned into a bioweapon when it came into contact with the human population. With the clock ticking, Dr. Stone and his team try to contain the virus before it can spread beyond the lab, which is equipped with a self-destruct mechanism to prevent that from happening.

Released in 1971, “The Andromeda Strain” was the first movie adaptation of a Michael Crichton book, and it has been somewhat overshadowed by the author’s own successful career as a filmmaker throughout that decade (including the 1973 sci-fi classic “Westworld”). Directed by Old Hollywood legend Robert Wise of “The Sound of Music” fame, “The Andromeda Strain” is a G-rated movie released at a time when studios were churning out grittier fare. But that doesn’t mean it’s any less terrifying in its depiction of a mysterious virus with the potential to wipe out humanity, making it one of those ’70s sci-fi movies that was way ahead of its time.

• Cast: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill
• Director: Cornel Wilde
  
• Rating: R
  
• Runtime: 96 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
  

In the near future, pollution has created a strange new virus that destroys different strains of grass, including wheat, rice, and maize. This causes a worldwide famine, which in turn leads to food riots, mass murder, and cannibalism. One Londoner, John Custance (Nigel Davenport), tries to protect his wife, Ann (Jean Wallace), and their two children as they travel across a post-apocalyptic landscape in search of food and shelter.

When it was released in 1970, “No Blade of Grass” was controversial due to a graphic rape sequence involving an actress who was only 15 when filming began. Director Cornel Wilde cut almost 90 seconds out of the scene, which was later restored for the home video release. Much like “A Clockwork Orange” and “Straw Dogs,” two films released the following year, it felt like a degradation of moral standards, glorifying violence and even justifying it as a means of survival.

“No Blade of Grass” received largely poor reviews at the time, but more recent reviews have been a lot kinder to the film. It feels more relevant with each passing year, presenting a nightmare scenario of how society can fall apart if something isn’t done about climate change. In that way, the graphic depiction of violence is necessary, as it serves as a warning for how terrible things can get if we lose the capacity for empathy.

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• Cast: Bruce Dern, Cliff Potts, Ron Rifkin
• Director: Douglas Trumbull 
  
• Rating: G
  
• Runtime: 89 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
  

After pollution has destroyed all of Earth’s forests, a group of astronauts gather as much botanical life as possible into a giant greenhouse attached to an orbiting space station. Ecologist and botanist Freeman Lowell (Bruce Dern) cares for the plants with his three service robots in the hope that one day they can return to Earth with them. Those hopes are shattered when Lowell is ordered to destroy the plants to make room for cargo. Rather than follow through, Lowell and his robot pals rebel against the other crew members, taking desperate measures to protect the near-extinct specimens.

Released in 1972, “Silent Running” was the directorial debut of Douglas Trumbull, one of the special effects wizards behind “2001: A Space Odyssey,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” and “Blade Runner.” “Silent Running” is not often mentioned in the same breath as those films, perhaps because Trumbull’s directorial career never reached the heights of Stanley Kubrick, Steven Spielberg, or Ridley Scott. However, its influence can be felt throughout many sci-fi classics, including “Star Wars,” which similarly features an adorable tiny robot (R2-D2) assisting a human in their noble mission. Co-written by Michael Cimino of “The Deer Hunter” fame, the film is a small-scale thriller that takes a bleak view of our future and the measures environmentalists might have to take in order to save plant life.

• Cast: Yul Brynner, Max von Sydow, Joanna Miles
• Director: Robert Clouse
  
• Rating: 94 minutes
  
• Runtime: R
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
  

In the year 2012, a global pandemic has caused mass extinction, and those that remain have sectioned themselves off into tribes. Baron (Max von Sydow) rules over what remains of New York City, and his chief botanist (Richard Kelton) has developed a plague-resistant chemical that allows plant life to grow in a small garden. The fresh fruits and vegetables are coveted by roving gangs that try to break through the fortified walls of NYC, endangering the safety of the residents within. To protect his followers, Baron enlists the help of Caron (Yul Brynner), a highly trained warrior who lends out his services at a price.

When it was released in 1975, the plot of “The Ultimate Warrior” felt a little far-fetched. In the post COVID-19 world, though, it doesn’t seem so bizarre — fights broke out over things like toilet paper as people rushed to stockpile during the global pandemic. Unfortunately, the film has been somewhat overshadowed by another ’70s sci-fi classic starring Yul Brynner: 1973’s “Westworld.” Yet, aside from sharing the same lead actor, these two films offer distinctly different visions of the future. Directed by Robert Clouse (who also helmed Bruce Lee’s martial arts masterpiece “Enter the Dragon”), “The Ultimate Warrior” envisions man turning against man as food becomes a luxury.

• Cast: Sean Connery, Charlotte Rampling, Sara Kestelman
• Director: John Boorman
  
• Rating: R
  
• Runtime: 105 minutes
  
• Where to watch: Prime Video, Apple TV
  

In the distant future, the world is divided into two classes of beings: the Eternals and the Brutals. The immortal Eternals rule over the mortal Brutals, who live in a wasteland growing food at the behest of their overlords. Brutal Exterminators kill their own kind to appease Zardoz, a flying stone deity made by the Eternals, who live in a paradise called the Vortex. One Brutal Exterminator, Zed (Sean Connery), takes refuge inside Zardoz and ends up in the Vortex. He’s taken captive and seeks to save humanity from further subjugation after learning the truth about Zardoz.

Long before Peter Jackson did so with aplomb, director John Boorman sought to bring “The Lord of the Rings” to the big screen. When that bonkers-sounding adaptation (it would have included Galadriel and Frodo getting intimate and the Witch-king of Angmar riding a horse with no skin) fell through, he decided to make an original sci-fi fantasy. The result was “Zardoz,” one of the craziest films of the 1970s (or of any decade, really).

Critics hated the movie upon its release, but it has since been reclaimed as one of the most underappreciated fantasy movies of all time, with many coming to love the gonzo approach to the production. More than a decade after its release, The Chicago Reader printed a defense of the movie: “Probably John Boorman’s most underrated film — an impossibly ambitious and pretentious but also highly inventive, provocative, and visually striking SF adventure with metaphysical trimmings.”