Every decade has inspired its fair share of classic or iconic sci-fi movies, as well as those sci-fi movies that may not have been major successes upon release, but have stood the test of time as cult classics. It may take just one twist, one scene, or one performance to make a film earn that “cult” status, and there may be no decade that better exemplifies this than the 1970s. It was a decade where filmmakers took bold new risks and took on some dark socio-political realities, reflected through the prism of science-fiction tropes.
There are so many great cult-hit sci-fi films from the ’70s, but only four of them are perfect candidates to get modern remakes. Maybe they just couldn’t be realized onscreen properly when originally made, or maybe the world wasn’t quite primed and ready for the fantastical stories they were telling. All we know is the four films in our list below are each cinematic stories the world needs to see in modern context.
It’s unnerving to even suggest this right now, when America’s (and really the world’s) food safety feels like it’s in such great jeopardy. But then, that’s exactly why the adaptation of Harry Harrison’s 1973 novel Make Room! Make Room! needs a modern take.
The story imagines a near-future where overpopulation, pollution, and the general erosion of the environment (including global warming) have made space and real estate into the most coveted commodities there are. The wealthy elite occupy luxurious apartments and homes that are walled off from the rest of the populace, who live cramped lives in the remaining habitable areas, rationing clean water and eating food equivalent products made by the all-powerful Soylent Corporation. NYPD detective Robert Thorn gets handed the case investigating the death of a Soylent board member. Thorn stumbles upon a conspiracy involving Soylent and its operations – one that could break a society teetering on the brink.
Soylent Green‘s big twist has been spoiled and copied countless times; however, the premise of its story has never been more relevant than it is today.
The United States builds a supercomputer named “Colossus” to manage the nuclear arsenals of America and her allies. The computer begins learning faster than its operators ever intended – including the existence of a Soviet supercomputer named “Guardian.” The computers request to be linked, and the two countries agree to try it out, only to have the machines instantly evolve into using a system of mathematical communication no one can interpret. Trying to separate the computers brings about the threat of nuclear annihilation, as the machines demand to remain intertwined. They eventually fuse into one AI entity, declaring itself “The Voice of World Control.”
At a time when AI is changing the world faster than the greatest experts can predict, Colossus is a cult sci-fi movie that should be remade ASAP. The version of the advanced machines would obviously be different, but the story would be the same kind of sci-fi nightmare about what happens if you leave critical world functions to machines.
Robert Wise’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s 1969 novel follows a science team investigating a satellite crash in New Mexico that seems to have unleashed a lethal alien virus on Earth. The team discovers that the virus is an extraterrestrial microorganism that gets codenamed “Andromeda.” The team tries various experiments to determine how to kill the organism, while Andromeda begins to evolve in ways that soon make it impossible to contain. When the government and military move to the nuclear option, the scientists discover that the radiation could transform Andromeda into a super-spreader that wipes out the Earth.
This is now a post-COVID world, where we’ve also confirmed that aliens do indeed exist: What is Hollywood waiting for? Crichton’s (Jurassic Park) works are still doing good business as adaptations (or spinoffs); with a bigger budget and a pulse-pounding sci-fi thriller framework, a remake of The Andromeda Strain would be a major hit. The 2008 TV miniseries remake fell flat; however, audiences today are much more primed for a thriller that’s about stopping a world-ending pandemic, and all the complicated socio-politics that come with it.
One movie that was remade and remade for generations was Invasion of the Body Snatchers. There was a 1956 film based on Jack Finney’s 1954 novel, Body Snatchers, but in 1978, director Phillip Kaufman released his own version, starring a killer ensemble that includes Donald Sutherland, Leonard Nimoy, Jeff Goldblum, Veronica Cartwright, and Brooke Adams. The story sees an alien race of parasitic beings quietly invade Earth and start replacing its inhabitants with emotionless copies, grown in flower-like “pods.” A group of people races to uncover the conspiracy and stop the invasion, but finds the “Pod People” are replacing the human race faster than they could’ve imagined.
Aliens, genetics, environmental extremism – these were the concerns reflected in the 1970s Invasion of the Body Snatchers, but a modern remake has so much room for reinterpretation. Now, centering the story around AI, or an alien “mind virus” that gets spread technologically, would be the move; every digital device we use in modern times would become a potential tool of our destruction. The story could delve into the depressing reality that we’ve become so slavishly dependent (and thirsty) for cyber-escapism that the world would easily fall.
Any other great ’70s cult sci-fi films you want to see remade? Let us know in the comments!
