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By Joshua Tyler & Drew Dietsch | Updated
The 1960s were a turning point in American culture and science fiction.
Sci-fi movie buffs now remember it as the decade that brought us Stanley Kubrick’s breakthrough film. 2001: A Space Odysseya popular HG Wells adaptation Time machineand one of the biggest twists of all time Planet of the Apes.
Unfortunately, many of the other great sci-fi films of the decade didn’t stick with modern audiences and are slowly being forgotten. Not if we can do anything about it!
Let’s jump in our time machine and go back to an era where ideas were bigger and better than most special effects could create, but still left their mark on film history. These are sci-fi movies from the 60s that are still worth watching.
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965)
You know Doctor Who as a TV show, but in 1965 the good doctor got a feature film titled Dr. Who and the Daleks. It was the first time the Doctor had ever been seen in colour.
Best of all, the Doctor is played by Star Wars’ own Grand Moff Tarkin, Peter Cushing.
The film is an adaptation of one of the first Doctor Who “The Daleks” series. Presented by Dr. Who and his three young companions who travel to the planet Skaro to confront the evil Daleks.
In this sequel – always intended to be separate from that show – the Doctor is actually called Dr. Who. And he’s not a time lord, he’s a human inventor who builds the TARDIS rather than steals it. Most of the other changes are cosmetic, but it’s still a unique piece of sci-fi history that any fan will want to check out.
The Last Man on Earth (1964)
Before Richard Matheson’s landmark novel I am a Legend turned into Will Smith’s blockbuster and Charlton Heston’s cheesy delight, the legendary Vincent Price starred in the original adaptation, The last man on earth. After a plague turns the population into vampire undead, Robert Morgan burrows in and tries to survive after the world changes.
The last man on earth is a bleak little film that’s surprisingly effective in its bleak tone thanks to an anchoring performance from the always-excellent fare. This would further inspire George Romero to change the game Night of the Living Deadso if you want to see where the movie came from The last man on earth is a must watch chiller.
Barbarella (1968)
Barbarella is not the steamy space movie its reputation would lead you to believe.
Sure, the film contains a fair amount of nudity, but it’s done in such a naive and innocent way that you almost don’t notice it at times.
Barbarella stars Jane Fonda as a solo space pilot traveling through space in a distant future where Earth has progressed to barbaric things like violence and war. They also got rid of sex and replaced it with the pill.
In this context, Barbarella is sent to track down a galactic villain with plans to restore violence and warfare. Early on in her journey, she discovers that this sexual thing that people don’t do anymore is actually pretty good. It’s also helpful because whenever she does, the man she hooks up with often ends up inspiring her to greater heights. Barbarella literally helps the angel get his wings by making love to him.
That sounds pretty cheesy, doesn’t it? But check out what one of those sex scenes looks like, completely uncensored, in the video at the top of the article.
The sex takes place off-camera and what you’re actually watching is a series of beautifully constructed sci-fi scenes in which actors of various abilities wear lovingly crafted and completely unusual costumes. It’s clear that their goal here was to create something more than just a space movie. They were trying to create a very 60s kind of free love visual art.
Are they doing well? That’s up to you, but it’s safe to say that there’s no other movie like it Barbarella and it’s a staple of the decade for a reason.
Planet of the Vampires (1965)
Italian genre maestro Mario Bava had one of the biggest impacts on science fiction cinema Planet of the Vampires. The story involves the crew of a spaceship responding to a distress signal on an unexplored planet, where they eventually find the remains of a long-dead giant. foreign species.
It sure sounds like another sci-fi horror movie you might be familiar with, right? Planet of the Vampires certainly inspired Foreign but it’s more of an alien zombie movie than a vampire movie. Mario Bava’s usual colorful design and poppy tone make this a fun and important piece of sci-fi cinematic history.
The First Men in the Moon (1964)
Shortly before humans landed on the moon and discovered what it was really like, Hollywood produced this adaptation of HG Wells, which uses a nifty framing device to hold it all together.
Imagine Neil Armstrong taking his baby step and then finding a note written by someone from 1899 telling him he wasn’t the first.
The first men on the moon He soon returns to the original secret mission of 1899 and explores what it might have been like for a man to go to the moon during the Victorian era. The answer is that they may have ended up underground and encountered a secret lunar interior full of amazing Ray Harryhausen stop-motion monsters. Oh, who doesn’t love some Ray Harryhausen stop-motion monsters?
The film was never a box office hit, but soon became a cult success. It is now considered one of the best adaptations of HG Wells’ work. George Pal’s Time machine gets a lot of well-deserved love and attention, but The first men on the moon is another adaptation of the 1960s sci-fi classic that you won’t want to miss.
Fantastic Voyage (1966)
Long before Mrs. Frizzle boarded the magical school bus to one of her students Futurama crew traveled to Fry’s bowels, Fantastic cruise explored the inside of a Soviet defector. The film has won multiple awards, has an all-star cast, and provides a visual language for every movie or TV show you’ve seen that goes into circulation.
Released in 1966, Fantastic cruise is a technical marvel of its time. The film’s original trailer heralded it as “a new kind of cinematic experience,” and for once that wasn’t an exaggeration. It was a fact.
Isaac Asimov, one of the the greatest writers of science fiction of all time wrote a novelization of a film that came out before the film.
Today, Fantastic cruise acts as a turning point in science fiction films by exploring a brand new environment that had never been done before on such a scale. It’s still a technological advance and an amazing adventure.
Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)
Think Matt Damon Martian if it was filmed in the 60s and paired him with a monkey in a space suit. You should Robinson Crusoe on Mars.
The film’s main character isn’t named Robinson Crusoe, but other than that, it’s a pretty straight-forward adaptation of Daniel Dafoe’s classic novel, as long as it was set in space.
Most of Robinson Crusoe on Mars was filmed in Death Valley, but you’d never know it. The production design is excellent for its time and tries to find a level of realism that matches the very limited science knowledge of what it might look like on Mars. And even the unrealistic parts are actually fun.
Check out the crazy way these alien spaceships move in the video. i love it
As a bonus, Adam West makes a brief appearance in the film as a cocky astronaut. He’s been there long enough to make you wonder why he wasn’t cast as the lead in the movie. Still, Robinson Crusoe on Mars it was significant enough to be restored and released by the Criterion Collection. That should tell you it’s worth watching.
Seconds (1966)
IN Secondsscreen icon Rock Hudson gives one of the best performances of his career as an aging stoic lured by a secret society that can change his identity and make him younger as a means of finding happiness without responsibility.
In his new identity, he soon becomes involved with a bunch of naked hippies and finds himself involved with a disturbing woman who has also escaped her boring life. And he’s still not happy.
Seconds was adapted from David Ely’s novel and directed by legendary Hollywood icon John Frankenheimer, who decided to use off-kilter compositions to give his film an unsettling feel, and he certainly succeeded.
Seconds plays like a particularly good episode Twilight Zoneand it’s always worth watching Twilight Zone. Seconds there is no other.
X: The Man With X-Ray Eyes (1963)
Roger Corman has been responsible for tons of sci-fi movies over the years, and one of his best ever is this X: Man with x-ray eyes. Ray Milland plays a scientist who wants to experiment with extending the powers of human vision. He develops eye drops that give him x-ray vision, which he is initially able to control. But soon he can’t sleep because he can see through his eyelids and things get worse from there.
Thanks to Milland’s full commitment and the terrifying descent into which the film spirals, X: Man with x-ray eyes takes what could be a horror gag and treats it with serious sci-fi exploration and horror.
The Nutty Professor (1963)
Steve Urkel tried to copy it.
Eddie Murphy he tried to overcome it.
But Jerry Lewis’ original 1963 version of the classic nerd story is still the best version.
Lewis plays a geek who does everything to stop being a geek. He even tries to exercise. It’s getting so bad that his doctor tells him to give up.
But the man of science never gives up. He finds the chemical formula that turns him into the confident man he always wanted to be. Unfortunately, all that confidence quickly turns him into a total jerk.
Jerry Lewis co-wrote and directed the film. He used video playback after each scene to carefully evaluate what he did. This is commonly used today, but he was one of the first to do it in 1963.
The result was immediate intervention. Nutty professor it is now considered one of Lewis’ best films and one of the greatest comedies of the decade. Not a bad way to spend less than two hours.
Quatermases and the Pit (1967)
Issued as Five million years on Earth in the US, Quatermases and the Pit is actually part of a series of sci-fi horror classics around the character of Professor Bernard Quatermasse, but this is the best of them all.
An ancient Martian spaceship has been discovered in London, with insect-like corpses inside aliens. Discoveries about the history of human evolution are revealed, and in the end, a Martian ghost of psychic energy drives civilization into an apocalyptic frenzy. It’s one of the most incredible and influential sci-fi stories ever brought to the screen, and if it’s sweltering than you might be used to, wait for that amazing finale. You won’t regret it.
Do you have any favorite sci-fi movies from the 1960s? Leave your picks in the comments and don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel for even more videos from us here at Giant Freakin Robot.
