Science-Fiction Dystopian by Era: Vintage 1970s

My apologies for the delay in posting, I started drafting this but never actually got it to the blog.

For my next few Friday posts, I'm going to feature dystopian sci-fi by era, and first up, I'm going to give you some examples from the 1970s.  Let's call this Vintage Dystopian.

Star Wars (1977)
Considered a science fiction classic, there's a strong underlying dystopian theme to Star Wars - a totalitarian government, an ultimate weapon they can use to control the masses, a growing resistance, and a young hero ready to strike out and save the day.



Future World (1976)

I feel like I should feature it's predecessor Westworld, but since I haven't seen that one, you get Future World, which is most likely an inferior sequel.  I stumbled upon this gem late at night in my on demand, and just look at that tag line.  Is this you...or are you you?  Deep thoughts, dear readers.  Deep thoughts.  The story tells of a perfect theme park that allows you to live out fantasies in a futuristic world, or one from the past, utilizing robots, but - oh dear!- they're turning people who visit into robots.  There is of course a very dystopian reason for this.  The movie is worth watching for the bad acting alone.

Flow My Tears the Policeman Said (1974)
Trying to narrow any Philip K. Dick story into a sentence or two is just wrong, so I'll leave you with this. Police state, genetic engineering, parallel realities, and subterranean communes in 231 pages.  No writer can pack as much into so little as Dick.  If you haven't read him, go to the bookstore and buy everything you can find, and if some of the stories seem familiar, that's because half of the good sci-fi movies of the last 20-30 years are based on his work.

The Lathe of Heaven (1971)
One of Ursula K. Le Guin's most well-known novels - and that's saying something - the science fiction story is about a man whose dreams alter reality.  His attempts to control them slowly spell certain doom for the Earth.  Read it now!







Now, dear readers, what era shall we visit next week?