Science Fiction Dystopian by Era: 1960s

A Clockwork Orange (1962)

I don't know where to begin with this.  It's strange and experimental and possibly brilliant, but since it's so complex you can never really get a handle on it.

Logan's Run (1967)  
When the percentage of people under the age of 21 reaches critical mass in the all important year of 2000 (sheesh! what a letdown that New Year's Eve was), the government begins to require that people are terminated at a certain age.  But most importantly the film adaptation is where we get the classic line: "I want to live! LIIIIIIIVE!"

Planet of the Apes (1968)

So if we were to name someone the greatest dystopian actor ever, it would have to be Charleton Heston, right?  Planet of the Apes for those of you who haven't seen is about astronauts who crash land on a strange planet where apes are in dominion over man.  It's twist ending is well known, but it's still the stuff of legend!




The idea for dystopian by era came from the song "In the Year 2525", so take a listen.  It's getting pretty clear that dystopian is more than a current trend, huh?

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?