# Pre-1960's science fiction movies that don't suck **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2010, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752 "2010-08-09T21:02:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/61 "2010-08-11T19:31:48Z")
> [@](#): > > 1. They did not have the technical skill to handle the special effects believably. Special effects were just cheesy. While there is admittedly significant overlap, there are films with a lot of special effects that are not SF, and SF films without a lot of special effects. Even at that, the biggest advance in special effects isn’t so much in being able to do things that couldn’t be done before, but in doing them cheaply: The tornado in _The Wizard of Oz_, for instance, still looks fine even today, but it almost broke their budget. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/62 "2010-08-11T19:41:09Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > > [@Quimby](#): > > > > Not only does the original have a plot, the movie is one giant metaphor for nuclear weapons. It is worth seeing. The sequels that came out afterward are cheezy fun but the original is a darker more serious movie. > > I’ve always been of the opinion that in the Godzilla movies as a series, Godzilla represents the United States (although it’s not surprising that from the postwar Japanese viewpoint, “the United States” and “nuclear weapons” might seem like the same thing.) > > Just like the United States, Godzilla comes out of the Pacific Ocean and destroys Tokyo. At first he seems an invincible, malevolent monster. But in the following movies, a child (the new generation of Japanese) strikes up a friendship of sorts, and Godzilla now serves as Japan’s protector against new monsters (the US as a bulwark against communist China and the Soviet Union). And Bambi = Vietnam! ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/63 "2010-08-11T20:11:29Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > [@Sailboat](#): > > > > I’ve always been of the opinion that in the Godzilla movies as a series, Godzilla represents the United States (although it’s not surprising that from the postwar Japanese viewpoint, “the United States” and “nuclear weapons” might seem like the same thing.) > > > > Just like the United States, Godzilla comes out of the Pacific Ocean and destroys Tokyo. At first he seems an invincible, malevolent monster. But in the following movies, a child (the new generation of Japanese) strikes up a friendship of sorts, and Godzilla now serves as Japan’s protector against new monsters (the US as a bulwark against communist China and the Soviet Union). > > And Bambi = Vietnam! If Godzilla is the US, and Bambi is Vietnam, then the short “Bambi meets Godzilla” was wishful thinking. In reality, Godzilla repeatedly stomped on a Bambi that wouldn’t die, until Godzilla limped away with a bleeding hole in his foot. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2010, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/64 "2010-08-11T22:29:27Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Might be interesting, after you’re done immersing yourself in pre-'60s sci-fi, to pop in the first Star Wars movie and see if you can get the sort of charge out of it that your dad did. When the first Star Wars movie first came out, everyone said it was fantastic. So my girlfriend and I went to see it – and I was seriously underwhelmed. I eventually figured out that I had gone expecting to see a good science fiction movie, and Star Wars was, at best, sci-fi. I went to see the movie again with more appropriate expectations, and enjoyed it quite well. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/65 "2010-08-12T00:34:43Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > > > And Bambi = Vietnam! > > If Godzilla is the US, and Bambi is Vietnam, then the short “Bambi meets Godzilla” was wishful thinking. In reality, Godzilla repeatedly stomped on a Bambi that wouldn’t die, until Godzilla limped away with a bleeding hole in his foot. See _Bambi’s Revenge._ ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/66 "2010-08-12T03:33:06Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If Godzilla is the US, and Bambi is Vietnam, then the short “Bambi meets Godzilla” was wishful thinking. In reality, Godzilla repeatedly stomped on a Bambi that wouldn’t die, until Godzilla limped away with a bleeding hole in his foot. I guess _[Bambi II](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bambi_II)_ could be Vietnam in the post-Soviet world economy and political order? “Long live the revolution, comrades!..oh, and we’ll have to work through lunch. Nike Corporate’s getting fussy about performance metrics this quarter.” ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/67 "2010-08-12T04:02:24Z")
It’s from 1964 and the plot is kind of hokey, but I always liked **Robinson Crusoe on Mars**. It was visually impressive to me as a kid at the movies. > **[Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) ⭐ 6.4 | Adventure, Sci-Fi](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058530/)** > > 1h 50m | Not Rated ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/68 "2010-08-12T10:34:08Z")
That’s one of my favorites as well. [![]( " - YouTube") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=urccN0eKk3Y) ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/69 "2010-08-12T12:02:58Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > It’s from 1964 and the plot is kind of hokey, but I always liked **Robinson Crusoe on Mars**. It was visually impressive to me as a kid at the movies. > > [Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058530/) Me too! ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/70 "2010-08-12T12:32:27Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > 1. They did not have the technical skill to handle the special effects believably. Special effects were just cheesy. Frex, “The Thing From Another World” was James Arness in a carrot suit. Sad. And Gojira was a guy in a lizard suit. Also sad. I like both movies, but it sure as hell isn’t BECAUSE of the visuals, but despite them. This just isn’t so. The special effects in **The Time Machine** , for instance, are superior to those in the recent remake, and there are plenty of current films with bad CGI effects (actually, CGI effects are unrealistic and phony but people are so used to them that they think other, far more realistic effects are “cheesy” because the, for instance, actually get the effect of gravity right.) The effects on **The Incredible Shrinking Man** and **Tarantula** are still quite good and only suffer because they’re more realistic than CGI. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/71 "2010-08-12T12:39:25Z")
[Plan 9 from Outer Space](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0052077/) (1959). Of course, it _does_ suck, but that’s what makes it so good. It’s hilarious but not supposed to be. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/72 "2010-08-12T12:49:54Z")
> [@NinjaChick](#): > > Upon further reflection, I do think that maybe part of the problem is that the films which had shocking plot twists or were basically new stories _then_ are no longer shocking or new…To (my father), they were mind-blowing because no one had done science fiction on such an epic scale before; to me it was already cliche. That’s likely to be a huge factor, yes. My sister in law pretty much hadn’t watched any movies made before she was born until a few months before she married my brother (yes, they did have a TV, but one and if her father was watching he demanded absolute silence so the kids scooted; if her mother was, it wouldn’t be movies). My father almost had a heart attack when she claimed that some detail in Stagecoach was “so totally cliched!” “young lady, this is the movie where it came into being. It is _this movie_ that begat the cliche!” She was saved from a several-hours speech with showings from his extensive video library only by his desire to marry my brother off. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/73 "2010-08-12T14:33:55Z")
> [@ghardester](#): > > It’s from 1964 and the plot is kind of hokey, but I always liked **Robinson Crusoe on Mars**. It was visually impressive to me as a kid at the movies. > > [Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964) - IMDb](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058530/) Yes, very impressive. And more-or-less hard sci-fi, too, until about halfway through. I was so happy when this came out on DVD! ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/74 "2010-08-12T14:51:35Z")
I think the OP has a point. I recently watched The Last Man on Earth at hulu, and what really stood out was how low budget it was. Except for the rare film like Forbidden Planet or the Incredible Shrinking Man, sci-fi didn’t get big budgets until relatively recently. I think it was pretty rare to find good actors there either. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/75 "2010-08-12T14:58:39Z")
> [@Superhal](#): > > I think the OP has a point. I recently watched The Last Man on Earth at hulu, and what really stood out was how low budget it was. Except for the rare film like Forbidden Planet or the Incredible Shrinking Man, sci-fi didn’t get big budgets until relatively recently. I think it was pretty rare to find good actors there either. Hey, until the 1960s, it was rare to find good **writers,** in the literary sense, working in SF. That does not mean Golden Age SF is not worth reading. (See the TVTropes page [SciFi Ghetto.](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ScifiGhetto)) ---
**Author:** ![BwanaBob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bwanabob/32/2985_2.png) [@BwanaBob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BwanaBob)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/76 "2010-08-12T16:31:24Z")
I submit “It, the Terror from Beyond Space”. The title is awful but the plot is basically the one stolen by the writers of “Alien”, namely a crew stuck on a spaceship as a creature slowly slaughters them. Alien even stole the ending. The main difference is how it gets on board; Alien wins in that regard. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2010, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752/77 "2010-08-12T16:52:09Z")
> [@BwanaBob](#): > > I submit “It, the Terror from Beyond Space”. > The title is awful but the plot is basically the one stolen by the writers of “Alien”, namely > a crew stuck on a spaceship as a creature slowly slaughters them. Alien even stole the ending. The main difference is how it gets on board; Alien wins in that regard. I love that movie! the astronauts are innocently visiting another planet, thank god they remebered to bring guns and grenades and bazookas. I even remember one astronaut opening a locker, it was filled with cigarettes! Yea! That’s how to travel, daddyo [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pre-1960s-science-fiction-movies-that-dont-suck/549752.md?page=3)