# Recommend a 1970s disaster/armageddon movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847 "2010-11-08T01:19:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![a35362](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@a35362](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/a35362)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/21 "2010-11-08T21:36:36Z")
What’s the name of the movie with Peter Cushing as a veddy sniffy, veddy proper English scientist, and he’s with a bunch of other people, and they’re in a cave or a tunnel or something, and they have this huge drill machine they call the Mole – and the last shot is of the Mole drilling its way up through the White House lawn! ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/22 "2010-11-08T21:49:32Z")
> [@a35362](#): > > What’s the name of the movie with Peter Cushing as a veddy sniffy, veddy proper English scientist, and he’s with a bunch of other people, and they’re in a cave or a tunnel or something, and they have this huge drill machine they call the Mole – and the last shot is of the Mole drilling its way up through the White House lawn! [At the Earth’s Core](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074157/). Might want to take a look also at these two other ERBs adaptations : [The Land the Time Forgot](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073260/) and its sequel [The People that Time Forgot](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0076535/) ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/23 "2010-11-08T23:09:45Z")
Just on the cusp of the '70s (but still feels like it and is worth a viewing) is 1980’s is _Lathe of Heaven_. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/24 "2010-11-09T00:51:36Z")
There was [_Heaven’s Gate_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heaven%27s_Gate_%28film%29) – oh, wait, you didn’t want movies that **were** disasters. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 7:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/25 "2010-11-09T07:53:25Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > _The Poseidon Adventure_ - a classic of the genre. A cruise ship capsizes, trapping passengers inside. This is the one I remember making the most impact from my youth. Strangely, the other ones I want to mention (The Birds, Earthquake, something with a spinning tunnel), are all from a trip to LA’s Universal Studios as a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/26 "2010-11-09T08:11:16Z")
> [@JohnT](#): > > God help us both, then. My wife and I had an enjoyable time coming up with other ScyFy combinations… > > Llamasaur > TigerSpider > Wormrats! I think I came up with the ultimate in another thread: Nazi Dragodinocrocosharktopus ---
**Author:** ![Promethea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Promethea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Promethea)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/27 "2010-11-09T12:07:18Z")
I’m childishly peeved that \*\*The Omega Man \*\*has already been suggested. So in its place, I suggest [**Zardoz**.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/) Though possibly if you’ve seen one film starring Sean Connery running about in a post apocalyptic world wearing thigh high boots and what looks like a red diaper, you’ve seen 'em all. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/28 "2010-11-09T14:12:56Z")
A Thief in the Night and A Distant Thunder A semi-professional filmmaker throws together amateur actors & scrapes together whatever sets & props he can to make B-grade Left Behind/Rapture/AntiChrist films- not to make big bucks off best-selling novels but because he & the cast & crew believe in their guts that this is true & people need to be warned. They have this raw primal energy that make them glorious! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/29 "2010-11-09T14:20:14Z")
> [@Promethea](#): > > I’m childishly peeved that \*\*The Omega Man \*\*has already been suggested. So in its place, I suggest [**Zardoz**.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/) I didn’t think _Zardoz_ was all that bad. Yes, the costumes were silly. The ‘chanting’ thing at lunch was early-‘70s spiritual-crystal-gazing-woo-woo, and annoying. But I saw it as a teen around 1980, and it had naked breasts. It had a legitimate story, but it was done rather tongue-in-cheek; like something a UCAL student would make. I like the line, ‘Absolute acquittal,’ and the dialogue ‘We’ve been used!’ ‘And re-used!’ ‘And abused!’ ‘And amused!’ I read in _Starlog_ that the ‘ship’, a giant head’ was built for a production of _The Lord Of The Rings_ that was never made. (The magazine had an article on space ships – which also introduced me to [_Dark Star_](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dark_Star_(film)).) If you look at it expecting it to be serious science fiction, then yeah; it’s laughable. But if you look at it as somewhat comedic science fiction, it works. I haven’t seen _The Omega Man_ since the '80s. I remember liking it. ---
**Author:** ![Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a88e57/32.png) [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fried_Dough_Ho)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/30 "2010-11-09T14:35:30Z")
I have just looked through my collection and will add a few others… _Clockwork Orange Colossus: The Forbin Project Executive Action_ (not exactly post-apocalyptic, but pre-supposing it could go there) _The Boys from Brazil Alien_ (1979, baby!) _Deathrace 2000 Fahrenheit 451_ (late '60s) _THX 1138 The Last Man on Earth_ (also late '60s) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/31 "2010-11-09T14:42:52Z")
> [@Fried\_Dough\_Ho](#): > > I have just looked through my collection and will add a few others… > > _Clockwork Orange_ Arguably a dystopian story, but in no sense a disaster/armageddon movie. ---
**Author:** ![mack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mack)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/32 "2010-11-09T15:29:51Z")
[Bug](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072750/) [QUOTE=IMDB] An earthquake releases a strain of mutant cockroaches with the ability to start fires [/QUOTE] The book (The Hephaestus Plague) was better. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/33 "2010-11-10T00:08:59Z")
The original \*\*The Crazies \*\*by George A Romero (1973). Might as well throw Dawn of the dead (1978) in there as well. Some other disaster/armageddon/dystopia films: Deathsport (1978) Wizards (1977) - Heavily rotoscoped animated film by Ralph Bakshi. Zardoz (1974) - Sean Connery rides a giant stone head into a civilization of imortals Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Mad Max (1979) Soylent Green (1973) - It’s people Westworld (1973) ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/34 "2010-11-10T00:22:28Z")
> [@The New and Improved Superman](#): > > And then there’s [Meteor](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079550/) starring Sean Connery, Natalie Wood and an ALL STAR Cast! Ebert’s review of this one (which is not on his website \) is a classic. ETA: found it on [Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=4uCzo6NkpdsC&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=ebert+meteor+gorgonzola&source=bl&ots=OhEuvdj-wS&sig=YXDVLRUXV1CohQBQckH6NWlmbyE&hl=en&ei=k-PZTKS6K4assAOukYWYCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false). A passage: > [@](#): > > Scene Two: my favorite. The heartrending incident of the 12,000 dead Olympic cross-country skiers, who are all crushed by a massive avalanche. Hold on! you say. Do we really see all 12,000 skiers? Yes, as a matter of fact, we do: The movie fools us. We see all 12,000 skiers cheerfully speeding past the camera, and then the announcer on a newscast breathlessly breaks the tragic news: “Just minutes after these scenes were shot, the skiers were all killed!!..Luckily, our camera crew escaped by helicopter just in time!” What luck. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/35 "2010-11-10T01:26:55Z")
OK, it’s from 1988, but I have to throw in with _Miracle Mile_ starring Anthony Edwards, of all people. Starts off like a fluffy little RomCom, then blindsides you with a horrifying speculation on the lead-up to Armageddon. I saw it once. Once, and twenty years later several scenes still freak me right the hell out just thinking about them. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/36 "2010-11-10T03:00:05Z")
1989, but I’m going to recommend [_Blood of Heroes_](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094764/) with Rutger Hauer in a dystoian future as a player in a bloody game reminiscent of rugby or football. StG ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/37 "2010-11-10T03:31:47Z")
Three words. > **[The Big Bus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Big_Bus)** > > The Big Bus is a 1976 American satirical comedy film directed by James Frawley, and starring Joseph Bologna and Stockard Channing. Parodying the then-popular disaster genre, it follows the maiden cross-country trip of an enormous nuclear-powered bus named Cyclops. > The Big Bus initially received mixed reviews, although the New York Times gave the film a favorable review. The film performed poorly at the box office but has since been recognized as a cult classic of its genre. Frawley won the audie... The Big Bus. It’s… an experience. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2010, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847/38 "2010-11-10T03:38:19Z")
> [@El\_Kabong](#): > > OK, it’s from 1988, but I have to throw in with _Miracle Mile_ starring Anthony Edwards, of all people. Starts off like a fluffy little RomCom, then blindsides you with a horrifying speculation on the lead-up to Armageddon. I saw it once. Once, and twenty years later several scenes still freak me right the hell out just thinking about them. I’ll second that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-1970s-disaster-armageddon-movie/559847.md?page=1)