Protector by Larry Niven (1973) classic hard science fiction with knobby aliens

Cover by Dean Ellis

I read just about all of Larry Niven's novels published in the 1970s, including the ones written with Jerry Pournelle. I  enjoyed them all immensely and this was one of my favorites. Protector (1973) is part of his Known Space series of short stories and novels.  It's an imaginative tale, complete with fascinating aliens and much hard science which were Niven's trademarks. His ideas are quite large, in a literal big picture kind of way, making time and the incomprehensible size of universe central to many of his plots. This one is no exception, dealing largely with travel through the vastness of space. Prose style and characterization were not Niven's strong suit, but there are many mind-bending ideas, and it's written well enough so it's an enjoyable read, or in my case reread. 

Death Race 2000 (1975)

Car racing mayhem from 1975. Often hilarious (intentionally so) campy cult science fiction classic set in (obviously) the year 2000. It's all for television ratings as five racing teams try to run down citizens for points on the "Transcontinental Road Race". David Carradine, in his first post-Kung Fu role plays "Frankenstein", a supposedly disfigured two-time winner of the  race. The lovely Simone Griffeth plays his navigator. Sylvester Stallone, in a pre-Rocky role, plays his chief rival Machine Gun Jo Viterbo. There are also several attractive ladies who don't mind taking their tops off now and then (it's the 70s after all). While there is a good bit of violent death, the special effects are such that it never gets too disturbing (the blood just doesn't look like blood). Produced by B-movie master Roger Corman and directed by Paul Bartel (who also takes a humorous turn as Frankenstein's doctor). Nice cinematography by Tak Fujimoto. Overall a great little movie (it's fairly short), and one of my all-time faves.

It's the future!

David Carradine and Simone Griffeth.

There were a couple of sequels (or prequels as the case may), imaginatively title Death Race and Death Race 2, made in 2008 and 2010. They were both set in (and confined to) the notorious prison Terminal Island and were pretty much the same movie. The first one with Jason Statham and Joan Allen is the better of the two. The second (which is actually the prequel to the 2008, both being confusingly the prequel to the 1975 movie which was set in 2000) shows how the Frankenstein character comes to be. Up-to-date with much more realistic gory special effects, and grittier, with rap music and such, they are fun enough but lack charm and have very little to do with the original Death Race 2000. 

Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm (1976) - clones are creepy

1977 Pocket Book, cover art by Ed Soyka

This excellent science fiction novel (winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards) starts out with a near future doomsday scenario. There's massive pollution leading to climate change, plague and disease, starvation and economic collapse. So this super wealthy family, some of whom are politicians and scientists who foresaw the worst, prepared for the coming collapse of civilization by creating their own little scientific compound in a valley somewhere in New England. Ultimately the plan is to start a new community with the help of cloning. At first this just means cloning livestock, since all of the animals have been dying. But they soon realize there will be a shortage of people because of infertility, so they decide to clone humans too. Which is where it gets interesting. You see, clones are kind of creepy...

1976 Harper & Row with M. C. Escher cover

The tale is told from the vantage point of several different characters across several generations (clone generations not being quite the same as regular human gens). The main conflict, besides survival, is the individual versus the group. Nonconformity was a great concern in seventies literature, with science fiction writers being particularly intrigued by the idea of pitting individual freedom against what's best  for society as a whole. The sympathy would usually (though not always) side with the individual. Kate Wilhelm does a great job of presenting a case for both sides, although ultimately it is the individual who has the wherewithal to survive. The nonconformist has the imagination to navigate a new beginning, whereas the hive-minded clones are stifled by their reliance on the group. Yea for imagination!

Time After Time (1979) - a science fiction romantic comedy with serial killer

"IMAGINE! A scientific genius named H.G. Wells stalks a criminal genius named Jack the Ripper across time itself in the most ingenious thriller of our time." The poster pretty much says it all. Throw in some light romance and comedy and you pretty much have it. Seriously though this movie is quite fun, and exciting too. Directed by Nicholas Meyer and starring Malcolm McDowell as H.G. Wells and David Warner as Jack the Ripper. Mary Steenburgen, providing the romantic interest, plays Amy Robbins, a liberated 70s gal.

Basically, it's London in 1893, H.G. has just built a time machine, but has yet to try it out. Before he can, Jack steals it to escape the coppers, lands in 1979 San Francisco and quickly gets up to his old bad ways. H.G. realizes what has happened and tracks him down (the time machine automatically returns home to whoever has a certain key). Amy helps him in his endeavors.

Much of the fun here is Wells' befuddlement at all of the strange things 1979 has to offer. The future is certainly not the utopia he had imagined. Along the way he meets Amy and strikes up a mutual interest. McDowell is cast perfectly for this and you feel for him and his predicament.  This was one of Steenburgen's first major rolls and she's very likeable as well. Warner does a terrific job as the Ripper - he's mean and arrogant and finds that 1979 suits him just fine. A great musical score, by long-time film composer Miklos Rozsa, adds a nice ambience and enhances the action. This was Nicholas Meyer's first directorial effort and he succeeds winningly. He had previously written the excellent "Seven Percent Solution", and subsequently would direct "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan".

Silent Running (1972) - out in space, a plea for beauty

I don't remember if I saw this film when it was originally released, or years later, but I remember really enjoying it the first time I saw it. It is an outstanding directorial debut for Douglas Trumbull, who worked on both 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain as a special effects wizard.  The story itself doesn't make a lot of sense from a practical standpoint. In the future there are these enclosed domes out in space (near Saturn). They're actually giant greenhouses holding the last of earth's flora. Earth is apparently just hunky dory, with no unemployment, and a temperate 75 degrees everywhere. But there's no more forests, so they sent the last plant life into space. On the surface it's an eco science-fiction story from the early 1970's, when there was much worry about pollution and its devastating effect on our planet.

Below the surface it's much more interesting. Bruce Dern plays Freeman Lowell, one of the astronauts charged with the safekeeping of the domes. Far more than the other three crew members on board, Lowell takes the forests to heart and believes the mission to be of the utmost import. He even makes some passionate speeches about beauty and nonconformity, to the deaf ears of his crew mates. When word comes down that the domes are to be nuked and the crew is to return (for "commercial" reasons), Lowell doesn't take it too well. The story gets going as Lowell starts to unravel and makes some unfortunate decisions. Ultimately he is left alone with the forest and a few robots (referred to as drones). Dern's performance is excellent of course, and the drones almost steal the show.  Huey and Dewey (as Lowell has named them) become his new crew mates and he is able to relate much better to them than he was to the human crew. Loneliness and regret starts to eat at Lowell however and Dern does a great job of being a little crazy and still sympathetic.

It can get boring out in space, alone, with regret, and some robots.

The special effects are excellent all around, with great models, exceeding most anything else from that era. The interiors were shot aboard the decommissioned aircraft carrier "Valley Forge", the same name given to the spaceship, with lots of cool lights and buttons. The drones were manned by multiple-amputee actors and to me are the most outstanding aspect of this film. The soundtrack is also very good, composed by Peter Schickele (of P.D.Q. Bach fame), there's a song sung by Joan Baez, which does seem a bit corny, but I like Joan so that's fine by me.

Interior shot of the "Valley Forge"

At Earth's Core (1976)

The poster is better than the movie.

I missed this one when it came out in 1976 and I don't remember hearing about it. It's super cheesy with hilarious special effects and pretty bad acting. This was long before the omnipresent use of cgi of course, so you have to give them credit for going all out with the monster costumes. Based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs story and directed by Kevin Connor, it stars Doug McClure and Peter Cushing as scientists who accidentally drill through the earth's crust in their Iron Mole and end up in an enormous cavern filled with bizarre prehistoric creatures. The Mole was pretty cool and looked kind of steampunkish.

The Iron Mole getting ready to launch.

The sets are actually pretty nice and there are some totally awesome giant mushrooms. The scientists soon get captured by pig-snouted minions who are telepathically controlled by evil reptile-birds. They have enslaved humans and McClure and Cushing will eventually have to fight them to free the slaves and themselves. There are plenty of action scenes as McClure must battle many strange underground beasts as well as jealous slaves. And there's lots of fire too as they are after all "At the Earth's Core". And last but not least there is a very attractive slave princess played by Caroline Munro, who is easily the best thing about this movie (besides the mushrooms).

Awesome mushrooms.

Doug McClure shows off his biceps to Caroline Munro.

The World Inside by Robert Silverberg (1971) - vertical living in 2381

1971 Doubleday, artwork by James Starrett

1972 paperback edition, artwork uncredited

Robert Silverberg's The World Inside, set in 2381. I thought I had read this one before, but it was completely unfamiliar, so it was a new one for me (unless my memory has gotten really bad). The world's population stands at 75 billion and counting. Almost everyone is living in giant skyscrapers called urbmons (short for urban monads). The problem of overpopulation has been solved by vertical living, leaving a lot more room on the planet for the agriculture which is needed to feed the ever growing populace. In fact procreation is vigorously encouraged and deemed "blessworthy" by society as a whole. It's all very efficient and everybody gets along quite well in these crowded towers, except for the occasional "flippo" who is unceremoniously sent down the chute to feed the generators. Everything is recycled of course.

The author does an excellent job of describing the culture and environment, including class hierarchy and sexual mores (he spends a lot of time on sexual mores), told through several scenes which are more or less a series of linked short stories. Towards the end the focus turns to characters who are unhappy and don't fit well into the urbmon scheme, characters for whom we would naturally feel more sympathy. The book is always interesting and moves along at a quick pace. An altogether excellent work of speculative fiction from the early 1970s.

The Andromeda Strain (1971) - alien microorganism meets minimalist design

   Classic science fiction thriller directed by Robert Wise and based on the novel by Michael Crichton (which I've not read). The first time I saw this I found it quite frightening and tension filled. I've seen it a few times since the 1970s (once every 10 years or so) and it gets a little less frightening each time. There are still some rather chilling moments though. My favorite scene is when they are scanning the satellite for the source of the contamination. I still find it wonderfully spooky, but in a nice subtle way.

   Starring Arthur Hill, David Wayne, James Olson and Kate Reid, who are all fine.  It's a slow moving film, with lots of detail concerning the underground facility. What I was particularly drawn to this most recent of viewings was the design of the facility. The sets are really nice and use a minimum of bells and whistles. In fact it's downright spare, at times reminding me of minimalist art.

Levels are color coded.

On the way to be decontaminated. Compare the minimal design to that below.

Installation by minimalist artist John McCracken

   Overall a cool looking movie with some chilling scenes, decent acting, and excellent direction and set design. I'll probably watch it again in another 10 years. Good stuff.

Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said by Philip K. Dick (1974)

I first discovered my favorite Science Fiction writer in 1973 or '74, just around the time this novel was first published. Dick only published a handful of novels in the '70s, after having been quite prolific in the 1960s. This is one of his most excellent books, featuring many of his trademark themes: paranoia, drugs, an unstable reality, flying cars, Jungian philosophy, etc. Jason Taverner, a very famous television personality wakes up (after have been bitten by a sponge creature) to find that no one knows who he is, that he in fact does not seem to have existed in the world he has woken up to. Nothing goes too well after that. There are several encounters with dubious individuals, including the policeman of the title. Finally, his past starts slipping back into the world after he ingests some drugs. Of course it doesn't end there. It's all quite brilliant in that Philip K. Dick way. My only criticism would be the epilogue, which I felt was not needed and diminished the impact of the last chapter. But it's just a quibble. Overall an outstanding novel.

Several excellent paperback editions were published by DAW. I'm referring to the artwork of course. My favorite is the first from 1975, but I quite enjoy them all. Art by Hans Ulrich & Ute Osterwalder (top, 1975), Larry Kresek (middle, 1976) and Oliviero Berni (bottom, 1981).