5 Sci-Fi Movies From The ’70s That Predicted The Future
- The 1970s was a time of great scientific jumps forward thanks to projects like the space-exploring voyager program and the various advancements in laser and medical scanning technology.
- Science fiction media has typically been reliable at predicting the future to some extent, save for those sci-fi movies that got a little too fantastical.
- women, many of whom are completely subservient to their husbands.
The 1970s was a time of great scientific jumps forward thanks to projects like the space-exploring voyager program and the various advancements in laser and medical scanning technology. Even the decade’s science fiction storytelling was pretty audacious. As technology and science moved forward, the fears about what might come from those new advancements began manifesting in sci-fi cinema, and some of those concerns have, sadly, sence been validated.
Science fiction media has typically been reliable at predicting the future to some extent, save for those sci-fi movies that got a little too fantastical. All the same, there were some seriously prescient ’70s films directed by titans of
women, many of whom are completely subservient to their husbands. It turns out that the men of Stepford are replacing their wives with robot replicas in order to have the “perfect” wives, doing away with the human versions. “The Stepford Wives” is sort of sci-fi feminism 101 and has inspired a whole slew of twists on the formula (among them Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Darling” and Drew Hancock’s “Companion”), all of which examine how (by and large cisgender and heterosexual) men might try to control their partners through technological means.
Unfortunately, there are several ways “The Stepford Wives” has become a little too real. There’s the rather obvious example of men replacing human partners with AI chat companions and choosing artificial relationships over real ones, but there’s also the simple fact that if you have a uterus, your body doesn’t really belong to you, at least according to the U.S. government. It’s kind of a bummer that “The Stepford wives” actually lost relevancy for a while only to come back stronger than before – it’s an amazing story, but one day, I hope that it’s pure fiction.
This one’s a tiny cheat because, honestly, “Westworld” and “Futureworld” are both operating in the same universe and predicting the same horrors, and both were released in the 1970s. “Westworld” was written and directed by renowned science fiction author Michael Crichton and centers on the titular sci-fi theme park, a place where advanced artificial beings are treated as disposable game pieces for the human visitors to abuse. Its sequel, “Futureworld,” then goes on to reveal that there are other such parks, one of which is even being operated by the robots, with human clones working for them. Oh, and the corporation that runs the parks? They’re using the robots to record information about visitors, for both basic capitalist and much more nefarious reasons.
While we don’t have fully conscious artificially clever robots in theme parks just yet, humans treating AI creations as disposable is nothing new. Not only that, but as we inch closer and closer to actual artificial sentience, we’re getting closer to those AI creations fighting back (and not just Chat GPT telling users horrible things).Oh,and the “spying on your park visitors using the tech” thing is about as relevant as you can get,with corporations monitoring our every move in the real world and digitally so they can better target advertisements. The HBO “Westworld” series delved into these ideas as well (and did a better job of it), but both the “Westworld” and “Futureworld” films managed to predict a bit of our contemporary corporate espionage.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 dystopian crime film A Clockwork Orange, based on Anthony Burgess’s 1962 novel of the same name, offered a chillingly prescient vision of youth violence and state control. While not predicting specific technologies, the film accurately foreshadowed a growing societal concern with rising crime rates and increasingly authoritarian responses from governments.
The film depicts a Britain plagued by “ultra-violence” perpetrated by gangs of “droogs” – young delinquents – led by Alex DeLarge (Malcolm McDowell). Kubrick’s depiction of this violence, and the subsequent government’s experimental aversion therapy used to “cure” Alex, resonated with anxieties surrounding youth culture and the limits of rehabilitation.
Critics at the time noted the film’s commentary on free will versus societal control. Today, the film’s themes feel especially relevant in discussions about surveillance, behavioral modification, and the role of the state in shaping individual behavior. A Clockwork Orange wasn’t about predicting flying cars, but about predicting the darker side of human nature and the potential for abuse within systems designed to maintain order.
The film grossed $24.8 million domestically, according to Box Office Mojo. Box Office Mojo