We live in an era of endless remakes and reboots, which annoy most viewers and at the same time bring the film industry the lion’s share of revenue. But we shouldn’t measure all genres with the same yardstick. Sci-fi films need remakes. The fact is that the emergence of new technologies allows us to tell these stories in a much more interesting way. And modern 3D graphics complement fictional worlds with such vivid details that 20th-century directors could not even dream of. We have collected for you 10 science fiction films from the past that really deserve to be restarted.
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Year of publication: 1956
Director: Fred M. Wilcox
IMDb rating: 7.5
In the XXIII century, the United Planet star cruiser is heading to a remote colony on the planet Altair IV, which for some unknown reason has stopped communicating. The ship’s crew descends to the surface and finds only two survivors: Dr. Morbius and his charming daughter, Altair. According to them, the rest of the colonists died for an unknown reason.
The astronauts realize that the man is hiding something. After all, he not only somehow survived for years on a dangerous planet but also managed to build a high-tech house. And the futuristic robot Robbie he designed has no analogues on Earth, combining enormous physical strength with the useful ability to synthesize any substance, including strong barley whiskey.
After the tragic deaths of several astronauts, the doctor admits that the planet used to be home to an advanced civilization whose cyclopean machines still continue to work in underground caves. In this way, the plot elements of William Shakespeare’s classic «The Tempest» are combined with the ideas of first contact with alien intelligence, which were later reflected in «Solaris» by Stanislav Lem.
«Forbidden Planet» was a breakthrough in several aspects of science fiction cinema, introducing artificial intelligence robots to the screen and largely inspiring screenwriter Gene Roddenberry to create the cult series «Star Trek». The cultural impact of the film is hard to overestimate, so it is not surprising that in 2024 Warner Bros. published plans to restart it.
Year of release: 1979
Director: Gary Nelson
IMDb rating: 5.9
After the release of «A New Hope», Disney decided to create its own «Star Wars». However, the result turned out to be more like a gloomy mix of «Captain Nemo» and «Forbidden Planet». And after reading only the synopsis, «Black Hole» can be easily mistaken for a prequel fantastic horror «Across the horizon».
The film begins aboard the USS Palomino, a spacecraft that finds the cruiser «Swan», which disappeared 20 years ago, parked near a remote black hole. Contrary to all the laws of physics, the massive gravity of the space object has no effect on the orbit of the interstellar «Flying Dutchman». Therefore, the astronauts decide to investigate the mysterious discovery personally. By the way, this is almost how «Over the Horizon» began, only there the missing ship ended up in the orbit of the ice giant Neptune.
Having boarded the «Swan», the heroes meet the last surviving member of its crew and one of the most brilliant scientists on Earth, Hans Reinhardt. Like Dr. Morbius, he wasted no time in making many scientific discoveries. His research allowed Reinhardt to conquer gravitational forces and create an army of faceless androids in black hoods. And now he is planning to make a suicidal journey into the depths of a black hole.
A crazy scientist, the majestic premises of an abandoned ship, creepy cyborgs, and flashes of laser beams in the darkness of the tunnels — all of this can be the basis for a spectacular sci-fi thriller in the right hands. And the epic finale, in which the doctor merges with the robot guard Maximilian and ends up in a kind of biblical hell, opens up a wide field of possibilities for the scriptwriters of the future sequel.
Year of release: 1968
Director: Roger Vadim
IMDb rating: 5.9
In 1968, the great provocateur director Roger Vadim sent his wife Jane Fonda to conquer the universe in the form of a seductive space adventurer «Barbarella». The film is based on the comic book series of the same name by Jean-Claude Forest and tells the story of a mission to return to Earth an exiled scientist named Durand-Durand. He developed a deadly positron beam and is hiding on the distant planet Lithium.
Like most films based on French comic books, «Barbarella» impresses with its bizarre images of the 41st century, and sometimes with the concentration of real madness that takes place on the screen. The heroine is tried to be killed by alien children with flesh-eating dolls, tortured by the local dictator’s henchmen, and rescued by a blind angel who has lost the will to fly. But beauty, as we know, saves the world. Barbarella uses her ingenuity to outwit her enemies and have a good laugh at the clichés of space fiction at the same time.
The film made Fonda a cult sex symbol of the late sixties, gave the name to the pop band Duran Duran and inspired fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to create the costume design for the film «The Fifth Element». Its bright retro-futuristic style influenced the later film adaptation of «The Flash Gordon», where attractive young earthlings also fight against an alien dictator in close cooperation with winged people.
To create a worthy reboot of the outspoken «Barbarella» in the era of militant feminism and Me Too — is, as they say, an asterisked task. But while fans were arguing over who should be cast as the «Queen of the Galaxy» (Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, or Ana de Armas), the «Euphoria» star Sidney Sweeney beat everyone to the punch. Deadline reportsthat Edgar Wright, director of the cult comedy «Zombie Named Shaun», is in talks to make a new «Barbarella» starring Sydney.
While nothing is known about the plot of the remake, I’ll allow myself to fantasize. The story of a freelance superagent who saves the world with a gun (blaster) and often (of course, only for a good cause) seduces his enemies or potential allies reminds us of a stylish British intelligence officer with the code number «007». So why not combine business with pleasure? As long as the new Bond’s place is vacant, Sydney could take part in a collaboration between the two franchises and become the first 007 agent (Roger Moore was the agent) in space.
Year of release: 1976
Director: Michael Anderson
IMDb rating: 6.8
Dystopia «Logan’s Escape» takes viewers to the XXIII century, where people who survived the nuclear war have settled in cities protected from radiation by hermetically sealed domes. All life there is controlled by artificial intelligence, and the inhabitants are free from any hassle and spend their time in various entertainments. However, such a sweet life does not last long.
In order to save living space and resources, everyone over the age of 30 has to be reborn in the so-called «fire carousel», but in reality they simply burn in laser beams. The protagonist, a member of the elite security unit «Sandmen» Logan 5, learns the truth and tries to escape the city with his girlfriend, Jessica 6.
Over the decades, Michael Anderson’s film has become a cult favorite among science fiction fans. Its theme of obsession with youth resonates with the recent «Substance», and the story of a society dominated by artificial intelligence has become more relevant now than ever before.
Against this backdrop, there has been talk of a remake for many years. There were rumors that «Drive» director Nicholas Winding Refn was going to direct a remake starring Ryan Gosling. But then Gosling left the project, possibly because of his age (in the world of the 1976 film adaptation, he would have been dead long ago at the age of 44). Since then, Warner’s producers have continued to search for a new candidate for the role of Logan 5, and we can only hope that the upcoming reboot won’t turn into something like Bland «Maze Runner».
Year of release: 1977
Director: Donald Cammell
IMDb rating: 6.3
In a nutshell, «Demon’s Seed» — is a mixture of «Rosemary’s Baby» and «2001: A Space Odyssey». The story centers on Susan, the wife of a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alex Harris, who is developing a groundbreaking artificial intelligence program called Proteus IV.
Unlike the apocalyptic «Skynet», he has no intentions of taking over the world or launching nuclear missiles at Russia. Its desires are more mundane, and therefore even more terrifying: the program wants to go beyond its digital existence and become human. To do this, it develops a way to create sperm with its unique digital DNA and fertilize Susan.
Although xAI Grok has recently been smashing the Russians with the truth about their invasion of Ukraine, the fear of AI and new technologies has become stronger than ever. Therefore, a restart of «Demon’s Descendants» with the latest scientific achievements would be extremely relevant for the modern audience.
Year of release: 1974
Director: John Carpenter
IMDb rating: 6.1
Before the American screenwriter Dan O’Bannon wrote «Alien», he and his friend John Carpenter created a black comedy «Dark Star». This is the name of a starship that in the twenty-first century searches for and destroys «unstable planets» that could threaten human settlement.
While crossing an asteroid ring, the ship is damaged, causing one of its AI-controlled bombs to refuse to obey the crew’s commands. Over time, it begins to think of itself as a god and starts a countdown to the explosion.
At a time when prophecy «Terminator» has been embodied in AI-controlled combat drones that can select a target without human intervention, the story of the arbitrariness of the «intelligent» bomb looks very relevant and would certainly be successful on the big screen.
Year of release: 1984
Director: Michael Redford
IMDb rating: 7.0
George Orwell’s dystopia «1984» is increasingly mentioned as an example of prophetic foresight. People around the world call the government Big Brother. And on February 24, when Russia started a war with Ukraine without calling it a war, many people immediately thought of the writer’s most famous quote «War — is peace».
Since 1984, the novel has never been filmed. Perhaps the reason is that a large part of the book is made up of philosophical concepts that are quite difficult to realize in a movie. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the world is once again on the verge of total state control and massive violations of human rights in the name of power and ideology. That is why a modern remake of 1984 can sparkle with new colors.
Year of release: 1983
Director: Peter Yates
IMDb rating: 6.1
Imagine a fantasy world like «Game of Thrones», where the relationship between the rulers is radically changed by an alien invasion. Moreover, the leader of the aliens, nicknamed «The Beast», kidnaps the local princess (move over George Martin) right from her wedding. A wise mentor, a clumsy wizard, and a gang of escaped prisoners set out to help the groom get his beloved back.
The mixture of science fiction and fantasy is an interesting combination that opens up a wide scope for the screenwriters’ imagination and, combined with modern graphics, could make the remake commercially successful. After all, the Jedi from «Star Wars» — are also a kind of space wizards who use lightsabers.
Year of release: 1985
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
IMDb rating: 6.8
We wrote about the fantasy drama «My Enemy» in our selection of the most underrated science fiction films of the 80s years. It has become one of the best stories criticizing xenophobia and telling about the forced cooperation of sworn enemies during an interstellar war. But at the same time, it was criticized for its somewhat chaotic second part, in which it turns into a clichéd space action movie.
Attempts have been made more than once to unlock the potential of Barry Brooks Longyear’s novel of the same name, but they have gone no further than declarations. According to recent reports, the studio 20th Century Studios invited me to write a script for the reboot of the showrunner of the series «Star Trek: Picard» Terry Matalas. It is worth noting that Longueville has also written two more books that serve as a sequel to Enemy Mine. In a post on Facebook, the writer hints for a possible trilogy of film adaptations of «My Enemy», «The Coming Testament» and «The Last Enemy».
Year of release: 1997
Director: Paul William Scott Anderson
IMDb rating: 6.6
At the time of its release, the film «Beyond the Horizon» was a critical and disappointed most viewers. However, over time, thanks to its distinctive atmosphere and influence on future projects, it went from a failure to a classic recognized by space horror fans.
The story centers on the crew of a rescue ship that is ordered to investigate a starship that disappeared seven years ago after it unexpectedly appeared in Neptune’s orbit. With its unsettling atmosphere and excessive bloodshed, the events that follow are reminiscent of «Alien» Ridley Scott. But instead of a single extraterrestrial threat, the movie presents a whole new dimension of hellish horrors.
The dark style of Event Horizon can be traced back to well-known video game franchises such as Dead Space and Warhammer 40,000. And the author of the cult «Interstellar», Christopher Nolan, paid tribute to the film by using the same pen-and-paper scene that Dr. William Weir (Sam Neill) uses in «Beyond the Horizon».
However, serious problems accompanied Paul Anderson’s film even before its release. These included Paramount’s reckless policy, which prevented the realization of the original idea, and the requirement to cut 34 minutes out of 130 minutes, which prevented the authors from better revealing the plot.
All indications are that the film deserves a chance to return to the screen with a reboot, which Amazon and Paramount Television announced in 2019. According to Variety, a TV series adaptation of the sci-fi horror film «Beyond the Horizon» is in development. Adam Wingard, the director of «Godzilla vs. Kong», is to become an executive producer of the project.