MovieID: I fell asleep during an action/sci-fi movie in the 70s.
January 13, 2009 6:54 PM   Subscribe

I remember going to see a movie in the 70s, falling asleep in the theater. I woke up during a confusing, killer-death-ray-satellite takes control scene. What the hell could I have been watching?

I've always wondered what movie this was that I saw before I was 10. I can't date the film exactly (post or pre-Star Wars, I'm not sure). I'm pretty certain that this wasn't Logan's Run or any of the other biggies. The most I can remember is something about laser death rays being shot from satellites in orbit, maybe aliens or artificial intelligence involved, and something about a cabal of military leaders. And stuff blew up. It was kind of low budget, but I really dug the weird satellites.
posted by anelsewhere to Media & Arts (8 answers total)
 
Could it have been "Diamonds are Forever"? For all of it being a James Bond film, it looks pretty low budget.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 7:54 PM on January 13, 2009


Response by poster: It wasn't 'Diamonds are Forever', though this is a reasonable analog for pre-75. This was definitely in the second half of the 70's. I only remember strange, a crystalline computer, death rays...true camp. Of course, I remember very little else.
posted by anelsewhere at 8:28 PM on January 13, 2009


Well, speaking of Bond films, Moonraker also had weird satellites and lasers (shot at the satellites) but probably isn't what you're thinking of, I'm afraid.
posted by washburn at 9:02 PM on January 13, 2009


1970's Colossus: The Forbin Project?
posted by troy at 10:09 PM on January 13, 2009


Kind of a stab in the dark, but could it have been The Pink Panther Strikes Again (1976)? That's got death rays and such, though I can't remember if satellites are involved.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 7:27 AM on January 14, 2009


Possibly a retrospective of either The Day the Earth Stood Still or the original War of the Worlds.
posted by iconomy at 12:23 PM on January 14, 2009


Best answer: Perhaps 1966's Zontar: the Thing from Venus? It has aliens, scientists, the military, and a (secondary plot element) Laser Communication Satellite -- and camp.
posted by dhartung at 11:29 PM on January 14, 2009


Response by poster: Hmm...none of these are what I remember but I have a bit longer Netflix queue now :)
posted by anelsewhere at 8:47 PM on January 19, 2009


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