The 1970s were a golden age for sci-fi movies. Movies such as Alien, Soylent Green, and A Clockwork Orange are considered some of the best science fiction movies ever made, and many of these films have engaging plots that still hold up today. The 1970s also brought the first Star Wars movie and the first big-screen version of Star Trek, nine years before the franchise returned to television.
While there is a large menu of classic science fiction to choose from with engaging plots and strong characters, the far more basic technology and special effects are often distracting when watching 1970s films in 2025. For this reason, Hollywood should consider rebooting some of the best science fiction movies to make them more attractive to modern audiences.
1976's Logan's Run is a dystopian movie in which the government allows people to live hedonistically until they are 30, then executes them while assuring them they will be reborn. The title comes from the protagonist's decision to join the rebels seeking to escape society.
A Logan's Run reboot was announced in 2017, but hasn't yet been produced. But this would be a worthwhile project to finish. A large portion of the plot revolves around the use of computers to track people and keep the executions going -- updated computers and smartphones would make this story scarier while modernizing it. Additionally, better special effects could be used to help show the horrors of this society, as well as enhance fight scenes.
Like Logan's Run, The Terminal Man relies on technology that has been majorly upgraded since the 1970s. The film by the late Mike Hodges, which is based on the Michael Crichton novel of the same name, is about a man who undergoes experimental surgery to get a microchip implanted in his brain to stop seizures that make him violent. The procedure backfires, and instead of eliminating the seizures, it makes them worse so that the protagonist is permanently a blacked-out, violent killer.
The Terminal Man's themes about the dangers of experimental surgery and science vs. mind control are even more relevant in today's world. A modern reboot could incorporate real experimental technology that uses microchips and electrodes to allow paralyzed people to move independently. Modern special effects could also depict the protagonist's seizures more effectively so that the audience feels the character losing control of his body.
Since Soylent Green took place in 2022, and it is now 2025, this movie really needs to be remade. The themes of corporate greed ruining the environment and keeping people in poverty are more timely. than ever, but it's harder to take the movie seriously when it takes place in the past rather than the future.
The most challenging part of remaking this film would be finding an actor who could match the legendary Charleston Heston. However, it would be worth doing. The film could be set in the 31st century to restore its futuristic setting without risking it becoming outdated anytime soon, and modern special effects could make the murder of an executive and the ending twist even more shocking.
1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers was itself a reboot of a 1956 version of the same story. Although it's considered one of the most terrifying science fiction movies of all time, it could be made even better with modern special effects and technology.
The movie's plot involves aliens who steal humans and replace them with soulless doppelgangers. In 1978, news about weird events traveled more slowly, allowing the body snatchers to work in silence at first. In 2025, however, we have social media.
Adding people's reactions, the spreading of rumors and misinformation, and the government's attempt to control reporting about this issue in the age of citizen journalism would add a fascinating, modern dimension to the story. Additionally, the types of special effects available today could make the way aliens take over people's lives even scarier.
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