Miscellaneous Movie Musings

[Alex]

In addition to the three you're thinking of (I'm assuming Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, and Soylent Green) I'd add Earthquake one of the great cheesy disaster epics of the '70s. Post-apocalyptic, but on a more local scale.

Then there is Solar Crisis in which the post-apocalypse must be prevented. It was a proto-Armageddon (for which Heston provided narration services). Astronauts must go drop a bomb into the sun to prevent a solar flare that will destroy the earth.

Plus a small part in the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes remake.

I think he was just such a big presence on the screen (sometimes good and sometimes bad) that he just needed to be in the middle of massive-scale events for him to not overwhelm things.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Originally Posted by Alex

In addition to the three you're thinking of (I'm assuming Planet of the Apes, Omega Man, and Soylent Green) I'd add Earthquake one of the great cheesy disaster epics of the '70s. Post-apocalyptic, but on a more local scale.

Then there is Solar Crisis in which the post-apocalypse must be prevented. It was a proto-Armageddon (for which Heston provided narration services). Astronauts must go drop a bomb into the sun to prevent a solar flare that will destroy the earth.

Plus a small part in the Tim Burton Planet of the Apes remake.

I think he was just such a big presence on the screen (sometimes good and sometimes bad) that he just needed to be in the middle of massive-scale events for him to not overwhelm things.

You're probably right. Regarding Earthquake, eh, I don't count it.

That's a whole thread in itself. It's far from the best 70's cheesy disaster epic, as Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno are leagues better. Oddly, I never did see Airport (or Airport '75), though I did see Airplane! many, many times. I tried to catch some of Airport on TV, but couldn't watch it. It's much harder to sit through those '70's films now, unless you saw them way back when and have a soft spot for them.