Friday, December 04, 2015

Spaceships of the 1970s: A Gallery


Yesterday, I celebrated and enjoyed my 46th birthday (and didn't post a new review here, like I was supposed to -- d'oh!) 

But I did spend some of my birthday thinking about my childhood, and my favorite decade: the 1970s.  

That was my formative decade, I suppose you could conclude.

I grew up with Space:1999 (1975-1977), Space Academy (1977), Star Wars (1977), Battlestar Galactica (1978-1979), Alien (1979) and The Black Hole (1979).

I love the spaceships of this era, from TV and film, frankly. 


Thanks to 2001: A Space Odyssey in 1968, designers had largely outgrown the "rocket" and "flying saucer" style of spaceship, and moved on to some amazing work for the disco decade.  The seventies brought us the utilitarian, modular Eagles of 1999, the haunted house in space, the Cygnus, of The Black Hole, the new (and improved) Star Trek ships in time for The Motion Picture, and even bio-organic ships, like the one seen in Alien.

 So far as spaceship designs go, I don't think any other decade, at least so far, can hold a candle to the 1970s.

Below are a few of my favorites from 1970 - 1979.  How many do you remember? (And heck, which ones did I forget?)

Identified by SGB: UFO ( Interceptors )

Identified by SGB: Silent Running (Valley Forge)

Identified by SGB: The Starlost (Earth Ship Ark)

Identified by SGB: Star Blazers (Argo/Yamato)

Identified by SGB: Dark Star.

Identified by SGB: Planet of the Apes (TV series)

Identified by SGB: Space:1999 (Eagle Transporter)

Identified by SGB: Space:1999 (Mark IX Hawk).

Identified by SGB: Antares (Into Infinity)

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Star Maidens.

Identified by SGB Star Wars (Star Destroyer)

Identified by SGB: Star Wars (X-Wing and TIE Fighter)

Identified by SGB: Space Academy (Seeker)

Identified by SGB The Lost Saucer.

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: The War in Space (1977)

Identified by SGB: Jason of Star Command (Star Fire)

Identified by SGB: Salvage 1

Identified by SGB Project UFO.


Identified by SGB: Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Identified by SGB: The Cat from Otuter Space.
Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Starship Invasions.

Identified by SGB: Laserblast.


Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Star Crash.

Identified by Piierre Fontaine: Message from Space.

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Message from Space.

Identified by SGB: Battlestar Galactica.

Identified by Pierre Fontaine: Blake's 7 (Liberator)

Identified by Piierre Fontaine: Shape of Things to Come (Star Streak).


Identified by SGB Alien (Nostromo)

Identified by SGB: The Cygnus.

Identified by SGB: Buck Rogers (Starfighter).


Identified by SGB: Moonraker.

Identified by SGB: U.S.S. Enterprise (ST-TMP)

Identified by SGB: ST-TMP (K'tinga)

9 comments:

  1. HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY JOHN !!!!!!

    I am sure it was a good day thinking about your '70s childhood with your family. I know, like you, I am extremely grateful that I was a boy then to enjoy the revolutionary science-fiction of the '70s. You are so correct about the '70s production designs of spaceships are still superior to any of the decades that have followed.

    1 UFO [ Interceptor ]
    2 Silent Running [American Airlines Space Freighter Valley Forge] or Battlestar Galactica '78 [Colonial Agro Ship]
    3 Starlost [Ark]
    4 StarBlazers [Argo/Yamato]
    5 Darkstar
    6 Planet Of The Apes (1974-75 tv series) [A.N.S.A. Liberty 3 'Daedalus']
    7 Space:1999 Eagle Transporter
    8 Space:1999 Mark IX Hawk
    9 Day After Tomorrow:Into Infinity [Lightship Altares]
    11 Star Wars [Star Destroyer]
    12 Star Wars [X-Wing]
    13 Space Academy/Jason Of Star Command [Seeker][SA-SC]
    14 Lost Saucer
    16 Jason Of Star Command [Seeker with Minicat Escape pod attached at bow]
    17 Salvage-1 [Vulture]
    18 Project:U.F.O.
    19 CE3K
    20 Cat From Outer Space
    22 LaserBlast
    26 BSG (1978-1980) [Cylon Raider][Colonial Viper]
    29 Alien [U.S.C.S.S. Nostromo]
    30 Black Hole [Cygnus]
    31 Buck Rogers In The 25th Century [E.D.D. Starfighter]
    32 Moonraker [Drax Moonraker Space Shuttle Orbiter]
    33 Star Trek:TMP [1701-refit Enterprise]
    34 Star Trek:TMP [Klingon K'T'inga]

    That was fun. I still love the '70s!

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. SGB

      You rock, buddy! You have a great eye (and great memory) for spaceships of the 1970s!

      Delete
  2. I forgot to mention:

    11 also includes [Blockade Runner]
    12 also includes [T.I.E. Fighter]

    John, I loved the spaceships of the '70s so much that I still have the STARLOG published Photoguidebooks SPACESHIPS (1977; red cover) and SPACESHIPS volume 2 (1980; blue cover) both covering sci-fi spaceships up to the date of publishing.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
  3. 10. Star Maidens
    15. War In Space (or possibly Atragon)
    21. Starship Invasions
    23. StarCrash (or The Adventures of Stella Star) - Incidentally, one of my favorite movies of all time.
    24. Message From Space (Comet Fire and Galaxy Runner)
    25. Message From Space (for some reason I kind of remember this being called the Grand Galvanas or something similar)
    27. Blake's 7 (The Liberator)
    28. The Shape Of Things To Come (StarStreak)

    This was certainly my decade for Sci-Fi as well. Great hardware...not always great movies or TV shows but surely very influential.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Great job, Pierre! You got some incredibly obscure ones in your list!!!

      Delete
  4. BTW, Happy Birthday to you! I forgot to add this to my earlier post.
    Pierre

    ReplyDelete
  5. SGB: I am truly humbled by your knowledge! You got numerous ones that baffled me. I also thought I was one of the only people who remembered Message From Space. I've always had a soft spot for that one as I had my Mum take me to see it the night the Star Wars Holiday Special aired so it saved me from that potential childhood trauma. I still haven't managed to make myself sit through that show! And I too love this era of fictional spacecraft design.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thanks, nowhere.
    My '70s boyhood science-fiction fandom along with a STARLOG subscription back then kept me well briefed as a boy.

    SGB

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Birthday, John! Definitely keep up the great work!
    Steve

    ReplyDelete

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