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Father Geek shares some Dystopian Visions he wishes to share...
Dystopian Surrealism at the Movies...
Societal Paranoia, dehumanizing politics & industrialism, subverted utopian ideals & the widely viewed death of the American dream combine to give rise to a surreal dystopia when staring into our popular culture mirror...
After an afternoon watching my second grade grandson battle with medieval war machines followed by a great home cooked Mexican dinner and a late evening of DVD viewing at my daughter's home I returned to geek headquarters. While brushing my teeth and staring aimlessly into the mirror my mind flashed on an image from the wonderful Tobe Hooper directed "Poltergeist." You know the scene. The one where the investigator looking in the bathroom mirror starts tearing large chunks of flesh from his face. I don't know why that happened. I haven't seen the flick in a couple of years. Nothing we saw at Dannie's house suggested it, at least overtly.
This morning I gave it some more thought. This article is the result. "Dystopian Surrealism at the Movies"
Its been a recurring theme in pop culture entertainment for over 100 years, but now with the meaningless violence of Gaza, Iraq and other hot spots; widespread failed home loans; health care gloom & doom; a massive dehumanization in the workplace; annnnd the 24 hour a day droning of bad news stories on our hi-def large screen surround sound TV's real life appears to be becoming a non-fictional Dystopian nightmare; the very antithesis of the Utopia our life was supposed to be in the 21st century. A Dystopian world is just really undesirable, with man-made environmental problems, massive social disorder, dehumanizing concepts, rampant crime, plague, famine, etc...
To underline that, I offer up this list of suggested Dystopic entertainment for home viewing that exams the far reaching shadows cast by our present future:
Children of Men
Alfonso Cuaron's masterful 2006 film of a chaotic, childless world held under a thumb of fear and oppression.
Fahrenheit 451
A 1966 Francois Truffaut film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's story of a totalitarian society that fears informed free thought.
Metropolis
The silent 1926 German feature by the husband/wife director-writer team of Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou dealing with an oppressive corporate city-state and the social unrest among its ant-like worker class.
Escape from New York
John Carpenter's great 1981 flick that drops tough guy Kurt Russell into the middle of a decayed, crumbling world of anarchy.
A Clockwork Orange
The 1971 masterpiece of an ultra violent future by Stanley Kubrick featuring Malcolm McDowell's charismatic, crazed gang leader Alex.
Wings of Desire
Wim Wenders' multi-award winning 1988 German film of trench coat wearing angels struggling to understand, and help out a ruined city's lonely, depressed mortals.
City of Lost Children
An artfully shot 1995 French motion picture by Jean-Pierre Jeunet set in a bizarre, surrealistic society where dreamless adults kidnap children to steal their dreams only to discover they're nightmares.
Fight Club
David Fincher's 1999 movie of an anti-capitalist underground anarchy led(?) by soap maker Brad Pitt.
1984
The 1984 released version of George Orwell's original oppressive view of a totalitarian government that knows all. John Hurt & Richard Burton are in a world of constant propaganda and neverending surveillance.
The Children's Hour
William Wyler and Lillian Hellman gave us this study in paranoia, rumor and false accusations that destroys the lives of Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner back in 1961.
Brazil
This is the 1985 Terry Gilliam masterwork of an undetermined future bureaucratic nightmare world starring Robert DeNiro, Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm.
A Scanner Darkly
Richard Linklater's 2006 interpretation of Phillip K. Dick's story of a drug obsessed totalitarian society, told thru animation with Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Woody Harrellson.
Sleeper
In 1973 Woody Allen directed, wrote and starred with Diane Keaton in this satire of an overly oppressive future government and the underground movement to overthrow it.
THX 1138
Expanded to feature length in 1971 by George Lucas from his student short, Robert Duval starred in this tale of an underground society where
all life's aspects are controlled by government, even the emotions.
V for Vendetta
2005 saw the Wachowski's anti-Fascist underground fighter (Hugo Weaving) take on John Hurt as the leader of the totalitarian government, Natalie Portman co-starred.
Zardoz
Most of mankind lives outside of society in total anarchy while a very few live in protected, civilized catatonia in this 1974 John Boorman film, Sean Connery is the outlander that disrupts Charlotte Rampling's world.
Mad Max
This 1979 George Miller movie of a dystopic future full of speed, chaos and anarchy started the ball rolling for star Mel Gibson.
Beneath the Planet of the Apes
From the original Pierre Bolle tale this 2nd in the series deals with the confrontation between the surface ruling apes and a small group of civilized humans living underground with their machines.
12 Monkeys
A 1995 Terry Gilliam motion picture where 5 billion die, the world is left in chaos annnnnd Bruce Willis is our last hope.
Soylent Green
In 1973 Richard Fleischer (son of those who gave us Betty Boop & Popeye) presented us with massive unemployment, global warming and pollution, runaway crime, huge over population and starvation, buuut...
City of Ember
A 2008 film from Jeanne Duprau's novel with Tim Robbins, Martin Landau and Bill Murray; Ember is a decaying 250 year old underground city with a rapidly failing power system, strange mutant creatures, a corrupt leadership and no apparent exit.
Alphaville
Legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard's great 1965 science fiction motion picture set in a city were love and self-expression have been outlawed by its scientist controlled leadership.
Blade Runner
The 1982 noir-este Ridley Scott visionary film has been labeled too utopian by some for this list, I disagree. The weather's horrible, parts of the city are decaying, its an overcrowded, polluted police-state that people can't wait to escape "off planet" from, not a very nice place to live.
Dark City
The 1998 Alex Proyas phantasmagorical nightmare with Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly and William Hurt trapped in a shape shifting city controlled by soul sucking telekinetic creatures.
Battle Royale
Fukasaku's 2000 visionary film where totalitarian government pits school children against each other in a chaotic to the death struggle.
No Blade of Grass (not on DVD or VHS)
Former swashbuckling actor Cornel Wilde's grim 1970 environmental doom flick was one of the 1st to seriously look at a creeping worldwide plague of death brought on by man himself, eye opening film.
Rollerball
This 1975 film predicts that in a not too distant future of wall sized Hi-def surround sound 24 hour TV, James Caan's "Jonathon" will dominate the corporate ruled society's extreme sports programming, annnd there will be NO crime... NO war... No freedom!
A Boy and his Dog
Taken from a Harlen Ellison story, Jason Robards and Don Johnson star in this post- apocalyptic world released 4 years before "Mad Max" that features an underground survivors world where man can no longer breed.
They Live
John Carpenter's 1988 movie where; you see them on the street, you watch them on TV... you may even vote for one... they're just like you... but you're wrong... dead wrong!
The Trial
Orsen Welles directed this film he adapted from Franz Kafka's novel of a society run by a nightmare bureaucracy, self-important, complex , labyrinthine, face-less, life-threatening.
District B13
2004 Luc Besson pinned film set in the dead end, walled ghettos of Paris' immediate future; cutoff, ruled by crime, a danger even to those outside.
Omega Man
The 1971 film loosely based on Richard Matheson's seminal novel; a lone survivor of worldwide biological warfare, caught in a place he cannot stir from in the dark, alone, nothing to live for, but his gadgets.
Logan's Run
A 1976 Science Fiction epic; an idyllic future world that has only one drawback... at age 30 you die, and there's nothing you can do about it.
The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (Not on DVD or VHS)
The groundbreaking 1959 motion picture inspired inpart by M.P. Shiel's "The Purple Cloud"; starring Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer alone with their fears in a dead New YorkCity.
The Road Warrior
George Miller's 1981 followup to his cult classic "Mad Max"; the dying society has finally flat lined, Max wanders aimlessly the post-apocalyptic landscape, fuel is all important, he's bitter & lonely, but not alone.
I, Robot
Alex Proyas' 2004 film freely adapted from Isaac Asimov's novel, freely adapted from Eando Binder's early 1950's pulp stories and EC comic series, deals freely with the concept of "robotophobia."
The Last Days of Man on Earth
The thought provoking 1973 adaption of the Michael Moorcock novel also released as "The Final Programme"... the future is cancelled, I think I'll go home and watch it on TV.
Matrix
The Wachowski's 1999 view of a world that is not as it seems, what people see and feel is not real, life is a lie, there is a small underground that fights for truth and freedom at great cost.
Aeon Flux
The seemingly perfect world is in reality perfectly fucked, first off 99% of the world's population is dead, step outside the city and you die; inside paranoia, conformity and unquestionable obedience are the rule.
I am Legend
Adapted for the screen in 2007 by Mark Protosevich from Matheson's book and the earlier "Omega Man"very much the same except stylistically.
28 Days Later
Danny Boyle's 2002 movie where his fear began when he awoke alone and his terror began when discovered he wasn't; could be thought of as a sort of prequel to the various "I am Legend" films.
Modern Times
The great Charles Chaplin's 1936 turn at industrial dehumanization as the Tramp is struggling to survive in a workplace that doesn't care about the workers, machines are all important and are rapidly taking over.
For those of you who prefer the printed page try Ayn Rand's masterwork "Atlas Shrugged", Ursula LeGuin's phantastical "The Dispossessed", Samuel Butler's "Erehwon" (that's no where backwards), Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451" where illiteracy is the law of the land, Anthony Burgess' urban nightmare "Clockwork Orange", Phillip K. Dick's "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep"(the film adaption may be about utopia, this is not) , H. G. Wells' "The Time Machine" and "Things to Come"(did he really have the machine?), or any number of the original novels the above motion pictures were based on.
Alfonso Cuaron's masterful 2006 film of a chaotic, childless world held under a thumb of fear and oppression.
A 1966 Francois Truffaut film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's story of a totalitarian society that fears informed free thought.
The silent 1926 German feature by the husband/wife director-writer team of Fritz Lang & Thea von Harbou dealing with an oppressive corporate city-state and the social unrest among its ant-like worker class.
John Carpenter's great 1981 flick that drops tough guy Kurt Russell into the middle of a decayed, crumbling world of anarchy.
The 1971 masterpiece of an ultra violent future by Stanley Kubrick featuring Malcolm McDowell's charismatic, crazed gang leader Alex.
Wim Wenders' multi-award winning 1988 German film of trench coat wearing angels struggling to understand, and help out a ruined city's lonely, depressed mortals.
An artfully shot 1995 French motion picture by Jean-Pierre Jeunet set in a bizarre, surrealistic society where dreamless adults kidnap children to steal their dreams only to discover they're nightmares.
David Fincher's 1999 movie of an anti-capitalist underground anarchy led(?) by soap maker Brad Pitt.
The 1984 released version of George Orwell's original oppressive view of a totalitarian government that knows all. John Hurt & Richard Burton are in a world of constant propaganda and neverending surveillance.
William Wyler and Lillian Hellman gave us this study in paranoia, rumor and false accusations that destroys the lives of Audrey Hepburn, Shirley MacLaine and James Garner back in 1961.
This is the 1985 Terry Gilliam masterwork of an undetermined future bureaucratic nightmare world starring Robert DeNiro, Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm.
Richard Linklater's 2006 interpretation of Phillip K. Dick's story of a drug obsessed totalitarian society, told thru animation with Robert Downey Jr, Winona Ryder, Keanu Reeves and Woody Harrellson.
In 1973 Woody Allen directed, wrote and starred with Diane Keaton in this satire of an overly oppressive future government and the underground movement to overthrow it.
Expanded to feature length in 1971 by George Lucas from his student short, Robert Duval starred in this tale of an underground society where
all life's aspects are controlled by government, even the emotions.
2005 saw the Wachowski's anti-Fascist underground fighter (Hugo Weaving) take on John Hurt as the leader of the totalitarian government, Natalie Portman co-starred.
Most of mankind lives outside of society in total anarchy while a very few live in protected, civilized catatonia in this 1974 John Boorman film, Sean Connery is the outlander that disrupts Charlotte Rampling's world.
This 1979 George Miller movie of a dystopic future full of speed, chaos and anarchy started the ball rolling for star Mel Gibson.
From the original Pierre Bolle tale this 2nd in the series deals with the confrontation between the surface ruling apes and a small group of civilized humans living underground with their machines.
A 1995 Terry Gilliam motion picture where 5 billion die, the world is left in chaos annnnnd Bruce Willis is our last hope.
In 1973 Richard Fleischer (son of those who gave us Betty Boop & Popeye) presented us with massive unemployment, global warming and pollution, runaway crime, huge over population and starvation, buuut...
A 2008 film from Jeanne Duprau's novel with Tim Robbins, Martin Landau and Bill Murray; Ember is a decaying 250 year old underground city with a rapidly failing power system, strange mutant creatures, a corrupt leadership and no apparent exit.
Legendary filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard's great 1965 science fiction motion picture set in a city were love and self-expression have been outlawed by its scientist controlled leadership.
The 1982 noir-este Ridley Scott visionary film has been labeled too utopian by some for this list, I disagree. The weather's horrible, parts of the city are decaying, its an overcrowded, polluted police-state that people can't wait to escape "off planet" from, not a very nice place to live.
The 1998 Alex Proyas phantasmagorical nightmare with Kiefer Sutherland, Jennifer Connelly and William Hurt trapped in a shape shifting city controlled by soul sucking telekinetic creatures.
Fukasaku's 2000 visionary film where totalitarian government pits school children against each other in a chaotic to the death struggle.
Former swashbuckling actor Cornel Wilde's grim 1970 environmental doom flick was one of the 1st to seriously look at a creeping worldwide plague of death brought on by man himself, eye opening film.
This 1975 film predicts that in a not too distant future of wall sized Hi-def surround sound 24 hour TV, James Caan's "Jonathon" will dominate the corporate ruled society's extreme sports programming, annnd there will be NO crime... NO war... No freedom!
Taken from a Harlen Ellison story, Jason Robards and Don Johnson star in this post- apocalyptic world released 4 years before "Mad Max" that features an underground survivors world where man can no longer breed.
John Carpenter's 1988 movie where; you see them on the street, you watch them on TV... you may even vote for one... they're just like you... but you're wrong... dead wrong!
Orsen Welles directed this film he adapted from Franz Kafka's novel of a society run by a nightmare bureaucracy, self-important, complex , labyrinthine, face-less, life-threatening.
2004 Luc Besson pinned film set in the dead end, walled ghettos of Paris' immediate future; cutoff, ruled by crime, a danger even to those outside.
The 1971 film loosely based on Richard Matheson's seminal novel; a lone survivor of worldwide biological warfare, caught in a place he cannot stir from in the dark, alone, nothing to live for, but his gadgets.
A 1976 Science Fiction epic; an idyllic future world that has only one drawback... at age 30 you die, and there's nothing you can do about it.
The groundbreaking 1959 motion picture inspired inpart by M.P. Shiel's "The Purple Cloud"; starring Harry Belafonte, Inger Stevens and Mel Ferrer alone with their fears in a dead New YorkCity.
George Miller's 1981 followup to his cult classic "Mad Max"; the dying society has finally flat lined, Max wanders aimlessly the post-apocalyptic landscape, fuel is all important, he's bitter & lonely, but not alone.
Alex Proyas' 2004 film freely adapted from Isaac Asimov's novel, freely adapted from Eando Binder's early 1950's pulp stories and EC comic series, deals freely with the concept of "robotophobia."
The thought provoking 1973 adaption of the Michael Moorcock novel also released as "The Final Programme"... the future is cancelled, I think I'll go home and watch it on TV.
The Wachowski's 1999 view of a world that is not as it seems, what people see and feel is not real, life is a lie, there is a small underground that fights for truth and freedom at great cost.
The seemingly perfect world is in reality perfectly fucked, first off 99% of the world's population is dead, step outside the city and you die; inside paranoia, conformity and unquestionable obedience are the rule.
Adapted for the screen in 2007 by Mark Protosevich from Matheson's book and the earlier "Omega Man"very much the same except stylistically.
Danny Boyle's 2002 movie where his fear began when he awoke alone and his terror began when discovered he wasn't; could be thought of as a sort of prequel to the various "I am Legend" films.
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+ Expand All
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Le Corbeau (1943) directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot to your list.The Final Programme is a terrible adaptation of Jerry Cornelius, though.
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Not necessarily a dystopian FUTURE. But dystopia, industrialization, and modern emasculation abound.
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if I didn't see "Brazil" there.Harry, if you try very hard, you can sneak another 'share' into the header.
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Also. And Idiocracy is a pretty good one. Also, too, Idiocracy
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No DELICATESSEN? And why recommend shit like AEON FLUX but not shit like EQUILIBRIUM or ULTRAVIOLET? A weird article.
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Ghost in the Shell?
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Twilight Zone ("Time Enough for All," with Burgess Meredith), Waterworld, Reign of Fire, The Fifth Element, Westworld/Futureworld... and don't forget Goin' Coconuts, starring Donny and Marie Osmond.
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Deep Impact?
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its not one day you're a cop, the next you're a road warrior, the world is collapsing, but so did the roman world, and many others. go with the flow.
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I AM MOST ELITE!
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Advertising revenue right? That complaining aside, great list though. Seen all of them of course EXCEPT The World, the Flesh, and the Devil and city of ember and one other old one on that list, which I've never heard of before. I don't think the dead triolgy really count, because they are supposed to be present day. Exellent films though, just saying. It's cool District B13 is on here. I saw the trailer for the sequal not long ago, and if anyone is interested, the main girl in the film, the lead dudes sister, is an ex anal queen teen porn star in france. Fucking hot.
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Why do you hate VHS ?
America 3000.....hello? -
Deserved to make your list FatherGeek
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I'd say most of them strive to achieve a level of realism.
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the only movie I get queezy watching. That is a hardcore movie/docudrama that fucked up alot of kids. but is it really a dystopian future in the same sense as Children of Men?
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Jan 25, 2009 6:28:30 AM CST
Obvious choices. But what about CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG!
by bob cryptonight
Man, that whole fucked up world...flying cars, kids in cages...children living in sewers...Dick Van Dyke singing...
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...the Amazon links! I can understand when Harry does that in his DVD column, because he is talking about new releases and links to them might be helpful for people who wanna buy them and Harry's moneybag. (I'm not judging you. If I had a popular website, I would do the same.) I got used to Herc's shameless plug in every single article. But when suddenly an article about "Dystopian Visions" comes totally out of the blue and uses these Amzon links, it raises the question if this is really about the movies, or just about selling them? (Especially because nobody was waiting for it, so that there was enough time to write more about each movie than just one or two sentences.)
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Still dont know why DeNiro is listed as the star of Brazil, all he did was slid down a rope to get the guy out of a prison, must have been on screen thirty seconds. Go figure.
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...Silent Running? It doesn't take place on earth but it's definitely dystopian...and dope.
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...as opposed to "shares some Dystopian Visions he doesn't want to share"...or "doesn't share some Dystopian Visions he wishes to share"?
Geeze, people, proof before you post. -
I won't be checking out any of the other movies if that's what you're recommending to me.
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had to do it.
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A few there I'd never heard of. No blade of grass? How the hell can I see it?? The world, the flesh.... ?? where can I find it? Obscure file sharing networks here I come.
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Why didn't they ever make a special edition of the Road Warrior on DVD (Region 1)? The first one came out in 1997 as "bare bones" and I've waited it out for a SE. They re-released it as part of a two-pack in 2007, but isn't that just the same disc?
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that 2-pack is Full Screen only, so that's outta the equation.
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Is a decent, overlooked dystopic film.
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Or Total Recall?
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...The Last Man on Earth or Conquest of the Planet of the Apes?
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...was the only one off the list that I was definitely expected when I figured out what Harry was doing here. Granted, it's more about Arnie's psychology than society...jutst happens to be set in the future. Great flick...holds up real well.
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... Blade Runner's setting is in any way utopian.
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The focus on Arnie's broken mind and his need for escape are a product of the shitty society presente3d in Total Recall. We watch violent action movies to escape reality, he becomes a spy on Mars to escape his shitty reality. The illusion is broken when we leave the theater and we ease back into reality, but what happens to those who use Rekall's services?
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Most are required viewing if you're into sci-fi.
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and Modern Times. Hilarious! Nice to see Alphaville on the list, but Week End should have made it up there.
I want to know who was arguing against the inclusion of Blade Runner on the list. On what (flimsy) grounds is Blade Runner utopian? -
Robocop
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It reminded me I need to pick up a couple of those dvds.
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End of line.
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Bitches!
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It's about a robot who doesn't know he's a robot killing runaway robot slaves in a decayed city on a destroyed Earth......
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Oh, it's too religious, huh? Well, whatever man. Randall Flagg will hunt you down with his supernatural mullet.
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The book is great, all the film iterations of it suck.
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We by Yevegny Zamyatin. It is widely regarded as the forerunner in dystopian fiction. George Orwell stated that he took a lot from We when writing 1984. They're very similar and both base their dystopian world on Soviet Russia.
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is stepford wives a failed utopia. i'd say it's dystopian all the way.
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Read it before you see the film.
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post-apocalyptic and dystopian. Similar themes, but dystopian is about the absolute control of society and post-apocalyptic is about total anarchy.
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Why does everyone think of Mad Max as set in the future or a scifi movie?? It's a cop flick , plain and simple. A great movie at that but no scifi involved and not set in the future... thats Road Warrior.
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great dystopian movie. Symbols are corrupted, icons of justice are revealed to be maniacs and even the purity of Batman's quest is shaken to it's core.
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Good luck on that one. Have you priced the used DVD's on Amazon? Why not go with the Apple also. As Mr Bugaloo sez"BIM"
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It's a pretty bleak premise that we (thankfully) haven't seen fully realized on "reality" television. It's kinda like The Running Man on a smaller budget via The Blair Witch Project.
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at least thematically.
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I was walking thru a high school this week an noticed a sign warning of video survelliance. We have GPS and programs that monitor our internet activity. The Village is doing quite well after all these years.
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be true dystopian movies but) 'La Jetee' (how do you add accent marks?) a short film that was one of the inspirations behind '12 Monkeys', 'Hardware', 'Nemesis', 'Immortel', and recently 'Casshern'. I'm not saying they are all good movies, but I enjoyed some of them.
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was a bit facetious, since admittedly there are perspectives from which it could be seen as a failed utopia, such as from the point of view of the founders of the community. from my perspective the 'utopia' they're trying to set up is actually a dystopian nightmare.
if the founders were the characters we were asked to identify with, i'd go along with you. since we're asked to identify with joanna, i'd say dystopia.
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A nice little film, if I recall.
Thanks for dropping the science on us, Father Geek. -
IM STILL WAITING!! is this ever gonna be available??? srsly WTF is goin on with this???
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a mediocre movie but the concept of society planners coming up with a fake religion to get their youth to sacrifice themselves for a better afterlife- brilliant.
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language is a slippery little squid of a beast. and i have often wished for an edit option.
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The end is near.
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Are you sure you know what dystopia means? The former deals with injustice and the latter with matters of profound loneliness, but neither even come close to what I would consider dystopic.
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To put Dark City on there and not say it STARS RUFUS SEWELL. Keifer Sutherland isn't the star of the movie buddy. That's just a pretty unfair oversight, give credit where its due. otherwise, pretty awesome list. Children of Men is great cinema
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Jan 25, 2009 3:01:18 PM CST
Running Man's been mentioned, but deserves repeating
by shut the fuck up donny
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Take that, people who have never seen the movie.
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This is hands-down one of my favourite sub-genres of cinema. I love science fiction in all forms, but the future as a crumbling wasteland, societies shackled by an oppressive, corporate-minded government?!? Sign me up! I just can't get enough of this stuff. So while some people may think this list is a tad random, I just love everything about it.There are a few movies on here that I still have to see, but I have seen the majority of them and there are a ton of absolutely brilliant movies up there. Sure, I, Robot kind of sucks, but Blade Runner is one of my favourite movies of all time. Add to that movies like Metropolis, Escape from New York, The City of Lost Children, Mad Max, The Road Warrior, Children of Men, Brazil, and A Scanner Darkly and you've got yourself a pile of fantastic and exciting cinema.As for other movies that could be added to this list, people on the talkback here have already mentioned great stuff like Eraserhead and Gattaca, but as my subject line mentions, I'd like to put Code 46 out there as well. It's a 2003 sci-fi flick directed by Michael Winterbottom and starring Tim Robbins and the great Samantha Morton. The major cities of the world are locked down and you have to get certain passes to allow you to travel to different parts of the world. Plus, sexual relationships are pretty damn frowned upon. The movie is about Robbins and Morton giving in to their primal desires. It's a really cool, creepy movie about people being robbed of their basic freedoms.Anyways, keep up the good work, Father Geek! I'd love to see more of this stuff!
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You covered all the best. I'm glad you included Soylent Green and Rollerball. The latter being one of my all time favorite dystopian future films from the 70's. In addition to being a badass action film, it's anti-corporate subtext is as powerful as Network. On a lesser, but extremely entertaining level, Deathrace 2000 is pretty subversive as well. I've seen most of the films on your list and will check out the ones I haven't.
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The shit-crappy future....TODAY !
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...before making up arbitrary definitions for words and stating them as fact. "Dystopian" has nothing to do with "absolute control of society." In greek it literally means "a bad place" Frequently Dystopian futures are represented as totalitarian anti-utopias, but anarchy and choas - and by extension post-apocalyptic settings - are also Dystopian. The only real requirement for a dystopia is that it be miserable and oppressive.
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This has never changed. Only the Location and Manifestation of "What is Wrong" changes. It's been like this since Possesion, Ownership, Power and Desire.
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I might be an asshole.
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...it is dystopian/future. If you consider a movie that shows the real world but drastically changed to be futuristic then Mad Max is that and it is certainly dystopian. People with fast cars and motorcycle gangs rule the roads. The police are more afraid of the criminals than the criminals are of the police. The fact that they chose the Australian Outback was not b/c they were doing a movie about cops in the Outback but rather they wanted the look of the outback to show a world where society was slowly crumbling. Father Geek was dead on about Road Warrior just being the end result of what we see starting to happen in Mad Max.
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Because like them all or not the Max movies DO progress thru this future world. In Thunderdome the gas is pretty much gone except the "bad guys" or "lucky" still seem to have what is left of it. However, we see two examples of society trying to react to things having hit rock bottom. Bartertown which is a communal/totalitarian approach and then the kids who made it to "Tomorrowmorrow Land" where they try to restart society in the ruins of society from a grass roots approach. So we NEED Mad Max 4! To show us what the next step is in this highly intriguing vision of the future, how these two types of society have progressed, if there are others trying it different ways, and of course most of all....WHAT ABOUT MAX?!?!
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Kevin Costner? Waterworld and The Postman. someone else here already mentioned Idiocracy it's the sister movie to Children of Men.
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Pull my finger.
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White people love this shit. Most overrated movie ever.
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...he wishes to ridicule. But the article itself rocked.
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Just because you didn't understand it doesn't mean it doesn't make sense. Heck, the basement tapes are more nonsensical.
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it was poorly plotted and drunk on its own quirk. I am interested in how this can be explained away. I watched it for the first time four days ago. The visuals were interesting. The music was fair to good. Everything else just ugghh. I'm not the only one with problems with this movie.
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haha. I don't mind the Amazon links, I clicked on a few just to read the reviews. Because I download most shit for free son. And 9/11 was an inside job. Obama is another dumbass politician who favores the current "bail-out" trend that in continuing our descent into the abyss. Real reform is needed, not giving more money to the mafia that runs the planet.
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That's an Oxymoron, Father Geek.
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Very nice list! Despite the fact that this is my favorite genre, there are several movies there that I have not seen, so I will be checking those out ... Several people have mentioned other good movies that might have been included, and I'd like to offer "The Handmaid's Tale" as a, in my opinion particularly good one. It's a dystopian society based on Old Testament morality.
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Just out of interest, did you think the ending was happy or sad?
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cheer up. things won't suck forever. just a lifetime or two
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its no Road Warrior, but its still pretty cool. better than Mad Max, which really REALLY doesnt hold up.
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Jan 25, 2009 10:39:29 PM CST
instead of Mad Max 4, they will just remake the originals...
by bmacsmith
and completely fuck them up. probably will star Will Smith.
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And to think, I haven't memorized/seen three of the flicks...
Should add "Equilibrium" to the list, but it's pretty much perfect as is, if too exhaustive...
Also add Repo Man, Sunshine and River's Edge...
Then...
Wait-add Ken Russell's The Devils and it is complete!
Wunderbar!
:-) -
Thank you. You could add a few more Kubricks and Spielbergs because they fit what you're driving at.
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Jan 25, 2009 11:53:19 PM CST
If t.v. shows were included, you could add THE WALTONS.
by bob cryptonight
*shudder*
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the ones I've seen anyway. I try to recommend 'The Children's Hour' often. This list reminds me. Did 'Wall-E' remind anyone else of 'Silent Running'? I really liked that one too, although I thought it had a bummer ending.
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Barbarella, Westword, Idiocracy- last one might be pushing it, but then again....
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It's a major entry into this category of fiction. If the movie turns out half as good as the novel, we'll have a sure-fire classic in our midst.
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James Cameron gave us a harrowing glimpse of humankind enslaved by its own technology.
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Quite simply, the most controversial American television drama of all time. An absolutely horrific dramatization of nuclear holocaust and its spirit-shattering aftermath. Heartbreaking stuff.
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It's as nightmarish a vision of "hell on earth" as has ever been depicted on the silver screen.
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A powerful story of an entire nation going straight to Hell. Everyone goes blind. Hygiene goes out the window. Things get really, really ugly.
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Great performances, tight screenplay that perfectly captures the cold war paranoia of the 80s, and, had the guts to pull no punches with the ending. Too bad it got such a crappy dvd release, and will probably never see blu-ray. At least we'll have 6 different versions of Transformers.
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David Cronenberg's ultimate masterpiece takes us into the darkest reaches of the imagination. Bill Lee journeys into a world of weirdness, depravity and deviance. This is pure dystopia.
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I could tell it was supposed to be comically tragic, leaning toward the tragic. I just found it kind of cheap. Kind of like an, oh it was just a dream type ending. I guess I would lean more towards sad. It just meadered through the first act, picked up a little more in the second s, then sprinited in the third, but the pacing and plot had lost me by then. I just did not care.
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I'm trying to plug my gap's in film knowledge. Rififi next up, I have high hopes.
Honestly I think people growing up on these movies effects the ability to judge 'em for what they are. Brazil...just didn't do it for me. I also wan't watching many movies in the mid-to late eighties. -
what was the point of this list again? I mean, yeah I have a nice list of torrents now but seriously, wtf?
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RoboCop is a great satire and a precursor to where our nation is headed. Hell, I'd argue that we're already there, sans the killer robots.
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I don't think we're living in a dystopian world, but on an interesting sidenote I watched Battle Royale for the first time tonight after meaning to see it for years
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You say that I, Robot was "freely adapted from Isaac Asimov's novel, freely adapted from Eando Binder's early 1950's pulp stories and EC comic series."Er. There was no "novel" -- I, Robot was a collection of Asimov's short stories, some of which came well before Binder's stuff. FYI.
Also, it's hard to take a list seriously when it contains both "Metropolis" and "Aeon Flux." -
"a massive dehumanization in the workplace"...Examples? Look, I don't like my job either but isn't that a bit hyperbolic?
"meaningless violence in Gaza and Iraq"...When does violence become MEANINGFUL?
"the very antithesis of the Utopia our life was supposed to be in the 21st century"...There's you're problem right there. If you buy into ANY concept of UTOPIA then done for.
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But isn't the adjective form of Dystopia "dystopic" not "dystopian?"
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Way to go, Fathergeek. What a useless stupid excuse for an article by someone who clearly have no idea what he is doing or talking about. Learn with Scott or Massa.
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wasn't based on the Asimov stories originally. It was based on an original script which they thought would easily fit into the I, Robot world. So that script was updated with the three laws and some Asimov characters. I think the script was called "Hard Wired" or something? I should really remember, having worked on it... and this all explains the "Inspired by" credit they had.
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It's pretty dystopian. Add an Amazon link to it. Ca-Sheen!
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It's one of those ones that you'll see a lot of familiar elements because it's been ripped off so many times in English-speaking heist movies (you were talking about familiarity influencing your viewing - it works both ways). It defined a genre, as they say.
Brazil. Mmmm. A sad ending you say. It's a happy ending man! In a very dry/dark, British way. Sam has been trying to escape physically and mentally the whole movie, and finally even when they think they've won, he defeats them all and makes the final escape in his mind (he's not dead), becoming truly free. Maybe most people are so freaked out by the down-syndrome mask they get a little distracted. I take it from your name you're not English (neither am I but stay with me) and maybe you either didn't care for all the very English allegory or didn't notice? Not really an "all a dream" thing at all. More the opposite, considering what's come before. Of course there's always the possibility that you saw the Sid Sheinberg hackjob for television where they chopped it off at a point where it seemed like a Hollywood happy ending (obviously a lobotomy scene was a bit much for them). Therefore making absolutely no sense at all. I'd sure like to see Spielberg defend his old mentor on that one!
And the original title was 1984 and a half.
Finally, how could you not love the kid saying "Go ahead big boy, I won't look at your willy"! Gold, man. Gold! The chick WAS awful though. -
... maybe that wasn't the film for you and I may have wasted my breath. You probably missed a few Bruckheimer flicks in the 80s though... ;)
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Count me in! I love a good nap.THX 1138 is a great to fall asleep to. Are there any distopian past movies? Escape from New York might count. Wasn't that 'sposed to be set in 1993 or something? What happens when 2012 comes and nothing happens?
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Jan 26, 2009 10:00:50 AM CST
HOW DARE YOU INLCLUDE CITY OF EMBER w/ these classics....
by dannyglovers_dickblood
.....why doesn't anyone on this site get it? No one gives a fuck about that movie.
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...right after he plunges his tongue in and out of it for a half hour.
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Thanks for showing some love for the gun-kata. Bale's Batman is a wimp compared to Grammaton Cleric Preston. That is why when Batman Begins came out I knew Bale was going to own that role.
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All it is is an alien abduction movie, albeit a great one.
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DGDB, its a genre thing. COE is part of a genre....good or bad it fits the bill. Dystopia is even implied in the title of the film. You didn't have decaf this morning did you DGDB.
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While you may not like I, Robot it is dystopian by the fact that you look at society and it has an illusion of utopia; all the grunt work being done by robots, the fact is humaniy has lost their drive, and given control to their lives to a third party whether it is the robots, or US Robotics.
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Nope. Don't agree. There needs to be a sense of suffering for it to be dystopian. Day to day life needs to lack emotion and feel prison-like. There is no sense of this in I, Robot. Just because robots do the grunt work doesn't make human life any less pleasant. Its actually the opposite. Come on now-- Big Will gets to parade around in a leather jacket, sweet Chuck's, and a dope ride. What the fuck is dystopian about that? -
Threads, the British equivalent was much better, creepier, realistic (I suppose having not survived a nuclear holocaust), and even more heartbreaking.
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Yeah, but the robots ruined his Chuck's. That is what puts this over the edge as dystopian.
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Jan 26, 2009 11:05:03 AM CST
Fight Club, 28 Days Later....not dystopian either.
by dannyglovers_dickblood
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I see what you're saying. You're right.
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totally disagree. I, Robot is not dystopian. There is nothing made of the fact that Robots do all the work. Also, society isn't all fucked up. Dark City, on the other hand has humanity living in squalor with every variable controlled and life is pretty fucking misreable. I think Dark City is an Alien Abduction movie with elements of Dystopia. Not a pure Children of Men/ 1984 dystopia.
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Jan 26, 2009 11:26:58 AM CST
I know there are more specific dystopian elements....
by dannyglovers_dickblood
....like government control over society and little social interaction. But for me the main thing is day to day life must be miserable for it to ever be a true dystopian society. Thats why I don't get the 28 Days inclusion at all. Its set in the regular world we live in. Just one fucked up event happens, that doesn't make it dystopian.
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I wouldn't say that THREADS was more realistic than THE DAY AFTER, even with its documentary-like style, but it did push the concept a lot farther by chronicling the nuclear aftermath for thirteen long years. It certainly took the horror and ugliness of such a colossal situation to greater heights. Terrific film. Both films are good.
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City Of Ember was a solid B+, if not an A-!!!
I,Robot was a very solid B- and was actually pretty good even with CGI stuff.
You need to get off your high horse and get an attitude adjustment.
Wall-E was a straight up A, even if if aimed primarily at kids.
Sneak up into your parents room, grab your dad's pistol, and eat it!
Nuff Said!
-MLB
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You're right. It didn't really depict a dystopia, just a big disaster. The sequel on the other hand, 28 WEEKS LATER, painted a more dystopian picture. In that film, London is on the very edge of hell, while being occupied by the military. When hell breaks loose, all civilians are considered expendable and no one is safe.
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nor is I am Legend. In fact, loads of that list is not dystopian.
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Good point on Threads. It came full circle. One minute the biggest worry of some girl and her boyfriend is she's pregnant. Cut to 13 years later and her daughter, who is stunted intellectually either due to radiation or a complete breakdown of the education system among other things, gives birth to a stillborn.
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I agree with that Dark City is primarily an alien adbuction movie with dystopian elements. Now that you mention it, there was a lot of squallor. Although it's funny how one couple went from squallor, to rich, and would probably have gone to squallor again if the aliens were still in charge. And man, you were in a mean mood the other week, what's up with that?
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Still bitterly clinging to 'No Blade of Grass,' the perfectly full-of-shit shockumentary intended to hamstring industry and give un-earned power to vagrants unable to get real jobs? Figures. And then you also include 'Aeon Flux?' Time to wander off into the woods and commune with the Great Spirit.
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are not dystopian, or is it dystopic, but rather post-apocolyptic. Same can be said for The Road Warrior, but Mad Max is dystopic. Road Warrior was after a nuclear war. Actually Jarv you're right. A good bunch of these are not dystopian, but rather post-apocalyptic. I suppose one could argue that Land of the Dead is both. It's after the apocalypse, a new society has been built, and it's dystopian.
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Not exactly nowhere spelt backwards, but close. Political satire/Sci-fi from 135 years ago... featuring the evil Mr. Nosnibor (which IS in fact Robinson spelled backward)
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I think Robocop shows a society that strives for stronger law and order at the cost of its humanity. Same goes for Tokyo Gore Police in a much sillier way.
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Clearly you're new around these parts. You use the tired "I live with my parents" bit, and "Nuff said," two things that define you as a worthless, unoriginal cunt. And yes....I was poking fun at City of Ember, because I think its a joke its included on this list. And you know why the fuck its included on this list? For Amazon kickbacks. I'm sure Harry gets a larger chunk if its a new release. So why not have Daddy throw it on here as well as the DVD article? And for the record...I never said a single bad thing about I, Robot. I said its not dystopian, and its not. If you don't agree with that than fuck off. If you do agree with that than fuck off. And now that you mention it-- yes....I, Robot was a fucking piece of shit. JUST LIKE YOU!! Yaaaaaaay!!
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I tell DANNYGLOVERS_DICKBLOOD, he may not have liked I, Robot, and we have a discussion. That's cool. Mr.LordBronco starts with vulgarities, and the argument escalates. I don't know what ever happened to disagreeing with someone's opinion on movies. It seems to me too many comments are "you suck, no you suck." That's why (and Lost Jarv you mentioned this being for losers last week for some reason)I spend a lot of time in the zone where even if I disagree with someone's movie pick I can pull a Rodney King and get along.
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...Quality certainly doesn't seem to be a factor in it. There's some great titles in the mix but there are some awful stinkers, too. And there are films that aren't dystopian at all. (THE CHILDREN'S HOUR???) Overall, it's a vague, poorly conceived list with some major films and books overlooked.But I do like that the topic of this genre has been brought up. I don't know why but I love films where the whole world goes, or has gone, straight to hell.
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Jan 26, 2009 1:32:38 PM CST
"I love films where the whole world goes straight to hell."
by dannyglovers_dickblood
BEST QUOTE EVER!
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How is that one not relevatn? Have you noticed what the #1 movie in the country is? Have you noticed that Perez Hilton is one of the biggest websites out there right now? Getting closer, that's all I'm saying.
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That's why it wasn't mentioned.
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Go Away, Baitin!
Hehehehe, I love that movie.. Whycome You Got No Tattoo??? -
And you talk like a fag.
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An aging hippy assembles a long list of flicks that include anti-capitalism as a common theme... and each title is underscored with revenue enhancing links to Amazon.
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A lot of movies I love on there, and I never really realized the common thread that ties them together before now.. You forgot the Romero Zombie movies too. I never really thought of this as a genre of movies but I guess it's one of my favorite ones!
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While there's no hard and fast rule, dystopian works usually contain themes such as oppressive governmental control, breakdown of society, separation from nature, dehumanizing effects of technology and corruption of language. (Hey, high school english class finally came in handy.) Misery is common in these works, but not required. The urban populace of the dystopian classic Brave New World is conditioned to be content with their lot in life. And their lot sounds pretty nice, with fashionable clothes, concerts, recreational sex and faucets that dispense perfume. A couple of malcontents are even allowed to leave with little fuss. While I enjoyed many of the films on this list, I'd say less than half are dystopian. Perhaps someone could add the suggested films from the talkbacks to the list and have a poll to rate how dystopian they are. Throw The Tenth Victim, The Island, Babylon A.D., Wonderful Days and Natural City on there for good measure. And I'd like to see Father Geek assemble similar articles on post-apocalyptic and cyberpunk films.
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Don't know if this got mentioned anywhere...but this was one of the movies I was more unfamiliar with and decided to look it up. It sounded cool, so I checked on Netflix's Watch Instantly and it's one of the titles on there. Thank you, my dear sweet 360 for giving me another reason to not-leave my house...at least for 89 minutes.
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...I'm willing to bet many of these are on the 'watch instantly' thing on Netflix. They tend to have mostly 'off-beat' things on there. I love quotations.
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unfortunately its happening already haha...
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Blood of Heroes - Rutger Hauer.
Seriously dystopian desert world where teams stick dog's heads on pikes to win games for the pleasure of a very exclusive set of underground elites. -
but OK, Orcus still sees these things
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