GENERAL DISCUSSIONS

Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time

POSTED BY: CLJOHNSTON108
UPDATED: Tuesday, December 16, 2008 15:04
SHORT URL:
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Monday, November 24, 2008 3:42 AM

CLJOHNSTON108


Guess what #15 is?

http://snarkerati.com/movie-news/the-top-50-dystopian-movies-of-all-ti
me
/

________________________

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Monday, November 24, 2008 5:01 AM

FREEBROWNCOAT


An interesting list but I have to disagree with a lot of them. Idiocracy? The worst movie ever made. Akira? Weird one to be on the list.

At least we made # 15. Probably not all that bad a showing, really, compared with some of the others. Metroplis is the ultimate. Fritz Lang was genious in his time and it still works. Bladerunner deserves its place.

Rather have the hope that Firelfy offers, that the average person can still make it, honorably.

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Monday, November 24, 2008 5:17 AM

CLJOHNSTON108


Quote:

Originally posted by Freebrowncoat:
Akira? Weird one to be on the list.


Why's that weird? When I hear the word "dystopia" the first film I think of is... well, Blade Runner... but the second one I think of is AKIRA.
I equate dystopia with urban sprawl.
Big ugly cities.

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Monday, November 24, 2008 9:55 AM

FREEBROWNCOAT


Farenheit 451 certainly deserves to be on that list along with 1984.

I guess I never thought of Akira as dystopian, just the seminal anime with theme.

One could put LAIN, another anime, up to Akira with no problem.

Or Artificial Intelligence. That's a good dystopian vision.

Good discussion.



451 degrees, the temperature paper ignites.

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Monday, November 24, 2008 11:52 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Can't see the list. How about Demolition Man?

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 12:22 AM

CLJOHNSTON108


Does the link not work for you?

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Tuesday, November 25, 2008 8:25 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


That links to a site banned at work. This site crashes my home computer. Hence, I cannot see that list.

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 12:13 AM

CLJOHNSTON108


Sorry, I was just trying to save myself from an inordinate amount of copy & pasting.

Here ya go...

50. Equilibrium (2002)
49. One Point O (2004)
48. Starship Troopers (1997)
47. Rollerball (1975)
46. Death Race 2000 (1975)
45. Idiocracy (2006)
44. Strange Days (1995)
43. Logan’s Run (1976)
42. I Robot (2004)
41. Soylent Green (1973)
40. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
39. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
38. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
37. Silent Running (1972)
36. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
35. Escape from New York (1981)
34. THX 1138 (1971)
33. They Live (1988)
32. District B13 (2004)
31. War Of the Worlds (1953)
30. Dark City (1998)
29. Total Recall (1990)
28. Mad Max (1979)
27. On The Beach (1959)
26. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
25. Gattaca (1997)
24. Metropolis (2001)
23. V for Vendetta (2005)
22. Planet of the Apes (1968)
21. The City of Lost Children (1995)
20. Akira (1988)
19. RoboCop (1987)
18. Battle Royale (2000)
17. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
16. Pleasantville (1998)
15. Serenity (2005)
14. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
13. Alphaville (1965)
12. The Trial (1962)
11. Sleeper (1973)
10. Delicatessen (1991)
9. Minority Report (2002)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
7. The Matrix (1999)
6. Children of Men (2006)
5. Blade Runner (1982)
4. Wings of Desire (1987)
3. Brazil (1985)
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
1. Metropolis (1927)

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 2:58 AM

CHRISISALL


MY list of great ones:

Rollerball (1975)- A lot of it has already come to pass.
Logan’s Run (1976)- the sheer 70's look of the flick underscores the hollow surface the society lives to perpetuate.
Blood Of Heroes (1989)- The single most violent and grueling version of a destroyed non-technological future, IMHO.
Soylent Green (1973)- Hey, classic is all.
A Boy and His Dog (1975)- really UN-PC, and that's what I love about it.
Fahrenheit 451 (1966)-Chilling possibility.
Gattaca (1997)-Even MORE chilling possibility.
V for Vendetta (2005)-Dystopic anarchist wet dream.
Planet of the Apes (1968)-One of the cleverest movies ever written.
The Matrix (1999)-Just...awesome...
Children of Men (2006)-actually not a favourite of mine, but powerful as hell.
Blade Runner (1982)-The best.
The Handmaid's Tale (1990)- Creepy tale of an out-of-control religious right lording over sectarian society...really realistically told & heart-rending.
A Clockwork Orange (1971)- future perversion as art.
Dark Angel (2000)- yeah, not a THEATRICAL movie, but if ya know me, ya know I just couldn't leave the pilot out of any dystopic movie discussion


The chicken-little Chrisisall

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 11:39 AM

BORIS


should Wall-E be on this list?

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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 7:25 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Thanks for posting the list.
Glad to see City of Lost Children, wonderful cinematography as well.
Agree with Dark Angel, and in addition to Serenity BDM, Serenity Pilot would be there if TV was included.
Did not see Waterworld (Saint Joe), Demolition Man (President Schwartzenegger Memorial Library), Terminator, The Island, Resident Evil, The Postman. Or are these too off-the-charts bad future to be considered dystopian?
Wasn't Aeon Flux the one where humans could no longer concieve? If not, which one was?

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Friday, November 28, 2008 10:08 AM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
[ The Postman.

At the risk of agreeing with Hero, the Postman was a pretty good flick, very textured & ultimately patriotic & optimistic.


The postal Chrisisall

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Friday, November 28, 2008 9:37 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by chrisisall:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
[ The Postman.

At the risk of agreeing with Hero, the Postman was a pretty good flick, very textured & ultimately patriotic & optimistic.

The postal Chrisisall



But decidedly dystopian at the beginning.

Are you trying to imply that I am the alter ego of Hero, AUrap, Whoz, FinnMac, et al? This isn't RWED ya know - you're allowed to agree here. If we didn't agree upon the shinyness of Firefly we likely wouldn't be here.

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Saturday, November 29, 2008 5:24 PM

CHRISISALL


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
This isn't RWED ya know - you're allowed to agree here.

Yes, you're right. It just happens to be one of Hero's favourite flicks, it's one of the few things we agree totally on, right down to the patriotic nature of the hero, and I find that somewhat un-unsettling


The dystopic Chrisisall

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Sunday, November 30, 2008 9:36 AM

IMNOTHERE


Quote:

Originally posted by Freebrowncoat:

Rather have the hope that Firelfy offers, that the average person can still make it, honorably.



I've never really seen Firefly/Serenity as a dystopia. The opposite of utopia should really be a worst-case scenario (for top marks, it should also be ironically indistinguishable from utopia).

I quite like that the Alliance is no more intrinsically evil than any other large, supposedly democratic, government and that Our Heroes really are criminals rather than dissidents. The Alliance want to make a better world - and at least some of them are genuine in that - they're just overstretched and riddled with corruption.

The alternative, if the Alliance is a dystopia, does that mean that your sweet fluffy USA and/or my home-sweet-home on Airstrip One are also dystopas?

P.s. IMHO Brazil should be the "top" dystopia, because it seems to have come about, and is being perpetuated, purely by neglect and indifference.

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Saturday, December 6, 2008 10:07 PM

MRSUNIVERSE832


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
The Island



Good one! As a dystopia geek, I cannot believe I forgot that one.

However, I'm not too sure I agree with War of the Worlds, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, etc. being dystopia, and I'm still on the fence about Terminator. Personally, I'd classify those as apocalyptic. I know that some take the category of "dystopia" to signify a genre of stories set in a bleak future, but it seems to me that also many of the stories tend toward certain kinds of bleak futures, especially totalitarian/micromanaged/conspiracy-filled ones.

Of course, one could always say that there are actually two sub-genres to the dystopian genre; apocalyptic dystopia, and totalitarian/"corrupt government" dystopia.






Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE

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Monday, December 8, 2008 12:25 AM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
The Island



Good one! As a dystopia geek, I cannot believe I forgot that one.

However, I'm not too sure I agree with War of the Worlds, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, etc. being dystopia, and I'm still on the fence about Terminator. Personally, I'd classify those as apocalyptic. I know that some take the category of "dystopia" to signify a genre of stories set in a bleak future, but it seems to me that also many of the stories tend toward certain kinds of bleak futures, especially totalitarian/micromanaged/conspiracy-filled ones.

Of course, one could always say that there are actually two sub-genres to the dystopian genre; apocalyptic dystopia, and totalitarian/"corrupt government" dystopia.


you mean like Primary Colors or Wag the Dog?
Quote:


Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE



Do you include Minority Report?
You might not include Mad Max, but do Road Warrior?
Agree with you on Starship Troopers, War of Worlds.
I'm thinking Terminator in the sense of humans allowing Skynet to take over without considering the consequences.

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Sunday, December 14, 2008 7:03 PM

MRSUNIVERSE832


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Good one! As a dystopia geek, I cannot believe I forgot that one.

However, I'm not too sure I agree with War of the Worlds, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, etc. being dystopia, and I'm still on the fence about Terminator. Personally, I'd classify those as apocalyptic. I know that some take the category of "dystopia" to signify a genre of stories set in a bleak future, but it seems to me that also many of the stories tend toward certain kinds of bleak futures, especially totalitarian/micromanaged/conspiracy-filled ones.

Of course, one could always say that there are actually two sub-genres to the dystopian genre; apocalyptic dystopia, and totalitarian/"corrupt government" dystopia.


Quote:

you mean like Primary Colors or Wag the Dog?


I've never seen those movies, but basically, my examples of these type of dystopias would be our own Serenity, the book and movie 1984, the book and movie Brave New World, the book The Giver, Total Recall, The Island, Soylent Green, Fahrenheit 451, and maybe even A Scanner Darkly. I'm currently writing a dystopian novel myself, and it's defintely a storyline that I'd call dystopian.

I might even nail down The Manchurian Candidate as a dystopia, and Fringe and The X-Files teeters on the line between regular conspiracy thriller/sci-fi show and true dystopia(what with Massive Dynamic and the Syndicate).

Quote:

Do you include Minority Report?
You might not include Mad Max, but do Road Warrior?
Agree with you on Starship Troopers, War of Worlds.
I'm thinking Terminator in the sense of humans allowing Skynet to take over without considering the consequences.



MINORITY REPORT....oh man....I love that movie! And yes, I'd DEFINTELY identify it as a dystopia. Goverment arresting people for crimes they have not already committed, and holds the people in fear? Oh yeah. That's a dystopia.

I've never seen Road Warrior...now I have to check it out.

Hmmmm.....true.........it's kind of like a "The X-Files" with cyborgs. Except worse. Okay, that's a dystopia.
I, Robot almost became one, what with VIKI and her robot minions trying to control mankind.

This thread gets more and more intriguing.

Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE

EDIT: The Matrix series and Dark City also qualify. Maybe, just maybe even The Truman Show. But that's a bit of a stretch.

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Sunday, December 14, 2008 11:53 PM

JEWELSTAITEFAN


Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Good one! As a dystopia geek, I cannot believe I forgot that one.

However, I'm not too sure I agree with War of the Worlds, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, etc. being dystopia, and I'm still on the fence about Terminator. Personally, I'd classify those as apocalyptic. I know that some take the category of "dystopia" to signify a genre of stories set in a bleak future, but it seems to me that also many of the stories tend toward certain kinds of bleak futures, especially totalitarian/micromanaged/conspiracy-filled ones.

Of course, one could always say that there are actually two sub-genres to the dystopian genre; apocalyptic dystopia, and totalitarian/"corrupt government" dystopia.


Quote:

you mean like Primary Colors or Wag the Dog?


I've never seen those movies, but basically, my examples of these type of dystopias would be our own Serenity, the book and movie 1984, the book and movie Brave New World, the book The Giver, Total Recall, The Island, Soylent Green, Fahrenheit 451, and maybe even A Scanner Darkly. I'm currently writing a dystopian novel myself, and it's defintely a storyline that I'd call dystopian.

I might even nail down The Manchurian Candidate as a dystopia, and Fringe and The X-Files teeters on the line between regular conspiracy thriller/sci-fi show and true dystopia(what with Massive Dynamic and the Syndicate).

Quote:

Do you include Minority Report?
You might not include Mad Max, but do Road Warrior?
Agree with you on Starship Troopers, War of Worlds.
I'm thinking Terminator in the sense of humans allowing Skynet to take over without considering the consequences.



MINORITY REPORT....oh man....I love that movie! And yes, I'd DEFINTELY identify it as a dystopia. Goverment arresting people for crimes they have not already committed, and holds the people in fear? Oh yeah. That's a dystopia.

I've never seen Road Warrior...now I have to check it out.

Hmmmm.....true.........it's kind of like a "The X-Files" with cyborgs. Except worse. Okay, that's a dystopia.
I, Robot almost became one, what with VIKI and her robot minions trying to control mankind.

This thread gets more and more intriguing.

Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE

EDIT: The Matrix series and Dark City also qualify. Maybe, just maybe even The Truman Show. But that's a bit of a stretch.



Mad Max could be considered just hooligans run amok, not the whole of society dysfunctional. Road Warrior has the same primary character, but after some level of magor event, and the society is similar to The Postman, somewhat tribal or nomadic.

I thought Truman Show was just voyeurism run wild, the precursor to our xcurrent reality tv.

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Tuesday, December 16, 2008 3:04 PM

MRSUNIVERSE832


Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Quote:

Originally posted by jewelstaitefan:
Quote:

Originally posted by MrsUniverse832:
Good one! As a dystopia geek, I cannot believe I forgot that one.

However, I'm not too sure I agree with War of the Worlds, Mad Max, Starship Troopers, etc. being dystopia, and I'm still on the fence about Terminator. Personally, I'd classify those as apocalyptic. I know that some take the category of "dystopia" to signify a genre of stories set in a bleak future, but it seems to me that also many of the stories tend toward certain kinds of bleak futures, especially totalitarian/micromanaged/conspiracy-filled ones.

Of course, one could always say that there are actually two sub-genres to the dystopian genre; apocalyptic dystopia, and totalitarian/"corrupt government" dystopia.


Quote:

you mean like Primary Colors or Wag the Dog?


I've never seen those movies, but basically, my examples of these type of dystopias would be our own Serenity, the book and movie 1984, the book and movie Brave New World, the book The Giver, Total Recall, The Island, Soylent Green, Fahrenheit 451, and maybe even A Scanner Darkly. I'm currently writing a dystopian novel myself, and it's defintely a storyline that I'd call dystopian.

I might even nail down The Manchurian Candidate as a dystopia, and Fringe and The X-Files teeters on the line between regular conspiracy thriller/sci-fi show and true dystopia(what with Massive Dynamic and the Syndicate).

Quote:

Do you include Minority Report?
You might not include Mad Max, but do Road Warrior?
Agree with you on Starship Troopers, War of Worlds.
I'm thinking Terminator in the sense of humans allowing Skynet to take over without considering the consequences.



MINORITY REPORT....oh man....I love that movie! And yes, I'd DEFINTELY identify it as a dystopia. Goverment arresting people for crimes they have not already committed, and holds the people in fear? Oh yeah. That's a dystopia.

I've never seen Road Warrior...now I have to check it out.

Hmmmm.....true.........it's kind of like a "The X-Files" with cyborgs. Except worse. Okay, that's a dystopia.
I, Robot almost became one, what with VIKI and her robot minions trying to control mankind.

This thread gets more and more intriguing.

Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE

EDIT: The Matrix series and Dark City also qualify. Maybe, just maybe even The Truman Show. But that's a bit of a stretch.



Mad Max could be considered just hooligans run amok, not the whole of society dysfunctional. Road Warrior has the same primary character, but after some level of magor event, and the society is similar to The Postman, somewhat tribal or nomadic.

I thought Truman Show was just voyeurism run wild, the precursor to our xcurrent reality tv.



Yeah, I'll have to agree with you on Mad Max. And like I said, The Truman Show is quite a strech, so yeah......not a true dystopia.

Mrs. Universe

MR. UNIVERSE----> <----MRS. UNIVERSE

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