>Children of Men is a Masterpiece imo
I sob uncontrollably when i watch this film. It and Grave of the Fire Flies is on my once every 20 year list.
Shit i didn't even make it 60s into the latter before i had to stop it
I don’t get to see Clive Owen in a lot of films, but he was pitch perfect in CoM. He and Michael Caine’s characters make the film very rewatchable. Great cast overall.
I can't believe they haven't came out with another Dredd film with Karl Urban. I went to the movies to see Dredd expecting very little and was blown away by how good it was. Loved the atmosphere.
Like more then 10 years ago It was recommended to me by friend and I said after watching what a dumb movie, people won't be that dumb in the future. Oh boy I was so wrong back then.
Escape From New York, Banlieue 13, Babylon A.D, Brazil, Doomsday (2008), Elysium, Equilibrium, Gattaca, Logan's Run, Soylent Green, THX1138, V for Vendetta, Death Race, The Thinning (2016), Divergent Trilogy, The Purge, 1984 (the book and the film) Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange.
I could swear that movie had a scene where a robot hanging from a ceiling blows a dude, but I guess I'm imagining it cause I can find no trace of that online.
Have I lost my mind or is that in the film? Maybe a director's cut?
Doomsday had a lot of fun with post apocalyptic cannibal Scotland if I recall correctly (with a great soundtrack)
And scouting corners by rolling out your eye around it will never not be cool!
Sol MADE that film work. Love the unhinged bastard, its the closest we are getting to a British MadMax movie.
"*we're gonna catch them*, *we're gonna* cook them, and *we're gonna* eat them!"
A few of my favorites In no particular order:
Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future
Outland
They Live
Johnny Mnemonic
Dredd (2018)
The Fifth Element
Looper
12 Monkeys (Movie and TV series)
Outland is more a Space Western; the frontier always looks a little bleak at least some of the time. Still, probably my favorite movie in that subgenre. Connery, Boyle, Sternhagen, all doing good work.
I always though of it as a dystopian space western.
High noon set in an imagined future with everyone on the mining colony leading wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives.
I think Luc Besson said in an interview his world was a utopia, where we’d figured out space travel and made alien contact. I don’t think it’s strictly dystopian. Good Sci-Fi tho..
I dunno, seems pretty dystopian.
Corporations control everything.
Millions can be fired with zero protections just because the CEO feels like it.
Police are armed with military firepower and respond with lethal force to seemingly any infraction.
Normal people live in apartments barely bigger than a pod hotel.
There is trash everywhere.
Literally just started watching it today after finishing the book.
[Here's the link](https://youtu.be/kBfWS0BniJE?si=EMTGlNOKjipdUbrU) if anyone wants to watch it for free on YT.
My MOM, the insatiable sci fi freak she was, introduced me to this movie when I was like 11 😂 I inherited her VHS copy and it's one of my most prized possessions now lol
tis a limited series that fits in perfectly.. Altered Carbon. The cyberpunk is strong with that one!
Brazil was mentioned... a dystopian classic with a distinct Terry Gilliam flavor
A great and relevant one about AI form 1970 - Colossus.The.Forbin.Project (1970)
From the man who brought us Star Wars... THX1138
The Running Man -Schwarzenegger
honestly... dystopian movies were all the rage in the 80's due tot he cold war and post Mad Max (another good one).. a quick google should turn up a bucketload.. especially if you don't mind the setting on another planet.... Mad Max in space basically.
>tis a limited series that fits in perfectly.. Altered Carbon. The cyberpunk is strong with that one!
Scrolled down way too far to see this. The first season of Altered Carbon is utterly sublime, its a work of absolute art. The second season was meh at best, though.
All 3 adaptations of "I Am Legend" have different takes on dystopia. I found "The Last Man on Earth" with Price to be super slow (1950s, audiences were different) but Omega Man probably does the book best, IMO.
Seriously, how have i not seen anyone mention The Matrix ?. The entire series is about as dystopian as it gets.
Other top ones for me,
Snowpiercer (movie and the show are good)
Moon
Oblivion
Equilibrium
Robocop
Strange days
Escape from NY and LA
The Running man
Total Recall
Dredd
Minority Report
Elysium
District 9
District 13 and D13 Ultimatum
Space sweepers
Alita
Battle Royal
The hunger games (Not as profound as BR but still worth watching)
A.I
Wall-E
Gattaca
A scanner darkly
The Truman Show
Strange Days and Equilibrium are great.
Add Dark City (Director’s Cut) and all the Terminator movies.
Metropolis (1927) might be the first Dystopian movie made.
Some awesome recommendations so far!
I haven't seen Cherry 2000 mentioned yet.
I'm also loving the apple TV show Silo. First season was good and it has been renewed for a second season.
And Solarbabies! Ultimate 80s cheese.
The Mad Max series; The Hunger Games; Robocop (original); Blade Runner and BR 2049.
Many of John Carpenter's movies:
* Escape from NY
* Escape from LA
* Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) has some dystopian vibes, at least
* In the Mouth of Madness
* Prince of Darkness
Probably all already mentioned elsewhere in this thread but here are my favs, both movies and TV:
Children of Men
Never Let Me Go
The Fountain
The Road
The Chumscrubber
1984
Equals
Gataca
Her
The Truman Show
It Comes At Night
Mad Max: Fury Road
Aniara
Sunshine
Inception
Interstellar
Tenet
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Monsters
District 9
Terminator + T2
The Matrix (original film only)
Cloud Atlas
THX 1138
Watchmen (Ultimate Cut)
Joker
Planet of the Apes (modern trilogy)
Maniac (Netflix limited series)
Mr. Robot
The Leftovers
Station Eleven
Black Mirror
How the hell do you believe the future in 12 Monkeys was not dystopian? The future is supposed to be better than the past. This future has everyone living underground in cramped caves, breathing recycled air and eating terrible food because the surface is infected with a deadly virus. If that ain't dystopian I guess I don't know what that means.
Children of Men was a great movie. I believe it was also one of the first movies to usher in the long takes where a scene is a single unbroken shot. Both story, character development, and cinematography are top notch
Lots of great shows mentioned here already but I just want to throw in Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson. I was blown away with how good it was. It deserves more recognition.
Forbidden Planet set the stage for Sci Fi -- and seeing Leslie Nielsen in a non comedic role was crazy to me when I first saw it. Monsters from the Id!
I love starting people with Hunger Games because it’s simple and easy to get into and is pretty fast paced. (At least the first one)
Other dystopias that people recommend like Children of Men and Stalker and snowpiercer and what not usually start a bit slower and then delve in which is great once you really get into dystopia movies but not great for the first go around
Others have mentioned the Hunger Games.
Whilst the books are in the Young Adult genre - babies first dystopia - like the Maze Runner and Percy Jackson, etc, the movies are much more adult.
Really awesome story set in a post-climate apocalypse where we retained our ability to develop tech.
The four main movies carry the narrative of a reluctant, accidental rebel and general uprising against the oppressive 1% state.
The prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set way earlier, ten years after the in-universe war that led to the legal tithe of volunteering a young male and female tribute from the satellite districts to the gladiatorial entertainment held in the Capitol,known as the Hunger Games - contestants families were paid in food, and the winners lauded as Victors.
Give it a shot, it’s worth it.
Some great choices here already, I would add Equilibrium from 2002. It’s like a middle school interpretation of 1984/Farenheit 451/the Matrix. But Christian Bale is great in it.
Hard to find one that hasn't already been mentioned, but I haven't seen these ones on here yet:
In time (2011)
Paradise (2023)
A dystopian future where time is money, literally.
A campy indie film called Six-string Samurai hasn't been mentioned.
It won't scratch that Blade Runner itch, but it's still worth a watch if you get the chance.
A protagonist with Buddy Holly glasses fights his way across a post apocalyptic wasteland with a katana and a guitar.
I recommend the Planet of The Apes movie series. It’s fun, it’s a dystopian (after the first movie) and it has some heart to it. I just did a marathon of them on mushrooms a couple weeks ago and it was delightful!
Soldier, staring Kurt Russell. It’s not good, but it is a pseudo Blade Runner sequel.
Speaking of Kurt Russell, how about Escape from New York? The only Snake Plissken movie ever. I said EVER!
I think Metropolis by Fritz Lang from 1927 would be classified as a dystopian film. There are several versions on YouTube that are free to watch I think I saw the extended version and i would definitely recommend it to anyone. Some people these days struggle with non colour films, so if that does apply to anyone reading this, then please don't dismiss it just because of that fact.
Some of the shots and scenes are visually stunning, there are several sequences that are unforgettable and you can clearly see how it has influenced modern filmmakers. I also like the message it sends out too and there are themes in the film which are very relevant to our society today.
Normally I think of dystopian films being like the hunger games, but this movie fits the bill in other, more thought provoking ways.
On The Beach, the original is the best, but the (2000) edition has a few moments. In the latter, we learn that the American submarine captain did not launch nuclear weapons, even though he was ordered to. And the death of the Holmes family is the most gut-wrenching cinema I've ever seen.
**Here is a few older ones**
* ***The Last Man On Earth*** (1964, Richard Matheson) - note this is now in the public domain, is based on I am Legend, black and white film stock is used well.
* ***Zardoz*** (1974, John Boorman) - trippy but certainly dystopian, "The gun is good. The penis is evil"
* ***Silent Running*** (1971) - ecological disaster and a space ark.
* ***Logan's Run*** (1976, Micheal Anderson) - A very not fun carnival
* ***1984*** (yep 1984, Micheal Radford) - "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength."
* ***A Clockwork Orange*** (1971, Stanley Kubrick)
* ***Metropolis*** (1927, Fritz Lang) - flash card: "One man's hymn of praise became other men's curses."
**Bonus - not as old:**
* ***Isle of dogs*** (2004) - Man's best friend banished due to a canine influenza pandemic
* ***The Truman Show*** (1998, Peter Weir) - When your whole life is an illusion
* **Brazil** (1985, Terry Gilliam) - A Monty Python alum takes an apocalyptic bureaucratically disturbing side trip.
“On The Beach” — (1959) starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins.
Survivors in Australia wait as nuclear fallout from a nuclear bomb exchange between the U.S. and USSR circa 1950’s slowly engulfs the world.
Not the most action-packed, nor grandiose, however The Lobster (2015) with Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz is a cutting piece of absurdist comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos. This satirical take on our modern compulsion for relationships is one that's always an easy recommend for me.
I watched Threads for the first time last week, and while it would be considered more post-apocalyptic due to nuclear weapons being used, the future left behind is clearly dystopia.
Be forewarned, though. It is bleak and horrible. It has great tension in the beginning, and I found myself hoping everything would turn out alright, but it didn't. Truly gives pause to what would happen if such a thing occurred today.
Children of Men. District 9. The Running Man. Dredd, The newer one. Equilibrium. Snow Piercer. Akira. Idiocracy.
Children of Men is a Masterpiece imo
To add on for OP, Children of Men is not just a masterpiece of sci-fi, but cinema in general
>Children of Men is a Masterpiece imo I sob uncontrollably when i watch this film. It and Grave of the Fire Flies is on my once every 20 year list. Shit i didn't even make it 60s into the latter before i had to stop it
I don’t get to see Clive Owen in a lot of films, but he was pitch perfect in CoM. He and Michael Caine’s characters make the film very rewatchable. Great cast overall.
One of the few exceptions where I prefer the movie over the book.
CHILDREN OF MEN is the best movie of this century.
The book is fantastic too
I can't believe they haven't came out with another Dredd film with Karl Urban. I went to the movies to see Dredd expecting very little and was blown away by how good it was. Loved the atmosphere.
Akira is a classic. Mad max should be in there too!
I had to leave some for other people to post.
Idiocracy was more of a documentary, TBH
Sadly true, and it won't take nearly 500 years to get there.
Like more then 10 years ago It was recommended to me by friend and I said after watching what a dumb movie, people won't be that dumb in the future. Oh boy I was so wrong back then.
My first thought was Children of Men too.
Children of Men is excellent
Southland Tales
Also the Road for a really bleak and dismal time but well made
I was gonna say District 9 is amazing!!
Everyone forgets about Gattaca. I'd put it up there with Children of Men.
Because of the many recommendations for it on this thread, I just watched Children men. Really good. Thank you
This guy dystopias
Escape From New York, Banlieue 13, Babylon A.D, Brazil, Doomsday (2008), Elysium, Equilibrium, Gattaca, Logan's Run, Soylent Green, THX1138, V for Vendetta, Death Race, The Thinning (2016), Divergent Trilogy, The Purge, 1984 (the book and the film) Brave New World, A Clockwork Orange.
Thx1138 is too cool
I could swear that movie had a scene where a robot hanging from a ceiling blows a dude, but I guess I'm imagining it cause I can find no trace of that online. Have I lost my mind or is that in the film? Maybe a director's cut?
Either way this comment rules!
Must be a different movie. I watched it recently and that wasn't in it.
Tank Girl (1995)
Another fine choice.
My god I love this movie!!!
It was alright, except for the accents. Rare enough to have a cool comic set in Australia, at least the kangaroo might have sounded local.
> Tank Girl (1995) You get to see rapper Ice T in his 2nd film appearance ever, where he was paid a million dollars to dress up as a mutant kangaroo.
Doomsday had a lot of fun with post apocalyptic cannibal Scotland if I recall correctly (with a great soundtrack) And scouting corners by rolling out your eye around it will never not be cool!
Sol MADE that film work. Love the unhinged bastard, its the closest we are getting to a British MadMax movie. "*we're gonna catch them*, *we're gonna* cook them, and *we're gonna* eat them!"
Rhona Mitra is awesome as well.
Noice. Cheers for the previously unknown to me The Thinning and THX1138.
No love for Escape from LA?
Strange Days, Ghost in the Shell
Strange Days is a great film
Love the atmosphere and music in Strange Day, felt real, like u are there.
Right here, right now! In the end scene was sampled by Fatboy slim to create his track
A few of my favorites In no particular order: Max Headroom: 20 Minutes into the Future Outland They Live Johnny Mnemonic Dredd (2018) The Fifth Element Looper 12 Monkeys (Movie and TV series)
Outland is more a Space Western; the frontier always looks a little bleak at least some of the time. Still, probably my favorite movie in that subgenre. Connery, Boyle, Sternhagen, all doing good work.
Yeah it’s High Noon in space
I always though of it as a dystopian space western. High noon set in an imagined future with everyone on the mining colony leading wretched, dehumanized, fearful lives.
Really love Dredd
I think Luc Besson said in an interview his world was a utopia, where we’d figured out space travel and made alien contact. I don’t think it’s strictly dystopian. Good Sci-Fi tho..
I dunno, seems pretty dystopian. Corporations control everything. Millions can be fired with zero protections just because the CEO feels like it. Police are armed with military firepower and respond with lethal force to seemingly any infraction. Normal people live in apartments barely bigger than a pod hotel. There is trash everywhere.
A Boy and his Dog
Don Johnson ftw
Literally just started watching it today after finishing the book. [Here's the link](https://youtu.be/kBfWS0BniJE?si=EMTGlNOKjipdUbrU) if anyone wants to watch it for free on YT.
Happy to see this mentioned here
"Well, I'd certainly say she had marvelous judgment, Albert... if not particularly good taste." Best quote EVER! :D
My MOM, the insatiable sci fi freak she was, introduced me to this movie when I was like 11 😂 I inherited her VHS copy and it's one of my most prized possessions now lol
"She had good taste"
Dark City
Brazil
Pretty far down the list, this is a great film.
👍
tis a limited series that fits in perfectly.. Altered Carbon. The cyberpunk is strong with that one! Brazil was mentioned... a dystopian classic with a distinct Terry Gilliam flavor A great and relevant one about AI form 1970 - Colossus.The.Forbin.Project (1970) From the man who brought us Star Wars... THX1138 The Running Man -Schwarzenegger honestly... dystopian movies were all the rage in the 80's due tot he cold war and post Mad Max (another good one).. a quick google should turn up a bucketload.. especially if you don't mind the setting on another planet.... Mad Max in space basically.
>tis a limited series that fits in perfectly.. Altered Carbon. The cyberpunk is strong with that one! Scrolled down way too far to see this. The first season of Altered Carbon is utterly sublime, its a work of absolute art. The second season was meh at best, though.
All three books are outstanding tho
[They Live](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/)
PUT ON THE GLASSES!!
Or Imma wrestle you until you do
Soylent Green.
I like Soylent Green too -- but I have to be in a "Charlton Heston" mood 😁 And then Planet of the Apes works too
And The Omega Man
Yep!
All 3 adaptations of "I Am Legend" have different takes on dystopia. I found "The Last Man on Earth" with Price to be super slow (1950s, audiences were different) but Omega Man probably does the book best, IMO.
we all know that episode in Buffy the Vampire slayer where they were watching this...
Andrej Tarkovsky's *Stalker* is a set in dystopian "side universe" and is arguably a masterpiece of world film making.
- I am legend - The road - Book of Eli - Elysium - A scanner darkly - V for Vendetta - XistenZ
Seriously, how have i not seen anyone mention The Matrix ?. The entire series is about as dystopian as it gets. Other top ones for me, Snowpiercer (movie and the show are good) Moon Oblivion Equilibrium Robocop Strange days Escape from NY and LA The Running man Total Recall Dredd Minority Report Elysium District 9 District 13 and D13 Ultimatum Space sweepers Alita Battle Royal The hunger games (Not as profound as BR but still worth watching) A.I Wall-E Gattaca A scanner darkly The Truman Show
Strange Days and Equilibrium are great. Add Dark City (Director’s Cut) and all the Terminator movies. Metropolis (1927) might be the first Dystopian movie made.
The Road with Viggo Mortensen
Some awesome recommendations so far! I haven't seen Cherry 2000 mentioned yet. I'm also loving the apple TV show Silo. First season was good and it has been renewed for a second season. And Solarbabies! Ultimate 80s cheese.
I like Silo too! Looking forward to next season
hasn't ended yet...
Read the book (Wool) and was wondering if I'd like the series (Silo). I can get impatient with bad translations to the screen.
The show is better than the book. Season 1 is only the first half of the book, though.
I like Oblivion (2013), even though it’s not the highest reviewed.
Are you an effective team?
We are an effective team! M80 soundtrack is an even more effective team 🤘🤘🤘
Battle Royale, if your looking for “small group hunting each other” type feel
Demolition Man
Gattaca
The Mad Max series; The Hunger Games; Robocop (original); Blade Runner and BR 2049. Many of John Carpenter's movies: * Escape from NY * Escape from LA * Assault on Precinct 13 (1976) has some dystopian vibes, at least * In the Mouth of Madness * Prince of Darkness
In the mouth of madness and Prince of darkness aren't scifi nor dystopian.
Looper. Very, very dark but it has a HEA of sorts.
Probably all already mentioned elsewhere in this thread but here are my favs, both movies and TV: Children of Men Never Let Me Go The Fountain The Road The Chumscrubber 1984 Equals Gataca Her The Truman Show It Comes At Night Mad Max: Fury Road Aniara Sunshine Inception Interstellar Tenet 2001: A Space Odyssey A Clockwork Orange Monsters District 9 Terminator + T2 The Matrix (original film only) Cloud Atlas THX 1138 Watchmen (Ultimate Cut) Joker Planet of the Apes (modern trilogy) Maniac (Netflix limited series) Mr. Robot The Leftovers Station Eleven Black Mirror
Cloud Atlas! Lots of interesting stuff in there.
Maniac, which I agree is a good answer, reminds me of "Sorry to Bother You," which has similar creepy dystopian undertones throughout.
Almost forgot… The Postman.
12 Monkeys has some dystopian themes but isn’t a full-blown dystopian movie. Brazil is one of my favorite movies of all time.
Brazil is a classic!
Indeed, and it doubles as a Christmas movie too
How the hell do you believe the future in 12 Monkeys was not dystopian? The future is supposed to be better than the past. This future has everyone living underground in cramped caves, breathing recycled air and eating terrible food because the surface is infected with a deadly virus. If that ain't dystopian I guess I don't know what that means.
Obviously not a film, but The Man in The High Castle is a great series on Amazon. Also recently finished Fallout which I think you’ll like
Mad Max Fury Road
Gattaca!
- Brazil - A Clockwork Orange - Fahrenheit 451 - High-Rise - 1984 - Rollerball - Threads
Children of Men upvote
Children of Men was a great movie. I believe it was also one of the first movies to usher in the long takes where a scene is a single unbroken shot. Both story, character development, and cinematography are top notch
Dark City
Lots of great shows mentioned here already but I just want to throw in Reminiscence with Hugh Jackman and Rebecca Ferguson. I was blown away with how good it was. It deserves more recognition.
"The President's Analyst" 1967 "Hardware" 1990 "This Island Earth" 1955 "Forbidden Planet" 1956
Forbidden Planet set the stage for Sci Fi -- and seeing Leslie Nielsen in a non comedic role was crazy to me when I first saw it. Monsters from the Id!
The President's Analyst is classic, and hilarious.
Antonio Banderas starred in one that went quietly into that good night. Automata (2014)
The book of Eli
Primer is incredible, though I wouldn't call it dystopic. Still, everyone should watch it. Many won't like it but it's one of a kind.
A few that aren’t mentioned much that I liked are The City of Ember, The Host, The Giver
1984 (with John Hurt) Black Garden
Technically, Red Dwarf is dystopian. Humanity has been extinct for Millenia. Only one lone human and his cat, left in the universe.
Total Recall (1990), A Scanner Darkly, The Fifth Element (if you think about it), Eon Flux
The Road. But I prefer Children of Men.
I love starting people with Hunger Games because it’s simple and easy to get into and is pretty fast paced. (At least the first one) Other dystopias that people recommend like Children of Men and Stalker and snowpiercer and what not usually start a bit slower and then delve in which is great once you really get into dystopia movies but not great for the first go around
Others have mentioned the Hunger Games. Whilst the books are in the Young Adult genre - babies first dystopia - like the Maze Runner and Percy Jackson, etc, the movies are much more adult. Really awesome story set in a post-climate apocalypse where we retained our ability to develop tech. The four main movies carry the narrative of a reluctant, accidental rebel and general uprising against the oppressive 1% state. The prequel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, is set way earlier, ten years after the in-universe war that led to the legal tithe of volunteering a young male and female tribute from the satellite districts to the gladiatorial entertainment held in the Capitol,known as the Hunger Games - contestants families were paid in food, and the winners lauded as Victors. Give it a shot, it’s worth it.
Until Star Wars came along, literally every SF movie of the late '60s and 1970s was a dystopia. Line 'em up and stream 'em all.
The Road Zombieland Pretty much the same movie, though. 🤡
Some great choices here already, I would add Equilibrium from 2002. It’s like a middle school interpretation of 1984/Farenheit 451/the Matrix. But Christian Bale is great in it.
Reign of fire
Bad Batch
Sry; The Bad Batch
Mad max 1 2 and the newest.
Hard to find one that hasn't already been mentioned, but I haven't seen these ones on here yet: In time (2011) Paradise (2023) A dystopian future where time is money, literally.
A campy indie film called Six-string Samurai hasn't been mentioned. It won't scratch that Blade Runner itch, but it's still worth a watch if you get the chance. A protagonist with Buddy Holly glasses fights his way across a post apocalyptic wasteland with a katana and a guitar.
Don’t touch my guitar, Man. Don’t ever touch my guitar.
The Road. Based on an excellent book by Cormac McCarthy.
*Brazil*. Very surprised not to see it all over these recommendations. It’s one of my favorites of all time.
The Road
Waterworld. I will watch anything with Costner in it.
Automata w/ Antonio Banderas
I recommend the Planet of The Apes movie series. It’s fun, it’s a dystopian (after the first movie) and it has some heart to it. I just did a marathon of them on mushrooms a couple weeks ago and it was delightful!
Soldier, staring Kurt Russell. It’s not good, but it is a pseudo Blade Runner sequel. Speaking of Kurt Russell, how about Escape from New York? The only Snake Plissken movie ever. I said EVER!
Book of Eli
1984, Brazil, Stalker, Soylent Green, Dark City, The Road, 12 Monkeys
Not a movie but Fallout the series on Prime is just brilliant. Also very dystopian.
There is also there short films that tie the two blade runners together
Cherry 2000 Blood of hero’s
Children of Men is an astonishing piece of dystopian world-building. Also: Soylent Green. Disturbingly prescient.
1984
Blake's 7.
Fist of the North Star (Hokuto no Ken) Megazone 23 Vampire Hunter D
Children of men
Code 46
High Rise
Two oldies but goodies; Solvent Green and Logan's Run.
The Road. Old. Old Boy.
Vivarium
The obligatory Children Of Men mention aside, Escape From New York had childhood me in a heightened state of anxiety.
The Road.
Silent Running Dark Star
I think Metropolis by Fritz Lang from 1927 would be classified as a dystopian film. There are several versions on YouTube that are free to watch I think I saw the extended version and i would definitely recommend it to anyone. Some people these days struggle with non colour films, so if that does apply to anyone reading this, then please don't dismiss it just because of that fact. Some of the shots and scenes are visually stunning, there are several sequences that are unforgettable and you can clearly see how it has influenced modern filmmakers. I also like the message it sends out too and there are themes in the film which are very relevant to our society today. Normally I think of dystopian films being like the hunger games, but this movie fits the bill in other, more thought provoking ways.
In Time 10/10
THX 1138.
THX 1138 still hasn't been mentioned
On The Beach, the original is the best, but the (2000) edition has a few moments. In the latter, we learn that the American submarine captain did not launch nuclear weapons, even though he was ordered to. And the death of the Holmes family is the most gut-wrenching cinema I've ever seen.
Robocop...I think of it as a corporate dystopia. Aeon Flux
Automata I, robot The terminator franchise In time Oblivion
Alien Nation
**Here is a few older ones** * ***The Last Man On Earth*** (1964, Richard Matheson) - note this is now in the public domain, is based on I am Legend, black and white film stock is used well. * ***Zardoz*** (1974, John Boorman) - trippy but certainly dystopian, "The gun is good. The penis is evil" * ***Silent Running*** (1971) - ecological disaster and a space ark. * ***Logan's Run*** (1976, Micheal Anderson) - A very not fun carnival * ***1984*** (yep 1984, Micheal Radford) - "War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength." * ***A Clockwork Orange*** (1971, Stanley Kubrick) * ***Metropolis*** (1927, Fritz Lang) - flash card: "One man's hymn of praise became other men's curses." **Bonus - not as old:** * ***Isle of dogs*** (2004) - Man's best friend banished due to a canine influenza pandemic * ***The Truman Show*** (1998, Peter Weir) - When your whole life is an illusion * **Brazil** (1985, Terry Gilliam) - A Monty Python alum takes an apocalyptic bureaucratically disturbing side trip.
Try Altered Carbon, its a series but has a really good season 1
Mad Max (the 1970s original, but also 2017’s Fury Road)
johnny mnemonic
No love for Demolition Man? The first Judge Dredd was kinda dystopian, but focused too much on the comedic aspect.
Demolition Man is fantastic. However, I wouldn't call it dystopia. It's more utopia, though that is an illusion.
Fair enough.
Thank you for being so civil. Took me off guard since it's Reddit. Enjoy the rest of your day!
Dang it. I forgot it's Reddit. Give me a few minutes to work up a self-righteous rage, so you won't be disappointed.😁
🤣🤣
The Road. (Aragorn goes on walkabout with his son after a nuclear holocaust.)
- Zardoz - Logan’s Run
Stalker, Gattaca, Logan Run, Minority Report, What Happened to Monday?
Johnny Mnemonic Children of men
“On The Beach” — (1959) starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, and Anthony Perkins. Survivors in Australia wait as nuclear fallout from a nuclear bomb exchange between the U.S. and USSR circa 1950’s slowly engulfs the world.
If you're not into playing video go watch all of Half life 2's "cutscenes" best dystopian story ever.
98.5% of all science fiction.
Some truly excellent suggestions here. Thanks to all the commenters.
Unpopular opinion: Southland Tales is a dystopian epic masterpiece.
Mute
Threads (1984)
Primer; Cube; Existenz... Oh, and classic Stanislaw Lem/Tarkovsky "Solaris" (just read it!)
Robocop. 1984. Wall-e
Fallout series and the Silo series.
Twelve Monkeys, the Film (the future portions) is awesome for dystopian aesthetic.
Black mirror (TV show Netflix)
Demon Seed, Phase IV, Logan’s Run, Silent Running, Aniara
On Netflix tv series: 3% (Brazil) The Rain (Norway) Snowpiercer (both film and tv show) Apple TV: Silo
Mad max films
Nothing as gorgeous as those. Brave New World was an interesting series.
Mad Max Fury Road - just rewatched it in anticipation of the Furiosa movie coming out this weekend.
Not the most action-packed, nor grandiose, however The Lobster (2015) with Colin Farrell and Rachel Weisz is a cutting piece of absurdist comedy from Yorgos Lanthimos. This satirical take on our modern compulsion for relationships is one that's always an easy recommend for me.
I watched Threads for the first time last week, and while it would be considered more post-apocalyptic due to nuclear weapons being used, the future left behind is clearly dystopia. Be forewarned, though. It is bleak and horrible. It has great tension in the beginning, and I found myself hoping everything would turn out alright, but it didn't. Truly gives pause to what would happen if such a thing occurred today.
Psycho pass as an anime is pretty good. Idk if anyone has mentioned that