What is the millennial vision of the future?
September 4, 2011 8:09 PM Subscribe
Can you help me find movies from the 2000s that were set in the future? Are there any themes that link them together?
I just read this on TV Tropes:
Often, the future is a lot dirtier than the present, and vaguely dystopian. This is often a linear extrapolation of national malaise, so American works of the 1970s have endlessly skyrocketing crime and inner urban decay while the 1980s brought the notion that Mega Corps and Japan would rule the world. Economic recovery shifted this towards Japan no longer taking over the world, where the Japanese extrapolated their own malaise.
So of course I want to know what writers and filmmakers of the past decade were thinking about the future. Has anything been written or created about this? And what are some futuristic movies from the last decade that seem part of a theme?
I just read this on TV Tropes:
Often, the future is a lot dirtier than the present, and vaguely dystopian. This is often a linear extrapolation of national malaise, so American works of the 1970s have endlessly skyrocketing crime and inner urban decay while the 1980s brought the notion that Mega Corps and Japan would rule the world. Economic recovery shifted this towards Japan no longer taking over the world, where the Japanese extrapolated their own malaise.
So of course I want to know what writers and filmmakers of the past decade were thinking about the future. Has anything been written or created about this? And what are some futuristic movies from the last decade that seem part of a theme?
Battlestar Galactica seemed to be quite a commentary on terrorism and religious fundamentalism.
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:24 PM on September 4, 2011
posted by BuddhaInABucket at 8:24 PM on September 4, 2011
The Island (2005), A.I., Never Let Me Go (2010).
The Island and Never Let Me Go both dealt with organ harvesting of human clones, with the clones being a subservient population of beings. I'm sure there are a few global warming doomsday scenario movies... The Day After Tomorrow comes to mind.
posted by sunnychef88 at 8:24 PM on September 4, 2011
The Island and Never Let Me Go both dealt with organ harvesting of human clones, with the clones being a subservient population of beings. I'm sure there are a few global warming doomsday scenario movies... The Day After Tomorrow comes to mind.
posted by sunnychef88 at 8:24 PM on September 4, 2011
The Day After Tomorrow... isn't set very far in the future ;)
posted by hermitosis at 8:29 PM on September 4, 2011
posted by hermitosis at 8:29 PM on September 4, 2011
Children of Men and The Book of Eli both deal with post-apocalyptic futures (though I would recommend watching Children of Men over The Book of Eli).
posted by pianohands at 8:30 PM on September 4, 2011
posted by pianohands at 8:30 PM on September 4, 2011
The running theme is that they all got the future exactly wrong - and the dogged determination of almost every science fiction film to paint a dystopia is one of the reasons they're so poor at actually foreshadowing the future. Take the example of grime for example. Almost every megacity of the future is depicted as being covered with filth, and yet modern cities are far cleaner than they were 50, 100 or 200 years ago. Most science fiction is a satire on the present, rather than any real vision of the future, which is why they tend to date more quickly than films set in the present day.
posted by joannemullen at 8:34 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by joannemullen at 8:34 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: Actually we don't do filth anymore, everything is smooth and clean and impersonal. Basically the future in movies now looks as if we all collectively decided to shrink ourselves and go live in our iPods.
posted by hermitosis at 8:37 PM on September 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by hermitosis at 8:37 PM on September 4, 2011 [3 favorites]
One that comes to mind for me is Serenity. Set in the 26th century, humanity is spread out among the stars after a cataclysmic war leaves only two superpowers remaining - the United States and China.
Even though it's a sci-fi series, you don't see aliens in this. You see humans struggling with everyday problems.
posted by Telpethoron at 8:45 PM on September 4, 2011
Even though it's a sci-fi series, you don't see aliens in this. You see humans struggling with everyday problems.
posted by Telpethoron at 8:45 PM on September 4, 2011
WALL-E is right on that track
posted by radioamy at 9:03 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by radioamy at 9:03 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Outlaw Vern just covered the movies of summer 2001
of interest:
Final Fantasy: Spirits Within
AI
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:11 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
of interest:
Final Fantasy: Spirits Within
AI
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 9:11 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
I would add Gattaca (even though it came out in 1997) to hermitosis's list of too-clean, impersonal, genetic engineering dystopias.
posted by Rock Steady at 9:40 PM on September 4, 2011
posted by Rock Steady at 9:40 PM on September 4, 2011
Code 46 is a stunning dystopian film set in the not-too-distant future and playing on the same themes of Gattaca; genetic exclusion for certain segments of the populace, most of whom live under strict codes and constant surveillance. Michael Winterbottom directed and filmed at futuristic-looking locations around the world, rather than specially-built sets. It makes the muted melancholy of the future seem much more authentic. Not an impersonal flick, though. Quite the opposite.
posted by JLovebomb at 11:11 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by JLovebomb at 11:11 PM on September 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Best answer: The running theme is that they all got the future exactly wrong - and the dogged determination of almost every science fiction film to paint a dystopia is one of the reasons they're so poor at actually foreshadowing the future.
Setting a story in the future does not equate with predicting the future, nor does being about one thing necessarily make the movie about that thing.
I believe many of the cloning/GE stories are not so much about science or technology as they are about human identity and self-conception. This theme seems to be present in a broader swath of SF stories lately as well such as the Matrix series, or even Avatar. Both of those stories also relate to identity in a world of virtual selves and self-projections. Children of Men and Moon, in particular, which are possibly the two best SF films of the decade, have themes of life and death and find both under extreme pressure and limitation, with profound questions about suicide and sacrifice.
Serenity, by the way, is a space opera, with the Western horse opera roots more exposed than usual for yuks. It really doesn't fit with these others. Perhaps in a category with the '09 Star Trek and a handful of other movies.
posted by dhartung at 11:23 PM on September 4, 2011
Setting a story in the future does not equate with predicting the future, nor does being about one thing necessarily make the movie about that thing.
I believe many of the cloning/GE stories are not so much about science or technology as they are about human identity and self-conception. This theme seems to be present in a broader swath of SF stories lately as well such as the Matrix series, or even Avatar. Both of those stories also relate to identity in a world of virtual selves and self-projections. Children of Men and Moon, in particular, which are possibly the two best SF films of the decade, have themes of life and death and find both under extreme pressure and limitation, with profound questions about suicide and sacrifice.
Serenity, by the way, is a space opera, with the Western horse opera roots more exposed than usual for yuks. It really doesn't fit with these others. Perhaps in a category with the '09 Star Trek and a handful of other movies.
posted by dhartung at 11:23 PM on September 4, 2011
Thinking very quickly about a few movies the linking themes in the 2000s near-future science fiction movies are: increased surveillance or monitoring, the increasing divide between the haves and have nots, genetics and technology combining.
Movies that came to mind were :
Minority Report
I, Robot
A.I.
A Scanner Darkly
Children of Men
Equilibrium
posted by caliban at 12:28 AM on September 5, 2011
Movies that came to mind were :
Minority Report
I, Robot
A.I.
A Scanner Darkly
Children of Men
Equilibrium
posted by caliban at 12:28 AM on September 5, 2011
Battlestar Galactica seemed to be quite a commentary on terrorism and religious fundamentalism.
Not set in the future though, and I kind of get the impression that the questioner wants films that show where we go from here, rather than commentary on current social and cultural issues.
Suggested:
2046 has a complex perspective future and current selves.
posted by biffa at 1:14 AM on September 5, 2011
Not set in the future though, and I kind of get the impression that the questioner wants films that show where we go from here, rather than commentary on current social and cultural issues.
Suggested:
2046 has a complex perspective future and current selves.
posted by biffa at 1:14 AM on September 5, 2011
Idiocracy was set in a dystopia where stupid people outbred smart people and so the world became stupid as a result.
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:03 AM on September 5, 2011
posted by Sticherbeast at 5:03 AM on September 5, 2011
Best answer: Children of Men and The Book of Eli both deal with post-apocalyptic futures (though I would recommend watching Children of Men over The Book of Eli).
I may be splitting hairs here, but I don't see any sane way to consider an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic film as being set anywhere but the future, even if it's just the near future. And there have been quite a few of those.
I may be misremembering, but I believe that these explicitly say that they occur in the future:
Terminator 3 and Terminator: Salvation
Sunshine
2012
Battlefield Earth
The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Reign of Fire
Southland Tales
the new Neon Genesis Evangelion films
Doomsday
and these don't, but still have apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic stories:
Kairo
Signs
I Am Legend
The Road
28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later
War of the Worlds
Zombieland
The Mist
Blindness
Legion
Skyline
There are also the Left Behind films, and a lot of zombie movies I didn't see.
posted by heatvision at 7:58 AM on September 6, 2011
I may be splitting hairs here, but I don't see any sane way to consider an apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic film as being set anywhere but the future, even if it's just the near future. And there have been quite a few of those.
I may be misremembering, but I believe that these explicitly say that they occur in the future:
Terminator 3 and Terminator: Salvation
Sunshine
2012
Battlefield Earth
The Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions
Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within
Reign of Fire
Southland Tales
the new Neon Genesis Evangelion films
Doomsday
and these don't, but still have apocalyptic/post-apocalyptic stories:
Kairo
Signs
I Am Legend
The Road
28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later
War of the Worlds
Zombieland
The Mist
Blindness
Legion
Skyline
There are also the Left Behind films, and a lot of zombie movies I didn't see.
posted by heatvision at 7:58 AM on September 6, 2011
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posted by hermitosis at 8:22 PM on September 4, 2011