Friday, September 7, 2012

Top Ten: Dystopian Movies

Dystopian futures are a really popular trope in cinema, until I tried putting this list together I didn't realise that a lot of my favourite movies can be classed as having dystopian themes and if you take a look at the Science Fiction chapter of my DVD guide you'll find the majority of them are set in a dystopia of one kind or another. To avoid repetition this Top Ten will try to skip selecting the same old faces and attempt to offer ten films yet to be mentioned during dystopia week or previously at any length here on blahblahblahgay.


Gattaca (1997) Dir. Andrew Niccol


Back To The Future Part II (1989) Dir. Robert Zemeckis


Planet of the Apes (1968) Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner


A Scanner Darkly (2006) Dir. Richard Linklater


Dark City (1998) Dir. Alex Proyas


The City of Lost Children (1995) Dir. Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet


Delicatessen (1991) Dir. Marc Caro & Jean-Pierre Jeunet


Wings of Desire (1987) Dir. Wim Wenders


Akira (1988) Dir. Katsuhiro Ôtomo


Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) Dir. George Lucas


What's your favourite dystopian movie? Should I have written something to accompany these screenshots? Is Star Wars Episode V a better example of a dystopia from the Lucasfilm franchise? Leave your comments below.

13 comments:

  1. Great topic for a post! I'd add A Clockwork Orange, Firefly (though it's actually a T.V. series), Serenity, The Matrix, Brazil, and Minority Report. Oh, and Blade Runner.

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    1. Hey Stephanie, I've been thinking I should give some of my time to checking out Firefly actually. But sci-fi on tv can easily become cheesy so I've always hesitated with it.

      Blade Runner is one of my favourite movies but I can't say that it is a dystopian future, nobody seems opressed or unhappy or disenfranchised except for the replicants.

      I've seen Brazil and can't remember much of it except for being confused (wrong time of my life for viewing it I'm sure) and I just can't get behind A Clockwork Orange these days although I loved it in my younger days.

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  2. Serenity would make my list, as would Battle Royale. Also Logan's Run and Children of Men. I'll actually be posting my review of the first Battle Royale this weekend if you want it for your dystopia collection. I didn't think about it until I spotted your post on it this morning. Also, I can probably throw you links to older reviews I have in place.

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    1. Yeah Battle Royale and Logan's Run would get a place on here easily but I featured a review of BR earlier in the fortnight so didn't want to be repetitive, whilst LR was featured on the DVD Guide post.

      Children of Men on the other hand needs to be rewatched. I didn't get much out of it on first viewing so I think I'll read the PD James book and give it another go later on.

      Thanks for the offer for joining in. Drop me an email with links and I'll add something to the help from my friends post for posterity, although if you have stuff that hasn't already been featured that might work best.

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  3. Hells yeah Akira!!! It's only one of my favourite films ever!
    Hmmm....I actually think I like A New Hope better than The Empire Strikes Back, and I think it's a better example of dystopia purely for the Tatooine scenes.

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    1. Hey Ruth, Cherokee has promised an Akira manga vs movie post in the future, so keep your eyes peeled. You guys are probably MFEO as she too loves it like the shark from Jaws loves boats.

      I can't agree with your Star Wars preference, Empire is much more fun for me but it definitely was difficult to decide the winner for this list and you've obviously proven my decision making skills to be correct.

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  4. Nice list. Those stills have made me move Delicatessen and The City of Lost Children to the top of my Netflix queue. Apart from your Science fiction DVD mentions, I'd add A.I. Artificial Intelligence and THX 1138.

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    1. I'm sorry Josh. I seem to be inflicting damage upon your "must watch" list with every post at the moment. Although to be fair you should have seenthose two already ;)

      Your two additions are two from my haven't seen list, I know I should see THX but am not sure I have the enthusiasm anymore and as for AI it is a Spielberg movie so I won't be rushing out for it, add Jude Law to the mix and it screams to me that I will dislike it. But I've been amazed at the amount of love shown to it online and am willing to give it a go. Eventually.

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    2. Haha. It's no problem, and yes, I should've. ;)

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  5. You know how happy it makes me to see Akira in this list!

    Really liking the films on here, and Planet of the Apes doesn't get the credit that it deserves these days! It's a shame.

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    1. It was a last minute addition as it was going to be featured elsewhere ;) Either way it's a fantastic vision and a highly enjoyable film.

      I actually really enjoyed all of the original Apes movies, remakes and reboots have been a giant letdown however. If you missed the fiction recommendations on Sunday my friend Becky wrote a nice review of the original Pierre Boulle novel.

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  6. You forgot all about Mad Max. That story expresses the biggest problem we will face in the event of a nuclear fallout; gasoline.

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    1. G'day Jeff, I didn't forget about it, I just didn't enjoy it as much as other people have or as much as these ten films. You are of course completely correct about the subject matter. Tell me, have you seen Radioactive Dreams? That was a very interesting look at a post-nuclear world.

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