Your favorite dystopian movie.

[Raoul]

In the same vein as the ALPR thread, what's your favorite or most meaningful scary movie portraying our possible future?

For me Fahrenheit 451 got me started.

[Guest Bonedaddy]

The Road. I have a gut feeling that it's more like what will really happen.

[Il Duce]

V for Vendetta

[Guest Jamie]

I dunno... Brazil stands out in my mind, for some reason or the other.

Haven't seen it in over 20 years though, so it may not be as good as I remember.

J.

[Guest Abominable_Hillbilly]

V for Vendetta

You're as hopeful as I am.

EDIT: Errrrrrrrrrrrr.............delusional?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Raoul, that's my choice, too.

[Rightwinger]

Logan's Run....that Box dude gives me the willies.

[Raoul]

Logan's Run....that Box dude gives me the willies.

good choice.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

Agreed Fahrenheit 451 and Brazil are both great.

Dunno if I can pick a favorite. Other good ones that come to mind--

"A Boy and His Dog"

"Soylent Green"

All three Road Warrior flicks.

"1984" It has been a long time since seeing the 1956 film version, though I recall it being pretty good. Never saw the newer version (made in 1984).

"Catch 22" was rather dystopian, though set in the near past rather than the future.

[Mike.357]

how about The Stand. While it is a little more than just gov't craziness there is a lot about people banding together.

Farenheit 451 was especially good.

[Guest jackdm3]

Really hate that Mel Gibson never got around to doing his remake. You KNOW his version would be dark.

[monkeylizard]

Zombieland

I just realized we need a zombie smilie.

[Raoul]

Zombieland

I just realized we need a zombie smilie.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

"Rapa Nui" was rather dystopian--

Rapa Nui (1994) - Synopsis

"This is a historical melodrama set against the backdrop of Easter Island's mysterious stone monoliths, directed by Kevin Reynolds and produced by his frequent collaborator, Kevin Costner. Noro (Jason Scott Lee ) is a pre-colonial tribesman living on the remote Pacific island that his people call Rapa Nui. A member of the elite "Long Ears" sect, Noro is to represent his clan in an annual ritual, a dangerous race along rocky cliffs and through shark-infested waters to retrieve the first egg from a sacred bird hatchery that lies offshore. Noro, however, is in love with Ramana (Sandrine Holt), a member of the "Short Ears," a slave class that builds the "Moai," which are giant stone carvings dotting the island. The tribal shaman rules that Noro and Ramana may marry if she spends six months in an isolated cave and he wins the contest. Make (Esai Morales), another Short Ear, is a rival for Ramana and leader of unrest in his exploited caste. Make trains to represent the Short Ears against Noro in the race, but judgment in the contest's result is interrupted by the sudden appearance of an iceberg. Interpreted as an omen, the "white canoe of the gods" leads to a civil war."

[Guest GT_Rat]

A Clockwork Orange and Blade Runner are probably my favorites in the genre. Mad Max is another.

[Chucktshoes]

"The Stand" with "Six String Samurai" coming in a close second.

[Guest Halfpint]

The way our military is over-extended, and with our "leadership" (in quotes for a reason) about as aggressive as a newborn bunny rabbit, "Red Dawn" and the game "Modern Warfare 2" wouldn't really surprise me as possible either. Just replace Russia in the game (or not) with Iran, Korea, or any of a handful of other countries.

[Guest KimberChick]

how about The Stand. While it is a little more than just gov't craziness there is a lot about people banding together.

Farenheit 451 was especially good.

+1 for The Stand. I watched it when it premiered on Tv as a movie mini-series. Creeped me out for weeks, but when SyFy plays it I have to stop and watch it again.

I'll add "On The Beach" to the list. Like the others, it started life as a book. I had to read it some time in Jr. High. Cliffs Notes version, it's about a bunch of Aussies waiting for their inevitable death from radiation poisoning following a wild-west Nuclear shootout.

[Guest Daelith]

Red Dawn had pretty big impact on me when I first saw it way back when.

Have to give a vote for Zombie Land too just because it was fun to watch.

Not a movie, but the tv show Jericho while it lasted.

[Guest Lester Weevils]

"The Stand" is good. "A Clockwork Orange" and "Blade Runner" are fabulous examples.

The top google definition of Dystopia-- "A state in which the conditions of life are extremely bad as from deprivation or oppression or terror."

Following that definition, perhaps most movies except light-hearted comedies could be claimed to be somewhat dystopian?

There are other definitions closer to what I'd assumed the term to mean--

"A utopia gone sour"

"Polar opposite of utopia. A society in which social and/or technological trends have contributed to a corrupted or degraded state."

"An imaginary place in a work of fiction where the characters lead dehumanized, fearful lives."

Those definitions would qualify fewer movies as dytopian.

"Gattaca" is a pretty watchable recent dystopia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gattaca

Philip K Dick was dystopia central among SF writers. The "Total Recall" movie was a little too adventurized action movie, but was set in dystopia. "Minority Report" seemed a well-made movie based on Dick's novel. I noticed that there is now "A Scanner Darkly" movie. Gonna have to see that one. The novel was super-dystopian.

Edited August 24, 2010 by Lester Weevils

[Punisher84]

Red Dawn had pretty big impact on me when I first saw it way back when.

Have to give a vote for Zombie Land too just because it was fun to watch.

Not a movie, but the tv show Jericho while it lasted.

Geez I miss Jericho. That show was awesome.

My vote for "as bad as it could get" would be The Road. My "well maybe there is some hope" would be V for Vendetta.

[Guest Drewsett]

Geez I miss Jericho. That show was awesome.

My vote for "as bad as it could get" would be The Road. My "well maybe there is some hope" would be V for Vendetta.

Jericho was awesome. I bought both seasons on DVD. Out of all the ones mentioned here I would have to say that V for Vendetta is my favorite, but I think that expecting that sort of outcome here (at least the rising up part) is overly optimistic. I don't see the sheeple of the US of A having the backbone to even peacefully support a symbolic overthrow.

One not mentioned here that scared the beejeebies out of me recently was THX 1138.

[creeky]

(Not in any real order...)

• Blade Runner - Just really cool, love crime noir style of it.

• Clockwork Orange - Really messed my head up seeing that at 18.

• Planet of the Apes - The original one.

• Escape from New York - Was good, but is really dated now.

• Wizards - An animated movie by Ralph Bakshi. Real cutting edge stuff in animation at the time.

• Solider - With Kurt Russel. Just a pretty fun movie.

[Guest Jamie]

If you want something a bit different from the Mad Max/Blade Runner/Minority Report type, there's always Kevin Costner's Waterworld.

And if you're adding zombie movies, then the Resident Evil trilogy is pretty dystopian.

Come to think of it, so was The Siege...

J.

[Smith]

For some reason Screamers and especially Screamers 2 really stand out to me. Don't know about scary but I did enjoy all the Mad Max, Red Dawn, all the ones mentioned above and even The Postman. The Postman I thought was really good minus the central theme of the post office and Kevin Costner. It was actually a viable story line I thought.