Things to Come Page (Original, All)

Pre-1950s

A Trip to the Moon (Le voyage dans la lune) (1902)

Fantastical vision of a group of astronomers crashing into the moon and fighting off insectoid aliens (Selenites). This silent short is the first science fiction oriented film and was highly popular at the time of its release. Tim Dirks argues that the director, Georges Méliès, intended to criticize the conservative scientists of his day. It's noteworthy that the excellent HBO series, "From the Earth to the Moon" (1998), has a dramatization of Georges Méliès comically making his grand vision of a expedition to the moon while contrasting his vision next to the final Apollo mission (Apollo 17) (and during the sad loss of public interest in the Apollo program).

Starring: Georges Méliès, Victor André, Bleuette Bernon. Based on "From the Earth to the Moon" by Jules Verne and "The First Men in the Moon" by H. G. Wells. Directed by Georges Méliès.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Tim Dirks

Metropolis (1927)

Envisions a future industrial-city complex in which underground workers rebel (under the direction of a female humanoid and a mad-scientist) against a tyrant tycoon. The mad scientist creates a mechanical robot, but it was imagined prior to digital machines and lacks realistic artificial intelligence.

However, the robot transforms into a beautiful (but devious) Frankenstein monster (perhaps with a 'monster' sense of A.I.), so it reflects the desire of humans to master and control nature as in Shelley's Frankenstein. It also portrays central monitoring and a control desk for invasive workplace supervision.

The SF elements are mostly unimportant to the film's emphasis on the human heart, and Lang, the director, didn't believe in the movie's emotional message – he just liked machines (DVD commentary). But the film is noteworthy for visualizing an early dystopia that becomes the dominant vision for the future in post-1960s SF.

In a classic 1927 review H. G. Wells criticizes Metropolis for its lack of originality and plausibility. He smartly points out that modernity and a technologically advanced society tends to require intelligent workers, not mindless slaves. He describes the movie as anti-rationality; the type of rationality that is generally required to lead to high scientific progress. And he predicts that Metropolis would decrease the demand for SF in the future -- he was correct in one respect; it took until the 50s for SF to grab a share of the broader market. But his surprise at the warm welcome of the movie by film critics of his time lives on in the continued appreciation of it as a classic.

Film critics seem to like it for artistic and emotional reasons. Roger Ebert became ecstatic about Dark City (1998), a movie that reminded him of Metropolis (Ebert's DVD commentary for Dark City). He must be thinking that Dark City has similar emotional and artistic elements to Metropolis because I don't see any similarities in their SF elements at all.

Starring: Alfred Abel, Gustav Fröhlich, Brigitte Helm, Rudolf Klein-Rogge. Based on the novel by Thea von Harbou. Directed by Fritz Lang.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Roger Ebert

Links: Official US Site | Google Directory

By Rocket to the Moon (Frau im Mond) (Woman in the Moon) (1929)

A rocket team searches for gold on the moon. The movie was popular with some rocket scientists of the time (Hermann Oberth was an advisor on the film) for its emphasis on scientific details. Depicts a launch countdown, a multi-stage rocket, micro gravity in space, and media frenzy for the first moon landing.

Starring: Klaus Pohl, Willy Fritsch, Gustav von Wangenheim. Based on a novel by Thea von Harbou. Directed by Fritz Lang.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Michael Price

The Invisible Man (1933)

A scientist discovers an invisibility potion (monocane) that produces antisocial side effects, turning him into a maniac and killer. H. G. Wells wasn't satisfied with the SF results, but Rotten Tomatoes is apt in pointing out the film's sharp special effects, high tension, and goofy sense of humor.

Starring: Claude Rains. Based on the novel by H. G. Wells. Directed by James Whale.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Links: Google Directory

H. G. Wells' Things to Come (1936)

The first two parts reduce to absurdity the rise of wasteful wars and rule by nationalist barbarians. Then the third (and most interesting) part argues that progress and exploration are critical to a meaningful use of our resources and human abilities. The film is noteworthy for themes of scientific progress and freedom, the development of a space program (to the moon and beyond), and a modernized utopia. It has a beautiful Menzies art design, but some mediocre special effects (esp. the toy tanks).

Some viewers dismiss its speeches and talky dialog as naïve, but others tingle with excitement at its rare and child-like vision of boundless scientific-technological progress. Moreover, it depicts many gadgets that were prescient or inventive: a helicopter, elevators, flat and transparent screens, and wireless and portable intercoms.

Rich in optimistic SF elements, "Things to Come" captures the zeitgeist of modernity. It has a group of rational minded thinkers, guided by a Einsteinian/Spinozean-like morality, live for scientific advancement and a unified world government. The pro-progress characters (such as the two Cabals) believe humanity could 'live forever' by preserving our experiments and progress for future generations, always standing on our humanity as if on the shoulders of giants.

However, the movie seems naïve about the inevitability of progress and about the plausibility of creating a peaceful society without crime (for extended periods of time). Instead it seems possible that we could revert back to the dark ages or at least become so stagnant in science that we kill ourselves off through overpopulation or through our inability to escape the next major natural disaster. But the film stresses the importance of allowing volunteers to take risks despite public outrage about potential space accidents or deaths. It challenges us to choose the side of progress over our base desires for conformity or safety or comfort:

CABAL: "For MAN no rest and no ending. He must go on--conquest beyond conquest. This little planet and its winds and ways, and all the laws of mind and matter that restrain him. Then the planets about him, and at last out across immensity to the stars. And when he has conquered all the deeps of space and all the mysteries of time--still he will be beginning" (screenplay).

If this vision for progress sounds like a reason to devote all of society to science, then the council members (of the world government) might seem like technocrats. But actually those "technocrats" allow their citizens to become artisans and to pursue other passions freely. Plus the pro-progress council members would have to be suppressed by government bans, laws against science and experiment, and other mandates and restrictions that would turn their critics into the tyrants.

In fact a huge group of rebels in the plot feel belittled by the council's developments of science and technology, so they try to put a stop to progress and an end to the council's freedom to experiment. The progress oriented council will not suppress the free speech of the rebels though, only preparing its 'peace gas' in times of emergency and merely wanting the freedom and space to pursue science.

So it's a story about the freedom to do science, just as much as about the wonders of progress. Many people in our society would actually agree with some of these basic premises, except in cases of social bias (many want to ban cloning, for example) or fear/reason (some believe we aren't ready for advanced science/technology since we might destroy ourselves). But Cabal (the president of the council) has an answer to the problem of danger: "Our [scientific] revolution did not abolish death or danger. It simply made death and danger worth while" (screenplay).

Arthur C. Clarke (author of 2001: A Space Odyssey) suggested this film to Stanley Kubrick as an example of an excellent SF movie (Clarke's special millennial introduction to his 2001 novel). Kubrick hated it, but the late Clarke kept suggesting it at the top of his list whenever someone asked him about the best SF movies.

Starring: Raymond Massey. Based on a novel by H. G. Wells: "The Shape of Things to Come". Directed by William Menzies.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Technovelgy / News | Screenplay

Links: Watch it at the Internet Archive | Comparison to The Jetsons

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1960s

The Time Machine (1960)

This is the classic time machine story, with a fantastic demonstration of an object entering the 4th dimension from the point of view of people in the present. The second half is interesting because it might signify a future in which some humans evolve into a different species (becoming cannibals called the Morlocks) and in which our future human descendants (the Eloi) become like hedonistic cattle (with little interest in science and progress).

Starring: Rod Taylor. Based on the novel by H. G. Wells. Directed by George Pal.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Script

Village of the Damned (1960)

These creepy children with blond hair are a group of dangerous mind controllers gifted in self-defense, mind reading, and stoicism. They are psychically linked together in a collective of brainpower, with the potential to help make advances in science and contact with aliens on other worlds.

Starring: George Sanders, Barbara Shelley, Martin Stephens. Based on a novel by John Wyndham: The Midwich Cuckoos. Directed by Wolf Rilla.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)

Mostly set in a newsroom with a team of reporters uncovering information about an apocalyptic scenario in which nuclear testing changes Earth’s axis for the worse.

Starring: Edward Judd, Janet Munro, Leo McKern. Written by Wolf Mankowitz, Val Guest. Directed by Val Guest.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Robinson Crusoe on Mars (1964)

Begins with a NASA inspired space sequence (using typical astronaut talk, procedure, ship detachments, plausible landers) with U.S. astronauts orbiting and researching Mars. After a forced crash landing, most of the middle of the film is about an astronaut's, 'Kit' Draper's (Paul Mantee), struggle to survive and overcome isolation. In the third part 'Kit' Draper struggles to communicate with an humanoid alien (Victor Lundin) and evades alien crafts (none of the aliens are native to Mars).

Haskin makes Mars feel alien by using a red sky and locations like Death Valley National Park, California. He wanted scientific realism (except for a few dramatic fireballs), so the film is like a time-capsule of our understanding (and misunderstanding) of Mars at that time. Some of the interest for geology and rocks in the screenplay comes across in the film, and it has a few noteworthy gadgets (miniature camera, portable radar and omnicom) that we like to mention.

In the Criterion DVD extras, a documentary smartly notes that the stranded astronaut explores many different environments on Mars in contrast to George Lucas' tendency to sometimes portray one environment per planet (desert planet, jungle planet, city planet, snowy planet, swampy planet).

Note: Although the credits mention Daniel Defoe's novel, "Robinson Crusoe", as inspiration, the filmmakers hated the movie title and instead based the film on a realistic version of the screenplay (Criterion DVD Commentary).

Starring: Paul Mantee, Victor Lundin. Screenplay by John C. Higgins, Ib Melchior. Directed by Byron Haskin.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Crack in the World (1965)

A distinguished scientist detonates a nuclear bomb to burn into the core of the Earth and reach a near limitless energy resource (magma), but his lead geologist (Dr. Rampion) believes the plan threatens to disintegrate the planet as we know it.

It would be interesting to learn more about the idea of a team of scientists trying to harness magma to solve our future energy needs. Probably a better concept would be to construct a space device for harnessing the Sun's power. In any case, a year after the film the theory of plate tectonics would falsify the movie's dramatic premise (of a crack spreading around the earth), and we have more information about the creation of our moon (Dr. Rampion is skeptical that we could know about ancient moon formations).

However, the movie is worth watching for the serious way most of the scientists operate in the project (Project Inner Space), and for minor themes of nuclear testing side effects, creation of moons, mad scientists, communities of scientists, X-ray treatments, and view screens.

Starring: Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore. Written by Jon Manchip White, Julian Zimet. Directed by Andrew Marton.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Fantastic Voyage (1966)

An excellent illustration of a voyage to the small [also look for The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957) and Innerspace (1987)]. In the plot a scientist invents stable and longer lasting miniaturization technology, but he gets injured before he teaches his discoveries to anyone, locking the secrets to how the improved technology works in his mind. So a doctor and some military personal use a miniature vessel (the Proteus) to help heal the scientist.

Most such ideas about the micro world lack explicit scientific credibility, but they allow us to adopt a different perspective and to use similar thought processes that some scientists use in thought experiments. For example, Carl Sagan compares us to little universes (Cosmos #2), Einstein used various thought experiments in his thinking, and, more recently, Brian Greene pretends to travel to the minute quantum level as an analogy to quantum concepts (The Elegant Universe).

Starring: Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch, Edmond O'Brien, Donald Pleasence. Written by Harry Kleiner, David Duncan, Otto Klement, Jerome Bixby. Novelized by Isaac Asimov. Directed by Richard Fleischer.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Transcript

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Intense SF vision of realistic space flight, speculative spacecrafts, high computer progress and automation, possibly an ancient alien transport and information system, a star child (perhaps an intelligent space dwelling being), and alien technology (the Monolith) that is so advanced in science it would look to us like magic (per one of Clarke's maxims of prediction: "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"). It flaunts a Nietzschean-like evolution of intelligence from our ape ancestors, to humans, to machines, to a star child.

The movie hints at a vast potential for progress by beginning from an alien perspective and repeating the probe/monolith symbols to get us to feel an alien presence and technological superiority (or at least sense the same mystery the characters feel from their new discoveries).

It has many little gems of speculation, such as its subtle stance on artificial intelligence. Kubrick was careful to offer opposing points of view and cite difficult questions. The script never claims that HAL is intelligent or sentient, and it doubts whether we could know if HAL has emotion. It notes that some scientists claim HAL merely mimics sentience (so we would be wrong to list HAL as an example of A.I. without this qualification). Though it remarks that HAL seems intelligent and emotional (and could be for all we know). (The novel suggests Turing's imitation game, aka the Turing test, as an intelligence test.)

The scientific value of the movie is in its fabric. The astronauts work methodically similar to the way I see NASA conduct its missions on the NASA channel. They use computers and communications with earth to guide their troubleshooting and repairs. It also replaces the emphasis on militaristic chains of command of Star Trek or Forbidden Planet with a more modern, scientific, technical way of operating. There are scientific flaws in specific details, but science itself is littered with failed attempts that were crucial to future scientists. Where would we be without the reintroduction of the ancient Greeks into western civilization? (So, yes, Aristotle is wrong about almost everything while also being very important arguably. See James Burke's documentary series, Connections, for this sort of argument.)

Timothy Ferris uses 2001 as an example of the thesis that aliens may already know about us and we might find evidence of them as we continue to explore space (p. 375, Coming of Age in the Milky Way). The movie is also an example of an alien pathway system (with Trumbull's light effects near the end of the movie) and perhaps a cosmic intelligence network. The mutual desire of the humans and the aliens to search out intelligent life may be nature's way of evolving an intelligence on a massive scale (much in the same way Carl Sagan imagines in his Cosmos series and in Contact).

The film has high artistic appeal and is one of the most influential SF movies. Even though the climax has humans combating our flaws and a homicidal computer, it leaves us with visions of an advanced space civilization, a new space species, and a chance for science and technology to be important to our future. Believe it or not this is rare in SF!

Starring: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester. Screenplay by Arthur C. Clarke, Stanley Kubrick. Based on short stories by Arthur C. Clarke. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Technovelgy / News | Screenplay

Links: Google Directory | 2001 Explained | Archive | Facts/FAQ | 2001 Principle | HAL's Legacy

Other 1960s SF and Related Movies

Quick mentions (future possible entries): X - The Man with the X-Ray Eyes (Dir. Roger Corman, 1963), First Men in the Moon (Dir. Nathan H. Juran, 1964), Planet of the Apes (Dir. Franklin J. Schaffner, 1968), Marooned (Dir. John Sturges, 1969)

La Jettée (1962). A short mind bender about strange experiences during time travel experiments. The story is told through a succession of still images (except one moving shot). Marker's La Jettée is excellent when you get in the right state of mind; you have to pretend you found it as an alien artifact and are about to witness some mysterious records. Starring: Jean Négroni, Hélène Chatelain, Davos Hanich, Jacques Ledoux, Étienne Becker. Written and directed by Chris Marker. Sources: IMDB | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Script | Paul Smith Fail-Safe, Dir. Sidney Lumet, 1964. Numerous technical errors (and difficult to overcome safety precautions) initiate a nuclear strike on Moscow by six Vindicator supersonic bombers. The US decides to help Russia to destroy the bombers and makes other quite unusual decisions to avoid total nuclear war. Sources: IMDB | MRQE | Wikipedia | Google Directory Fahrenheit 451 (1966). Presents a future in which firemen become responsible for book burnings to prevent people from thinking independently; consequently, most people become insipid while a few begin resistance movements. Starring: Oskar Werner, Julie Christie, Cyril Cusack. Based on the novel by Ray Bradbury. Directed by François Truffaut. Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Home | Pre-1950s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | A-Z List

1980s

Blade Runner (1982)

The movie asks whether we ought to extend ethical consideration to replicants when we know they are machines and when Deckard must use a complicated Voight-Kampf empathy test to try to detect them, i.e. when Tyrell designs them to be "more human than human." Includes replicants, an intricate empathy test, an Esper picture analyzer, genetic engineering (eyes, tiny logos), massive advertising (airships, moving images), and hover crafts/flying cars.

Blade Runner is dense with SF gems and it has a strong sense of realism. None of the technology is anthropomorphized, which would horrify Disney or viewers who demand an emotional center to help them make a connection to the characters (some critics make the same argument against the Matrix trilogy and the whole of SF).

Its repeated eye imagery represents the "Orwellian eye" of powerful industrial giants, according to Ridley Scott. He aptly argues that corporations could be just as controlling as governments (DVD commentary). But it seems more likely to me that it should symbolize Orwellian governments, at least in the current climate.

But Blade Runner succeeds in imagining a world resourceful enough to engineer advanced androids. We see the specialization of scientists and all sorts of moral, political, and philosophical problems associated with human-android relations. Some of its philosophical questions have been influential for movies concerned with arguing that the defining features of our humanity are murky (especially the Ghost in the Shell movies).

Ridley Scott achieves an excellent portrayal of a futuristic cityscape with a unique and compelling vision of the future on Earth. It influenced many SF authors, such as William Gibson, who says he had to run off to rewrite his book, Neuromancer, after seeing the film since it looked so much better than anything in his book (Interview for The Sci-Fi Files).

Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos, Daryl Hannah. Based on a novel by Philip K. Dick (P.K.D.): Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?. Directed by Ridley Scott.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Wikia | Technovelgy / News| Screenplay

Links: Google Directory | The Replicant Site | Blade Zone | BR Mag | Philip K. Dick

Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan (1982)

Kirk battles the genetically advanced Khan and learns about the genesis project.

Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Ricardo Montalban, James Doohan, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig. Based on Star Trek (TOS) Episode 24: "Space Seed", 1967. Directed by Nicholas Meyer.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Wikia | Script

The Thing (1982)

Paranoia is let loose when aliens are found to be genetic mimickers and body invaders of any species. In some ways it is closer to John W. Campbell's Who Goes There? than the original movie. The arctic locations are nicely atmospheric and the all male cast is noteworthy, but (like the original) it doesn't fully develop an interesting back story to the alien. The SF elements pose fascinating possibilities: an alien could seed other planets, invade and mimic diverse species, and either quickly learn about them (to transmit data back home) or increase their chances of survival. But the idea is vague on how alien explorers -- just on the basis of their genetics -- could know to send back information to their home world (migration type habits seem implausible at such a great distance).

Starring: Kurt Russell. Screenplay by Bill Lancaster. Based on John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?". Directed by John Carpenter.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Script

TRON (1982)

A game designer is digitized and downloaded into a video game world. Includes the legendary SF creation -- the Master Control Program (or, perhaps, just my personal vote for most power hungry computer program), which was created by no one single person -- and the security Tron program and a far-fetched digitizing machine. It portrays programs that are skeptical of intelligent design and place faith in 'users' while battling an MCP (master control program) that is intent on total domination.

Like Blade Runner, some, at first, might think that it is slow and tiresome, but after you give it a chance to draw you in, you are likely to appreciate its visual and intelligent aspects. End of line.

Starring: Jeff Bridges. Screenplay by Steven Lisberger. Story by Steven Lisberger, Bonnie MacBird. Directed by Steven Lisberger.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Wikia | Script | Roger Ebert

Links: Google Directory | History of Production

2010 (1984)

Portrays U.S.-Russian tensions during a space mission to investigate HAL 9000 and a lost astronaut (Dave Bowman). Includes the rise of new alien and computer lifeforms.

Starring: Roy Scheider, John Lithgow, Helen Mirren. Screenplay by Peter Hyams. Based on the novel by Arthur C. Clarke. Directed by Peter Hyams.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

The Terminator (1984). Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Portrays a war between men and machines (as in The Matrix), and people/cyborgs use time travel with the intention of altering or preserving future events (contra The Time Machine where the future/past can't be changed), though, we discover that the future ultimately depends on these efforts!

Starring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton. T1: Written by James Cameron, Gale Anne Hurd, and based on the works of Harlan Ellison. T2: Written by James Cameron, William Wisher Jr. Directed by James Cameron.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Wikia | Scripts (T1 | T2)

Links: Google Directory | Terminator Files

Back to the Future (1985)

A kid uses a futuristic looking car to travel through time and meet his parents back in 1955. In the excellent ending we briefly learn that Christopher Lloyd's character, Dr. Emmett Brown, also traveled to the future and found a way to run his time traveling car on trash!

Starring: Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson. Written by Robert Zemeckis, Bob Gale. Directed by Robert Zemeckis.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Wikia | Script

Links: Google Directory | Misc: Official Site

Brazil (1985)

Creates an impressive and one of a kind futuristic world, with memorable scenes of cosmetic surgery, oppressive bureaucracy (mistakes, red-tape, invasion of privacy), dream fantasies, TV addicted workers, presumed terrorist attacks, torture, and alienation.

Starring: Jonathan Pryce. Screenplay by Terry Gilliam, Tom Stoppard, Charles McKeown. Directed by Terry Gilliam.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Script

Links: Google Directory | Terry Gilliam Files

Aliens (1986). See Alien entry (1979).

The Fly (1986)

Includes teleportation (or travel by computer digitization), gene splicing (it's implausible as depicted, see Kaku's Visions on p. 234), and the process of scientific discovery.

Starring: Jeff Goldblum, Geena Davis. Screenplay by Charles Edward Pogue, David Cronenberg. Based on a short story by George Langelaan. Directed by David Cronenberg.

Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Robocop (1987)

Robocop finds echoes remaining from his human memories (the director has a mystical interpretation of this, but I didn't follow it), a corporation takes control of city security, and the DVD extras noted that the extreme violence possibly reflects social commentary on the Reagan era. I admit I root for Robocop when he takes the streets!

Starring: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy. Written by Edward Neumeier, Michael Miner. Directed by Paul Verhoeven.

Sources: IMDb | MRQE | Wikipedia | Script

Links: Google Directory | Official Site, Robocop Archive

Other 1980s SF and Related Movies

• Quick mentions (future possible entries): Android (Dir. Aaron Lipstadt, 1982), Brainstorm (Dir. Douglas Trumbull, 1983), WarGames (Dir. John Badham, 1983), The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (Dir. W. D. Richter, 1984), Electric Dreams (Dir. Steve Barron, 1984), Runaway (Dir. Michael Crichton, 1984), The Quiet Earth (Dir. Geoff Murphy, 1985), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (Dir. Leonard Nimoy, 1986).

• The Lathe of Heaven (1980), Made for TV. George Orr comes out of a nuclear blast zone with the power to create new realities by dreaming. It becomes a story of hubris when his dream doctor, Dr. Haber, attempts to use Orr to create a utopia. It gets very interesting as Orr interprets the doctor's hypnotic suggestions in novel ways. Aliens suddenly populate the Moon, Orr wins a lottery house near the ocean, Dr. Haber gets an institute, humans get the same color skin to help end racism, and more! Starring: Bruce Davison. Based on the novel by Ursula K. Le Guin. Directed by Barzyk & Loxton. Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

Home | Pre-1950s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | 1980s | 1990s | 2000s | A-Z List

2000s

• AI Artificial Intelligence, Dir. Stephen Spielberg, 2001. Based on a Stanley Kubrick idea and a short story by Brian Aldiss: Super Toys Last All Summer Long. Some parts are very re-watchable and visually stunning. Includes machine chauvinism, child robots, a sage computer, and a post-apocalypse setting. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Script, Google Directory.

• Avalon, Dir. Mamoru Oshii, 2001. Has matrix style simulation of video games. Ash, an expert at a virtual game called Avalon, discovers that there are blurry lines between game and reality (her dog goes missing and shows up in the game). More properly, it argues that reality is constructed by her individual perspective and possibly by her choices (she sees the same statue once with its head and once headless). It also makes us ask whether virtual reality is better or worse than reality. I like its gamer ambiance but I don't like the disgusting eating scene. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia.  Misc: Nine Sisters.

• Equilibrium, Dir. Kurt Wimmer, 2002. Police "clerics" enforce a ban on books and other art forms to prevent excessive emotion, and everyone must take emotion suppressing drugs regularly. Ironically it's a flashy and exciting movie in parts, until I was annoyed by its message. It seems silly to single out emotion when our whole humanity -- reason, freewill, emotion, and will to discover -- is compromised in such scenarios. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Fansite, Google Directory.

• Minority Report, Dir. Stephen Spielberg, 2002. Based on a short story by P.K.D.: Minority Report. I initially hated the idea of the pre-cog seers, but I can't help appreciating the thought provoking consequences that result from this scenario. The pre-cogs were apparently part of genetic experimentation, so we also get a few glimpses of futuristic, genetically altered plants. In any case, it portrays a detailed futuristic city and excellent technology.

  Includes cool spider-robots, an ultra futuristic public transport system, computer chips so cheap that they come with many common products (like musical cereal boxes), awesome computer graphics, gesture interfaces, e-papers, personalized advertisements, and automatic eye identification sensors in common public places (raising major issues of privacy).

  Ref: Technovelgy / Tech News, IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory, Transcript / Script Draft.

  Misc: Short Story Tech, Ebert Gives 4/4, Virtual Precrime Game.

• The Matrix Reloaded (2003). See Matrix Trilogy entry (1999).

• Appleseed (Appurushîdo), Dir. Shinji Aramaki, 2004, Anime. Based on the manga of Masamune Shirow. Many battles and much warfare ensue in a beautiful and technologically advanced future utopia (Olympus). A governing council uses a supercomputer (Gaia) to stabilize and integrate its population with nearly emotionless replicants/Bioroids. But a group of rebels aren't satisfied with all the experimental genetic tampering, cloning, and use of Bioroids.

  This film has unique ideas in that the emotionless Bioroids help to save humans from the negative side effects of their extremes of emotion. But it didn't seem to suggest how the Bioroids achieve this emotional balance. Overall the story wavers and has difficulty holding the viewer's interest, but the artwork is amazing. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia.

• The Final Cut, Dir. Omar Naim, 2004. Posits a world in which most people have Zoe-memory implants that record everything they do. Covers themes like privacy and technology, memory, and reality vs. fantasy. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia. Misc: Tech news.

• Innocence (aka Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence, 2004). See Ghost in the Shell entry (1995).

• Primer, Dir. Shane Carruth, 2004. Includes an extremely cheap looking quantum time machine, but it's the ideas that make this low budget movie so high on the list. Two independent experimenters accidentally invent a time machine. This is one of the great visions of technological advancement in that science and technology does not always progress intentionally and colorfully, it could just be a couple guys out in their garage making an unexpected discovery.

  In his search through the history of science Shane Carruth found that "whether it involved the history of the number zero or the invention of the transistor, two things stood out. First, the discovery that turns out to be the most valuable is usually dismissed as a side-effect. Second, prototypes almost never include neon lights and chrome. I wanted to see a story that was more in line with the way real innovation takes place" (official site).

  Primer goes on to speculate about the possibility of time travel by use of quantum theory, so this kind of time travel produces an interesting replication side effect. The story is told in a jigsaw puzzle and the script has some witty comments about scientific discovery and causation.

  Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Transcript.

  Misc: Official Site, The Primer Universe (fun blog book), Timeline, Ebert's Review: 3.5/4, Director Interview.

• The Island, Dir. Michael Bay, 2005. Cloners use Orwellian tactics and conditioning to keep clones under control, and they use them for a grotesque commerce. Includes a table top computer (with a gesture interface), an Xbox virtual fight game, and massive invasive monitoring (synaptic nanobots, dream monitoring, and automatic urine analysis). Most of the inhabitants accept such invasive treatment as commonplace. We see analogous uses of power becoming common in our own society, so the film perhaps illustrates that what we call dystopia today could slowly become accepted as utopia. Some of the initial sets are stunning, but the final action scenes and car stunts are a bit out of place. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory, Script. Misc: Official Site.

• Serenity, Dir. Joss Whedon, 2005. Based on the Firefly TV series. This is a witty western-style space adventure in which a loyal government bounty hunter tracks River, a mentally unstable woman possessing paranormal abilities and training in the martial arts, as she travels with outlaw-like mercenaries. Includes state control vs. freedom and a science experiment gone bad (enter the Reavers). I find the opening sequences especially beautiful. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory, Script. Misc: Official Site.

• The Man from Earth, Dir. Richard Schenkman, 2007. Based on a story by Jerome Bixby. A conversational and thoughtful film on knowledge, morality, religion, myth, and humanity. It's not hard SF but it covers questions important to anthropology, history, and the difficulty of gaining knowledge of distant historical events. It begins with a group of professors discussing the inexplicable departure of John Oldman.

  John explains his departure by giving away his 14,000 year secret (as a hypothetical) -- what if a genetic quirk allowed a Cro-Magnon man to survive to today? It becomes an interesting discussion of such a person's perspective on humanity, his limited knowledge of certain things, and his first hand knowledge of controversial topics such as the death/resurrection of Jesus. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia.

• Sunshine, Dir. Danny Boyle, 2007. In the excellent commentary, Dr. Brian Cox speculates about ways the premise of this movie could be possible. Cox maps some themes he finds interesting about the movie, such as nature's immensity and science's power to create a broad sense of perspective of our place in the universe, and then he notes the way that in this modernist context some interpret nature to be purposeless and meaninglessness. The problem with this movie is that Cox's commentary is better than the sf elements in the movie; however, the artwork is well worth watching. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory.

• WALL·E, Dir. Andrew Stanton, 2008. It's no surprise that Disney backed this type of film; it has all the signs of anthropomorphized robots, for WALL-E sighs, scares, dances, and flirts. The director attempts to use as few anthropomorphisms as possible as if the robot had advanced over many years, but the film definitely fails in this respect (or fails to explain any new advances in programming).

  The good thing is that the movie has many other graces -- an extremely imaginative EVE-flying bot, a high tech automated ship, and a hopeful perspective on enriching our humanity (where humans do exotic things like question and learn). It doesn't force any agenda on the viewer and it has funny influences from 2001 and other SF. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia. News: Compactor, Garbage Bots, Environmental Tech Review.

• Avatar, Dir. James Cameron, 2009. Begins heavy in SF with remote users virtually controlling aliens from a distance (but not in a virtual world like "The Matrix"; it's in a real alien world), genetic engineering of human-Na’vi life (the blue aliens are called Na’vi), robotic walkers, and high tech computer consoles. Then the movie transitions into an imaginative version of "Alien Planet" in which a scientist (played by Sigourney Weaver) investigates a plethora of alien life (most of the life forms are capable of sharing memories through natural connectors, forming a periodic collective intelligence).

  The mystical-religious seeming parts make sense in a naturalistic interpretation, but you have to give imaginative flexibility to its vision of alien life (and notice the incredible and diverse things life is capable of here on earth). Otherwise, the movie stands in a tradition of pro-ecology SF movies (Silent Running, Soylent Green, etc.). And the conflict between alien-human cultures reminds me of fears that an alien life (in this case us) would be more interested in a world's resources than respect for its indigenous life forms, especially if the indigenous life forms are at a lower level of intelligence or cultural/technological advancement than us.

  However, it has a critical flaw in logic: it has the Na’vi drop silent and motionless when the remote user disconnects as if the alien body doesn't have a local brain at all. If the engineered Na’vi have brains, it's absurd to suggest that the alien body wouldn't develop local memories, attitudes, and skills of its own (or at least stumble around like Frankenstein's monster once released by a remote user). This virtual death reminds me of a classic Daniel Dennett article, "Where Am I?", in which a remote user experiences himself in an empty shell of a body only to discover that he's a remote brain in a vat or an intelligent computer program. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia.

• Gamer (2009). Imagines virtual games that allow players to control real people. Prisoners or volunteers (depending on the game) have neural implants that radically alter their brain and allow external access, so a player can use video game commands to control them for fun. Shows a better understanding of the impact of remote users than "Avatar" by having the prisoners bicker with their distant users. The movie refers to speculative spyware removal and has Michael C. Hall portray a reclusive and nutty software titan, even surpassing the success of Bill Gates. "Gamer" has plenty of mindless action, but listen to 5 seconds of the awful commentary to understand why the movie gets such low ratings (I wouldn't have noticed otherwise since the movie is so interesting). Starring: Gerard Butler, Michael C. Hall. Written and directed by Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor. Ref: IMDb, RT, MRQE, Wikipedia

• Moon, Dir. Duncan Jones, 2009. Sam Bell works alone on the Moon, repairing Helium 3 harvesters and sending the collected energy back to Earth. The plot makes sense of this loner situation later and further cuts off Sam in many psychologically interesting ways. Sam is joined by a GERTY computer/robot. We discover that Sam Bell may receive some programming too, but I can't say much more without spoiling the psychological aspects of it.

  The best part is that it seems like a composite of SF influences: the harvesters reminded me of Dune, the screen text of Alien, the plant obsession of Silent Running, and the space mining of Outland. Ref: IMDb, MRQE, Wikipedia, SciFi Cool Resources.

• Star Trek, Dir. J. J. Abrams, 2009. It has so many close-ups I had difficulty getting any sense of the ambiance of the movie, but it did take my breath away when it finally pulled back some and gave me a chance to briefly see the bridge of Enterprise. It includes the use of black holes as weapons, talk of red matter, time travel, cool Vulcan educational machines, flashy modern computer consoles, and distant tracking of human vitals. But it's best for people who don't like the ethos of classic Star Trek (it even seems to mock and humiliate alien cultures like the Vulcans and breaks from the Star Trek norm that has us struggle to accept ideas foreign to our own). Ref: IMDB, MRQE, Wikipedia, Wikia. Misc: Official Site.

• Inception (2010). It adds layer upon layer of possibilities until you either want to run out and become an Architect, a God like master of designing mind-worlds, or let the images take over as they lead you through a labyrinth of dreams within dreams. Penrose steps showcase the creativity of the mind in dreams, dream projections take on a life of their own (but without their former humanity), and dreamers experience time distortions and weightlessness.

  Ariadne (the Architect) is the first major chess move before the memory inception begins: she creates a dream world perfect for tricking the target (Fisher Jr.) with similar deceptive traits as "The Truman Show" or "Dark City". But if the target's subconscious dream-people get suspicious of Cobb's team, they attack in unison (like white blood cells fighting a disease, or like the pod people in "Invasion of the Body Snatchers").

  With so many interesting themes, here is a quick list:

  Reality: Dreams appear as we feel them in Nolan's film, and not as they seem to us when we wake up. So we don't see wavy or distorted images (as in the movie "Waking Life"); instead, we get a clear image to take as reality, emotionally. The rules are more understandable than in "The Matrix". When you die in a dream, you simply wake up (unless you're in deep sedation, in which case you get lost in dream limbo, possibly dreaming a whole life of experiences while you figure a way out).

  Gravity: Whenever a dreamer feels like he's in a free fall, his subconsciousness changes the rules of gravity in the dream world, making everyone float around as if weightless. Einstein seems like an influence, by the way, since he used similar examples to weightlessness (such as falling back in a chair).

  Time: Time is relative to the different levels of dreams. Cobb tricks Fisher by using dreams within dreams within dreams (yes, three, and more as needed), but each level increases the experience of time slower and slower (sort of like how you age slower the closer you get to the speed of light, or here, the deeper you go into the subconscious realm). The film seems correct (by its rules) when a white van falls very slowly relative to the passage of time at the lower dream levels. But Cobb's watch shouldn't change speeds erratically within a dream level, for then it would be difficult to precisely calculate the time differences between the dream levels (as they do in the film).

  Dream images as A.I.: Cobb has an internal struggle with his deceased wife, nicknamed “Mal” (Marion Cotillard). A subconscious remnant of her keeps causing chaos during his dream missions. The film explains that Cobb isn't able to get rid of her because thoughts are like a virus, sometimes taking over our mind to the point of defining us or consuming us, and his wife has become a virus. Mal is a bit like an internal life form to him. Would she pass a Turing test? Will the first aliens we meet be the ones inside our minds?

  Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Marion Cotillard, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ellen Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe. Written and directed by Christopher Nolan.

  Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia | Official Site

Other 2000s SF and Related Movies

• Quick mentions (future possible entries): Natural City (Dir. Byung-chun Min, 2003), I, Robot (Dir. Alex Proyas, 2004), Children of Men (Dir. Alfonso Cuarón, 2006), District 9 (Dir. Neill Blomkamp, 2009), Terminator Salvation (Dir. McG, 2009).

• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dir Michel Gondry, 2004. Joel Barish decides he wants to erase some of his painful memories. A couple humorous hacker types leisurely conduct the targeted memory erasure (or procedure to cause intentional mild brain damage). It depicts our fuzzy minds as a network of links, and it captures the influence of subconscious desires and forms a complicated picture of our psyche. Ref: IMDB, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory, Script. Misc: Official Site, Lacuna.

• The Prestige, Dir. Christopher Nolan, 2006. See the novel by Christopher Priest. An insider look at the tactics of magicians, with an interesting magician-scientist and a quantum machine. Perhaps its message is that the power of science and technology are only 'magical' to those who fail to understand them, so the movie relentlessly lifts the curtains and shows that 'magic' disappears in the devilous technical details. Ref: IMDB, MRQE, Wikipedia, Google Directory.

• The Sky Crawlers (Sukai kurora) (2008). Yuichi Kannami, a mysterious young ace pilot, joins a small group of pilots and copes with everyday life between war missions. One rare adult fighter pilot, called "The Teacher", is their nemesis, but the purpose or history of the war wasn't clear from the movie. The film imagines the existence of Kildren -- children who don't age -- and the consequences of being an immortal child. It seems silly to place Kildren in such a technologically backward context, but the movie dwells on the meaning (or meaninglessness) of life (excellently demonstrating the existentialism of Albert Camus) and has Kenji Kawai's addictive music. The finale has other SF elements that we can't spoil (be sure to watch the scenes after the credits). Adapted by Chihiro Itô. Based on a novel series by Hiroshi Mori. Directed by Mamoru Oshii. Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

• The Time Traveler's Wife (2009). Henry DeTamble (Eric Bana) jumps between key moments in his life without any control, which is a fantastical time travel device similar to "Slaughterhouse Five". But the film has a rare love for fate or determinism (or shows that fate is lovable). Henry believes in fate since he fails to change the past, and the film has an amazing wedding sequence in which his wife, Clare (Rachel McAdams), dances in a daze as she accepts multiple versions of Henry (the gray hair Henry that marries her and the young Henry that dances with her).

  She wonders whether she's engaging in bigamy, but fate solves the problem because all versions of Henry (that are close in time to one another) have similar causal histories. She can love Henry at many different points in his causal chain (perhaps except at the far extremes where his identity might be much different). Although she suffers from freewill withdrawal at times, she discovers the beauty and tolerance of determinism as so many other thinkers have (Buddha, Spinoza, etc.). This determinism has compelling side effects: Clare doesn't need to label her experiences as good or bad; instead, she can tolerate painful or tragic events as necessary.

  Starring: Eric Bana, Rachel McAdams. Screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin. Based on the novel by Audrey Niffenegger. Directed by Robert Schwentke. Sources: IMDb | RT | MRQE | Wikipedia

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