Classic Dystopian Films for the Sci-Fi Geek

Above (clockwise): Metropolis (1927), Mad Max (1979), Planet of the Apes (1968), Gattaca (1997)

A dystopia is defined as “an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one.” What makes dystopias so interesting—and a corner stone of the sci-fi genre—is the fact that they are often the representation of a path our current world could take. If the wrong person is in power, what might happen to the world we now know? If we run out of resources, how will we cope? Here are just a few classic dystopian films every fan of the genre should watch.

Idiocracy
2006

Not many dystopian films can also be considered comedies, but Mike Judge’s Idiocracy goes the satirical route. The plot follows two people who participate in a military human hibernation experiment only to wake up 500 years later in a world where advertising, commercialism and anti-intellectualism have taken over. Instead of getting smarter, society has lost interest in making any kind of progress whatsoever and average IQs have dropped exponentially. Once considered average, Joe (played by Luke WIlson) now finds himself the most intelligent person in the world. Similar concepts of a devolving society has also been touched on in H.G. Wells’ The Time Machine and Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World.

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Tags: dystopia, dystopian films, Sci-Fi, science fiction

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