back to article Blade Runner 2049: Back to the Future – the movies that showed us what's to come

Blade Runner 2049, the long-awaited sequel to Ridley Scott's immeasurably influential vision of tomorrow, was released this week. And while the sci part of the sci-fi equation may be questionable in Scott's 1982 original, the production design felt so right to audiences that it has overshadowed almost every future-set movie …

        1. Stevie

          Re: Mad Max

          "Not nearly enough venomous animals and plants for that."

          You aren't paying attention! The animals have all been killed off by whatever it is that has left the world in such a crappy state. Does *everything* have to be stated upfront by a character to be understood?

          These fine documentaries stand as a monument to Aussie can-do-ism and poor lane discipline.

  1. Eponymous Cowherd
    Go

    Spaceballs

    Title says it all.

    1. Haku

      Re: Spaceballs

      Thumbs up because of one specific line in that film:

      Out of order? Fuck! Even in the future nothing works!

  2. Cynical Observer
    Facepalm

    Demolition Man

    ..for confirmation that using biometrics as passwords is a truly stupid eye-dea

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Demolition Man

      And it predicted the end of toilet paper.

      Although I've cut myself on the sharp edges of those bloody seashells so often that I'm going back to paper again...

      1. LaeMing
        Go

        Re: Demolition Man

        Sounds like I ain't Spartacus doesn't know how to use the 3 seashells!

  3. Haku

    Total Recall, Red Planet, The Martian, Mission to Mars, The Last Days on Mars, Escape from Mars

    Can you see where I'm going with this?

    Someone's going to be the first human to die on that planet, and it might happen within our present lifetime.

    1. Steve Kerr
      Coat

      Re: Total Recall, Red Planet, The Martian, Mission to Mars, The Last Days on Mars, Escape from Mars

      I see a new reality TV show.......

      The Kardashians on Mars, The Kardashians in space, just anywhere but here!

    2. SkippyBing

      Re: Total Recall, Red Planet, The Martian, Mission to Mars, The Last Days on Mars, Escape from Mars

      'Someone's going to be the first human to die on that planet'

      Typical human centric viewpoint, you don't say a thing when those poor innocent robots are sent there to die. But no, I'm sure some of your best friends are robots so how could you possibly be robotist.

      1. Haku

        Re: Total Recall, Red Planet, The Martian, Mission to Mars, The Last Days on Mars, Escape from Mars

        Marvin? Is that you?

        1. LaeMing

          Re: Total Recall, Red Planet, The Martian, Mission to Mars, The Last Days on Mars, Escape from Mars

          Mars is already populated - entirely by robots, in fact.

  4. alban1964

    A.I.

    At the end of A.I., intelligent machines have replaced us.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: A.I.

      Depending on whom you use as a measure of intelligence? Not too hard.

      1. Real Ale is Best

        Re: A.I.

        Depending on whom you use as a measure of intelligence? Not too hard.

        Yes, all you need is a mind that is programmed to say "What?" and "Where's the tea?".

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Gattaca - 1997 - soon - eugenics

    1. IsJustabloke
      Thumb Up

      Gattaca

      Fantastic movie that watched by accident and have never been more pleased at a mistake.

      1. Nerdbot

        Re: Gattaca

        And that we will forget about discriminating against gender/race and cut right to genetic discrimination with your class and social status determined by your DNA

  6. PaulyV

    Demolition Man

    The Three Seashells

  7. Alister

    Autonomous vehicles

    You attribute the prediction of autonomous vehicles to I,Robot in 2004, but Johnny Cab was in Total Recall in 1990, and there were autonomous vehicles in Demolition Man in 1993 as well

    1. Dave Schofield

      Re: Autonomous vehicles

      They were in Judge Dredd comic in the late 70s, probably earlier sources too.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Autonomous vehicles

        IIRC UK Daily Mirror newspaper - probably late 1950s "Garth" cartoon strip. Alternative future where Germany had won the war. Anti-machine culture had produced biological "machines" - including driverless cars.

    2. Simon Harris

      Re: Autonomous vehicles

      Don't forget Knight Rider (TV since 1982) - although I suppose the autonomous vehicles were very limited edition in that, so not exactly ubiquitous - were there ever more than 2?

      Not sure if we can include Herbie (films since 1968) - autonomous, but the autonomy doesn't really seem to be created from technology.

      The Fifth Element (1997) also had an autopilot mode in the cars - and not just ordinary cars, but flying cars.

      1. VinceH

        Re: Autonomous vehicles

        See also: Christine (1983). Although that's technically a horror film, rather than science fiction.

        1. Charlie Clark Silver badge

          Re: Autonomous vehicles

          Herbie, NFT

    3. Nerdbot

      Re: Autonomous vehicles

      Also Solaris in '72, also includes a videophone if I recall.

  8. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

    Edge of Tomorrow

    Tom Cruise... dead... oh, err.. and Emily Blunt.

    Exoskeletons and guns. Lots of guns.

    1. WolfFan Silver badge

      Re: Edge of Tomorrow

      Tom Cruise... dead...

      I think that you mean 'Tom Cruise, dead, lots and lots and lots of times.' My fav TC film, because HE DIES LOTS AND LOTS AND LOTS OF TIMES. Kill him again, Emily.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Sod a flying car, where's my bloody multi-pass?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      keep your bloody multi-pass, where is my LeeLoo!

    2. Simon Harris
      Windows

      Multi-pass?

      By the time I see a flying car, I'll probably be ready for my OAP bus-pass!

  10. Simon Harris

    "the movies that showed us what's to come"

    Sleeper - The Orgasmatron.

    Barbarella - The Excessive Machine.

    1. Fading
      Thumb Up

      Re: "the movies that showed us what's to come"

      Damn it, I was going to use Woody Allen's Sleeper for he pun.

      Ok back on track - Demon Seed - Alexa + IOT

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: "the movies that showed us what's to come"

      That would have to be 'Idiocracy', just look round if you want proof.

      For those that haven't seen the film read the book, 'The Marching Morons' by C M Kornbluth.

    3. Charlie Clark Silver badge
      Thumb Up

      Re: "the movies that showed us what's to come"

      That's why I smoke and only eat hamburgers…

  11. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

    Metropolis

    I recall Fritz Lang gave us a lot more than videophones. From nutjob scientist, through life-like autonomous robot, flying personal transport to multi-level multi-lane freeways.

    The drudgery of the despondent proletariat 'bashing buttons' all day long for the benefit of the fat-cat elite and populist uprising seems rather apt.

  12. Ironclad

    Rollerball

    Rollerball conjured a world run by mega corporations long before The Running Man

    The teams were sponsored and rutherlessly run by them, sport as advertising ? I would say we're pretty much there.

    1. I ain't Spartacus Gold badge

      Re: Rollerball

      I love Rollerball. I remember seeing it (or at least some of it) when I was way too young to understand the meaning, and thinking that riding round on motorbikes giving people on roller-skates a ride looked an awful lot of fun.

      So me and my brother re-enacted it the following day. That is we took turns to wear the roller-skates or be the one pulling on the bike (Raleigh Chopper since you ask) - not that we ruthlessly slaughtered our rivals for profits and the entertainment of baying crowds.

      If you pedal really hard, then quickly turn the bike at the last minute before the skater lets go, of the hoop on the back of the seat you can get a fair turn of speed on the skates. And it's a lot easier to pedal with some extra resistance on the bike than to get up to those kind of speeds on skates alone.

      I liked the film for different reasons when seeing it as an adult. The Running Man is also mostly great.

      And my favourite bit of Robocop was the TV adverts. "Nuke 'em! The game for all the family to play."

      It's funny to be an adult in the 21st Century. Living at the time predicted by so much of the scifi I read as a teenager - and to notice how much it got wrong.

      Almost everything under-estimated the ubiquity of computers and overdid the speed of progress in space tech.

  13. PaulR79

    Blade Runner = Syndicate Wars for me

    I always loved the atmosphere of Blade Runner and the world it helped create in my mind. Syndicate Wars gave me a massive dose of what I had imagined for this world. I wonder if I'm alone in pairing the two together in such a way. The disappointing FPS version is something I try to forget happened since it changed the feel by making it feel too generic.

  14. lglethal Silver badge
    Joke

    If we're including Computer games - can i add Xcom (or X-Com) for when we end up getting invaded by Aliens...

  15. Charlie Clark Silver badge

    Typos

    Article needs proof-reading.

    1. Jason Bloomberg Silver badge

      Re: Typos

      Most these days do. Perhaps, in the future, someone will invent some sort of tool or machine which could check spelling and grammar for authors?

      1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

        Re: Typos

        Wee all ready has won to cheque spelling, butt its crap.

  16. Erix

    Good 'ole Phil

    It's worth noting that out of the listed titles four (Blade Runner, Terminator, Total Recall and Minority Report) are based on or inspired by Philip K. Dick's stories. Then there was alo Paycheck and Ajustment Bureau but perhaps we aren't quite ready yet for those predictions to come true.

    1. Alister

      Re: Good 'ole Phil

      I can't find any evidence to support your claim that Terminator was based on a Philip K Dick story?

      I agree that the others were, however.

      1. Erix

        Re: Good 'ole Phil

        "Second Variety". No direct attribution and different plot of course and that's why I said "inspired by". It's only my subjective opinion but does the idea of robots building other sophisticated robots, indistinguishable from humans, designed to infiltrate and kill sound kind of familiar?

        1. Simon Harris

          Re: Good 'ole Phil

          Second Variety became Screamers (1995)

          Another one, lesser known I suspect, based on a P K Dick story is Impostor (2001).

    2. Throatwarbler Mangrove Silver badge
      Headmaster

      Re: Good 'ole Phil

      The Terminator was arguably stolen from Harlan Ellison's “Soldier Out of Time” and "Demon with a Glass Hand." Whether that's actually true, Ellison was able to sue Cameron's studio and receive a modest settlement.

  17. graeme leggett Silver badge

    Giant Flying Wings in list

    I'll suggest that they were logical extension of what was happening in the 1920s

    See for instance Junkers G.38

  18. matchbx
    Facepalm

    Forgot the Batteries

    The Matrix - Humans as Batteries.

  19. Antron Argaiv Silver badge
    Happy

    2001: A Space Odyssey

    My all time favourite.

    (especially the trademarks of companies long departed)

POST COMMENT House rules

Not a member of The Register? Create a new account here.

  • Enter your comment

  • Add an icon

Anonymous cowards cannot choose their icon