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Massive dehumanization, totalitarian government, rampant disease,
post-apocalyptic terrains, cyber-genetic technologies, societal chaos
and widespread urban violence are some of the common themes in dystopian
films which bravely examine the ominous shadow cast by future.
A dystopia is a fictional society that is the antithesis or complete
opposite of a utopia, an ideal world with a perfect social, political
and technological infrastructure. A world without chaos, strife or
hunger. A world where the individual potential and freedom is celebrated
and brought to the forefront.
In contrast, the dystopian world is undesirable with poverty and
unequal domination by specific individuals over others. Dystopian films
often construct a fictional universe and set it in a background which
features scenarios such as dehumanizing technological advancements,
man-made disasters or class-based revolutions.
Ranking the List
We thought it would be interesting if we could coagulate the most
commonly cited dystopian movies and rank them not to preference, but to
an average score made up of both Rotten Tomatoes (RT) and IMDB ratings.
As you all will probably know, the Internet Movie Database allows
movie fans and registered users to rate each movie from 1 to 10 and the
final score is said to reflect the general audience’s view of the movie.
In contrast, Rotten Tomatoes rates their movies by collecting and
tabulating the reviews given by professional film critics.
We’ve taken both ratings, added them together and found an average
score for each film. Each of the films are then ranked according to this
average score. We’ve also included links to the IMDB and RT profile for
each movie so you can learn more about the movie.
50. Equilibrium (2002)
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In the nation of Libria, there is always peace among men. The rules
of the Librian system are simple. If you are happy, you will be
arrested. If you cry, the law will hunt you down. If you read a
contraband book or so much as look at a smuggled painting, you’ve
committed a crime. To keep the peace, citizens must take their daily
doses Prozium, a powerful designer drug that stops feelings dead and
keeps everyone on an even keel. Refuse to take the drug and special
police will find you. (
Directed by Kurt Wimmer)
49. One Point O (2004)
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Set in the near future, this is the story of a computer programmer,
Simon J., who discovers that his employer intends to use him as a test
subject in a dangerous experiment testing a new advertising technique
which causes Simon to be plagued by mysteriously empty brown packages, a
sense of paranoia and a craving to drink lots and lots of milk. (
Directed by Jeff Renfroe and Marteinn Thorsson)
DVD
48. Starship Troopers (1997)
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In the distant future high school kids are encouraged to become
citizens by joining the military. What they don’t know is that they’ll
soon be engaged in a full scale war against a planet of alien insects.
The fight is on to ensure the safety of humanity. (
Directed by Paul Verhoeven)
47. Rollerball (1975)
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In the year 2018, Jonathan E is a superstar of a sport called
Rollerball, which is a combination of rugby, roller derby, hockey and
motorcycle racing. Rollerball is a sport run by the Energy Corporation,
one of many such conglomerates running the planet in a time when
countries and individual governments are obsolete. The corporations
provide the population with everything that they need–food, a crime-free
environment, mood-altering drugs–as long as they don’t rock the boat
and don’t ask too many questions. (
Directed by Norman Jewison)
DVD
46. Death Race 2000 (1975)
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In a boorish future, the government sponsors a popular, but bloody,
cross-country race in which points are scored by mowing down
pedestrians–with bonus points for the elderly! Five teams, each
comprised of a male and female, compete using cars equipped with deadly
weapons. (
Directed by Paul Bartel)
45. Idiocracy (2006)
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Joe Bauers, an Army librarian, is judged to be absolutely average in
every regard, has no relatives, has no future, so he’s chosen to be one
of the two test subjects in a top-secret hibernation program. He and
hooker Rita were to awaken in one year, but things go wrong and they
wake up instead in 2505. By this time, stupid people have outbred
intelligent people; the world is (barely) run by morons–and Joe and Rita
are the smartest people in America. (
Directed by Mike Judge)
DVD
44. Strange Days (1995)
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Lenny Nero sells dreams and hustles nightmares, dealing in real-life
experiences through a new technology that makes every sensation
immediate. But on the eve of the new millennium, Lenny and his
street-savvy friend and conscience, Mace, are suddenly caught in a
deadly fantasy of conspiracy, murder and betrayal–plunging them into the
bleak heart of the nightworld he has always inhabited. (
Directed by Kathryn Bigelow)
DVD
43. Logan’s Run (1976)
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In a 23rd-century world of pleasure and perfection, Logan’s job is to
kill anyone past the age of 30. But when his turn for sacrifice comes
(at age 30), he decides to flee the bubble-domed paradise and find a
mythical “sanctuary” that lies outside. (
Directed by Michael Anderson)
42. I Robot (2004)
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It’s 2035 A.D., where robots are everyday objects and are programmed
to live alongside humans. Detective Del Spooner is called out to
investigate the apparent suicide of the scientist behind these robots,
Dr. Alfred Lanning. Spooner suspects that the death might not be a
suicide, but the result of one of the robots. All robots are programmed
by three laws, but Spooner starts to wonder if a robot can in fact feel
emotions, and possibly murder. But if Spooner’s suspicions are true, he
is going to have a hard time convincing everyone. (
Directed by Alex Proyas)
41. Soylent Green (1973)
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New York City in the year 2022 the population is over 40 million.
Without enough food to feed the masses–most of it must be manufactured
in local factories. The dinner choices are between Soylent Blue, Soylent
Yellow, or Soylent Green. When William Simonson an executive in the
Soylent Company, is found murdered, police detective Thorn is sent in to
investigate the case. (
Directed by Richard Fleischer)
40. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
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A post-apocalyptic tale based on a novella by Harlan Ellison. A boy
communicates telepathically with his dog as they scavenge for food and
sex, and they stumble into an underground society where the old society
is preserved. The daughter of one of the leaders of the community
seduces and lures him below, where the citizens have become unable to
reproduce because of being underground so long. They use him for
impregnation purposes, and then plan to be rid of him. (
Directed by L.Q. Jones)
DVD
39. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
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A fine and stunning screen adaptation of George Orwell’s prophetic
1948 novel about a world in which the government completely controls the
masses by controlling their thoughts, altering history and even
changing the meaning of words to suit its needs. (
Directed by Michael Radford)
DVD
38. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
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Sometime in the distant future, after the polar icecaps have melted,
major flooding has devastated most major cities. Technology has advanced
to the point where people depend for many tasks on robots with highly
sophisticated artificial intelligence; including companion robots which
replace friends, lovers or children. n this futuristic fairy tale,
“David”, a highly-advanced robotic boy, hopes to become a real boy so
that he can win back the affection of the human mother who abandoned
him. (
Directed by Steven Spielberg)
37. Silent Running (1972)
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A botanist has spent eight years aboard the space freighter “Valley
Forge” preserving the only botanical specimens left from Earth under
huge geodesic domes. When he receives orders to destroy the project and
return home, he rebels and hijacks the freighter, killing his fellow
crewmen, injuring himself, and plunging the craft into the gaseous rings
of Saturn. (
Directed by Douglas Trumbull)
DVD
36. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
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Set in a future world where America has lost the war on drugs, an
undercover cop, Fred, is one of many agents hooked on the popular drug
Substance D, which causes its users to develop split personalities.
Fred, for instance, is also Bob, a notorious drug dealer. Along with his
superior officers, Fred sets up an elaborate scheme to catch Bob and
tear down his operation. (
Directed by Richard Linklater)
35. Escape from New York (1981)
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The island of Manhattan has been turned into the world’s largest
maximum security prison, a place where the worst of humanity is sent to
rot. The U.S. Government finds itself in a major crisis when the
president’s plane crash lands in New York only days before a vital peace
summit between major warring nations is to take place. Only war hero
turned felon Snake Plissken can save the day, and he is offered a simple
deal for his work: save the president and live, fail to save him and
die. (
Directed by John Carpenter)
34. THX 1138 (1971)
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THX 1138 is a chilling look at a 25th-century totalitarian state
where mankind is stripped of any individuality. People are numbered
drones, and a government-enforced program of sedating drugs controls the
populace. The story’s title character, THX, is a factory worker whose
life is irrevocably changed when he stops taking his mind-numbing drugs.
(
Directed by George Lucas)
33. They Live (1988)
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Set in the future, a drifter discovers that alien beings are
controlling the minds of the masses by use of subliminal messages urging
apathy and obedience. Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker,
discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see
the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and
government with messages like “Stay Asleep”, “No Imagination”, “Submit
to Authority”. (
Directed by John Carpenter)
32. District 13 (2004)
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In 2010, the dangerous districts in the periphery of Paris are
surrounded by walls, and the dwellers do not have school, hospital and
even police in the area, which are ruled by drug lords. In the 13th
District, Leito is a honest man that lives in a clean building and does
not permit drug dealers nearby his neighborhood. When he destroys one
million Euros in heroin of Taha Bemamud, the criminal abducts Leito’s
sister Lola and the corrupt police arrests Leito. (
Directed by Pierre Morel)
31. War Of the Worlds (1953)
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H.G. Well’s classic novel is brought to life is this tale of alien
invasion. The residents of a small town are excited when a flaming
meteor lands in the hills. Their joy is tempered somewhat when they
discover it has passengers who are not very friendly. The movie itself
is understood better when you consider it was made at the height of the
Cold War – just replace Martian with Russian. (
Directed by Byron Haskin)
DVD
30. Dark City (1998)
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A cop tries to help an amnesiac fugitive, suspected of being a serial
killer, to discover the truth about his past. He finds that his
memories and his reality as he knows it are, in fact, artificial
creations controlled by a fiendish underworld of ominous beings knows as
The Strangers. (
Directed by Alex Proyas)
29. Total Recall (1990)
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What is reality when you can’t trust your memory? Set in the year
2084, an Earthbound construction worker keeps having dreams about Mars. A
trip to a false memory transplant service for an imaginary trip to Mars
goes terribly wrong and another personality surfaces. When his old self
returns, he finds groups of his friends and several strangers seem to
have orders to kill him. He finds records his other self left him that
tell him to get to Mars to join up with the underground. The reality of
the situation is constantly in question. Who is he? Which personality is
correct? Which version of reality is true? (
Directed by Paul Verhoeven)
28. Mad Max (1979)
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George Miller’s vision of an apocalyptic future set in the wastelands
of Australia. Total social decay is just around the corner in this
spectacular cheap budget gang orientated road movie. Where the cops do
their best to lay down the law and the outlaw gangs try their hardest to
defy the system. Leather clad Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) husband,
father and cop turns judge, juror and executioner after his best friend,
wife and baby are killed. Here we see the final days of normality of a
man who had everything to live for, and his slip into the abyss of
madness. With its astounding car stunts, unbelievable bike chases and
constant ultra violence Mad Max is the antihero on the road to vengeance
and oblivion. (
Directed by George Miller)
27. On The Beach (1959)
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After a mysterious nuclear war, most of the world has been wiped out
save for Australia. A US submarine, commandeered by Peck, surfaces only
to be shocked by the apocalypse. With a black radioactive cloud fast
approaching the only surviving continent, the survivors make serious
introspection into their lives as they await their fates. (
Directed by Stanley Kramer)
DVD
26. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
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In a dark futuristic world, literature, reading, and independent
thought have been outlawed. The government has gone so far as to employ a
special league of firemen to burn all books on sight. But when one
otherwise obedient fireman (Oskar Werner) meets an intriguing
revolutionary (Julie Christie), she provokes him to question the
legitimacy of his actions. Tensions mount when he blatantly transgresses
the very laws he’s employed to enforce. (
Directed by François Truffaut)
DVD
25. Gattaca (1997)
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In the near future, where corporations screen their employees based
on their genetic makeup, a man with a congenital heart condition tries
to assume the identity of a former athlete with perfect genes in order
to fulfill his dream of traveling in space. (
Directed by Andrew Niccol)
24. Metropolis (2001)
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Set in the future, Metropolis is a grand city-state populated by
humans and robots, the co-habitants of a strictly segmented society.
Amidst the chaos created by anti-robot factions, detective Shunsaku Ban
and his sidekick Kenichi are searching for rebel scientist, Dr.
Laughton, to arrest him and seize his latest creation, a beautiful young
girl named Tima. When they locate them, Shunsaku quickly comes to
realize that the eccentric scientist is beyond their reach, protected by
a powerful man and his fierce desire to reclaim a tragic figure from
his past. (
Directed by Rintaro)
23. V for Vendetta (2005)
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Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For
Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey who
is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante known
only as “V.” Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art
of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two
London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves,
urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As
Evey uncovers the truth about V’s mysterious background, she also
discovers the truth about herself – and emerges as his unlikely ally in
the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a
society fraught with cruelty and corruption. (
Directed by James McTeigue)
22. Planet of the Apes (1968)
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When Colonel George Taylor (Charlton Heston) crash lands his
spacecraft on what seems to be an unfamiliar planet, he is captured and
held prisoner by a dominant race of hyperrational, articulate apes.
However, the ape community is riven with internal dissention, centered
in no small part on its policy toward humans, who, on this planet, are
treated as mindless animals. Befriended and ultimately assisted by the
more liberal simians, Taylor escapes – only to find a more terrifying
obstacle confronting his return home. (
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner)
21. The City of Lost Children (1995)
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Just off the coast of a dank, teeming harbor town, a horrible
scientist named Krank lives on a mist-shrouded rig. He is aging
prematurely because he lacks one vital function: the ability to dream.
Krank’s henchmen, a community of Cyclops, kidnap children from town and
bring them to Krank so that he can harvest their dreams, invade them,
and make them his own. (
Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
DVD
20. Akira (1988)
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On July 16, 1988, Tokyo was destroyed by what was believed to be a
new type of bomb, triggering World War III. Thirty-one years later, in
2019, Neo-Tokyo has arisen from ashes under Japan’s new political
system; but the glittering city is built on foundations of poverty,
ignorance and despair. Kaneda is a bike gang leader whose close friend
Tetsuo gets involved in a government secret project known as Akira. On
his way to save Tetsuo, Kaneda runs into a group of anti-government
activists, greedy politicians, irresponsible scientists and a powerful
military leader. (
Directed by Katsuhiro Ôtomo)
19. RoboCop (1987)
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In the not-to-distant-future, a newly transfered Detroit police
officer is remade into an indistructable cybornetic cop after being
dismembered by a gang of thungs in an abandoned warehouse. Reborn as
Robocop he is programed to serve and protect the citizens of Detroit and
eliminate the rampant crime in the city streets so that a massive
city-wide reconstruction project can get underway. But once he has
completed his task, he sets his sites on the corruption inside
Securities Concepts Inc.- the corporation that created him. (
Directed by Paul Verhoeven)
18. Battle Royale (2000)
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Japan at the start of the new millennium. The country is in a state
of chaos, violence by rebellious teenagers in schools is completely out
of control. The government hits back with a new law: every year a school
class picked at random will be cast away on a desert island to fight it
out among themselves. The rules are simple: it lasts three days,
everyone gets water, food and a weapon and only one may survive. (
Directed by Kinji Fukasaku)
17. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
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Set in the year 2029 and following World Wars III and IV, a
Japanese-led Asian block dominates world affairs. The alliance maintains
its international supremacy through its elite security force whose
cybernetically enhanced operatives tackle an array of hi-tech terrorists
and other threats to international security. Major Motoko Kusanagi, a
cybernetically augmented female agent, has been tracking a virtual
entity known as the Puppet Master with her crack squad of security
agents. (
Directed by Mamoru Oshii)
16. Pleasantville (1998)
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Pleasantville is a 1950s sitcom enjoying cult status on a
contemporary cable channel. David loves it, but his sister Jennifer is
too hip. When a mysterious TV repairman gives them a new remote control,
the pair are transported into the world of Pleasantville like it or
not. They find themselves trapped in an alternate reality where the town
exists in black and white–in a white bread world without passion or
violence. (
Directed by Gary Ross)
15. Serenity (2005)
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In the future, mankind has consumed planet Earth, called
“Earth-that-was”, and moved to other planets and satellites. A new order
is established with the totalitarian government of the Alliance, which
fights and wins a war against their opponents, the independents. When
Dr. Simon rescues his teenager telepathic sister River Tam from the
claws of the Alliance, they are sheltered by a group of mercenaries and
smugglers in the spacecraft Serenity, led by the former war hero Captain
Malcolm ‘Mal’ Reynolds. (
Directed by Joss Whedon)
14. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
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The year is 2035 and humankind subsists in a desolate netherworld
following the eradication of 99% of the Earth’s population, a holocaust
that makes the planet’s surface uninhabitable, and mankind’s destiny
uncertain. A desperate group of scientists secure a reluctant volunteer,
Cole, to embark on a dangerous mission back to the year 1996, where
they hope he can help unravel this apocalyptic nightmare. (
Directed by Terry Gilliam)
13. Alphaville (1965)
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An American private-eye is rocketed through space into a city run by a
dictator scientist. Lemmy Caution arrives in Alphaville, a futuristic
city on another planet and finds his very American character is at odds
with the city’s ruler, an evil scientist named Von Braun, who has
outlawed love and self-expression. (
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard)
DVD
12. The Trial (1962)
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Josef K wakes up in the morning and finds the police in his room.
They tell him that he is on trial but nobody tells him what he is
accused of. In order to find out about the reason of this accusation and
to protest his innocence, he tries to look behind the facade of the
judicial system. But since this remains fruitless, there seems to be no
chance for him to escape from this nightmare. Based on a novel by Franz
Kafka. (
Directed by Orson Welles)
DVD
11. Sleeper (1973)
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In 1973, health food store owner Miles Munroe enters the hospital for
a routine gall bladder operation. When he expires on the operating
table, Miles’ sister requests permission to cryogenically freeze her
brother’s body. After 200 years, Miles is unwrapped by a group of
scientists and awakens to a Brave New World of deadening conformity,
ruled with an iron fist by a never-seen Leader. (
Directed by Woody Allen)
10. Delicatessen (1991)
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Set in the indeterminate future, a landlord who happens to be a
butcher starts slaughtering humans to feed his starving tenants, a
practice which outrages a guerilla group living in the sewers beneath
the city streets. (
Directed by Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet)
9. Minority Report (2002)
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In Washington, D.C., in the year 2054, murder has been eliminated.
The future is seen and the guilty punished before the crime has ever
been committed. From a nexus deep within the Justice Department’s elite
Pre-Crime unit, all the evidence to convict–from imagery alluding to the
time, place and other details–is seen by “Pre-Cogs,” three psychic
beings whose visions of murders have never been wrong. (
Directed by Steven Spielberg)
8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
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The first sequel to Mad Max takes place after nuclear war has
destroyed Australia. Max lends his aid and protection to a small band of
survivors who are losing their struggle to protect an oil refinery
under siege by a band of savage, mohawked marauders. (
Directed by George Miller)
7. The Matrix (1999)
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Neo is a young software engineer and part-time hacker who is singled
out by some mysterious figures who want to introduce him into the secret
of ‘the matrix’. The cops also seem to be after him, and he takes a
chance on discovering what he has always suspected: that the world is
not quite what it seems to be and a sinister conspiracy is at work. (
Directed by Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski)
6. Children of Men (2006)
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A futuristic society faces extinction when no children are born and
the human race has lost the ability to reproduce. England has descended
into chaos, until an iron-handed warden is brought in to institute
martial law. The warden’s ability to keep order is threatened when a
woman finds that she is pregnant with what would be the first child born
in 27 years. (
Directed by Alfonso Cuarón)
5. Blade Runner (1982)
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In a cyberpunk vision of the future, man has developed the technology
to create replicants, human clones used to serve in the colonies
outside Earth but with fixed lifespans. In Los Angeles, 2019, Deckard is
a Blade Runner, a cop who specialises in terminating replicants.
Originally in retirement, he is forced to re-enter the force when five
replicants escape from an offworld colony to Earth. (
Directed by Ridley Scott)
4. Wings of Desire (1987)
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Two angels wander in a mixture of post-war and modern Berlin.
Invisible to humans, they nevertheless give their help and comfort to
all the lonely and depressed souls they meet. Finally, after many
centuries, one of the angels becomes unhappy with his immortal state and
wishes to become human in order to experience the joys of everyday
life. He meets a circus acrobat and finds in her the fufillment of all
his mortal desires. He also discovers that he is not alone in making
this cross over, and that a purely spiritual experience is not enough to
satisfy anyone. (
Directed by Wim Wenders)
3. Brazil (1985)
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In an Orwellian vision of the future, the populace are completely
controlled by the state, but technology remains almost as it was in the
1970′s. Sam Lowry is a civil servant who one day spots a mistake in one
of the pieces of paperwork passing through his office. The mistake leads
to the arrest of an entirely innocent man, and although Lowry attempts
to correct the error, it just gets bigger and bigger, sucking him in
with it. (
Directed by Terry Gilliam)
2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
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Based on Anthony Burgess’s disturbing novel about England in a
totalitarian future. The film follows Alex, a Beethoven-loving,
head-bashing punk who leads his gang of “droogs” on ultra-violent
assaults until he is captured by authorities and subjected to nasty
behavior-modification therapy. (
Directed by Stanley Kubrick)
1. Metropolis (1927)
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A futuristic look at the schism created in mankind as
industrialization and technological advancement serves to alienate the
humans from one another. People are divided into two groups: the
thinkers–who make plans, yet don’t know how to operate machinery, and
the workers–who forward production without having any overview vision.
Completely separate, neither group is complete; however, together they
make a whole. When one man, a “thinker,” dares to journey to the
underground, where the workers ‘slave away,’ he’s surprised at what he
sees. (
Directed by Fritz Lang)
Here are some films outside of the Top 50, which we think deserve a
mention. We’re quite sure that we’ve omitted some excellent films, some
of which were intentional. The final list is a result of discussions on
how well the films we examined meet the criteria of a dystopia.
Code 46 (2003)
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A love story set in an eerily possible near-future, where cities are
heavily controlled and only accessible through checkpoints. People
cannot travel unless they have “papelles,” a special travel insurance.
Outside of the cities, the desert has taken over and shanty towns are
jammed with non-citizens – people without papelles whose lives are
severely restricted. (
Directed by Michael Winterbottom)
DVD
The Omega Man (1971)
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Due to an experimental vaccine, Doctor Robert Neville is the only
survivor of an apocalyptic war, with the exception of a few hundred
deformed, nocturnal people who are also homicidal maniacs. They blame
science and technology for their condition and they see Neville as the
last symbol of science, therefore he must die. Neville uses everything
at his disposal in an attempt to survive. (
Directed by Boris Sagal)
The Running Man (1987)
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Set in 2019, an ex-cop framed and convicted of mass slaughter,
becomes a contestant on the most popular game show in which convicted
felons race for their lives in decimated L.A. in hopes of a pardon.
Adapted from a Stephen King novel. (
Directed by Paul Michael Glaser)
Le Dernier Combat (1983)
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In the post-apocalyptic future, only a few humans are left. No one is
able to speak and people communicate non-verbally. A determined loner
befriends a reclusive older man and these two battle against vicious
thugs for food, shelter and life itself. (
Directed by Luc Besson)
IMDB: 6.8 | Rotten Tomatoes: NA | Average: NA
Avalon (2001)
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In a dark future, bored young citizens entertain themselves playing
violent, illegal virtual reality games. In this realm, beautiful loner
Ash is unrivaled as the champion of one computer fantasy game. But when
Ash’s former lover becomes lost in the game, she makes the dangerous
decision to follow him into a secret level, from which no player has
ever returned. (
Directed by Mamoru Oshii)
IMDB: 6.7 | Rotten Tomatoes: NA | Average: NA
DVD
No Blade of Grass (1970)
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A strange new virus has appeared, which only attacks strains of
grasses such as wheat and rice, and the world is descending into famine
and chaos. Architect John, along with his family and friends, is making
his way from London to his brother’s farm in northern England where
there will hopefully be food and safety for all of them. Along the way,
they encounter hostile soldiers, biker gangs, and all manner of people
who are all too willing to take advantage of travelers for a mouthful of
food. (
Directed by Cornel Wilde)
IMDB: 5.8 | Rotten Tomatoes: NA | Average: NA
DVD
Update:
First of all, thank you for reading and commenting on this list. From
the amount of feedback we’ve received we can tell that you all share
our passion for film. In light of the discussion that has taken place we
thought we’d clarify a few things and respond to some of your comments.
When we began this article we put together a list of well over 100
dystopian movies. It was inevitable that many great movies would have to
be excluded, some of which we were pained to see go. If a given movie
is not on the list it is because of one of the following reasons.
- It’s average score wasn’t high enough to make the list. For example,
many of you mentioned Zardoz and The Handmaid’s Tale. Their average
scores were 5.2 and 5.25 placing them well outside the top 50.
- It had no Rotten Tomatoes rating. This is something we are going to
rectify in the future by estimating an RT score. From memory there were
only two films in the top 50 which we didn’t include because of this.
- We came to the conclusion that it did not satisfy the definition of a dystopia.
- We forgot to include it. Modern Times being the most glaring and embarrassing omission.
The most simple definition of a dystopia is as follows: An imaginary
place or state in which the condition of life is extremely bad, as from
deprivation, oppression, or terror.
In some instances we admittedly used quite a broad interpretation of a
dystopia, but for the most part we think we were fairly consistent. We
removed a few movies like Star Wars, which easily fit the dystopian
model, because we didn’t want high profile science fiction movies to
dominate the list. Instead we wanted to give films which may not have
been as widely watched a chance to be discovered.
We never intended for this to be considered a definitive list. Our
goal was to write something that would promote discussion and connect
people with films they may have never seen or even heard of. In this I
think we succeeded.
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