Top 10 Future Movies.
What Lies Ahead For Us?

These Top 10 Future Movies shown on the "big screen" tried to give us a glimpse of what it will be like living decades from now.

They didn't always get it right... but often they still managed to surprise us with predictions of future technological changes in everything from cars, computers, security, space travel, future life-styles, climate change, and more.

So let's see what the directors of our Top 10 Future Predicting Movies did get right:

Top 10 Future Movies... A View Of The Future.

1. Modern Times... (1936)
   
   
   
   
   

   Starring, written and produced by Charlie Chaplin.
   
   This one is a bit tongue-in-cheek but we just couldn't resist... Charlie was a genius.
   This movie was deemed "culturally significant" by the Library of Congress in 1989, and selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry.(ref: Wikipedia)

   
   
   
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey...(1968)
   
   
   
   

   Director-Producer: Stanley Kubrick.
   
   This ground breaking movie was made using small-scale models and actors suspended by wires rather than the CGI (Computer-Generated Imagery) used today.

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Space Travel to Jupiter and extra-terrestrial life.
     
     
   • Super computers that develop artificial intelligence and emotions.
     
     
   • The IPad... Samsung actually used scenes from the movie to defend a lawsuit from Apple claiming patent infringment, citing that the "personal tablet computers" shown in the film legally constitute "prior art".(ref: Wikipedia)
     
     
   • Voice print I.D. (speaker recognition) and Video-phones.
     
     
   
   
   
3. Logan's Run... (1976)
   
   

   Starring: Michael York, Jenny Agutter, Richard Jordan, Peter Ustinov, Farrah Fawcett.
   Director: Michael Anderson.

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • A Domed, Sealed City in a post-Apocalyptic world.
     
     
   • Population and Resources kept in equilibrium by a ruthless, computer-controlled authority.
     Residents are allowed a hedonistic lifestyle up until the age of 30, after which they must present for the ritual of "Carrousel" where they are vaporized with the promise of being "Renewed". Runners seeking "Sanctuary" are to be tracked down and eliminated.
     
     
   • Humans are implanted at birth with a Life-clock crystal in the palm of the hand which changes color as their "Last day" draws near.
     
     
   
   
   
4. Star Trek: The Motion Picture... (1979)
   
   

   Starring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, James Doohan.
   Director: Robert Wise.

   This movie was also pre Computer Generated Images and used miniature models. The main 1/120th scale model of the Enterprise took 14 months to build at a cost of $150,000.(ref: Wikipedia)

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Universal Translator for all languages.
     
     
   • The Communicator was a precursor to the flip mobile phone.
     
     
   • The Hypospray injected medicine into the body with no needle.
     
     
   • Cloaking Device rendered space-ships and people invisible (like today's Stealth Technologies).
     
     
   • Geordi's Visor (for Visual Instrument and Sensory Organ Replacement) allowed blind people to see.
     
     
   • Phaser... a weapon that can be switched to "stun" to incapacitate rather than "kill" (e.g. today's Taser).
     
     
   • The Holodeck with perfect 3-D simulation of people and activities.
     
     
   • The Transporter which dematerializes people and objects in seconds, transports them up to 40,000 kms away, then rematerializes them.
     
     
   
   
   
5. Blade Runner...(1982)
   
   
   

   Starring: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Daryl Hannah.
   Directed by the brilliant Ridley Scott.

   This sci-fi classic received 2 Academy Award nominations. In 1993 the movie was also selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Retinal Scanning of blood vessel patterns at the back of the eye (which are unique like finger-prints) for I.D.
     
     
   • Replicants... human-like organic robots, genetically engineered, created from artificial DNA solely to work in Earth's dangerous off-world colonies.
     
     
   • Flying cars called "Spinners"... capable of vertical take off, hovering, or flying under jet propulsion, as well as ground travel.
     
     
   • Polygraph-type machine (the lie detecting Voight-Kampff Device)... measures body functions like heart rate, "blush response", and eye movement when emotive questions are asked (used in the movie to identify Replicants).
     
     
   
   
   
6. Gattaca...(1997)
   
   

   Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal, Ernest Borgnine.
   Director: Andrew Nicol.

   This Academy Award nominated movie received critical acclaim but not box office success. It sparked much interest and debate about interfering with human genetics. Gattaca was derived from the letters of the four DNA nitrogenous bases (Adenine, Cytosine, Guanine, Thymine).

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Explored Genetic Code Manipulation prior to implantation to select the best hereditary traits of the parents and sex of the child.
     Genetically undesirable conditions like baldness, alcoholism, obesity, short-sightedness, heart defects, or a propensity for violence or depression, etc can be eliminated.
     
     
   • Envisaged discrimination based on genetics. "Valid" births are identified biometrically and recorded in a Genetic Registry Database. Reproduction by natural means results in an "In-Valid" birth notice meaning the person is carrying "inferior genes".
     The "Valid" genotype ensures entry to the upper levels of society and career, whereas being "In-Valid" relegates a person to a lower social strata and menial jobs.
     
     
   
   
   
7. Minority Report...(2002)
   
   

   Starring: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Max von Sydow.
   Director: Steven Spielberg.

   Spielberg received an Academy Award nomination and four Saturn Awards including Best Science Fiction Film.

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Retinal Scanners used in the city's optical recognition system. Cruise's character undergoes a dangerous (and illegal) eye replacement to avoid detection.
     
     
   • Multi-touch user interfaces and Electronic paper or e-paper.
     
     
   • Facial Recognition Advertising Billboards that recognize passers-by and greet them by name with specifically targeted advertising offers.
     
     
   • Insect Robots: these are currently being developed for military reconnaissance to be the eyes and ears of soldiers in dangerous situations.
     
     
   • Crime Predicting Software that helps profile and identify the most likely offenders.
   
   
   
8. I, Robot...(2004)
   
   

   Starring: Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood, James Cromwell.
   Director: Alex Proyas.

   A slick, action packed thriller that takes us to a future world reliant on robots to assist humans in day to day life. The futuristic Audi driven by Will Smith almost steals the show.

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Anthropomorphic Robots have become common place in society performing jobs humans don't want to do... think servants, garbage collectors, carers for the elderly, etc.
     
     
   • Futuristic Audi... cars just keep getting spunkier.
     
     
   
   
   
9. The Island... (2005)
   
   

   Starring: Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Sean Bean, Steve Buscemi.
   Director: Michael Bay.

   Future Movies... Technology Foreseen:

   • Human Cloning allows wealthy sponsors to reproduce clones of themselves to be used for spare body parts or surrogate motherhood.
     
     
   • Holographic Projectors that convince the isolated community of clones that the outside world is dangerous, contaminated, and unhabitable; and that if they are lucky they may eventually end up in a beautiful, paradise... "the Island".
     
     
   • A large, tabletop touch-screen office computer display allowing multiple forms of input.
     
     
   
   
   
10. Tron: Legacy... (2010)
    
    

    Starring: Jeff Bridges, Garrett Hedlund, Bruce Boxleitner, Olivia Wilde, Michael Sheen.
    Director: Joseph Kosinski.

    Future Technology Foreseen:

    This sequel to the 1982 movie features dazzling Computer Generated Imaging and state of the art production design from Disney.

    The original Tron was one of the first films to extensively use any form of CGI and was considered ground-breaking.

    It was nominated at the 55th Academy Awards for Best Costume Design and Best Sound but was refused a nomination for Special Effects. Writer and Director of the original Tron, Steven Lisberger, was quoted as saying "The Academy thought we cheated by using computers".

    Apart from becoming a cult film, Tron has gone on to become a franchise extending to multiple video games, an animated T.V. series, and comic books.