Top 50 Dysotopian Movies of all time

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Spacehead

Lifer
Jun 2, 2002
13,067
9,858
136
Originally posted by: Gothgar
A lot of the movies on their blew, and I haven't seen the number one movie so no comment, but from 1928? Sounds like they just have a hard on for old movies like most of the critics.

/the good old days
Metropolis really is a great movie. I never thought i'd like a silent movie but if you like sci-fi it's a must-see.

 

ScottyB

Diamond Member
Jan 28, 2002
6,677
1
0
I haven't seen 9 of them: Metropolis, Wings of Desire, Sleeper, The Trial, On the Beach, District 13, Death Race 2000, Rollerball, and One Point O
 

Gothgar

Lifer
Sep 1, 2004
13,429
1
0
Originally posted by: Spacehead
Originally posted by: Gothgar
A lot of the movies on their blew, and I haven't seen the number one movie so no comment, but from 1928? Sounds like they just have a hard on for old movies like most of the critics.

/the good old days
Metropolis really is a great movie. I never thought i'd like a silent movie but if you like sci-fi it's a must-see.

Yeah, I suppose I can give it a watch, if I can find it anywhere...

 

tk149

Diamond Member
Apr 3, 2002
7,253
1
0
Originally posted by: Gothgar
Originally posted by: Spacehead
Originally posted by: Gothgar
A lot of the movies on their blew, and I haven't seen the number one movie so no comment, but from 1928? Sounds like they just have a hard on for old movies like most of the critics.

/the good old days
Metropolis really is a great movie. I never thought i'd like a silent movie but if you like sci-fi it's a must-see.

Yeah, I suppose I can give it a watch, if I can find it anywhere...

There was an "updated" version released which added a music soundtrack. I think Metropolis pretty much started the whole Dystopian movie theme. I've never had a problem finding a copy of the movie at the video store.
 

jonks

Lifer
Feb 7, 2005
13,918
20
81
Solarbabies is conspicuous in its absense :)

I disagree with categorizing Minority Report as dsytopian.
 

BurnItDwn

Lifer
Oct 10, 1999
26,280
1,787
126
Originally posted by: James Bond
Originally posted by: BurnItDwn
Awww ... proxy at work blocks this site ....

Sounds like an interesting list of movies though ....

Anybody feel like copy/pasta-ing the list :)

I suspect that I've probably seen a good number of them as I am a total movie geek ....

50. Equilibrium (2002)
Guntakat or whatever is retarded, but the movie is still badass. They made a mignifficent film considering their budget.

49. One Point O (2004)

48. Starship Troopers (1997)
This came out when I was in High school, was one of my favorite films back then. After seeing it several times and seeing the depth, I still think it's a very underrated movie.

47. Rollerball (1975)
I dunno, I thought this was really quite dumb. I know lots of people think it's great, but to me, it's pretty much rubbish.

46. Death Race 2000 (1975)
My favorite David Caradines performance, Also one of Sly's better films. A real cult classic.

45. Idiocracy (2006)
Mike Judge. Enough said.

44. Strange Days (1995)

43. Logan?s Run (1976)
Yay lets kill old people.

42. I Robot (2004)
Only seen this once, wasn't really paying attention, need to sit through it again.

41. Soylent Green (1973)
A Classic, Heston is a fvcking badass.

40. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
Not sure if I could get used to the whole narration in the film, and the whole telepathy thing is kinda meh .... interesting movie, but not my style

39. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Great story, bad movie, bad execution, could have been so much more!

38. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
This was a big disappointment to me. I was expecting more scifi/action, not a movie about a robot that goes swimming and dies.

37. Silent Running (1972)

36. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
Ehhh, not sure if I could get used to the animation, but it was still pretty good.

35. Escape from New York (1981)
I was disappointed with both of Kurt Russel's "Snake Pliskin" movies .... though this one had some amusing scenes

34. THX 1138 (1971)
Ehh, seen it once, Lucas has done better

33. They Live (1988)
This came out when I was in grade school. I remember seeing it when I was in middle school. I want those glasses!

32. District 13 (2004)

31. War Of the Worlds (1953)

30. Dark City (1998)
Seen this one once or twoce

29. Total Recall (1990)
get your ass to mars. One of my faves!

28. Mad Max (1979)
I love the chases and just the overall roughness of the film

27. On The Beach (1959)

26. Fahrenheit 451 (1966)
Movie isn't really that good, kinda boring actually, though the story itself is a classic.

25. Gattaca (1997)
One of my favorites from back when I was in High School

24. Metropolis (2001)

23. V for Vendetta (2005)
Badass movie

22. Planet of the Apes (1968)
Classic Heston, how can you not like it

21. The City of Lost Children (1995)
Wierd French film, but still quite good.

20. Akira (1988)

19. RoboCop (1987)
One of my all time favorites :)

18. Battle Royale (2000)
Freikin crazy ass movie. The sequal sucked, but original Battle Royale was quite the fvcked up masterpiece

17. Ghost in the Shell (1995)

16. Pleasantville (1998)
This was good

15. Serenity (2005)
Awesome movie!

14. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
This was good

13. Alphaville (1965)

12. The Trial (1962)

11. Sleeper (1973)

10. Delicatessen (1991)

9. Minority Report (2002)
Seen this once

8. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981)
This is good, though I actually laugh more during Thunderdome.

7. The Matrix (1999
Love this movie.

6. Children of Men (2006)
Seen this once

5. Blade Runner (1982)
Love this movie.

4. Wings of Desire (1987)

3. Brazil (1985)
Love this movie. (It's HILLARIOUS)

2. A Clockwork Orange (1971)
Love this movie.

1. Metropolis (1927)
Love this movie. It's not wise to judge a movie just because it's "old."

Thank you James Bond!!!! Lots of good movies, but it's not exactly what I would have expected to see on a "top 50" list ... Still, pretty interesting.
 

Fritzo

Lifer
Jan 3, 2001
41,920
2,161
126
Originally posted by: PlasmaBomb
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
some i haven't heard of. others (rollerball, logan's run, silent running, thx 1138, sleeper, the matrix) are unspeakably awful.

No Wai!

I liked Rollerball :) Their goofy "future tech" and corny words for everyday things were pretty funny. If you don't take that back I'll tell James Caan you made fun of him and he'll go all Misery on your ass.
 

CoinOperatedBoy

Golden Member
Dec 11, 2008
1,809
0
76
I usually hate "top [X]" movie lists, but there are some truly excellent films on this one. Most of these are definitely worth seeing. Not the top of the heap, but I'm glad to see Strange Days on there.
 

crownjules

Diamond Member
Jul 7, 2005
4,858
0
76
Originally posted by: shortylickens
Writer needs a dictionary.
Starship Troopers (the movie) is NOT a dystopia. Its a utopia with a single challenge, the bugs.
Actually, most of the items on that list fail the requirement.
List should actually be "fantasy future" or something similar.

I don't know if you could call the Starship Troopers future a utopia. The book/movie's premise is that facism won out in WW2 and that's the form of government that now rules mankind universally. Fascism oppresses it's people by discouraging openness and opposition to the government. So I think for the majority of people, it satisfies the requirements of a dystopian future by suppressing the freedom of the people. It's not a critical part of the movie however so I don't think it meets the criteria for that reason.

The only one on that list that I don't think satisfies the elements of a dystopia is War of the Worlds. That's just about an apocalyptic alien invasion. If that's a dystopian movie then so are movies like Independence Day and The Day the Earth Stood Still.

Originally posted by: Gothgar
Originally posted by: thecrecarc
Half of those are great books turned into mediocre movies.

this... I am guessing that is why they are on the list, because of the great book that they were...

Equilibrium at 50 is a sham and a half... should be in the top 5 easy.

Equilibrium was good but really just took elements of other dysotopian movies/books and combined them in it's own form with some kung fu thrown in for liveliness.

One movie I'm very surprised doesn't show on that list - A Brave New World. Maybe because it was only a made for TV movie. Now that gets me wondering why such an iconic dystopian book hasn't been made into a feature film.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,608
30,884
146
No La Jette?

No Hiroshima mon Amor?

many in this list are good, though, but some very questionable. Why is Serenity ranked so damn high? ....why is it on the list? ridiculous.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,608
30,884
146
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
some i haven't heard of. others (rollerball, logan's run, silent running, thx 1138, sleeper, the matrix) are unspeakably awful.

"Hey look everyone I'm different"

?

It's not possible to dislike the matrix

of course it is. that movie was shit.

The first was watchable, I think. Not entirely unique or anything, but enjoyable. The rest were dogshit. Utter, shameless, dogshit.

The 13th Floor, released the same year as the first Matrix, is infinitely better, and shamefully ignored on this list.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,608
30,884
146
Originally posted by: Gothgar

A lot of the movies on their blew, and I haven't seen the number one movie so no comment, but from 1928? Sounds like they just have a hard on for old movies like most of the critics.

:confused:



Mouth breathers: giving the rest of the world Michael Bay.

no thanks.

 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,608
30,884
146
Originally posted by: tk149
Originally posted by: Gothgar
Originally posted by: Spacehead
Originally posted by: Gothgar
A lot of the movies on their blew, and I haven't seen the number one movie so no comment, but from 1928? Sounds like they just have a hard on for old movies like most of the critics.

/the good old days
Metropolis really is a great movie. I never thought i'd like a silent movie but if you like sci-fi it's a must-see.

Yeah, I suppose I can give it a watch, if I can find it anywhere...

There was an "updated" version released which added a music soundtrack. I think Metropolis pretty much started the whole Dystopian movie theme. I've never had a problem finding a copy of the movie at the video store.

there was the original, with orchestral soundtrack.

then there was a version released in the 80s, preposterously butchered with some shithole heavy metal craptrack.

then they re-released again with the original track restored.
 

zinfamous

No Lifer
Jul 12, 2006
111,608
30,884
146
alright, I'm adding Equilibrium to the list.

This better not suck like most of the flicks "you people" recommend. :p
 

DangerAardvark

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2004
7,559
0
0
Holy shit, I followed the link for A Clockwork Orange and Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs-down. WHY, ROGER? WHY?
 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Originally posted by: zinfamous
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
Originally posted by: Kev
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
some i haven't heard of. others (rollerball, logan's run, silent running, thx 1138, sleeper, the matrix) are unspeakably awful.

"Hey look everyone I'm different"

?

It's not possible to dislike the matrix

of course it is. that movie was shit.

The first was watchable, I think. Not entirely unique or anything, but enjoyable. The rest were dogshit. Utter, shameless, dogshit.

The 13th Floor, released the same year as the first Matrix, is infinitely better, and shamefully ignored on this list.
I liked the 13th floor but it is not infinitely better than the Matrix. Just better. And only in some ways.
And it doesnt belong on the list. It is not a dystopia. The "present" is just normal, realistic LA. The "past" was perhaps idealized but basically reaslistic, and certainly not a dystopia. The "future" we only see at the very end of the movie and that brief glimse certainly seemed utopian in nature.

 

shortylickens

No Lifer
Jul 15, 2003
80,287
17,080
136
Originally posted by: The Boston Dangler
if the matrix is dystopian, why not the terminator?
Most of the scenes in The Terminator 1 and 2 were set in the present, the post-apocolyptic future is just show in brief flashbacks.
Also, a post-apocolyptic mess is not quite dystopian because the two terms imply slightly different things.

But again, looking at the stuff that did make the list, I think they jus wanted to put together a mess of movies that they happened to like. Arguing about whether a particular movie belongs on the list or not is a waste of time, they clearly had no solid rules.
 

yhelothar

Lifer
Dec 11, 2002
18,409
39
91
list needs fight club... BADLY, and near the top.
that and american beauty.

robocop/irobot/planet of the apes?!? no terminator1/2? WTF?!
equilibrium has a 36% on RT, and it still made it onto that list that's ranked by it? Looks like they weren't aiming too high either.
 

flexy

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
8,464
155
106
oh..i was thinking about Equilibrium, just to see it IS on the list. IMHO an excellent movie.
By the way..is "Dark City" on there?

And how someone thinks Matrix (even II/III) is "utter dogsh!t" is beyond me - i also cannot follow the logic where "American Beauty" would fit ANYWHERE in that list.
 

TruePaige

Diamond Member
Oct 22, 2006
9,874
2
0
Originally posted by: astroidea
list needs fight club... BADLY, and near the top.
that and american beauty.


robocop/irobot/planet of the apes?!? no terminator1/2? WTF?!
equilibrium has a 36% on RT, and it still made it onto that list that's ranked by it? Looks like they weren't aiming too high either.

Do you know what dystopian means? 0.o