It might be a nuclear bomb, a plague or even nature when she finally decides to release her fury on humankind, regardless of the cause a dystopian world is or will be a truly frightening place.
1. Children of Men
In a world where mankind has lost the ability to give birth, society falls apart and everything is in chaos. Violence is everywhere and the residents of London are ravaged by faction wars. For 18 years this has been the only existence known to the
people but all that is about to change.
A lone woman is discovered to be pregnant in the middle of London with no explanation as to how it happened. She must now travel to safety accompanied by a Theo Faron, a peace activist and his ex-wife Julian, a revolutionary. In her womb lies humankind’s hope for the future. The question is will it be realized?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0206634/plotsummary
2. Logan’s Run
Humanity has continued to exist inside a domed city. For all its inhabitants the world is and has always been the city. In order to maintain this delicate situation both the birth and death of the City’s residents are controlled by a computer. Everyone has a 30 yr limit where they are told that they must be renewed. What actually happens is they are incinerated in order to prevent the population from increasing. Those who choose to avoid this faith are branded as criminals and are called “runners”. They are hunted down by “sandmen” and must constantly be hiding and running to survive.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074812/synopsis
3. THX 1138
In a world where the human race has been forced to live underground, societal behavior is controlled and the people are required to take drugs that inhibit the development of emotions. Many emotional behaviors are prohibited and sex has been outlawed.
A factory worker known as THX-1138 decides to stop taking the pills and falls in love with his room mate. He is then caught by the robotic police and is imprisoned once his room mate becomes pregnant. He eventually escapes with another convict, SEN 5241, and a hologram named SRT. THX 1138 plans to search for his room mate and escape to the surface.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066434/plotsummary
4. The Handmaid’s Tale
In a futuristic world where most have become sterile, America is controlled by a fundamentalist religious group. It is illegal to escape across the border and when Kate and her family tries to run to Canada, she is taken, her daughter kidnapped and her husband killed. Kate is sentenced to become a handmaid, those tasked to bear the children of the country’s high ranking officials.
After being trained in the proper way to perform her new duties she is assigned to the Commander. She develops an attraction to Nick, the chauffeur and eventually becomes pregnant with his child. This is of course forbidden and the penalty for her acts is death.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Handmaid%27s_Tale_%28film%29
5. Dark City
John Murdoch awakens in a strange hotel without any recollection of his past. He is hunted down by the police for a crime that he does not remember committing. In his quest to piece together his past, he discovers a group known as the Strangers that control the underworld. They have the power to control the people in the city and put them to sleep.
John realizes that the Strangers are after him because of a power that he manifested. He must now stop these Strangers before they take over his mind and destroy him.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118929/plotsummary
6. The Terminator
In the future a war between man and machine will be waged. It will be long and difficult but the deciding battle will not be fought in this post apocalyptic world but in the present. The machines will send a robot assassin back in time to kill Sarah Connor. She is a seemingly ordinary woman who will eventually give birth the the leader of the rebellion and the hope of mankind. She must stay alive otherwise the future will be lost.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/synopsis
7. 12 Monkeys
When the world is hit by a disease, a bio-terrorist act by a group known as “The army of the Twelve Monkeys,” mankind is forced to live underground. Hope is not lost however because techology has advanced to a point where several people can be sent back in time. James Cole, a convicted criminal, along with some other people become humanity’s last hope and are given the task of obtaining a pure sample of the virus so that a cure can be developed.
http://www.netflix.com/Movie/12-Monkeys/17672318
http://www.philipcoppens.com/12monkeys.html
8. Mad Max
In a world where the highways are controlled by gangs, there is constant fighting and the streets become battle grounds where death becomes commonplace. People are terrorized by these gangs as they kill and loot gasoline.
Max Rockatasky is an ex-policeman who losses it all. His family and partner are killed by a biker gang. He decides to go on a quest for revenge and becomes known as “Mad Max” a road warrior who has taken the law into his own hands.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079501/plotsummary
9. The Postman
A drifter on the run from a sect known as the Holns stumbles upon a wrecked postal vehicle. He decides to become a postman and starts delivering the letters. This gives back hope to the people who have lived too long under the oppression of the Holns. He becomes an unlikely hero during desperate times.
http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/1800025993/details
10. The Road
In a post apocalyptic world where dangers lurk at every tun, a father and a son decide to head south where the climate is warmer. They are both unsure of what they’ll find there but they proceed regardless.
For protection they have a gun and 2 shells. They will either use it to save their lives from danger or to end it themselves. During these times there things more horrific than even death. Will they reach their destination safely or will they be forced to make the ultimate decision?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0898367/plotsummary
11. Gattaca
Vincent has always dreamed of going on a voyage across space. However his hopes are crushed in a world where people discriminate based on DNA. His diagnosis shows that he is not fit for anything more than menial labor and will never be part of a space expedition.
He decides to bypass the system and adopt the identity of Jerome, a genetically perfect human being but someone who has become a paraplegic because of an accident. He successfully fools all the genetic tests but just days from launch the mission director is killed. One of his eyelashes was found and his real identity becomes the prime suspect. He must avoid being discovered and keep a low profile until the mission begins.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/plotsummary
12. The Matrix
Thomas Anderson lives two lives. He is a regular office employee by day and a hacker by night called Neo. After receiving a message from an even more renowned hacker called Morpheus, Neo decides to meet him in person. He is offered the chance to discover the truth and he accepts.
He wakes up to discover that the world is very different from what he has known. Machines have taken over and human bodies are being used as fuel cells. He is told that he is “The One,” the prophesized savior of the human race.
http://www.moviefone.com/movie/the-matrix/5827/synopsis
13. Soylent Green
In 2022 water is rationed and fresh food is almost non-existent. Temperatures are very high because of the greenhouse effect and there are no more natural resources. A single company known as Soylent manufactures a type of wafer that serves as the staple food of the people.
When one of the executives of the company dies, a police detective named Thorn comes in to investigate. He uncovers more than just the reason for the murder but a greater conspiracy as well. The company is not what it seems and the artificial food holds secrets that have been kept from the public.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070723/plotsummary
14. Escape from New York
In the year 1997, New York has become a high security prison colony. The city is walled to keep the convicts inside and mines are placed at its borders to make sure that nobody gets out alive.
When the President’s helicopter accidentally falls into New York, its chief Police commissioner must use unconventional means in recovering him. He tells ex-soldier turned bank robber Snake Plissken that he’ll get his freedom back if he is able to safely retrieve the president and a cassette that he is carrying. A bomb set to explode in 22 hours is placed around Snake’s neck and he’s told that it’ll only be removed if he succeeds. Snake must rescue the president from a man known as the Duke of New York if he wants to live.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082340/plotsummary
15. Brazil
Sam Lowry is a civil servant who goes about his job the best way he can in an inefficient government. While working he discovers a clerical mistake that resulted in the conviction of an innocent man. He tries to rectify the mistake and discovers exactly how difficult an undertaking it can be. His pleas fall on deaf ears and he realizes that he will get no assistance from the bureaucracy he has been working for so long in.
http://www.fast-rewind.com/brazil.htm
16. The Island
A facility exists where the survivors of a worldwide disease are living in. They are told that nothing can survive in the outside world and that the only safe place left is “the island.” The only way to get there is to win a lottery so everyone looks forward to the day that they will be chosen. When a friend of Lincoln Six-Echo is chosen, he becomes very interested in “the island” and starts asking questions. He eventually sees his friend being operated on and his organs removed. He decides to escape and brings Jordan Two-Delta with him. They are hunted down by mercenaries who are hired by the head of the facility. He intends to catch them before the truth about the facility is revealed.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/synopsis
17. Nineteen Eighty-Four: 1984
Human kind lives in a totalitarian society where everything is regulated and even thoughts are considered crimes. The Ministry of Truth monitors and influences every aspect of the people’s lives. The Ministry enforces it’s rules and decrees through the Thought Police, feared agents whose goal is to eliminate “thoughtcrime.”
Winston Smith is a regular worker for the Ministry of Truth. When he discovers proof that the ministry is lying, he launches a personal investigation to discover the truth. He finds an ally and confidant named Julia who is a member of the Anti Sex League. Together they uncover many things that the Ministry has been hiding.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087803/plotsummary
18. V for Vendetta
London is controlled by a totalitarian regime. People live in constant fear of the unknown and they are unable to express their true selves. Evey is just one of the many people who are forced to live this sort of lifestyle. Everything changes when she is saved by a mysterious masked man who calls himself V. V takes control of London’s airwaves and incites the people to rise up. He eventually blows up two London Landmarks in protest of the oppressive regime which results in a massive movement of the people.
As all of these transpire, Evey discovers more and more about V and eventually realizes several truths about herself in the process. She becomes V’s ally in his plot to save society from cruelty and corruption.
Farenheit 451.
Good list, so… what about Idiocracy?
Another good one would be Equilibrium.
Great list.
I would have, however, added Equilibrium.
I would include Demolition Man in this line up as well, if you haven’t seen it, it’s a pretty interesting possibility of the near future.
So where is the film recently called by comic/ social commentator Janeane Garofalo “not your father’s zombies… they evolved…. those suckers can run…. there’s a documentary movie made in London, it’s called 28 Days Later” ?
Book of Eli?
Can’t believe “Book of Eli” was overlooked, or especially the classic “A Clockwork Orange.”
Sorry – but most of these dystopian flix have such massive plot holes to render them almost humorous or, at best, B stock movies. How about when the girl in Children of Men emerges from that building with her baby? ALL of the soldiers stop everything they are doing for about 30 seconds, then go right back shooting the shit out of everything – not a SINGLE one of them ensures that the girl and here baby -the future of mankind- are safely retreated. Brilliant. Logans run is so goofy as to be laughable. 0 plot line or continuity. THX1138 – I have had better plots emerge when I was drunk. Soylent Green? Hah!
The Matrix? NOW you’re onto something. That plotline and current scenarios that are playing themselves out in the technology world is truly a viable paranoia. It starts with the ability to work remotely, then moves onto the elimination of traditional food sources. Next thing you know you are in a tub of goo working remotely while your life is being played out in a virtual world inside a virtual server running in the cloud tended to by a fleet of Air Force robotic troops.
Sleep tight kiddies.
Maybe Silent Running?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TckJBvl_uT0
(The music is awful, sorry.)
I’m not sure Dark City really fits, because unlike all the others it doesn’t depict a dystopian future on Earth, but rather human abductees living on a space station.
What about Fahrenheit 451 where books are outlawed and so is free thought. Also there is another novel turned movie that I can’t remember the title. Basically everyone must be equal, so they hobble athletes, do brain surgery on those deemed to smart, ect ect.
Um…sex wasn’t a no-no in THX 1138. There is a scene where Duvall is milkin’ fattie to a dancing lady. It was reproduction (the traditional way!) that wasn’t allowed.
Great list. I thought Brazil would’ve been higher but, heh, everyone’s a critic.
28 days later wasn’t zombies, it was a rage virus.
You forgot “A Clockwork Orange.”
Oh, and “Never Let Me Go”, released just last year.
I’d add “Glitter” or “Gentle” or crap like that, cuz the world has to be ending to allow those films to be made, also anything with Cher on credits
For all the bad press it gets, I’m glad to see “the Postman” on the list. I love the film. To me, it presents a realistic dystopia.
What about Rollerball? The original of course
@Justin’s “28 days later wasn’t zombies” – and you would know how exactly?
I say looks like a zombie, runs (evolved!) like a zombie, it’s a zombie! Better apocalyptic movie than most of the hollydreck listed above.