Top 10 Futuristic Movies

For my top 10 list of movies from the future - errrr, movies that take place in the future - I focused slightly more the film's setting than its quality. So, if its version of the future is better, it gets a higher ranking.

10. Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)

In the first Planet of the Apes film, astronaut Charlton Heston realizes at the end of the movie that he actually crash landed on the earth of the future (sorry if I revealed the twist ending, but I found out watching it spoofed in Spaceballs). This film represents the future as a primitive society run by apes. I decided to put the second movie of the series on my list because this one has underground human dwellers and my favorite movie ending of all time - Heston blows up the world! (Oops, I ruined the twist of this one too).

9. Logan's Run (1976)

This movie is actually pretty silly, but I like its scenario. After a series of wars, the entire population is under the age of 30 and lives in this giant structure that reminds me of the Epcot Center. Since everyone is young, they live a pleasurable lifestyle. Not surprisingly, their city looks like a giant mall. The plot of Logan's Run bares a strong resemblance to Minority Report - Michael York plays a "sandman" whose job is to hunt escapees (you're not aloud to leave the city) or "runners." In a twist, York becomes a runner himself and must escape to the outside world.

8. Death Race 2000 (1975)

Death Race 2000 is also pretty silly, but it's supposed to be that way. The tagline says it all: "In the year 2000 hit and run driving is no longer a felony. It's the national sport!" This is my highest placing camp movie (it was produced by Roger Corman and features a pre-Rocky Sylvester Stallone). It's funny, features a lot of goofy looking cars, has plenty of gruesome deaths, and is all-around great entertainment.

7. Escape from New York (1981)

You can't go wrong when you've got Isaac Hayes playing your villain. Throw in Ernest Borgnine, Lee Van Cleef and Kurt Russell in an eye patch and you have real winner. Escape from New York utilizes the skills of all these actors in a film that depicts the future U.S. as anarchic and crime-ridden. Manhattan has been turned into a prison, which is ruled by the imprisoned gangs. Director John Carpenter did a great job of filming a decrepit city on a small budget (apparently he shot most of it in St. Louis).

6. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

This is a pretty obvious choice. Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps the most influential sci-fi film ever. On a smaller scale, it set the standard for films that take place on spaceships. Everything from Alien to Saturn 3 took a page from Odyssey's claustrophobic version of life on a spacecraft.

5. TRON (1982)

The setting of Disney's TRON is never made clear. It could be the 1980s, when arcade-game junkies work as software engineers, but the film depicts computer technology that hadn't been invented yet. Therefore, I consider it futuristic, although one could argue most of it takes place in an alternate computer reality. At any rate, this is an early digitally animated movie (it mixes in live action) and it looks stupendous. This is the best arcade game-influenced movie of all time.

4. Alphaville (1965)

The lone foreign film on this list, Alphaville makes excellent use of Parisian setting. In fact there very few traditional indicators that this movie takes place in the future - no robots, flying cars or spaceships. Instead there is just a super computer that outlaws art and emotion in Alphaville (aka Paris). Despite the lack of special effects, legendary French director Jean-Luc Godard creates a striking dystopian setting, helped in no small part by the bizarre voice used for the computer.

3. The Road Warrior (1981)

The Road Warrior perfected the post-apocalyptic version the future where the world is desolate and primitive. Director George Miller retells the classic story of Shane, only this time Mel Gibson helps a small settlement of people in a world where gasoline is sparse and valuable. The car chases in this movie are just as memorable as its costumes - plenty of leather and butt-less chaps.

2. Brazil (1985)

A lot of sci-fi movies depict a dystopian future, but Brazil puts it on screen with the most imagination. Director Terry Gilliam combined the plot's bleak undertones with fantasy and dark comedy. The tiny work stations and apartments, along with the bureaucratic government, are straight out of Orwell, (and similar to Alphaville) while the comedy has more in common with Gilliam's days with Monty Python.

1. Blade Runner (1982)

What hasn't been said about Blade Runner? The dark, wet, cyberpunk Los Angeles future has often been imitated. The effects, lighting and art direction are incredibly imaginative and are worth watching for alone. It's 2019 and we have hovering advertisements, towering skyscrapers and a group of renegade replicants (androids) trying to survive on earth, while Harrison Ford is a detective trying to exterminate them. If this movie had been made today, they would have saturated it with computer generated effects and it wouldn't have looked as good. The models and lighting effects are far superior to any modern CGI.