Dystopia has become a popular theme for books and movies in the 21st century. Indeed some of the biggest blockbusters in recent years have been set in dystopian worlds. As fascinated and enthralled we might be the adventures the characters have, I’m sure we’re all glad these worlds are fictional.
Snapshot Survey
1. The Hunger Games
A world where all the bad people wear obvious makeup whereas all the good people wear skin colored makeup. Maybe it is a world created by L’Oreal and the bad guys get to be impeccably groomed because they are worth it. Just for the commenter/griefers/trolls, the white beardy guy is not impeccably groomed, but he is also not all bad. Plus, the world may be a little nicer if they simply selected jerks that drink soup from a bowl without using a spoon. It’s called cup-a-soup, not bowl-a-soup.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
2. Logan’s Run
A world where only young people are able to exist and where old people are removed from society. It is one way to solve the pension crisis.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
3. Children of Men
Suddenly people are unable to have children. Opinion is divided on whether this is truly a dystopia, though the people in the movie don’t seem to be handling it very well.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
4. Star Trek
Okay, before the comment sections light up, we would all like to live in a world where the federation exists--it is a perfect chunk of space to live in and is hardly Dystopian (An imaginary society that is as dehumanizing and as unpleasant as possible). However, they live under the constant threat of being enslaved by the Borg, blown out of the cosmos by the Cardassians (should I sub in Kardashians here?), Klingons, the Romulans, or even turned into space dust by particle Omega.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
5. The Matrix Trilogy
Spend the entirety of your life in a simulated dream or face reality buried deep underground with a few survivors. The movies are brilliant, but they never really explain the fact that humans cannot survive that low down in the earth…unless they too are actually in a simulation and are dreaming they have escaped (sounds like a pretty good way to isolate an anomaly).
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
6. 12 Monkeys
Here there is a world where people have to live underground because the world up-top is infected with a nasty disease. Some think this may be close to what actually will kill off humans in the end.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
7. Resident Evil Extinction
A virus has gotten out that kills almost anything, including most plants, and leaves the world filled with survivors, zombies, or zombie animals. How come mosquitoes don’t spread the disease? If so, how could "any" survivors exist outside for the bunkers?
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
8. Elysium
We would all like to live on the satellite where you can smoke and drink as much as you like because they can remove your cancer and cook up a new liver for you in minutes, but the real world looks a little stinky.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
9. The Maze Runner
Trapped in a maze all your life? Some say this is the same as life today. Did anybody else notice that they say they cannot climb to the top because the ivy doesn’t go that high, and yet in several shots you can see that it goes all the way to the top?
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
10. Divergent
Being stuck in a world separated by races (social commentary much?) doesn’t sound too nice, but at least most of them are pretty…this may be one of the movie dystopias it is worth trying.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
11. Dredd
Chaos and filth are everywhere and the police are only able to police 5% of the total city. There are neighborhoods like that these days, though at least people are still able to have gardens these days whereas they cannot in Dredd.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
12. Waterworld
Maybe you like the idea of floating around for the rest of eternity, but what the hell was that big fish thing that eats him? No thank you! There is already the constant threat of doing a submarine impression without giant fish swimming around.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
13. Robocop (1987)
The great thing about this movie is that the world is already rotten, and Robocop doesn’t fix it. The world stays rotten with just a few less bad guys; it goes against the grain of Hollywood movies.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
14. Serenity
This is one of those dystopias in the movies where the world wouldn’t be that bad if it were not for the monsters living on the outer rims.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
15. Total Recall
In the future there are so many people that human rights and respect go out the window…erm, sounds like a country that exists today?
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
16. The Island
[Spoiler Alert] Sure, we would all like a clone of Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson to keep locked in a basement, but farming people is probably not a nice way for society to go.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
17. Minority Report
This may not seem like such a dystopia, but did you see just how much power the government has over people? They see everything and can even force you to be scanned in your home.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
18. Demolition Man
A silly movie from start to finish, but would you really like to live in a world with no kissing or sex? Plus, why do they believe the criminal when he says that the cop blew up the building? Wasn’t the criminal a terrorist known for blowing up things? Moreover, wasn’t the cop known for chasing the bad guy? Who decided to convict the cop?
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
19. Running Man
Making a 21 stone muscle machine run is bad enough. This movie has a very rotten feel about it that is eerily similar to the one seen in Robocop.
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
20. I Am Legend
A horrible world full of poorly animated CGI monsters. Will Smith showed true acting greatness during the dog scene (you know which one I mean).
Buy at: itunes.apple.com
21. Blade Runner
While Orwell’s 1984 might have been the bedrock for dystopia to have a place in modern fiction, arguably, Ridley Scott’s masterpiece brought it to the movies. Do androids dream of electric sheep? Now there’s a question.
Buy at itunes.apple.com
Which would be your nightmare dystopian world?
Feedback Junction
Where Thoughts and Opinions Converge