Dystopian Films

From John Remy's modified list of top dystopian films.

Bold: Seen
Italics: Top Picks

1. Brazil (1985)
2. Wings of Desire (1987)
3. Blade Runner (1982)
4. Children of Men (2006)
5. The Matrix (1999)
6. Minority Report (2002)
7. Delicatessen (1991)
8. Twelve Monkeys (1995)
9. Serenity (2005)
10. Pleasantville (1998)
11. Ghost in the Shell (1995)
12. Battle Royale (2000)
13. RoboCop (1987)
14. Akira (1988)
15. The City of Lost Children (1995)
16. V for Vendetta (2005)
17. Metropolis (2001)
18. Gattaca (1997)
19. Total Recall (1990)
20. Dark City (1998)
21. District 13 (2004)
22. They Live (1988)
23. Escape from New York (1981)
24. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
25. Artificial Intelligence: AI (2001)
26. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
27. I Robot (2004)
28. Strange Days (1995)
29. Idiocracy (2006)
30. Death Race 2000 (1975)
31. Starship Troopers (1997)
32. One Point O (2004)
33. Equilibrium (2002)

Dark City is like watching The Matrix without all the cool fighting. Plus, you know a movie's in trouble when they take 5 minutes in the middle to do a plot summary (the row-boat scene). District 13 has cool parkour, but otherwise is a crappy movie. I Robot? A travesty that it was named or "inspired" by the book. Nothing like it.

I struggled to pair down my top picks. Next tier was Pleasantville and Equilibrium. Idiocracy is a hilarious commentary on modern day culture (it's got electrolytes). It's been too long since I've seen Nineteen Eighty-Four, but I do remember really liking it. And funny to see John Hurt in V For Vendetta as the chancellor, after playing the lead in Ninteen Eighty-Four.