:cyberpunk: /movies/

"You would have to kill me and prop me up in the seat of my car with a smiley face painted on my face to get me to go near Hollywood." - p.k. dick

stimuli > movies

hollywood has no EDGE

It's a little hard to find movies that have just the right trappings to be called "cyberpunk". Does a dark future alone qualify? Does it need interesting technology? Should hackers feature? What exactly constitutes a cyberpunk movie really comes down to the individual's interpretation of just what cyberpunk is all about anyway.

sadly, hollywood is not a place which thrives on EDGE (remember EDGE?). in fact, hollywood thrives on stability, the status quo... the opposite of edge. the aim in hollywood is to be no different from anyone else, but to do it with just enough flair that people think you're being original. showbiz hacks like to think they thrive on EDGE; but really, dahhling, you must stick to the formula.

if you doubt me, think about the phases you get in big release movies; and also think about the sequels you get whenever a movie makes it big. for a while in the 90s you couldn't go to the movies without tripping over yet another disaster movie. in the last few years, its been comic/cartoon conversions interspersed with endless teen movies. occasionally thrillers will become flavour of the month, or soppy romances.

in particular, hollywood is great at recycling. churn out the same movie over and over again; hype each one up and keep making heaps of money. originality is a risk; you might not make millions and that would never do.

so at the end of the day hollywood does not want true cyberpunk. cp is too gritty, too real. it doesn't make for nice easy love stories; it doesn't lend itself to sqeaky-clean heros. buzz-cut american actors can't utter catch-phrases while blowing away The Enemy.

so even if a great cyberpunk story is picked up and made into a movie; the result is rarely cyberpunk. it's just hollywood science fiction.

some movies which fit the bill

even hollywood can't strip out every last bit of cyberpunk. some movies get close enough that you can suspend a little disbelief and go along for the ride.

Blade Runner: Director's Cut

Definitely cyberpunk. Based on Phillip K Dick's Do androids dream of electric sheep?, BR is about artificial superhumans - "replicants" - used for off-world warfare and slavery. If a replicant is found on earth, it is "retired" (killed) upon detection by special police known as "blade runners". Harrison Ford plays Deckard, an ex blade runner called back in to take on a particularly difficult case. Definitely a classic.

The director's cut is much better, but may be a little confusing - the original release had voiceovers and a different ending. See the CD first, then see the first release if you're

Strange Days

Set in a dingy future, people are plugging into a form of virtual reality where the viewer actually feels every sensation that the original subject felt. A black market for porn and other interesting tapes quickly springs up, and our (anti)hero has a fairly lucrative hustle buying and selling them. Things get hairy after a he ends up with a recording of a murder. Suspense, action and a good plot make this well worth seeing. A strong part of the overall setting is the timeframe - the last few days before the end of 1999. Strange Days had some very strong millenial apocalypse themes, so it was slightly surprising that all it got in the real 1999 was a quiet mid-week rerun a few days before new year's eve.

Hackers

As I've said on the hackers page, this is a prettied-up and stylised portrayal of hacking, but it's still a pretty cool movie. Although the characters are too hip and cool to really be convincing hackers, the general feel of it is pretty right and details like the books are spot on. Soundtrack is way cool too :) Basically the plot follows a kid who gets busted for hacking at a young age, then spends years banned by the court from so much as touching a computer. Of course, when his probation ends; he's straight back into the scene.

Sneakers

A sort of predecessor for Hackers (and infinitely closer to the truth), Sneakers uses an interesting mix of hacker and secret agent themes. A great cast and intriguing plot make for an entertaining movie, although the representations of technology is a little suspect. The real genius of the characters and their solutions is the sheer simplicity and lateral thinking they embody. Can't hack the system? Then find a way to go around it. Walk if you have to. Some people consider scamming your way into a secure building to be a form of hacking/cracking; and its certainly an art form. Another great scene is reconstructing where someone was taken using sound alone. "It sounded like....a cocktail party...."

12 Monkeys

A visually stunning movie, this one... some perhaps wouldn't consider this one to be cyberpunk, but i think it qualifies. People are being shot back and forth through time as a bizarre form of research, which plays with your head no end. One of them is caught and institutionalised while on assignment... but that's just the start.

If you like the style of this one, check out Lost Highway as well. Not very cyberpunk, but then i couldn't tell you what it is.

The Assassin

In a future with a definite 'punk flavour, a junkie is sentenced to death but finds herself being offered a choice: die or become an assassin. Ahh, how career choices are made! Scene by scene remake of the french original, but that doesn't mean it's not a great movie (albeit a very Hollywood effort). It scrapes into the cyberpunk genre with its "hidden organisation" setting; which taps into a great deal of the 'punk aesthetic.

Freejack

In the future, the mega-rich have come across a way to stay alive forever - but not everyone likes it. Especially not the victims of the scheme. I'm not so keen on a lot of the props (or the casting ;D), but I did love the "Welcome to my mind..." sequence. A classic "gritty future" setting, which builds an extreme dog-eat-dog society. Crusty old guys with guns, sitting in city diners. What can I say? :)

Gattaca

In a society divided into genetic classes - the screened, perfect ones and those with defects - one man devises a complex web of deception to pass himself off as genetically perfect. His goal is to achieve the highest possible standards despite his imperfect body. Stunning work.

The Matrix

ok, so if you're generous you can call The Matrix a cp movie. after all, you have the concept of an entirely virtual world and humans fighting the machines (you can grab Terminator and T2 for more of that ;)). it is a fantastic movie.

anime

ok, so what about anime movies? i've actually approached anime separately - see the anime page.

other recommendations

Cyberpunk 2020's "cyberpunk filmography"(1990)

'Just in case you ran out of books...'

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