Science fiction films can inspire us with optimistic visions of the future. After all, a movie that's set in the future means that there actually is a future of some kind coming. However, science fiction films aren't always that optimistic. There are many who believe that the future looks bleak, and a science fiction film can be a dire warning about what is to come. Arguably no genre epitomizes this more than the Cyberpunk genre, which usually features advanced technological progress combined with some very explicitly non-advanced public thinking. The laser guns are cool, but the world is not. Here are the 15 best Cyberpunk movies ranked.
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00:00 Bio-enhanced revenge fantasies, robot overlords bent on enslaving the human race, and even
00:05 thoughtful explorations of the human condition, the cyberpunk genre has it all.
00:10 Check out our list of the 15 best cyberpunk movies.
00:14 Economic disparity is a major theme in cyberpunk stories.
00:18 As is the case in real life, those with the ability to help others are not always generous
00:22 in sharing resources.
00:24 Neil Blomkamp's 2013 science fiction action thriller Elysium looked at the lengths that
00:30 disadvantaged characters must go to in order to keep themselves safe.
00:33 In the 22nd century, Earth has become an overpopulated wasteland.
00:37 The wealthy elite reside in a space station called Elysium, which contains advanced medical
00:42 technology and scientific advancements.
00:45 The poor are left to rot and suffer on their polluted home planet.
00:49 On Earth, factory worker Max DaCosta, played by Matt Damon, is poisoned by a lethal chemical.
00:54 The cure is only available on Elysium.
00:57 Max and his best friend Julio, played by Narcos Mexico's Diego Luna, decide to break into
01:02 the highly secure station.
01:04 Elysium's defense secretary discovers Max's plot and dispatches a bounty hunter to pursue
01:09 them.
01:10 The Judge Dredd comic book character was developed in the comic strip 2000 AD as one of the first
01:15 cyberpunk heroes.
01:17 The futuristic judge, jury, and executioner was a complex anti-hero.
01:21 Unfortunately, the 1995 film Judge Dredd, starring Sylvester Stallone, failed to capture
01:27 the tone of the original source material.
01:29 The Stallone film was campy and didn't reflect the more nuanced moral dilemmas that the comic
01:34 character sometimes dealt with.
01:36 "You may want to watch your seat after we get off the bike."
01:42 "Sorry."
01:43 Thankfully, the 2012 film Dredd was a proper adaptation.
01:47 Carl Urban starred as the titular character, who is one of the many judges working the
01:51 streets of a dystopian world known as Cursed Earth.
01:55 The chief judge tasks Dredd with training their new recruit, Cassandra Anderson, played
01:59 by Olivia Thirlby.
02:01 Cassandra is a psychic who can invade the minds of suspected criminals.
02:05 Dredd and Cassandra are assigned to take down the drug warlord, Mama, played by Lena Headey,
02:10 who has gathered her criminals in a futuristic skyrise.
02:13 They must fight their way to the top.
02:16 Psychic relationships are often doomed in cyberpunk films.
02:20 Is true love even possible when the future looks so bleak?
02:23 Michael Winterbottom's highly underrated 2003 film Code 46 imagined a cyberpunk society
02:29 where relationships are predetermined by government-approved DNA pairings.
02:33 Utilizing genetic manipulation, the totalitarian state designs ideal relationships.
02:39 This means that it's now impossible and illegal to fall in love naturally.
02:44 These rules are established in a series of codes, with the title "Code 46" outlawing
02:48 genetically similar people from having incestuous relationships.
02:52 Tim Robbins plays William Geld, an insurance fraud investigator who secretly helps companies
02:57 identify which of their employees are using false identities.
03:01 Due to strict travel laws, some genetically inferior workers use fake IDs to travel between
03:07 cities.
03:08 William interviews the receptionist and falls in love with her, but their relationship is
03:12 considered to be illegal.
03:14 The cyberpunk genre isn't only popular with cinephiles, but with gamers, too.
03:19 Cyberpunk-style concepts have been used since the earliest video games were being developed.
03:23 The 1982 film Tron imagined what would happen if someone was transported into the reality
03:28 of a video game.
03:30 The film stars Jeff Bridges as the former video game designer Kevin Flynn, who now operates
03:35 his own private arcade.
03:37 Flynn is a tech wizard, but his attempt to hack into a system's mainframe goes wrong
03:41 when he encounters a mysterious "Master Control" program.
03:45 Flynn is transported into the game he once helped design, where he must use his arcade
03:49 skills to beat the system and escape back to his own reality.
03:53 While the visual effects in Tron may seem dated now, the themes are still relevant.
03:58 The 2010 sequel Tron Legacy successfully modernized the original concept, with a heartfelt storyline
04:04 featuring Flynn and his son, Sam.
04:07 In the unpredictable future of a cyberpunk film, true friendships are rare.
04:12 The 2018 revenge thriller Upgrade centers on an unusual relationship that comes after
04:17 a tragedy.
04:18 Logan Marshall Green plays mechanic Gray Trace, a man with a deep distrust of technology.
04:24 Although most of the world is overrun by robotic advancements, Gray prefers to build things
04:28 with his own two hands.
04:30 Gray and his wife are stranded in a car crash in a dangerous part of town, where a violent
04:35 gang murders his wife and breaks Gray's back.
04:38 Now a wheelchair-bound quadriplegic, Gray is forced to merge his paralyzed body with
04:42 an artificial intelligence program called STEM.
04:46 Gray hates that he now must rely on a robot, but discovers that STEM can transform his
04:50 body into a lethal weapon.
04:52 "STEM, you can take over."
04:55 "Hi!"
04:56 He goes on a mission to track down the criminal gang and avenge his wife's murder.
05:03 After his involvement with the British comedy troupe Monty Python, Terry Gilliam brought
05:08 the same satirical style to his films as a writer-director.
05:12 Gilliam's work is both whimsical and bleak, and his 1985 cyberpunk story Brazil is his
05:17 most imaginative achievement.
05:19 The film is set within a totalitarian future overrun by industrialism and corporate synergy.
05:25 Low-level government employee Sam Lowry dreams of rising from oppression and becoming a great
05:30 hero.
05:31 He also has mysterious visions of saving a beautiful woman.
05:35 After he meets a truck driver that looks like the damsel he's dreamed of, she's accused
05:38 of terrorism by the aggressive Central Services police force.
05:42 Sam becomes unexpectedly involved with a resistance movement whose idiosyncratic rebel leader,
05:47 played by Robert De Niro, appears in his apartment after he's pursued by Central Service guards.
05:53 Although the premise suggests that it's a heartwarming family adventure, Steven Spielberg's
05:57 2001 cyberpunk film A.I.
06:00 Artificial Intelligence is a devastating tragedy.
06:03 It's a story inspired by two genius filmmakers.
06:06 The concept was initially imagined by the late, great Stanley Kubrick, who sadly passed
06:10 away before he could complete his work on the film.
06:13 Prior to his death, Kubrick handed the reins to Spielberg, who he imagined was the only
06:17 director who could handle the advanced computer-generated imagery the story required.
06:22 A.I.
06:23 Artificial Intelligence is set within the 22nd century, where the worldwide population
06:27 has been severely depleted.
06:29 Androids that look human but lack emotion have been created.
06:33 After their son falls into a coma, a couple adopts a young robot child named David, played
06:37 by Haley Joel Osment.
06:39 David seeks the love of a family, but struggles to find acceptance.
06:43 The future is frightening, and Terror of the Unknown is a major theme in cyberpunk cinema.
06:49 David Cronenberg epitomized these anxieties in his horrifying 1983 cyberpunk film Videodrome.
06:56 The film features Cronenberg's signature body horror, and offers social commentary on the
07:00 media's desensitization to violence.
07:03 James Woods stars as Max Renn, the pretentious president of a television station that's being
07:08 invaded by a strange signal.
07:10 The signal, which is known as Videodrome, features disturbing recordings of torture
07:14 and murder.
07:15 Max grows increasingly obsessed with Videodrome, and learns that the recordings are actually
07:20 live streams.
07:21 It turns out that Videodrome is a form of propaganda from a radical, anti-authoritarian
07:26 group, and they add new members through addictive graphic content.
07:30 Steven Spielberg's filmography grew darker during the 21st century.
07:34 His 2002 cyberpunk film Minority Report is a grim, oddly prophetic neo-noir that asks
07:40 a challenging question.
07:42 How much of the future is set in stone?
07:44 In 2054, a special division of the police department called Precrime utilizes psychics
07:49 to stop criminals before they commit a murder.
07:52 While this would seemingly end crime forever, some skeptics have questioned whether a person's
07:56 innocence or guilt can be determined based on events that haven't occurred yet.
08:01 The psychics predict that Precrime commanding officer John Anderton, played by Tom Cruise,
08:06 will murder a man named Leo Crowe in 36 hours.
08:09 Anderton is shocked, as he's never heard of the man and doesn't believe that he could
08:13 ever kill someone in cold blood.
08:15 The movie also features Colin Farrell as the officer tasked with capturing Anderton, who
08:19 avoids capture while searching for the truth about Crowe.
08:23 Terry Gilliam's bizarre 1995 film 12 Monkeys is one of the best cyberpunk time travel movies
08:29 of all time.
08:30 Gilliam adapted the classic French sci-fi short film La Jetée into a full-length narrative.
08:36 The story begins in 2035, after humanity has been ravaged by a deadly virus.
08:41 The rare clues regarding the disease's origins indicate the involvement of a radical group
08:46 known as the Army of the 12 Monkeys.
08:48 The film features Bruce Willis as James Cole, a convicted criminal who's selected to be
08:52 sent back in time to identify the origin of the virus.
08:56 Unfortunately for Cole, time travel isn't an exact science, and he's sent back too early
09:01 to 1990.
09:02 Disoriented, disheveled, and rambling about the end of the world, Cole is arrested and
09:06 committed to an asylum, where he meets Jeffrey Goines, the future leader of the 12 Monkeys.
09:12 Goines is played by Brad Pitt in what is widely regarded as one of his best performances of
09:16 all time.
09:18 Cole's mind-bending journey through time to stop the virus will keep you guessing all
09:22 the way to the end of the movie.
09:24 John Carpenter's 1981 film Escape from New York is set in the future of 1997, when the
09:29 United States has been overrun by criminal activity.
09:33 As a desperate means of managing the growing prison population, the United States has turned
09:37 New York City into a sprawling maximum-security prison, where criminals are dumped.
09:42 After Air Force One is hijacked when it passes over Manhattan, the president of the United
09:46 States is kidnapped and held for ransom.
09:49 The military must find a way to extract him, and they turn to an unlikely hero.
09:53 Notorious former Special Forces soldier Snake Plissken, played by Kurt Russell, is given
09:58 a unique opportunity.
10:00 Plissken has been imprisoned for robbery, but if he rescues the president, he will receive
10:04 a full pardon.
10:05 Plissken is no fan of the government or the president, but it's the only option he has
10:10 to avoid jail time, so he ventures into the dangerous wasteland.
10:14 Russell is a great lead for this mix of action, science fiction, and social satire.
10:19 He has a defiant attitude that is reminiscent of classic Western gunslingers.
10:24 There are few cyberpunk movie endings that provoke as much heated discussion as Total
10:29 Recall.
10:30 Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as Douglas Quaid, a lowly construction worker who dreams of
10:34 visiting a colony on Mars.
10:36 He's intrigued by the prospect of life on another planet and decides to experience it
10:40 the only way he knows possible.
10:42 Douglas goes to the virtual reality simulation program, Recall, to have a Martian adventure
10:47 implanted in his mind.
10:48 "I don't want to spoil it for you, Doug, but you rest assured by the time the trip is over
10:53 you get the girl, kill the bad guys, and save the entire planet."
10:57 However, the appointment goes horribly wrong, and Douglas is pursued by secret agents.
11:02 His wife, Lori, informs him that it's not the Martian adventure that's an illusion.
11:06 He's actually a highly trained secret agent, and his average life on Earth is the illusion
11:11 that Recall created.
11:13 What is real?
11:14 What is Recall?
11:15 Douglas is forced to ask these questions throughout his adventure, and audiences are left to dissect
11:19 the same mysteries for themselves.
11:22 Just because a film is set within a dystopian future doesn't mean it can't be funny, exciting,
11:27 and provocative all at once.
11:29 Many of the best cyberpunk films also function as great entertainment but have deeper questions
11:34 on their mind.
11:36 Few filmmakers can combine pop entertainment with nuanced social commentary better than
11:40 the genius Paul Verhoeven.
11:42 There's no film that shows this better than Verhoeven's 1987 masterpiece Robocop.
11:48 It's not only one of the bloodiest action movies of the 1980s, but a clever commentary
11:52 on corporate culture and neoliberal politics, a distinct product of the Reagan era.
11:58 Set in a dystopian future where cities are overrun by crime, Robocop stars Peter Weller
12:03 as Detroit police officer Alex Murphy, who's trying to clean up the streets, but the cops
12:08 are simply overwhelmed by deadly criminal gangs that dominate the city.
12:12 After tracking down the local crime lord, Murphy is shot down and brutally tortured.
12:17 He dies from his wounds, but an ambitious young executive at the local megacorporation
12:22 has an idea on how to bring him back to life as, well, you can probably guess from the
12:26 title.
12:28 Although cyberpunk stories are set within the future, their influences can be much older.
12:33 With their cyberpunk classic The Matrix, the Wachowskis drew inspiration from Plato's
12:37 Allegory of the Cave, the idea that mankind was not questioning the nature of their reality,
12:43 but simply accepting the information that was fed to them without prying any further.
12:47 The Wachowskis took this premise and translated it into a stark vision of a future overrun
12:52 by a highly advanced artificial intelligence network called the Matrix.
12:56 Hooking humans up to a vast computer network, the Matrix keeps them occupied by simulating
13:01 their reality.
13:02 Most humans haven't noticed it, but they're being used to feed an ever-growing technological
13:07 villain.
13:08 A few brave survivors have managed to wake themselves up.
13:11 The resistance leader Morpheus, played by Laurence Fishburne, commands a crew of rebels
13:15 on the ship Nebuchadnezzar as they avoid the forces of the machines in the real world.
13:20 Morpheus believes in a coming messiah called The One that will save the future.
13:24 He comes to believe that this "One" is computer programmer Thomas Anderson, played by Keanu
13:29 Reeves, who also goes by his hacker alias, Neo.
13:33 Morpheus introduces Neo to the truth and the fight for humanity's freedom.
13:38 It makes sense that the cyberpunk genre frequently intersects with noir stories.
13:43 The classic noir films of the '40s and '50s centered on lonely private eyes who solved
13:48 mysteries within cold, grim cities, uncovering the worst of humanity.
13:52 Ridley Scott's visionary science fiction classic Blade Runner took the noir genre into the
13:57 not-so-distant future.
13:59 Based on the short story "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by famed sci-fi author
14:03 Philip K. Dick, Blade Runner explores the possibility that mankind could create sentient
14:08 artificial intelligence.
14:10 It's hardly the first sci-fi movie to introduce android characters, but the replicants of
14:14 Blade Runner come to question their own existence.
14:17 "Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it?
14:23 That's what it is to be a slave."
14:26 Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard, the titular Blade Runner.
14:29 Blade Runners are elite private investigators who hunt down androids called Replicants,
14:34 who have outlived their usefulness.
14:36 The movie follows Deckard as he searches for a rogue group of escaped Replicants led by
14:40 the messianic Roy Batty, played by Rutger Hauer.
14:44 Deckard travels with another Replicant, Rachel, with whom he gradually falls in love.
14:49 The irony is that Deckard only learns about empathy through interacting with Replicants.
14:54 "
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