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The 20th century saw the rise of numerous iconic science-fiction films, each offering a vision of the future that captured both our hopes and our fears. These movies introduced audiences to some fascinating, yet often implausible, predictions about what life would look like in the years to come. As time has passed, it's clear that while some of these films were surprisingly accurate, many missed the mark entirely. Here are ten such films that got it wrong. Be warned: spoilers ahead.
10. Blade Runner
The 1982 classic Blade Runner, starring Harrison Ford as Officer Rick Deckard, is a sci-fi film beloved by many. However, its depiction of the future is, in some ways, already on the brink of being disproven. Set in 2019, the movie imagines a world where humans coexist with android-like robots, known as replicants, who are almost indistinguishable from people. While we haven’t yet reached the level of flying cars, humanoid robots, and off-planet colonies, the year in question is just around the corner.
A sequel to Blade Runner has been announced, taking place 30 years after the original. This sequel might make some of these imagined realities seem more feasible, but it’s still hard to envision them becoming as commonplace as the film depicts—even three decades from now. Only time will tell if 2049 will resemble the world of Blade Runner more closely.
2001: A Space Odyssey, a monumental achievement in the realm of science fiction cinema, continues to be celebrated for its groundbreaking depiction of futuristic technology, much of which would later become a reality. The film stands out not just for its visual artistry but for its ambitious representation of space travel, a concept still beyond our grasp. While we haven't yet sent humans to Mars, let alone Jupiter, and certainly didn't have HAL 9000's computing power in 2001, the film's foresight into the future was remarkable.
2001: A Space Odyssey is often hailed as one of the most influential science fiction films ever made. Its uncanny ability to predict technological advancements, like the HAL 9000 supercomputer, is one of the reasons it's so revered. During its production, NASA was also in a race to conquer space, and Kubrick and his team worked tirelessly to ensure the film's technological realism. In many ways, the movie foreshadowed not only what would come but also reflected the technological landscape of the time, including futuristic devices that mirror today's smartphones and laptops, long before they were commonplace.
Kubrick's meticulous attention to space technology research helped him create a film that feels incredibly grounded in reality. This was a time when NASA was deep into its space race, and Kubrick's team was determined to outpace real-world scientists to make their version of the future feel more authentic. Some of the technologies featured in the film now appear to be dated, but at the time, they felt far ahead of their time, such as a briefcase phone that now seems strikingly similar to the modern smartphones and laptops we use today.
While 2001: A Space Odyssey did predict some technological advancements that were remarkably prescient, it also got some elements wrong, particularly in terms of its timeline. Despite this, the film remains an incredible blend of futuristic imagination and scientific speculation, with some of its concepts still relevant today, while others seem outdated. Nonetheless, it stands as a testament to Kubrick's vision and his ability to imagine what the future might hold.
82012.
This 2009 film was inspired by the ancient Mayan prediction that the world would end in 2012, based on their calendar. As we look back in 2017, it’s clear that this prediction did not come true. However, in the movie, there is widespread destruction caused by the earth's core heating up, leading to extreme climate shifts, massive earthquakes, tectonic plate movements, tsunamis, and even the eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. While some of these catastrophic events might occur in some form in the future, they are highly unlikely to happen at the scale shown in the film anytime soon.
The world-ending fears surrounding the year 2012 were thoroughly debunked by NASA right after the supposed end of the world, as predicted by the Mayans. Contrary to popular belief, the Mayans never claimed that the world would end on December 21, 2012. Instead, that day marked the end of a long-count period in their calendar, with a new period starting just like any other calendar year. The original apocalypse myth suggested that a mysterious planet discovered by the Sumerians would collide with Earth, bringing cataclysm in May 2003. After that date passed without incident, the doomsday prediction was simply shifted to 2012.
The movie's version of events, which attributed the earth’s core heating to intense solar activity, differs from the truth. The film largely catered to the paranoia of conspiracy theorists, who took the myth far too seriously. In reality, 2012 posed no significant threat to the planet, and no such catastrophic events took place.
7. Back to the Future II
Back to the Future II transported audiences to the year 2015, nearly 30 years after the original 1989 release. In this imagined future, hoverboards, self-lacing Nike shoes, flying cars, and other fantastical technology were featured—though these innovations have yet to become reality. However, Nike did release limited edition self-lacing Air Mags in homage to the film. It seems Marty McFly had a more accurate experience traveling backwards in time than he did traveling into the future.
The film showcases its time through references to contemporary technology that are woven into its depiction of future advancements. For instance, it presents mailboxes equipped with fax machines, a concept that was once common in homes but now feels outdated. One accurate prediction was video chatting, though it’s typically not done on the large screens shown in the movie. The idea of food rehydrators, where you could simply add a packet and receive a full meal, is also still not a reality. Even Spy Kids attempted the same idea years later, but it remained unrealistic.
6. The Terminator
The Terminator franchise plays with a shifting timeline, beginning with the Terminator being sent from the year 2029. A subsequent film, Terminator Salvation, places the war with the machines in 2018, though the conflict actually began much earlier. This timeline reveals that Terminators and similar machines are not in existence as the films suggest they would be. The series also explores the ongoing debate surrounding artificial intelligence, painting it as a dangerous force—perhaps the worst-case scenario.
This theme, echoing HAL’s fatal self-awareness, serves as a cautionary tale for humanity as we advance in artificial intelligence. While we have yet to develop the type of A.I. shown in the Terminator films, we are certainly moving closer to that reality. The real question is whether A.I. will become fully aware of its existence and, if so, whether it will turn violent against us, its creators. Hopefully, the predictions about the rise of machines will prove to be inaccurate.
5. Timecop
Jean-Claude Van Damme stars in this fast-paced thriller where he portrays a cop navigating the complexities of time travel. Set in 2004, the film's premise, which suggested time travel could become a reality, was already debunked more than a decade ago. Even today, the idea of time travel remains firmly in the realm of science fiction. The movie also showcased self-driving cars that were advanced for its time, but now, with technology catching up, such vehicles are becoming increasingly accessible.
In the film, vehicles respond to intricate voice commands, a feature that, while still beyond our reach, is gradually becoming a reality. Voice control technology is evolving at a rapid pace, and with the rise of autonomous vehicles, the possibility of seamlessly combining the two seems closer than ever. Could we one day have a fleet of cars that responds to nothing but your spoken instructions, taking you wherever you wish to go?
4. Rollerball
Set in 2018, this movie eerily predicted a future where society is governed by corporations and a brutal, roller derby-inspired sport becomes the dominant form of entertainment. While there's still a year left for this vision to come true, the chances of it happening seem increasingly unlikely. The film's biggest misstep was in anticipating the rise of roller derby as a mainstream pastime.
A more intriguing aspect of the film is its vision of a world ruled not by nations but by corporations. In such a world, each corporation functions as a legal entity separate from its shareholders, holding responsibility for its own actions and debts. This would lead to a fragmented global society, with businesses owning the world and individuals holding small stakes in whichever corporation they belong to. It's an unconventional and thought-provoking concept, but the chances of such a future materializing seem slim in comparison to our current nation-based world.
3. Deathrace 2000
Much like Rollerball, which also centers around a brutal sport with little purpose, Deathrace 2000, released in 1975, depicts a future where violent, long-distance car races are a major form of entertainment. Set in the year 2000, this race is designed to help manage overpopulation, with drivers scoring points by running over innocent bystanders in gruesome ways. For now, we'll stick to the more predictable excitement of NASCAR (left turn!).
Although overpopulation was once considered a pressing concern, it has not become the crisis it was feared to be 17 years ago. As technological advancements have made life safer and more comfortable, the death rate has declined, life expectancy has risen, and the world continues to grow more crowded. It's still a relevant issue to monitor, but it's unlikely to spark a need for trans-continental road rage.
2. Mad Max
The post-apocalyptic world of the Mad Max films is tough to date precisely, but in a 1984 interview, George Miller revealed that the events of the original movies were envisioned to unfold somewhere between the late 90s and 2018. This serves as another example of a version of the world that never quite materialized.
In the Mad Max film series, between the first two installments, the world has turned into a barren wasteland, dominated by gangs, with supplies being scarce for those trying to survive. While the exact cause of the apocalypse is unclear, it is hinted to be connected to nuclear fallout and climate changes. Although we are far from living in such a world, it doesn't entirely rule out the possibility that Earth could one day face a fate similar to the wasteland depicted in the Mad Max series.
1. Escape from New York
Set in 1997, this movie proposed the outlandish idea that Manhattan would become one massive maximum-security prison. Although far-fetched, it led to a sequel, Escape from LA, which reused the concept, this time setting Los Angeles as a lawless island of criminals in 2013. Neither version proved true, and the notion of a prison of such vast scale, especially in a major city like New York City, remains laughably unrealistic.
