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Feature
How Cinema Sees The Future
Visions of the coming centuries through the movies…

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From Blade Runner to The Fifth Element, from Total Recall to Dredd, cinema has often been called upon to give us a sneak peek into the future. What is in store for us? How will the planet look a few centuries or millennia from now? If the production designers of Hollywood are to be believed, it will look pretty darn cool and probably have floating things. Here are a few examples of future Earths – so no spaceships, no alien planets and nowhere that just looks a bit grotty...

WORDS HELEN O'HARA
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How Cinema Sees The Future | Blade Runner (1982)
Blade Runner (1982)

Rain-soaked, neon-lit and multi-cultural, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is perhaps the second most influential futurescape of all time (Metropolis just pips it by influencing Blade Runner itself). “Visual futurist” Syd Mead was one of those responsible for the look, which he called “retro-deco” or “trash chic”. A world away from the sterile interiors of 2001 or Logan’s Run, this beaten-up noir look has shaped cinema ever since. Anyone else fancy some Chinese food?

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Your Comments

1 12 Monkeys
12 Monkeys was in Philly. More

Posted by Robot215 on Friday September 21, 2012, 17:25

2 Self-Laced Shoes and Hoverboards?
I think Back To The Future Part II was worth mentioning. Glad you put Blade Runner first though. More

Posted by eagle270878 on Friday September 21, 2012, 14:00

3 "Anyone else fancy some Chinese food?"
Actually, it was Japanese food in Blade Runner's world. ;-) More

Posted by hatebox on Thursday September 20, 2012, 16:07

4 The 3 seashells, my guess.......
Hot Water, Cold Water, Air Dryer. Those make the most sense when it come to 'Butthole cleaning' (when there is no Loo roll) More

Posted by boredbluekoala on Thursday September 20, 2012, 12:03

5 What about
Gattaca? Surrogate? And of course: Bill and Ted? More

Posted by Troggi on Thursday September 20, 2012, 09:45

6 what about Serenity?
Serenity deserves a mention. Shows that even in the future not too much has changed, except for having spaceships More

Posted by exhausted on Wednesday September 19, 2012, 18:43

7 Where's Hell Comes To Frogtown?
Surely deserves inclusion in this breakdown? More

Posted by loafroaster on Wednesday September 19, 2012, 17:26

8 Where's Children of Men?!
Surely deserves inclusion in this breakdown? More

Posted by leonwalters on Wednesday September 19, 2012, 15:52


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