cyber/apocalypse movie reviews

All of these movies fit into the themes of post-apocalypse/cyber/futuristic. Generally, they all have more than one component that qualifies them for the list. When new stuff comes out I will be doing larger reviews. For more details on any of these cyber movies, check out the internet movie database - it rules.

I rate material on a scale of 1 - 5 robots, represented by these guys:

Akira ----------------
A young boy who discovers he has crazy powers set in the future. All animes fans will enjoy, all futurism fans will love.

Artificial Intelligence ----------------
The story of an android child and the society that surrounds him. This works on the 'robots have feelings too' philosophy where if you make a computer able to learn new information on it's own, then it might just evolve into a sentient being. The mix of two directors, one living, one passed on. If the message gets through - that's up to you. I liked it but thought it would have been better if it ended about fifteen minutes earlier.

Blade Runner ----------------
When you create androids, do you wonder if they'll want to meet their mom and dad? What if their programming goes all screwy? You're about to find out... This movie has some fantastic characters and is currently one of my favourites even though it's a little dated now.

Brazil ----------------
This movie basically shows the future of paper work and the ultimate loss of privacy in the world. It's quite funny at points and I was surprised at the levels of government it poked fun at. Given the current state of the USA and their 'terrorist act' I would put this at a must see level for anyone into personal rights.

City of Lost Children ----------------
Whereas this movie falls into the realm of fantasy more than future, I love it so. It's the story of a young street girl, living in a future/circus world who calls upon a stupid but kind strong man to help her save children that are being kidnapped. A must see - really... I can't stress how much I love this movie.

Clockwork Orange ----------------
A great movie, an even better book. The visions of Anthony Burgess and Stanley Kubrick combined bring out the juvenille future jerk that is Alex. Throw in some Wendy Carlos and you have the ultimate in ultra-violence. Meant to disturb, it does a good job. This dabbles in personal freedoms and media as a brainwashing tool. Ah, the irony of using media to convey the dangers of media.

Fifth Element ----------------
Directed by Luc Besson, one of the key directors of The City of Lost Children - this movie was visually stunning. Although I doubted the acting ability of cutie Milla, she was not given a lot of vocabulary so it didn't matter much. Good future saving the world cinematic fare. I enjoy the future where we've met aliens and hang out with them, it adds a touch of sci-fi to the setting and brings up inter-species relations.

Gattaca ----------------
Future world examines what life would be like if genetics ruled our existance. The main character tries to cheat the seamingly infalable system into believing he has perfect genes to qualify for a job where DNA is a part of your resume. Truly creepy for it's possibilities, this is one of my favourite movies. The future doesn't have to dirty to be devastating and this film is a great reminder.

Ghost in the Shell ----------------
Anime deals with the subjects of cyborgs, completely manufactured humans and the art of hacking them. Quite cool and ultimately cultish. The premise is that certain robots were given a 'ghost' which makes up their personality and by logging into the net they can have their brains altered by unknown influences. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Hackers ----------------
Basically an evil hackers versus good hackers flick. A young unasuming hacker gets his hands on a file that proves another guy is being bad. Bad guy is suitably pissy and goes on massive cyber hissy fit. All the other good hackers come to newbie's rescue and do cool things with computers. Possibly the first movie with an exceptional techno soundtrack, this is a must see for anyone looking to complete their cyber movie collection. They use 'movie OS' which might irk some of the sys admin purists out there and the tech is obviously dated now.

iRobot ----------------
Loosely based on the novel by Issac Asimov, iRobot deals with consciousness issues in artificial intelligence and the potential for mass robot revolt in a society dependent on machines for daily life. Or, at least that's the general point behind the book... the movie was more about Will Smith running around being the only skeptic in a world of clueless optmists. Forget you ever read the book and you'll have as much fun with this movie as you would with any Hollywood block buster with a massive CG budget.

Logan's Run ----------------
The story of a 29 year old living in an age where 30 year olds are youthanized. I'm sure you can figure out the title from there... I had imagined this would be a better movie than it was. The concepts are striking but I felt as though I was ready for the ending a long time before it happened.

Mad Max ----------------
In a future Australia, a biker gang does in Mel Gibson's family and he has a slight problem with this. If you've seen any of the other Mad Max movies before you see this one, you might be disappointed. It's not that far into the apocalypse yet and society is holding onto the last strains of civilization. This is a set up for Mel's angst in the following movies and I highly recommend it.

Mad Max 2 - The Road Warrior ----------------
A completely bitter Mel Gibson wanders the desert and stumbles across a group of fuel enhanced-under amunitioned desert folk. He aids them in getting away from the biker gang of yore. Full on apocalypse style where water and gas are scarse and people make their own rules. Introduces the generation that is born into the chaos and hasn't known a calm life all of whom are great characters.

Mad Max Beyond Thunder Dome ----------------
Good 'ole Mel has a run in with Tina Turner's band of baddies in the dome and now is out to help a group of young'uns with bad grammar make their way in the desert. I love this movie because the people who work their way to the top in the apocalypse always had boring jobs in the 'before time'. Makes you wonder how much skill our current business overlords have versus the luck and opportunity. Half and half is my guess.

Matrix ----------------
The movie, turned Le Chateau clothing opportunity, is very worthy if not a little overspoofed. Neo goes on a journey of discovery that leads to the inner self and the world surrounding it. Must be seen... the future where you're so far into environmental disrepair and poor robot relations that you're constantly battling for life and consciousness at the same time.

Running Man ----------------
What happens when serial killers become a game show? When is reality television going too far? Beyond it's time, Blade Runner examines those questions while Arnold kicks butt as per usual. This is the future of media which is by far the scariest to imagine. We're already pro at exploiting everyone, we just don't have the moral majority in on the death sentence yet (thank goodness).

Solarbabies ----------------
A group of orphans escape their evil rulers upon finding a funky orb thing. Everyone in the future has rollerblades, buy yours now. This was okay, it was sort of like watching skate boarders getting dissed in the future but I wouldn't go for a second viewing.

Takedown ----------------
Much like Hackers in it's good hacker versus bad hacker plot, this is "based" on the real story of the capture of Kevin Mitnick. Not having known the guy, he is portraid as quite the dick in this film. So if you have a big hard on for Kev, I'd pass this one by. Good use of non-mainstream tech to get shit done.

Tank Girl ----------------
The apocalypse has come and suddenly water is a hot commodity... the Water and Power company is run by a pyscho backed by an army and all who defy him are viciously attacked. It wasn't as hardcore as the comic, but movies rarely are. Although, there was singing and I like singy movies so it can stay. The movie was good, and worthy... but due to the whole "there is no water" plot we were screwed out of seeing Sub Girl who is one of my preferred characters in the comic.

The Postman ----------------
Kevin Costner is once again tossed into the role of the unwilling hero in the FUTURE!!! Here we are set not too far off from present day where the USA is thrown into an apocalypse and people are trying to rebuild cities amidst rogue gang bullying. Kevin finds a bag of mail and uses it to get food and gives the people hope that civilization can be rebuilt. I thought this movie was mediocre - a huge load of flag waving and not as much strife as the book. Rental if you're bored or just to complete your viewed collection.

The 6th Day ----------------
As the chosen hero for the futuristic movie genre, this time Arnold meets a clone of himself and isn't much impressed. Lots of conspiracy resolution Arnold style.

Titan A.E. ----------------
Post apocolyptic cartoons rule. This one especially. The unwilling hero type is forced to not only save, but recreate the world. Nice one.

Total Recall ----------------
Arnold goes on a virtual vacation to Mars which screws with his head forcing him to go there for real and figure out just which memories were induced. One of my favourite Arnold flicks. Movie producers have issues with making up new stories, they tend to rape the library instead. Sometimes they at least make things interesting, if not elaborate a little on much shorter stories. This is still a fun movie to watch though and a must to complete your collection.

Vampire Hunter D ----------------
Borderline for this category, Vampire Hunter D is the story of a mesh of supernatural and technology in the future, where supernatural seems to be winning.

Waterworld ----------------
The opposite of Tank Girl, in the future the world has flooded and fuel is the biggest resource. Kevin is a hideous fishboy and also relunctant hero that must navigate to the promised land (actual land) using a little girls tattooed back. A lot of people did not like this movie, but I am not one of them. I thought it was very good and dealt with the low tech future where general survival was the most important issue.