Movies: How Will the Future Compare?

Last year, my friend Marty started a tradition. On New Year's, he watches one or more films that depict the year that's about to begin. A sort of mangled prophecy, if you will. Time will tell if 2018 will really be like Brick Mansions or Terminator Salvation (yes on both counts), but futurism is a fun mental exercise regardless. So here's an idea for a movie marathon you might like to undertake. Below are science-fiction movies that TAKE PLACE over the past 50 years, but were for the most part imagined SOME TIME BEFORE. In trying to get at least one flick per year starting with 1969, I did sometimes compromise, and either put in a futurist film made AFTER (in brackets) or DURING the target year. In a few cases, I failed completely. Maybe you have suggestions.

So your mission, if you choose to accept it, is watch one or more films from each year, and compare to your experience of that year. Was it all post-apocalypse or did you score a rocket pack? Did movies imagine the Internet or is the future distinctly retro? Find out, one movie at a time.

1969: Stereo
1970: Frankenstein 1970, Project Moonbase, Privilege
1971
1972: Planet of the Apes, Beneath the Planet of the Apes
1973: Escape from the Planet of the Apes, It! The Terror from Beyond Space
1974: Seven Days in May, Aelita Queen of Mars
1975: (High-Rise)
1976: (The Martian Chronicles, episode 1)
1977: The Omega Man, (Lazer Team)
1978: The Time Machine (1978)
1979: Gorath, Damnation Alley
1980: The Final Countdown, The Phantom Planet, Just Imagine
1981
1982: Firefox, Virus, Tron
1983: Westworld, (Beyond the Black Rainbow)
1984: 1984, The Philadelphia Experiment, The Terminator, Class of 1984
1985: Back to the Future, Futureworld, Queen of Outer Space, Trancers, First Spaceship on Venus
1986: Star Trek IV The Voyage Home, Invaders from Mars
1987: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (pilot), Maximum Overdrive
1988: The War in Space, The Time Guardian
1989: Red Dawn, Kamikaze 1989, Way...Way Out
1990: RoboCop, 1990 The Bronx Warriors (later, Escape from the Bronx)
1991: Alien Nation, Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, RoboCop 2
1992: Parasite
1993: Captain America, (The Plague)
1994: Mad Max, The Apple, The Atlantis Interceptors
1995: Terminator 2 Judgment Day, Dead End Drive-In, Heartbeeps
1996: Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
1997: Escape from New York, The Road Warrior, The Noah's Ark Principle, Crimes of the Future, Predator 2
1998: Americathon, Creepozoids
1999: Strange Days, The Martian Chronicles ep.2, Class of 1999, Class of 1999 II The Substitute, Destroy All Monsters, Doctor Who TV Movie, Malevil, Omega Cop, Patlabor The Movie, Until the End of the World
2000: Deep Impact, Death Race 2000, 1. April 2000, Hardware, The Oldest Profession, Space Probe Taurus
2001: 2001 A Space Odyssey, The Martian Chronicles ep.3, Battle for the Planet of the Apes
2002: The Lathe of Heaven, Mr In-Between, Patlabor 2 The Movie
2003: Death Machine
2004: Time Cop, Max Headroom, The Dat After Tomorrow, Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines
2005: Bicentennial Man, Rollerball, Transformers The Movie
2006: Any Day Now
2007: Double Dragon, Adrenalin Fear the Rush, On the Beach, Paycheck
2008: Deterrence, Southland Tales
2009: Cloverfield, Freejack, I Am Legend
2010: 2010, District 9, The Butterfly Effect, District 13, Thunderbirds
2011: Radioactive Dreams, Battle Los Angeles
2012: The Ultimate Warrior, 2012, 2012 Supernova, Death Race, Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, Paprika
2013: Escape from L.A., The Postman, A Scanner Darkly
2014: Moon Child
2015: Back to the Future Part II, The 6th Day, Firebird 2015 AD, Memory Run, Shank
2016: Hell
2017: Barb Wire, Cherry 2000, Fortress, Terminator Genesys, The Running Man
2018: Brick Mansions, Iron Sky, Mad Max Fury Road, Terminator Salvation

And now that you're all caught up, here what you can expect to be watching in the years to come...

2019: Akira, Blade Runner, 2019 After the Fall of New York, Daybreakers, The New Barbarians, The Road, Steel Frontier, The Island, Tron Legacy
2020: Mission to Mars, Edge of Tomorrow, G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra, Real Steel, Stealth, Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet
2021: Johnny Mnemonic, It's All About Love, Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, Transcendence
2022: Soylent Green, No Escape, The Purge
2023: The Purge Anarchy
2024: Beyond the Time Barrier, A Boy and His Dog, G.I. Joe Retaliation, Highlander II The Quickening, The Thirteenth Floor
2025: Pacific Rim, Chrysalis, Endgame, Futuresport, Her, Repo Men, Surrogates
2026: Metropolis
2027: Babylon A.D., Children of Men, Fortress 2 Re-Entry, Nemesis
2028: V for Vendetta, The Cloverfield Paradox, RoboCop (remake), War for the Planet of the Apes
2029: Ghost In The Shell, Logan
The 2030s... 12 Monkeys, Batman Beyond, Big Hero 6, Demolition Man, Gamer, I Robot, The Martian, Moon, Snowpiercer, Tank Girl, Tekken...

Comments

Toby'c said…
It amuses me that the apocalypse that took place between Mad Max and The Road Warrior coincides with the rise of John Howard's Coalition government and the election of Pauline Hanson.
Siskoid said…
If I were Australian, I'd get that.
Brian said…
I can only hope that, true to Akira’s predictions, we all spent 2019 shouting...

KANEDA!
TETSUO!

...back at each other across the city like a game of Marco Polo...
Siskoid said…
That is indeed my favorite part of Akira.
Ryan Blake said…
I must try this. Charity movie knight
Michael May said…
This meme is my kryptonite. I sense a blog series coming on.