Cyberpunk Movies

By The Mick, in Android: Netrunner The Card Game

Didn't see one in here, so thought I'd make a list of cyberpunk (or close enough) films for everyone to watch whenever they're in the mood.

Feel free to reply with new ones and I'll add them to the list! Also feel free to comment on certain films :)

Now, to avoid bickering about what "is" and "isn't" truly cyberpunk, let's just say the film has to take place in a "technology-based, Earth-centric future" (meaning we see humans living on Earth) and have at least one of the following themes:

-people vs megacorp/government
-dystopian/utopian society
-man vs technology

6th Day, The
Aeon Flux
Akira
Appleseed
Appleseed: Ex Machina
Babylon A.D.
Blade Runner
Brazil
Cypher
Death Machine
Demolition Man
Equilibrium
Existenz
Fifth Element, The
Freejack
Ghost in the Shell
Hackers
I, Robot
In Time
Johnny Mnemonic
Judge Dredd
Lawnmower Man
Lawnmower Man 2
Logan's Run
Matrix, The
Minority Report
Moon
Net, The
Paycheck
Renaissance (aka Renaissance: Paris 2054)
Repo! The Genetic Opera
Repo Men
Robocop
Running Man
Strange Days
Surrogates
Total Recall (both versions)
Tron
Tron Legacy
Ultraviolet

I'd probably add:

The Matrix

Cypher is pretty much the perfect cyberpunk thriller:

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Strange Days is a bit dated because it is set on the year 2000 but otherwise it is solid Kathryn Bigelow film:

Total Recall (the original) is a fun (which surely missing from the remake) scifi action piece:

I cannot argue with eXistenZ:

Moon is already referenced by Android Netrunner, so go see it:

Tetsuo is genre classic but definitely not for everyone:

Minority Report was not entirely to my liking but it has some cool looking cyberpunk visuals:

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Hackers,

Brazil,

The Net

In Time and Inception are some less than obvious recent examples that actually play strongly to Cyberpunk themes without explicitly containing hackers.

Running Man and Demolition Man. I would say Hunger Games, but it's just a bit too "woodsy". Aeon Flux(the show is preferable to the movie) not that great, but makes the genre. ditto for Ultraviolet. Oh, don't forget about classics:1984, 2001, Soylent Green, Metropolis, and Logan's Run.

Let's not forget the Terminator!!! Cyberdine

****…accidently hit post. Anyhow, Cyberdine Systems evolving into Skynet are obvious megacorps that end up pitting man against machine. I also have to agree with the earlier post of the Matrix!

videodrome…. cyberspace, virtual realities, immortal beings though technology.. and all in 1983 and not a single computer mentioned!!!

But seriously as great as that film is most of the movie in this thread are not "cyberpunk". Just cause the film is scifi and has VR in it doesn't make it cyberpunk. The cyberpunk gener is incredibly narrow and very dated, witch is why there is so little of it written nowdays.

Bladerunner isn't cyberpunk for example.. though it is darn close, as it is more just a "used universe" scifi.

I honestly can not think of many cyberpunk films at all..

So much for avoiding bickering. lengua.gif

Bladerunner pretty much comes under the definition of cyberpunk: "Hi-tech, low life". When he watched it, William Gibson (one of the founding fathers of the genre) was surprised at how it matched his own visions of Neuromancer. Can't get much more cyberpunk than that.

I'm probably going to get a lot of stick for some of these, but:

Lawnmower Man and Lawnmower Man 2
The Thirteenth Floor
12 Monkeys
TRON and TRON Legacy, to a degree - might give a feel about 'runners
Fifth Element
Paycheck
A Scanner Darkly
Surrogates
Babylon A.D.

For a lot of these, life is cheap, and there is a feeling of megacorps with agendas of their own. In some of them, the world might seem bright and cheerful (Fifth Element, Surrogates, Paycheck), but the average Joe doesn't really have a great life in that bright world.

Edit: Removed items that were also listed in the OP.

I see no mention of Death Machine. What's WRONG with you people? :P

(Technically speaking, Death Machine is like a Shadowrun movie about a run gone really, really bad. There's even a dwarf archetype, **** it!)

booored said:

videodrome…. cyberspace, virtual realities, immortal beings though technology.. and all in 1983 and not a single computer mentioned!!!

But seriously as great as that film is most of the movie in this thread are not "cyberpunk". Just cause the film is scifi and has VR in it doesn't make it cyberpunk. The cyberpunk gener is incredibly narrow and very dated, witch is why there is so little of it written nowdays.

Bladerunner isn't cyberpunk for example.. though it is darn close, as it is more just a "used universe" scifi.

I honestly can not think of many cyberpunk films at all..

Try reading the original post. The criteria is:

Now, to avoid bickering about what "is" and "isn't" truly cyberpunk, let's just say the film has to take place in a "technology-based, Earth-centric future" (meaning we see humans living on Earth) and have at least one of the following themes:

-people vs megacorp/government
-dystopian/utopian society
-man vs technology

Ok so I'm new to these forums. Is there no way to edit one of my previous posts? I thought I could simply go and edit my OP and add flicks to the list… but doesn't seem like it.

Yes you can. To do so. Click Report to Moderator in your post. When it opens in the address bar change reportar to editar. Then you can edit it.

There's usually an Edit link in the other games' forums, weird that it's not visible on this one.

Wow, talk about running through hoops lol

Cool, thanks for the info!

jjcole said:

There's usually an Edit link in the other games' forums, weird that it's not visible on this one.

The Edit link only lasts for a while. If it disappears you need to use the work around I posted.

Toqtamish said:

booored said:

videodrome…. cyberspace, virtual realities, immortal beings though technology.. and all in 1983 and not a single computer mentioned!!!

But seriously as great as that film is most of the movie in this thread are not "cyberpunk". Just cause the film is scifi and has VR in it doesn't make it cyberpunk. The cyberpunk gener is incredibly narrow and very dated, witch is why there is so little of it written nowdays.

Bladerunner isn't cyberpunk for example.. though it is darn close, as it is more just a "used universe" scifi.

I honestly can not think of many cyberpunk films at all..

Try reading the original post. The criteria is:

Now, to avoid bickering about what "is" and "isn't" truly cyberpunk, let's just say the film has to take place in a "technology-based, Earth-centric future" (meaning we see humans living on Earth) and have at least one of the following themes:

-people vs megacorp/government
-dystopian/utopian society
-man vs technology

they why not just say list a bunch of random scifi films…

Just cause people express an opinions doesn't mean it is bickering…. this thread had the chance to move into another interesting topic about the true nature of this sub genre as well as being a list of fin films..

You note I added a film to the list as well as proposing a questions about the nature of this sub-genre. how on earth this could be considered bickering is beyond me.

booored said:

Toqtamish said:

booored said:

videodrome…. cyberspace, virtual realities, immortal beings though technology.. and all in 1983 and not a single computer mentioned!!!

But seriously as great as that film is most of the movie in this thread are not "cyberpunk". Just cause the film is scifi and has VR in it doesn't make it cyberpunk. The cyberpunk gener is incredibly narrow and very dated, witch is why there is so little of it written nowdays.

Bladerunner isn't cyberpunk for example.. though it is darn close, as it is more just a "used universe" scifi.

I honestly can not think of many cyberpunk films at all..

Try reading the original post. The criteria is:

Now, to avoid bickering about what "is" and "isn't" truly cyberpunk, let's just say the film has to take place in a "technology-based, Earth-centric future" (meaning we see humans living on Earth) and have at least one of the following themes:

-people vs megacorp/government
-dystopian/utopian society
-man vs technology

they why not just say list a bunch of random scifi films…

Just cause people express an opinions doesn't mean it is bickering…. this thread had the chance to move into another interesting topic about the true nature of this sub genre as well as being a list of fin films..

You note I added a film to the list as well as proposing a questions about the nature of this sub-genre. how on earth this could be considered bickering is beyond me.

Because that's exactly what you were doing. Maybe quibbling would be a better word than bickering.

Avalon, maybe.

haven't heard of a few of these. definitely going to check them out.

Interestingly enough, the Resident Evil series collectively portrays all three of the suggested themes, despite not taking place in a "technology-based, Earth-centric future" (albeit largely due to the near-extinction of all life on the planet).

AKIRA!

booored said:

they why not just say list a bunch of random scifi films…

Just cause people express an opinions doesn't mean it is bickering…. this thread had the chance to move into another interesting topic about the true nature of this sub genre as well as being a list of fin films..

Has it occured to you that maybe the OP isn't interested in his thread getting derailed into another topic (no matter how interesting it might seem to you)? I'd recommend starting a new thread if you'd like to discuss 'the true nature of the genre'.

13th Floor clearly belongs into that list, as does World on a Wire . Dark City probably also.

Imho, the main reason why we're seeing few 'true' Cyperpunk movies these days is because the central event that Cyperpunk predicted has already happened: It's the arrival and ubiquitousness of the internet!

And In place of the Megacorps we have Banking Institutions owning countries.

H+ The Digital Series