Back in the day, watching movies with futuristic perspectives kept us enthusiastic about the years to come. While most sci-fi films envisioned flying cars, hover boards, malevolent machines and humans with perfect DNA, today isn’t quite the ultra-modern society we expected. Here are a few movies that embellished the future a bit too much.
“Back to The Future II” (1989)
Oh Marty, how we would have loved to ride our personal red anti-gravity hover board through clear skies to endless destinations. Those self-lacing shoes would skip every arduous “bunny ears” shoe tying lesson we all experienced as children. And, those rejuvenating mask clinics would probably stop those unbearable wrinkles once and for all. But, unfortunately, the predictions in this movie were as far-fetched as the idea of a car traveling to the future. Unless we hit some sort of high-tech jackpot, it’s easy to assume that 2015 is nothing like this movie predicted.
“Total Recall” (1990)
While we all enjoyed watching Arnold Schwarzenegger kick some serious alien-like butt, let’s take a moment to realize how absolutely ridiculous the predictions in this movie were. Watching “Total Recall” in the 90s made us fantasize about how incredibly amazing the future was going to be. While some of the movie’s predictions were fairly correct, like visual phone conversations and holograms, others were a little far-fetched. Though self-driving cars and TV walls are slowly becoming more prominent in today’s society, the one thing the movie was based on that we can all be thankful we don’t have, is implanted memories.
“Gattaca” (1997)
Ethan Hawke, Jude Law and Uma Thurman all starred in this sci-fi film about genetic engineering. Manipulating DNA strands to ensure only the best hereditary traits are passed down is an idea that most of us are quite uncomfortable with, considering the fact that flaws are essentially what make us human. While this idea could possibly be our future, we haven’t quite made it there yet (or so we think), and, honestly, I hope we never do.
“Zenon: Girl of the 21st Century” (1999)
Zetus lapetus, Zenon, you have some explaining to do. Living in space on a space station seems like the best idea since, … well, living in space. While this movie did make a few accurate predictions about the future, like skin-tight leggings being the “it” thing in fashion, cool hip lingo, and video calling, the one thing we are all still patiently waiting on is the outrageous concert in space. It’s been rumored that Lady Gaga has plans to be the first person ever to perform in space but these plans have been delayed several times for obvious safety reasons. So while we continue to wait for Gaga to rock out in different atmosphere, we’ll re-watch this classic Disney movie incessantly.
“Terminator: Rise of the Machines” (2003)
There’s just something about Schwarzenegger and fictitious futuristic movies that we can’t escape. All four of the “Terminator” movies are must-sees, but if you’re watching these films for a vivid glimpse into the future, then buddy, you’re going to be deeply let down. If fighting off an angry army full of malicious machines is your thing, then by all means, knock yourself out. But if you’re into more a positive future, like me, then rejoicing that machines haven’t tried to kill us yet is a good thing. But in case they do anytime soon, the Terminator well “be back” later on this year debuting his super cool new fighting skills.
“2012” (2009)
Admit it, we were all pretty nervous when the year 2012 hit. The end of the Mayan Calendar had everyone envisioning the end of human existence. We had no idea what to expect, and the release of this movie didn’t help us at all. Major cities being split in half, cars falling into a bottomless abyss and families being ripped apart are all reasons why we relied on faith to get us through the next three years. Fortunately, while we were all sleeping with one eye open waiting for these disastrous cataclysmic events to happen, 2012 came and left, and it’s safe to say that three years later… we’re still alive.
All these movies were fun to watch and gave us a glimpse of what was to be expected in the future, some predictions were spot on, while some were clearly a figment of a techie’s imagination. However, it is only 2015. Who’s to say what the future has in store for us? All we can do now is rejoice that we haven’t been completely swallowed by earth, murdered by machines, have our own memories to live by and aren’t competing with flawless human beings. So until that day comes, let’s just enjoy 2015 for what it is: a new year to ponder upon the possibility of our high-tech societal future.
