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The 10 Most Prophetic Science Fiction Movies Ever

popularmechanics.com — When Arthur C. Clarke died last week at the age of 90, science fiction lost one of its greatest, most forward-looking masters. In his honor, we've analyzed the most eerily predictive, prescient films of the future. They ’re not necessarily the best movies—just the ones that got the science right, or will sometime soon.

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  • mattnyc99, on 03/28/2008, -5/+36COMPLETE LIST:

    1. Gattaca
    2. Minority Report
    3. The Road Warrior (Mad Max 2)
    4. The Truman Show
    5. Destination Moon
    6. The Running Man
    7. Blade Runner
    8. Soylent Green
    9. Short Circuit
    10. 2001: A Space Odyssey
    • surKaz, on 03/28/2008, -8/+3Don't want to nitpick.. shoulda posted the description/explanation for each movie too..
      • isunktheship, on 03/28/2008, -0/+11RTFA then, he coulda posted it all here, but then again couldn't we do that for everything? Stupid peoples is stupids!
    • rholland356, on 03/28/2008, -3/+10Hey, it's the last Friday of the month. Time to grind through endless lists of useless trivia written by witless wags.
    • isunktheship, on 03/28/2008, -8/+5THANK YOU, JESUS, 1 on each goddam page, ***** this!
    • alkajazz, on 03/28/2008, -11/+2Bladerunner is last? GTFO

      revised list

      1. Blade Runner
      • NathanielJ, on 03/28/2008, -1/+87th = last?
      • bagboyrebel, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1I don't think the order was given much consideration, but even so the list is about how prophetic the movie was and not how good it was.
    • MxM111, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I actually do not agree that by 2019 CGI will not be as powerful like it is shown in running man. Moor's law FTW
    • marillion, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1How many of these are Philip K Dick adaptations?
  • ChristianDKSD, on 03/28/2008, -3/+39And here is the whole article on one page, instead of 10:
    http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/reviews ...
  • fluidfoundation, on 03/28/2008, -12/+11Buried as inaccurate for not including Pluto Nash.
    • Asianwaste, on 03/28/2008, -2/+2Or the Jetsons meet the Flintstones... WTF???
  • surKaz, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4Interesting selection. I understand that there may be missing some..or may be adding some that don't deserve to be there... but, you can't please them all..
    Different perspectives..
    • JavertHolmes, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3You've written a comment generic enough to apply to any top X list in the world! I may very well cut and paste it in the future and see how well it does under different list circumstances.
    • Petrushka72, on 03/28/2008, -3/+1Let's be a wee bit more specific, shall we? 2001 certainly does not deserve to be there, because it is not even faintly prophetic; it gets pretty much *everything* wrong. Blade Runner, likewise, bears pretty much no resemblance to anything that may ever happen. These two are not "prophetic", they're "imaginative". The fact that they are also among the best two movies on the list is irrelevant.
      Gattaca, Minority Report, The Truman Show, Destination Moon, and, yes, Short Circuit certainly deserve serious consideration for a list like this, even if they don't make it to a top 10.
      As for Soylent Green: if we're thinking of megacorporations making hellishly immoral use of human beings, The Island (2005, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0399201/) would have been a better choice. Still not a good movie, but a much more likely scenario for the future.
  • sg1fan, on 03/28/2008, -16/+3I dont remember all of 2001: A Space Odyssey because I fell asleep during the movie. Only time it ever happened. That was one riveting movie /sarcasm
    • airburst, on 03/28/2008, -4/+11You're a Stargate fan, of course you wouldn't like good science fiction.
    • Asianwaste, on 03/28/2008, -3/+5About 10 times as riveting as say... Star Gate SG1? God forbid Kubrick's work surpass that show.
      • sg1fan, on 03/28/2008, -3/+3Sci Fi like any other tv shows, is subjective, and everyone is going to have a different opinion. It's been a looooong time since I originally saw 2001, i might watch it again and like it. I was just stating a fact. God Forbid someone not like the exact same things you do
        • lazersailer, on 03/28/2008, -3/+3I hate you for liking SG1
        • stpauliegirl, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1"Sci Fi like any other tv shows, is subjective, and everyone is going to have a different opinion...God Forbid someone not like the exact same things you do"

          Gee, but you couldn't wait to ***** all over 2001: A Space Odyssey. Practice what you preach.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -2/+3Gee. dont read much do you. I fell asleep, and then said It was a long time ago, and I might watch it again to see what it was like. That's considered "***** all over it"? Point out my post that tore apart the movie would you little miss st dummie girl
        • stpauliegirl, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1Nice argument, reverting to name calling. Grow up.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -2/+3But doesn't change the fact your post was full of sh*t. "couldn't wait to ***** all over 2001: A Space Odyssey"
            Care to back that up with a shred of proof? Or do you like to jump all over people's posts without thinking to make yerself look smart?
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1@sg1fan Welcome to the internets. Now shut the ***** up.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -3/+2@airburst welcome to the internet. Like you, I dont have to.
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+2@sg1fan I realize your all butt hurt because no-one likes sg1 or Richard Dean Anderson. But seriously, ***** off already.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -3/+2@airburst: where did i say that? I couldn't give 2 sh*ts if you don't like the show. Or are you hurt that I dont care
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1@sg1fan I know you are hurt by it because you can't stop coming here to defend it. Where I am coming back to this because I am terribly amused by it.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -2/+3@airburst: Cool. I am defending a show without typing a single word about it. That's a neat trick. Can you show me how i'm doing it? I bet you're the smartest 13 year old on your block.
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1@sg1fan "Sci Fi like any other tv shows, is subjective, and everyone is going to have a different opinion."

            Looks like a defense to me. Now run along, I'm sure you have some SG1 fanfic to finish or several cats to take care of.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -2/+2not too swift are ye?
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1@sg1fan
            "awwww, the poor little baby didn't have someone agree with them...and like the exact same things they do... must digg down.."

            Here is ANOTHER defensive statement you made. Arrr, I think ye be the slow one matey, arrr.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -2/+3Dont strain anything patting yourself on your back.
          • airburst, on 03/29/2008, -3/+1@sg1fan See? I am the smartest 13 year old on my block. Anyway, It's been real fun ***** you off, but I've got a plane to catch.

            Seriously, I've been waiting in an airport and you've been wasting your Friday night.
          • sg1fan, on 03/29/2008, -1/+3Airport. You have to be kidding me, you think you're cool because youre on the internet in an airport??? Give me a break. That is the most pathetic thing Ive seen on here in a while.

            If you think you've ***** me off, you are also sadly mistaken. It's been fun watching you twist all my words and try to pass yourself off as smart. Not that it matters, or that you need to know, but I am home sick. On a friday. Yes... big friggen whoop. Coolness is not your location on a friday night... which you so gladly proved for the whole world.
      • sg1fan, on 03/28/2008, -3/+3awwww, the poor little baby didn't have someone agree with them...and like the exact same things they do... must digg down...
        • lazersailer, on 03/28/2008, -3/+3awwww, sacastic comment....blah blah blah.....must digg down
          douche
  • scififan9009, on 03/28/2008, -5/+5What, no "Ice Pirates?"
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ice_Pirates
    • SilverBadger, on 03/28/2008, -1/+0Ice Pirates is the shizzle!! :D

      /Really stupid shizzle - but lots of fun.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Well the idea of destroying and controlling a finite and necessary resource to maintain control over a population -- that's pretty good.

      However, the swords and the baby robots and the time travel,... way off.

      But, the gelding of criminals to pacify them -- any day now. Oh wait, we've had some people to elect to be chemically neutered to get out of prison under the charge of violent sex offender. So, that was spot on.
    • Myonosken, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3In regards to ones that are missing, what about Clockwork Orange? Or would that be classed as prophetic of society? I mean, it has some technology in it that we now have.
  • mark076h, on 03/28/2008, -2/+42dugg because it's not a top 10 list from MrBabyMan
  • VikingoTJ, on 03/28/2008, -7/+3How did this get buried?
  • Harabeck, on 03/28/2008, -2/+5Lasers being seen as a miss? Someone point this guy to the currently working laser weapon systems.
    • MxM111, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4It is a miss for being that at 1986. In addition, even today the lasers of that destruction force are much larger than the whole robot, let along that small attachment laser that is in the movie.
    • jgzman, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Please point me to them.
  • dannyboy3020, on 03/28/2008, -7/+9Minority Report? That movie came out six years ago. Come on!
  • LiquidIse, on 03/28/2008, -2/+7Go to know the matrix isnt on this list yet
  • Ganja420, on 03/28/2008, -4/+2Mad Max
    • gquaglia, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3Road Warrior (Mad Max 2 was listed)
  • apochcrypha, on 03/28/2008, -16/+5BURIED. No Star Trek movies were listed. (At the very least, First Contact should have been listed. It prophesies that humanity will come together as one when we learn we're not the only ones in the universe, technology cures many of our problems (e.g. replicators create food, warp drive allows us to leave Earth and freely travel to other places, so no need to fight over land again) And most importantly, money is abolished, and the primary reason for existence is to better yourself.)
    • Asianwaste, on 03/28/2008, -3/+1All of those have no reach in site. But I will give Star Trek one thing. Tri-Quarters ( I think that's what they were called). Hand-held gadgets that have multiple purposes will be so commonplace sooner or later.
    • jgzman, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3The listed movies have had their prophicies fulfilled, to a greater or lesser extent. The ones you listed have not.

      Tricorders for the win, however.
  • willy3121, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4911. The Fifth Element for its accurate portrayal of what radio DJs will be like in the future.
    • Shawn4168, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6You mean what radio DJs are like now?
    • MxM111, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1Yes, the future of the movie = now for us.
  • jnorris441, on 03/28/2008, -0/+12How can you say there are "misses" if most of them are still set in the future?
  • camaroz06, on 03/28/2008, -3/+8I heart Johnny 5, I always cry when he shuts down
  • daxsymbiont, on 03/28/2008, -8/+6what a pathetic list.

    go watch some more sci-fi then come back.
  • twertyto, on 03/28/2008, -3/+4It's not a movie but if you want quality prophetic science fiction then read the Foundation series by Issac Asimov.
  • daxsymbiont, on 03/28/2008, -10/+4none of that has come true.

    what a pathetic miserable list.
    • Bersy, on 03/28/2008, -0/+0You really like the word pathetic I see. And now you added miserable. A cry for help perhaps?
  • OtisPLord, on 03/28/2008, -5/+7Totally useless without Buckaroo Bonzai Through the 8th Dimension.
  • g33kfu, on 03/28/2008, -0/+25Dugg for Gattaca!
    • zenerdiode, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2+1

      Always overshadowed by Star Wars, Matrix, BSG, Blade Runner, etc... but truly a great movie. I feel the greatest sci-fi movies/books are a mirror on modern day humanity and society using the future as a canvas. That is, the story isn't about the fancy future gizmo or the alien world or whatever, but ultimately about the current, modern day human.

      By the way, the Jude Law scene where he climbs up the stairs with his hands to meet the inspector...so f'ing sweet.
    • vdog, on 03/28/2008, -1/+4"ultimately about the current, modern day human." That's why Gattaca is the scariest movie I've ever seen- the premise is so plausible- or rather, probable.
  • dwright99, on 03/28/2008, -5/+0Prescient movies? When in hell did the scenario from Soylent Green take place? Did I miss something? Oh, they just believe that these movies scenarios will come true. When I speak Klingon.
  • rz8472, on 03/28/2008, -3/+20How about Dune? Paul Muad'Dib is basically an intergalactic version of Osama Bin Laden.... 30 years before he became famous. The similarities are striking:

    -"Usul", one of Muad'Dib's names, means "The Base (of the Pillar)" in Fremen. Al Qaeda means "The Base (of the Pillar)" in Arabic.
    -An extremely valuable resource is at stake in both the modern world and the Dune universe. Both resources are more or less essential for transportation needs.
    -The Fremen and Al Qaeda are fighting against a superpower whose conventional firepower far exceeds their own. Both employ guerilla warfare heavily.
    -Frequent mentions of a "jihad" in Dune... in RL Al Qaeda, ditto.
    -The environment: Frank Herbert took much of his inspiration while stationed in the Middle East.
    • maelnum, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2If you think about it, the Dune series does echo the Middle East situation
      Melange is responsible for all space travel, thus Arrakis' economy. Oil is responsible for entire economies of oil-rich nations and helps people get from point A to point B.
    • toppgun, on 03/28/2008, -3/+1but the Fremen dont resort to terrorist tactics.
      • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3You didn't watch the movie, now did you?
        • toppgun, on 03/29/2008, -2/+1guerilla warfare and terrorism are different. I read the book.
    • zenerdiode, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3Didn't Herbert specifically say that Dune is a allegory for the struggle for oil in the Middle East and the Cold War? And this problem with Osama isn't that new...it's been there ever since they found oil in the sands of Saudi Arabia.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1The Fremen also win.
      So Dune got that right as well.
  • Nekura20x6, on 03/28/2008, -0/+5They are off on their Running Man / Video Editing failure. It is possible to make real-time edits to recorded moving video without a ton of overhead. They frequently paste real actor's faces onto stunt models (see the latest example in the Blade Runner re-cut). Hell - Jay Leno frequently does it for his show. Plus, Network should really be on the list.
  • Axemantitan, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3They spoiled it by listing all 10 at the bottom of the first page.
  • GoKings, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6What? No Network?

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0074958/
    • mm911, on 03/29/2008, -0/+2Network may have been prophetic, but last I checked it was not science fiction.
  • zgoos, on 03/28/2008, -3/+1No demolition man?
  • Mier, on 03/28/2008, -7/+5Buried. Soylent Green has nothing to do with global warming, its about overpopulation. Besides global warming is BS and even the blessed NPR posted an article about the bots measuring the ocean temperatures failing to find any warming.
    http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?story ...
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1NPR that now gets a lot of its money from Monsanto?
      I suppose they appear liberal because they are thoughtful and deliberate -- but if you look at who now pays their bills. No. NPR hasn't really gone after the hard stories in years now.

      Global Warming is a perfect example of industry and government colluding in ways that harm people.
    • Mier, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1Oh so you're saying that NPR is bought off, I find that fascinating. If you parrot my ideas you are correct, question them and you are an idiot. The only "thoughtful and deliberate" reporting I've seen these days are total fiction. Now the evidence is starting to turn against global warming so you must increase your hysteria to bring about global economic suicide.
  • protodon, on 03/28/2008, -0/+16Yeah, seriously where is Demolition Man?!? There are so many little things in that. Like Schwarzenegger as president, everything bad for your health becoming illegal, a radio station that plays old commercials and how all people become pussies in general.
    • gquaglia, on 03/28/2008, -0/+6Not to mention the 3 sea shells.
    • demiurgency, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4Dugg man. You beat me to it.
      Schwarzenegger Presidential Library. That was the best. And fines for dirty language.
      Eww! Fluid exchange!
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -1/+6Hell no. That vision of the future scares Conservatives - but the reality is the movie "Idiocracy." Where, mysogonistic idiots who are frightened of being called wimps, breed a lot faster than intelligent and thoughtful people.

      Did you recognize a lot of Republican past times in that? The concentration on sports, and immediate gratification? Eliminating people with monster trucks? ; -)

      Demolition Man is far less a danger than Idiocracy.
      • protodon, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1"Why come you don't have a tattoo?"
  • FlaNative, on 03/28/2008, -0/+5I am Legend and the genetic virus modification cure for cancer... It was just announced a couple of weeks ago about a possible cancer cure in the works through the same methods....
  • kingmanic, on 03/28/2008, -0/+7Gattaca did Genetics pretty well for Hollywood fluff. Compared to the way Hollywood handles most other sciences related topics Gattaca is downright brilliant in contrast.
    • merper, on 03/28/2008, -0/+1I think it's fine as #1, but the author goes on to add:

      "Genetic engineering is still centuries away"

      Uh, what? You can switch genes off and on in animals pretty readily right now. The only reason it hasn't been tried in a human embryo is the ethical angle.
      • kingmanic, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2I think the article authors aren't that biology knowledgeable. You can genetically engineer babies right now if you didn't have the ethical rules in your way. We're a rogue nation and a billion dollars away from a engineered human being. Although I'm uncertain how much better the results would actually be as most "improvements" carry a set of "disadvantages".
  • Blozout, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1Southland Tales(which is actually a few years old but was held from release) makes some pretty bold predictions that are incredibly accurate, Clinton for presidential nomination being the most obvious. I'm not saying it's the best movie, a little convoluted yes, but it's not bad at all.
    • Blozout, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1Guess you haven't seen it.
    • HanSolo69, on 03/28/2008, -1/+2I heard it was the worst movie ever made and that it was offensively bad.
  • Andyschism, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1Pretty bare list but as usual, most of these movies are based on or inspired by works of Philip K. Dick.
  • HalsMyPal, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3"And any time an autonomous system has the power to kill, such as an armed unmanned vehicle, roboticists are careful to require an authorized human operator to actually pull the trigger, or, in HAL's case, turn off the crew's life support. "

    this guy missed the point. the people who designed HAL did NOT give him the ability to kill! they gave him conflicting orders and therefore this caused him to become truly sentient and he made a decision! he wasnt following orders he was making judgments for whhat he THOUGHT, not was the was told, was the greater good.
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3Navigating autonomously through space and running life support is a lot easier than understanding "do no harm" for a computer.
      A computer could easily wipe everyone out with or without a conscience.
  • Axemantitan, on 03/28/2008, -4/+2What about Timecop?
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3I guess in the future, there will be cops.
      Other than that, I can't think of anything insightful from that movie.
      • Axemantitan, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1I was largely being sarcastic, but the automatic cars were cool.
  • JulyZerg, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2Well - the tone of most of it was like "slow paced" "boring movie". Maybe they are, I've only seen a few. But what is so unbelievable about corporations sponsoring space exploration? Just think of the money that can be potentially made from it.
  • teambosun, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3The Truman Show's prediction of reality tv was pretty accurate it's almost creepy. Of course it's over the top for the sake of being a movie, but other than that it got the "reality tv" prediction right, by quite a few years.
  • daschupa, on 03/28/2008, -0/+11Umm, 1984? Or has that moved from science fiction to non-fiction?
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -1/+51984 is perhaps the most important book ever written. The tyranny of a government may one day make it impossible for a society to get rid of it.
      I hear that Kim Jong Il in North Korea uses a lot of these techniques.
  • HanSolo69, on 03/28/2008, -1/+4There's certainly more sci-fi movies that could have gone on this instead of the Truman Show.
  • mac69, on 03/28/2008, -2/+2Can I add The Island ?
  • SilverBadger, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1My high school physics teacher (a former JPL employee) had a pet peeve about sci-fi movies in general. He used to say that he hated how unrealistic Hollywood always made space travel, yada, yada. From the sounds of it, that Destination Moon movie in the list would be right up his alley. Blah.... :p
  • DeFex, on 03/28/2008, -0/+9Wrong wrong wrong. with the crappy bureaucratic and moronic governments of most countries, and the way they treat people these days. the most prophetic SCIFI movie is BRAZIL. (not US TV feel good ending version either)
    • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4Thanks!

      I was trying to remember the movie -- yes. This dark comedy was perhaps the most brilliant and scary vision of the future (because it is so possible). You mix an mindless fascism, with incompetence, crony ism and the government's function most of the time to just cover up its failures. Mix that with bureaucratic paperwork and the most wanted man in the world being a vigilante repair technician -- genius!
  • dexedrine, on 03/28/2008, -0/+4I love Gattaca. The end always makes me cry and hope there is something left in us worth saving.
  • formatDelete, on 03/28/2008, -7/+0buried just for including gattaca
  • FREETHINKER2008, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1Escape from NY/LA.
  • A11YND, on 03/28/2008, -7/+2Burried, No Blade Runner
    • databeast, on 03/28/2008, -0/+3dude, it's #7, burying you for blindness
      • JusticeFriend, on 03/29/2008, -0/+1Dugg you up for calling him blind.
  • Nerevar, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1Wouldn't it be better to do books since, you know Arthur C. Clarke was an author?
  • Magee1205, on 03/28/2008, -1/+610 ***** PAGES?!
  • FunkyLlama, on 03/28/2008, -0/+2I nominate Deus Ex for the most prophetic sci-fi game ever, purely because the WTC is destroyed by terrorists in it.
    • databeast, on 03/28/2008, -1/+1atually, the statue of liberty is destroyed, but there is not WTC i nthe NYC backdrop, because of a technical issue, not specifically plotline.
      • FunkyLlama, on 03/29/2008, -0/+2Nope. If you look in the background the twin towers are missing, and the developers justified it by saying that they were destroyed by terrorists.
  • VitriolAndAngst, on 03/28/2008, -2/+1This guy was totally wrong about Soylent Green. I could come up with a dozen actual court cases where some corporations profited from human misery and death. The government can and does work with industries to cover these things up -- all you need is a compliant press (you know, that requires advertising revenue -- hello?). I don't see anything far fetched with Soylent Green. Anyone watch Blood Diamond?

    He also missed the BIG deal in the move; The Oceans were Dying.
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