digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

The Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time

snarkerati.com — Massive dehumanization, totalitarian government, post-apocalyptic terrains and widespread urban violence are some of the common themes in dystopian films which bravely examine the ominous shadow cast by future. This is a list of the 50 most commonly cited Dystopian movies, ranked according to an average of both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB scores.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • hanksname, on 10/27/2007, -5/+83I dugg it because they actually used the word 'Dystopian' and it didn't want to make me reach for a pistol.
    • abid786, on 10/24/2007, -0/+189I dugg it because it has the entire list on ONE page, rather than fifty pages with fifty ads on each page.
      • nicholai, on 01/29/2008, -0/+1Equilibrium should have been in the top 5 but I dugg it anyways.
    • rnwen2750, on 10/10/2007, -13/+8Is that often an issue for you?
      • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+16It's starting to get annoying when you get a top 10 list and every item has its own page packed with ads and a tiny little block of text in the middle which is your story.
    • Nerfdude, on 10/24/2007, -2/+23i dugg it because it makes a nice "to do" list. i have about half of these, but by this time tomorrow, i'll have them all.
      • stonedslacker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+8Are you gonna buy i"t or rent" it???

        Nudge Nudge ... Wink Wink!!! Say no more, say no more!!!
    • appleswitch, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3I dugg it for using Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB.
    • potofgravy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"I dugg it because they actually used the word 'Dystopian' and it didn't want to make me reach for a pistol."

      What.. as an adjective? For a list no less.

      Oh sweet glorious lists!
      • nicholai, on 01/29/2008, -0/+1The entire list should be flipped upside down. Equilibrium and the Matrix belong in the top five, while all five movies in their top five suck.
  • SlamShut, on 10/10/2007, -3/+34Interesting read. There's a few films I have a hard time applying the term "dystopian" to, like "Pleasantville" or "Dark City," but the inclusion of films like "Silent Running," Osamu Tezuka's "Metropolis," the fantastic "Strange Days"and Micheal Radford's absolutely perfect "Nineteen Eighty-Four" were dead right.
    • accessviolation, on 10/24/2007, -0/+3It's quite an eerie coincidence. I am watching the credits of Strange Days right now. The movie ended, and for some reason I decided to check Digg.
    • pikpikcarrotmon, on 10/10/2007, -1/+13How is Dark City NOT dystopian? Rainy, sprawling, gritty, urban. Those in control are clearly corrupt. Things aren't right and the main character is out to fix it. Though it's hard to compare the two, Dark City is dystopian in the same way as is Bladerunner - they're science fiction merged with dystopia and a dash of noir.
      • Urusai, on 10/24/2007, -11/+2Dark City doesn't predict a dark future for humanity in general, just the ones that got kidnapped and put in the Dark City space station for experimentation.
        • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10Maybe you should preface that with a spoiler alert.
    • Kerath, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2Silent Running is terrible.
      • emoj0388, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Though, the Running Man is AWESOME!
    • Ramble, on 10/10/2007, -4/+31984 only at 39?
      Are they kidding? For me 1984 is the *only* dystopian film, all others bow down before it.
      • Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+111984 is a very dull movie. it would be hard to dispute the book's greatness, but the movie is a real snoozer. yeah, snoozer.
      • ZenMojo, on 10/24/2007, -2/+1The ratings are in order of an average between IMDB and rottentomatoes freshness %/10. I hardly consider either of these accurate measures of how good a movie is (since only movies with 2 1/2 out of 4 stars get tomatoes, so a movie universally either despised or loved could get 50% while a movie that is universally considered above average but not great would get 0% and a movie that is revolutionary but controversial might get 13%).
      • rootstyle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yeah, a great book, absolutely fantastic dystopian literature. However the movie was really really bad, even #39 seems kinda high. I know movies are rarely as good as the books they are based on, but the 1984 movie seriously lost the awesome sense I got from the book.
    • digg-dugg, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I find it funny that the photo of mad max, wasnt even from mad max. But glad to see they got the top 3 right.
  • ELCad, on 10/10/2007, -8/+2Dugg for No Blade of Grass.
    • 1337Einstein, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Read the whole thing, it didn't meet the requirements for the top fifty, but got an honorary mention at the bottom.
    • cruzlee, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Dugg for Ghost in the shell. Saw it first last week, still impressed.
  • robbiedo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+18Rocko's Modern Life: Chewy Chicken is people! Chewy chicken is people!! Chewy chicken is people!!!" "Well, that's a relief.".

    I could never believe how a low budget TV movie like Soylent Green became such a pop culture symbol. That movie creeped me out when I saw it when I was just a boy.
    • cogen, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3not to mention it's the sweatiest movie ever made.
  • StanleyKoolPrik, on 10/10/2007, -35/+3Someone needs to lookup the word "dystopian".

    Also, piling on the obscure movies does not lend you credibility.
    • noyurawk, on 10/10/2007, -3/+26I don't see many obscure movies on that list, maybe you should broaden your horizons beyond summer blockbusters.
    • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -0/+13Dystopia - noun, a society characterized by human misery, as squalor, oppression, disease, and overcrowding.

      Being excessively pedantic about the depth to which this is portrayed in a movie doesn't lend you credibility or justify your feeling of selfimportance.

      Maybe seeing some of these movies or understanding that the books many these movies are based on delved more deeply into the dystopia itself could have stopped you from putting your foot in your mouth.
  • smartsingh24, on 10/24/2007, -10/+56Pleasantville does not in any way or form belong on that list.
    • HunterTV, on 10/24/2007, -0/+24I never really thought about as being so, but I think it's valid.
      Many films (or other works) that seem utopic on the surface are actually dystopic, i.e. the novel Brave New World.
    • mabhatter, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1while Pleasentville is more campy, it's still about being in a "canned" world and breaking out. It's not quite Stepford Wives or Hot Fuzz, but the core idea of breaking out is there. The theme doesn't always have to be post-apocalypse or autocratic to be meaningful.
    • ZenMojo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11Pleasantville is tricky. On the one hand, Pleasantville IS a dystopia in that there's an eerie veneer of perfection but only because the inhabitants are completely unaware of the possibilities. Furthermore, the unraveling of society is dually the liberation of its inhabitants and the destruction of their perfect lifestyle as they discover the problems/joys of the real world.... In a way, it is a commentary on the falsehood of the 1950's which is only pleasant in FANTASY and the evolution of our world view from that period to the present.
    • NeoCortex, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Yeah, I was surprised to see that there, too. What I was really hoping to see was Back to the Future 2.
  • manicallday, on 10/10/2007, -1/+11This is a pretty good list. Not only dugged but bookmarked. Well done.
    • crushfan, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3My first reaction was adding torrents of the ones which I don't have or haven't seen, while I was reading it. Am I a bad person? :(
  • thebrokenlight, on 10/10/2007, -5/+14Dugg for A Clockwork Orange and Serenity.
    • Protoss, on 10/24/2007, -1/+31Dugg for those and Children of Men.
      • rarson, on 10/24/2007, -7/+1Children of Men sucked. The premise was pretty dumb, but more importantly, it was a completely boring and anticlimactic movie.
    • Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -7/+4buried for serenity boner
  • puredeviation, on 10/10/2007, -0/+26Is the picture on the site Rapture?
  • Maddpaky, on 10/22/2007, -3/+66it might be #50, but I'm happy they put equilibrium in there
    • jthomp3120, on 10/10/2007, -3/+2you mean the remake of Fahrenheit 451?
    • joegibes, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1IMO one of the best on the list... But I haven't seen some of the other ones.
  • NycterisA, on 10/10/2007, -0/+19I don't totally agree with this list, but it's an interesting read.
    • motivator, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2yeah, i had a difficult time classifying many of these as "dystopian", but i had a good time thinking about why i agreed or disagreed with each movie.
  • Gogomog, on 10/10/2007, -4/+7Alright list, except they used an image from Robocop 2 instead of 1.
    • acdcfanbill, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7They also used a still from Escape from LA in place of Escape from NY, but who is complaining :P
    • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I found Robocop 2 to be a little more dystopian than the first one. Say that reminds me did anyone see an old obscure movie called Cyborg. I barely remeber that one but I'm pretty sure it was a dystopia too. I seem to remember it sucking though.
      • shango5, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Angelina jolie was in cyborg 2 and I believe she was naked. If thats the case cyborg was worth it for that alone.
    • Nerfdude, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5they also used a shot from road warrior for mad max.
    • ZenMojo, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1They also used an image from Mad Max 1 for Mad Max 2.
      • sabach, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2No they didn't.
        • sabach, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Who buried me? Look at the ***** pictures *****. They're both from Road Warrior.
    • spawnfree, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1They also used a shot from robocop 2 for robocop.

      nerd pwr!
  • llamapalooza87, on 10/10/2007, -6/+21I love Serenity-- it's one of my desert island movies-- but is it really dystopian? There are dystopic elements in the alliance for sure, but the movie's not ABOUT the dystopia. I suppose the movie is dystopian moreso than the show, but it's still about a group who manage to successfully avoid submission, and more importantly, there's no dystopian message-- the movie isn't first-and-foremost trying to say something about government or warn us about government like most of those are.
    • Protonz, on 10/10/2007, -1/+12I should watch that movie again, but wasn't there some kind of government plot to control human nature that backfired and caused people to go crazy and kill eachother?
      Maybe I am thinking of a different movie.
    • RTPMatt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4I agree, dystopian means that the conditions are extremely bad, joss whedon describes firefly/serenity as a future where nothing has changed, except the technology. I don't think that qualifies as a dystopia.
    • ZenMojo, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Nothing has changed? Joss Whedon describes a totalitarian dystopic society that people are fleeing, the main characters lost the war and have since been cast to the harshest regions of the cosmos to escape the tyranny of the "civilized world." The movie itself both combines the savagery of the Reapers and the twisted ideology that created them. This is very much a dystopic future.
  • DeFex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+34I was starting to get annoyed brazil was not in there, then i saw it at number 3 :D
    • bobsbones, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3Heh, same. I was ready to bury through the lack of Brazil, but it got pretty much the placement it deserved.

      On the other hand, Starship Troopers in there? Hmm. If you read the book (especially if you'd read the book before you'd seen the movie), you would realise what an appalling piece of garbage that movie is.
      • giev, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Meh. I loved the book and the movie. They are vastly different though, I'll give you that.
        • Urusai, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Bitching about the movie is like bitching about Aliens 2 vs. the original Alien.
    • bajesus, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4I had the same thought when I saw the anime Metropolis and not the original. I didn't expect it to be number one though and was super relieved.
  • uncledicker, on 10/10/2007, -9/+1Where is Max Max: Beyond the Thunder Dome?
    Master Blaster FTW!
    • acdcfanbill, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7It's two far greater predecessors hold spots on the list.
  • Spamcan, on 10/10/2007, -2/+21The title isn't 100% accurate but thats still a kick ass list of films.
  • Shurikane, on 10/10/2007, -23/+16They actually ranked Starship Troopers HIGHER than Equilibrium?

    Instaburied.
    • gnslngr1919, on 10/10/2007, -0/+20Even just reading the description tells us that the rankings were based on a combination of IMDB and RT scores. They didn't pick the order.
    • Protonz, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5I really love Equilibrium, I am surprised to see how few people share my admiration for it. People also look at me strange when I propose starting a gun kata school (with airsoft guns of course).
      Perhaps people found it cheesy. But if you liked it I would recommend a new movie called 'The Shooter'. It gives me that same rush :)
  • Renuvian, on 10/10/2007, -11/+20Terrible list. Equilibrium should not be last. Christian Bale deserves better, even if the movie was cheesy as hell.
    Also "The Trial" cannot be described as "Kafkaesque" seeing as it was written by Franz Kafka. Thats just idiotic.
    • 1337Einstein, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It was not a list of the most dystopian movies, but of the top rated dystopian movies. THey were organized by their average rating.
    • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Good actors cannot save bad writing. If you don't believe me, just watch "Babel." I nearly turned it off several times while watching it because I was so pissed by how bad it was, but I continued to watch it because of my utter disbelief that the entire movie could be complete crap. It was.

      I'm not saying Equilibrium was crap, I thought it was okay, and Bale was certainly good in it. But the logic that a movie is good because an actor is good, even if they are good in that particular movie, is flawed.
  • whatthefu, on 10/10/2007, -6/+14I couldn't stand the movie adaptation of 1984--it just didn't have the spirit or intelligence that the book did. Also, I know most of you will disagree with me :( but I don't think V for Vendetta should be so high on the list, ahead of classics like THX 1138. V for Vendetta was sloppy in some ways, and as a dystopian flick it just didn't hold its own. As a film altogether, it was fine. But it wasn't a great dystopia movie.
    • theone3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I agree that the execution was not as good - but the timing of its release more than made up for it.
    • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I first read V for Vendetta as a graphic novel and was absolutely blown away. Alan Moore is amazing. It kinda makes me cringe that they are gonna make a Watchman movie but maybe if they get Terry Gilliam, It can be done correctly. Fear and Loathing was very faithful and honored the original text.
    • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Meh. Let's face it the future was better in the past... or, in this case, worse... ;P
  • crapmatic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Damnation Alley!
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damnation_Alley_%28fi ...
    Anyone who had HBO in the late 1970s remembers that dystopian film.

    Also kudos to the site for having everything on one page, and not stacking the deck where all the 2000-2007 movies are in the top 20.
    • sabach, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I had read Zelazny's novel and was excited to hear they were going to film it. It was so different I almost automatically dismissed it, but I had to admit it stands well on its own.
  • L4WL3RS34L, on 10/10/2007, -12/+38Did I just see Equillibrium get #50, but Minority Report get #9?
    • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3To be fair, I think Minority Report's concept was more original.

      Equilibrium definitely deserved to be higher than 50 though. It was, in essence, 1984 + Fahrenheit 451 + Brave New World. Now, that is an awesome combination, and it was executed well. I'd say it should have been more on par with the Matrix in terms of ratings.
      • bat-21, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3Minority Report did have a good idea but it had too many mistakes (ex: Biometric devices that can't tell the difference between live tissue and dead, using a muscle relaxant to change someone's appearance). Instead of making me think, it pissed me off.
        • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Sometimes you have to suspend your beliefs while watching movies since, you know, they aren't actually reality.
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1It's been a while since I saw Equilibrium, but how could it be both 1984 and Brave New World? 1984 was all about making people's lives so ***** they didn't have time to think. Brave New World was all about making people's lives so perfect they had no reason to think.
        • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Remember the drug they look, Prozium? It got rid of their emotions completely. So they neither feel happy nor sad. It's directly in between those two extremes, thus the hybrid I suggested.
    • thedragon4453, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I like both movies, but I was more disappointed about MR beating out V.
  • Sevets, on 10/10/2007, -8/+3How is equilibrium last on this list? below Starship troopers?! And I like starship troopers
  • sofaKing812, on 10/10/2007, -10/+5Starship Troopers should have been ranked higher.
    • crapmatic, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7Sucks you got dugg down, but I have to agree. The cheerful fascist state revelling in its propaganda was really well done.
    • Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3No, and it doesn't matter how many times FX re-runs it, it doesn't work. As for the propaganda, Verhoven was trying to recapture the cynicsm from Robocop's "Media Break" and other video offerings, and it didn't work (especially with the clunky attempt at a future-internet "Tell Me More!" button).

      Not to mention the bugs shooting rocks from one part of the galaxy to another fast enough that they could rapidly nuke Buenos Aires, but the rocks apparently slow down to a crawl so a starship can dodge them in space. WTF?!
      • sofaKing812, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"Not to mention the bugs shooting rocks from one part of the galaxy to another fast enough that they could rapidly nuke Buenos Aires, but the rocks apparently slow down to a crawl so a starship can dodge them in space. WTF?!"
        Dude, it is called a movie.
        • Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2It's called a BAD movie. Here's a little tip if you're writing sci-fi: You can make it as outlandish as you want, but don't break your own rules. If you have something go from one end of the galaxy to the other in short order, don't show it drifting along like a space iceberg.
  • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -7/+2Digg me up if you have seen or read Battle Royale!

    Props for Battle Royale being on the list at all, especially for it being #18. Have the book and the movie. The book came first and is many fold better than the movie because it actually discusses much of the dystopian atmosphere, unlike the movie. The movie is definitely worth watching though.

    ... Especially if you want set a record for the number of times you cringe within 90 minutes.
    • imightbewrong, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5Battle Royale is an amazing movie and a chilling concept...but i don't see why I need to digg you up
      • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -1/+0I am just curious how many people have seen it. Hence the digg number. But replies will do just fine as well.
    • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1So I don't get dugg down any further for looking like a tool. I wanted to be dugg up because I am curious how many people have seen Battle Royale, but I guess that's better achieved through replies. So have at it.
    • ciar, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1battle royale was kickass. there's something really disturbing and awesome about children battling to the death.
    • Herv3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"... Especially if you want set a record for the number of times you cringe within 90 minutes."

      You post set a record for how times i cringed reading it.
  • imightbewrong, on 10/10/2007, -2/+7Where is La Jetée?
    • gnslngr1919, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4It would probably be with 12 Monkeys and an asterisk if anywhere.
  • FTLJohnson, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1The ordering on this list is all ***** up... It's not really sorted according to tomatometer.... Also.. No Demolition Man? Boo!

    Looking at the ordering of this list and the ratings on RT reminds me of how much RT ratings suck.
    • Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1"Demolition Man?" That was the most uneven piece of schlock-fi this side of the 80's Flash Gordon (and that movie at least had the decency to be so bad it was fun to watch).
      • FTLJohnson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Yeah, because every movie on this list is cinematic gold.... right... I'm sure Arnold appreciated your Oscar nomination for his screaming of "Cohagen!!! Give da peopa back deya aiya!"
  • TotalHalibut, on 10/10/2007, -8/+17I realize that it's based on an average of ratings from IMDB and RottenTomatoes but any list that ranks Minority Report 30 or so places above 1984 has some serious credibility issues.
    • MtheoryX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+8Based on what? Quality of acting? Credibility and the director's ability for you to suspend your disbelief? Film quality? Popularity at box office? Originality of concept?
      Or do you just dislike Tom Cruise enough to want to rank the bore-fest "1984" higher than Minority Report?
      Compare the book to Minority Report, and maybe I'd agree with you. But I feel the two movies are right about where they need to be in this ranking.
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1I have to agree. While I liked the movie 1984 for its visual imagery, it is kind of boring. Minority Report is more entertaining to watch.

        Of course, I like the underlying story in 1984 much better than Minority Report.
    • yfguitarist, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Obviously, it's the cool thing nowadays to bash anything Stephen Spielberg/Tom Cruise. Minority Report is one of the best sci-fi movies I've seen and deserves its high spot, much higher than Equilibrium, which just felt like a mish-mash of other dystopian movies I've seen. Sorry, but nonstop gunplay doesn't wow me anymore.
    • BenKenobi88, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1People are too quick to judge movies if they come out of Hollywood within the past 20 years. It's as if older movies have taken every original idea possible, and any recent movie is not allowed to be praised.
  • techlinks, on 10/10/2007, -7/+5Wait wait wait....Serenity is LOWER than Minority Report?

    Whoa!
  • techlinks, on 10/10/2007, -14/+3Wait wait wait....Serenity is LOWER than Minority Report?

    Whoa!
  • MetalLizard, on 10/10/2007, -3/+14Guys, Equillibrium wasn't exactly class acting... It seemed a bit childish. Metropolis on the other hand. That is a movie EVERYONE should watch, even the silent one too.
    • accessviolation, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Yeah... Metropolis was a great concept and a ground-breaking film. Everyone should definitely see it at least once. But, let's be fair... it's a pretty hard movie to sit through if your expectation is "movie." I try and think of it more as a short story, as it requires a little more active engagement from the viewer than a modern movie.
    • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I was kind of surprised to see so many comments in favor of Equilibrium (and I have no idea why so many people keep misspelling it, must not be using Firefox) as it wasn't nearly a "great" movie. Wasn't it billed as "better than The Matrix" right on the DVD case? I might be thinking about a different movie.

      I'm trying to figure out why The Fifth Element isn't on this list, too.
  • Andyschism, on 10/10/2007, -9/+2Was almost perfect but any list that puts I, Robot on it deserves to be taken out back and shot.
  • Dumbledorito, on 10/10/2007, -5/+3"Starship Troopers?" I think they (like a lot of reviewers) glom on to the "citizenship" concepts from the novel, which was barely touched on in the film. The movie had royally bad acting, and the only thing worth watching was the CGI bugs.

    And what the hell was that thing behind the captain on every starship? A giant washing machine?
    • texpundit, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"and the only thing worth watching was the CGI bugs."

      You forgot one other thing: Dina Meyer topless.
    • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1"the only thing worth watching was the CGI bugs."

      Wasn't there nudity in that movie?
  • Falldog, on 10/10/2007, -1/+4They use a very loose definition of dystopian, still a great list of movies though.
  • Ghoztt, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1Really messed up list in my opinion. Lots of good movies but too many are WAY away from where they should be on the list.
  • LimeParrot, on 10/10/2007, -7/+1I object to Total Recall being in that list.
    • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Anything by Philip K. Dick gets on the list by default, so there!
  • chmeee, on 10/10/2007, -10/+1I had to bury this just because of all the crappy japanimation on the list. The fact that a bunch of the real movies on the list weren't remotely dystopian didn't help matters.
    • bagboyrebel, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7yeah, a whole 2 anime movies, terrible...
    • Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3What makes them "not real movies", if I may ask?
  • LimeParrot, on 10/10/2007, -1/+19And where are the Terminator's?
    • superal1394, on 10/10/2007, -1/+6While they fall more in action/violence than they do about the actual society as some of the other ones are more focused on, its worth an honorable mention.
    • smackhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5terminator is not dystopian since all movies were primarily set in regular present day society. any movies set after T3 might be considered dystopian, but not the ones that have been made so far, which are set before the robots take over.
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1In case you haven't noticed, cyborg killing machines from the future isn't reflective of our "regular present day society." I'd say that alone would put it in the realm of dystopia.
        • smackhero, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1i don't think you understand what a dystopia is.
    • LimeParrot, on 10/10/2007, -3/+7But it comes down to how exactly you define dystopian. The Terminator movies are all about the awaiting dystopic future where man fights machine, and although it's set in the now, the films are about preventing the murder of John Connor who is humanity's last hope in the fight ahead. So the underlying plot is highly focused on the disastrous future, ergo a dystopian film. I mean, if you're going to include the Matrix, in which big chunks 'happen' in today's world, you got to include Terminator 2 (obviously I know that everything that happens in the Matrix is happening in several centuries in the future).

      Oh and since we're discussing GOOD dystopic films, we shall pretend T3 doesn't exist xD
      • TotalHalibut, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2No actually, let's pretend T2 didn't exist. I'll take T3 over Boy Meets Droid anyday of the week.
        • MtheoryX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3No, actually, T2 is about the only reason the series of films should even get an honorable mention in this dystopian category since that's the film where they go the most in-depth in the explanation of the awaiting future.
          But yeah, it's not a great movie, but it was pretty good back in its day.
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1Yeah, T3 sucked.
    • iLEZ, on 10/10/2007, -0/+5They'll be back.
  • gemmakicn, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3They have minority report on here... has anyone who's actually said they like the movie, read the short story... not only that, its above 1984, you want a dystopia, 1984 is the classic and unrelenting one.


    • MtheoryX, on 10/10/2007, -0/+41984 the book > 1984 movie adaptation.
  • bonjourmr, on 04/25/2008, -0/+5"The world as we know it" 2007
    • theone3, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Are you kidding? The actors are terrible - completely unconvincing. And the story doesn't seem to come to a defined end point, it's just a series of loosely connected events.
  • gossipninja, on 10/10/2007, -1/+10the order is not the best, but many good movies are on here, it is missing some like demolition man, reign of fire (not really dystopic in the classic sense.) johnny mnemonic, the aeon flux movie sucked but the series was really damn good, paycheck was good I am blanking on others, also glad THEY LIVE got some attention, best fight scene EVER.
    • jackspade, on 10/10/2007, -0/+11They Live kicks ass. Such a good and insightful movie, and EXTREMELY relevant today. OBEY CONSUME
      • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Yeah,I loved that movie and man, I've never seen a fight scene like that in any other movie. Those are some fit charachters.
    • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Actually, I really like Aeon FLux and was pleasantly surprised. I see it being more of a cult following though.

      C'mon. You can't beat a line like "It's a coup, no-one's in charge." :)
      • rarson, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I thought Aeon Flux was good. I was surprised by how well Charlize Theron played the part.
  • Calculon, on 10/10/2007, -0/+25All on one page even, nice!
    • cryonix, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Every time I scrolled down I expected to see "page 1 of 10". or the dreaded Next page button with no sign of total pages.
  • darny, on 10/10/2007, -6/+3meh. lots of the movies listed aren't actually about dystopias, they're about utopias. like starship troopers. clearly a utopia. kudos for getting 50 great sci-fi movies together (on one page for a change) but buried for being inaccurate.
    • ELCad, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Mankind at war with giant bugs sure doesn't sound like a utopia to me.
      • TrevorBradley, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1That and Starship Troopers is about a fascist state that goes to war to deal with population control.
    • Viral, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Realistically they're anti-utopia; a dystopia under the intentions or guise of a utopia.
  • giev, on 10/10/2007, -1/+15People, who cares about the ordering of these movies? I'm happy with this site just because it is a list of 50 great movies that I intend to check out.
    • linda1collinda, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I agree. Quit nitpicking. It's a great list and will be nearby when I make my next NetFlix picks.
  • bscene, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4I thought it was kind of interesting that there were so many directors that appeared on the list more than once.

    Alex Proyas, John Carpenter, Steven Spielberg, George Miller and Terry Gilliam each had 2 movies in the list while Paul Verhoeven tops them all with 3 of the dystopian faves.
  • HanSolo69, on 10/10/2007, -3/+5Did the author look up the meaning of "dystopian" before coming up with this list?
    • Bilabrin, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3A dystopia (from the Greek δυσ- and τόπος, alternatively, cacotopia,[1] kakotopia or anti-utopia) is a fictional society that is the antithesis of utopia. It is usually characterized by an oppressive social control, such as an authoritarian or totalitarian government. In other words, a Dystopia has the opposite of what one would expect in a Utopian society.
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dystopia

      Under that definition, I think we have a lot of room for interpretation.
  • ravens32681, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2My favorites are V for Vendetta, Strange Days, and 12 Monkeys. Mad Max 2 is ranked way too high.
  • miken32, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6My favourite part was how they used "Kafkaesque" to describe The Trial. At least they used "Orwellian vision" for Brazil and not 1984!
  • rulesaremyenemy, on 10/10/2007, -0/+12Brazil. Terry Gilliam. 'Nuff Said.
  • alphaterminus, on 10/10/2007, -0/+27Where is C-Span?
  • londubh, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3To all concerned governments. A dystopian movie is not a How To. OK?
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 97 of 97 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.