The 8 best films to enter a fascinating subgenre of science fiction: Cyberpunk – Film News

Dystopias, hypertechnological societies, film noir and artificial intelligence.

Due to the success of Dune: Part 2 and news of upcoming releases, such as The 3-Body Problem and Fallout, there has been a lot of talk about science fiction in cinema and television. Within the genre, there are different aspects and you may be curious when the word cyberpunk pops up.

Our task today is not to unveil the universe of this movement or analyze all the ramifications and influences of an entire subgenre of science fiction, but we want to propose a list of fundamental cinematic references.

It is also not an easy task to find the meaning of the term, since not all cyberpunk works are the same, nor are there specific rules to consider and define exactly what it is. But it is possible to rescue literary references, such as Philip K. Dick, William Gibson, Bruce Sterling and Norman Spinrad, and some dystopian fantasy patterns, with hypertechnological societies, film noir elements and a strong presence of Artificial Intelligence.

Below, we’ll review eight essential films to introduce you to this exciting subgenre.

Blade Runner, the Android Hunter (1982)

The Replicant’s Odyssey directed by Ridley Scott is a science fiction masterpiece about what makes us human or artificial, and whether there is any difference between the two to begin with. Harrison Ford is a neo-noir detective, a Blade Runner, tasked with hunting down artificial humans. The film, based on a novel by Philip K. Dick, defines what has almost invariably become the cyberpunk aesthetic in cinema: a dark, sunless cityscape with entire buildings occupied by animated advertising.

In 2017, Blade Runner 2049 was released, a sequel directed by Denis Villeneuve, which continues the revival of the genre today.

Available at Max.

Videodrome – The Video Syndrome (1983)

Released in 1983, before the cyberpunk craze took off, David Cronenberg’s film functions as a kind of pre-cyberpunk exercise. Instead of the internet and artificial intelligence, people’s lives revolve around television.

In the film, the owner of a small cable TV station captures images of people being tortured and killed. Soon, he discovers that the broadcast is called Videodrome and is much more than a morbid show. This is an experiment that uses television to permanently alter people’s perceptions, causing serious damage to the brain.

It can be rented on Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play and Apple TV+.

Akira (1988)

One of the best anime of all time was based on a popular manga that portrayed one of the most developed societies under the guidelines of cyberpunk. A world with biker gangs in a wild, dirty and overpopulated urban center.

The anime portrays a large explosion that caused Tokyo to be destroyed in 1988. Neo Tokyo was built in its place, which, in 2019, suffers from terrorist attacks throughout the city. A setting of ultraviolence, with anti-government terrorist groups juxtaposed with science fiction elements, including robots, heavy artillery, human experiments with psychic powers and grotesque body horror.

Attempts to adapt it for film were not successful, with projects in the hands of Taika Waititi and Jordan Peele, but so far it is unknown whether it will ever get off the ground.

It can be rented on Apple TV+.

Future Avenger (1990)

Before the word cyberpunk was invented, many science fiction authors were precursors to the movement. Philip K. Dick is the best known and, in addition to the aforementioned Blade Runner, other of his adaptations also focus on the essence of the subgenre, such as Minority Report (2002) and The Double Man (2006).

One cannot miss the science fiction odyssey The Future Avenger, by director Paul Verhoeven, who also has another great contribution to the subgenre in Robocop – The Future Cop (1987). Blood, bullets, robotic taxi drivers, implanted false memories and trips to a dystopian Mars with repression and guerrilla warfare make this film a must-see.

Available on Prime Video and Telecine.

Strange Pleasures (1995)

Strange Pleasures was made in the same year as another film with cyberpunk elements, Hackers (1995), and, like that one, it did well at the box office. Time has turned the story of former police officer Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), who is a drug dealer and addicted to the drug SQUID, into a cult film, which allows users to live other people’s experiences in the smallest details.

Through traditional noir themes with a subtle filter of fantasy and science fiction, it offers a nihilistic vision of a future not too distant from our own.

Available on the Looke channel.

Ghost in the Shell (1995)

In addition to its sci-fi noir tradition, heavily influenced by Blade Runner, Ghost in the Shell added themes of fighting cybercrime and terrorism in a futuristic city, exploring the sensation of being a human in an enhanced cybernetic body.

Does technology make us better or more vulnerable? His hand-drawn animation style combined with CGI techniques achieved a revolutionary method. The same year that the Blade Runner sequel was released, an American live-action remake of Ghost in the Shell starring Scarlett Johansson was released but did not perform well at the box office.

It can be rented on YouTube, Google Play and Apple TV.

Matrix (1999)

A kind of collage of other cyberpunk landmarks, the Wachowki sisters’ work stood out for its original and highly visual style, making it the cult science fiction film of the late 1990s.

With the basic idea of ​​the universe of The Terminator (1984) and several ideas borrowed from Ghost in the Shell or Hong Kong cinema, from Tsui Hark to John Woo, The Matrix revolutionized action cinema, conceiving one of the first trilogies in form of a blockbuster full of science fiction literary ideas, virtual amid the development of the digital era.

Available at Max.

Tetsuo – Iron Man (1989)

If there is a live-action film that serves as the basis for the rest of the genre in Japan, it is this surrealist nightmare with echoes of horror cinema and aesthetics related to experimental cinema, with links to Eraserhead (1977), by David Lynch.

The cyberpunk variant he goes through includes monstrous and incomprehensible metamorphoses in an industrial environment, involving purely abstract scenes and visuals that may or may not be related to the characters and plot. Recurring themes include mutation, technology, dehumanization, repression and sexual deviance.

Not available on streaming.

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