Dystopian future films

So this week we have Divergent and Nymphomaniac, two films starring a bunch of actors who don't have enough films for a best & worst to have any purpose. However, Divergent is set in a dystopian future, and I can't think of a better idea, so I'm going to talk about the best films set in dystopian worlds.

Blade Runner, a film set in a crummy and bleak future. This is the norm nowadays,
but back when it came out this kind of future was unheard of.

Dystopian world fiction is a very interesting idea. With these films we see people strapped of any civility, and plunged into a world of death. The films set in dystopian worlds are often the smartest and have more complexity. They show a darker side to humanity, that when the chips are down we really are animals. And a great example of this is The Road Warrior.

The Road Warrior

In this film, Mel Gibson plays Max Rocksteady, a drifter in the post-apocalyptic wastelands of Australia. In this film, although we do see some people trying to keep the world together, we can also see that most of the people have gone completely nuts, with insane outfits and a crazy lifestyle. At face value, this movie could be seen as just a simple action flick, but there's a lot more to it than just that when you think about it.

Book of Eli, another post-apocalyptic film about a loner wandering the wasteland.
Much like Road Warrior, it shows how people survive in this world, but with a darker spin.

Dystopian future doesn't always mean apocalypse though. It can be dystopian due to a totalitarian government, one that's controlling and with a president willing to murder people including children to get his way. I'm talking about one of the more popular dystopian films, The Hunger Games.

Catching Fire

While I wasn't a particular fan of the first film, it had it's moments. Jennifer Lawrence showed some teeth as an action star, and the I found the director did a good job of transferring the world onto the screen. However, where he screwed up a lot of the elements of the first film, director Francis Lawrence fixes with Catching Fire. Both lead actors do a great job in this film, the supporting cast is outstanding, and we actually do get a vision of the cruelty of the government. In the first film (minus the hunger games of course) the government just seemed kinda dickish, but not that bad. In this film, Francis made it a point to show their brutality. And I think it really works, you can sympathize with this world.

The Matrix, an insanely popular film series about a group of hackers who live in a world
controlled by robots.

Dystopian futures, typically are really grim. And when it comes to grim dystopian fiction, look no further than my favourite dystopian film: Children of Men.

Children of Men

This film envisions a dark future, with essentially no hope. Clive Owen plays a very realistic character for this situation, he's not a protestor or an anarchist. He's just an average guy. And what's great about this film is he's not special because of it, everyone else seems pretty normal. And that's what's so fantastic about this film, people would lose hope and some would go insane, but most would just carry on with the rest of their lives.

Minority Report, this future depicts a world where society is such a detriment
to itself it needs to be regulated and controlled, kinda like Divergent.

Now, while dystopian future films are mostly grim, dark, and really depressing, there are a few exceptions. Usually when a dystopian film isn't dark, it falls flat. But there's a film that shows a lighter side to the apocalypse, and that film is Wall E.

Wall E

Pixar delivers one of their finest works with Wall E, bringing a clever idea to life. The Wall E character may just be a simple robot, but it's in his simplicity that makes him so loveable. And that's one of the things I like so much about the film, the Wall E character. Had this movie been about humans it wouldn't have had anybody's attention. But it's the fact that Wall E is a garbage robot with a soul is one of the most unique ideas ever put on screen.