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Dystopian Movies.
You know the kind of movies where the government has gone bonkers mad and turned the place into a virtual prison.. The Running Man Hunger Games Brave New World Logan's Run et al. I find them amusing and whenever I watch I like ot make up my own back stories to this and I can't help but think the people "let it happen" let their world become like that. Of course these stories exist to entertain and not run for 3 hour epics to fill our need for information on their worlds to satisfy the viewer. But I just like to sit back, enjooy the film, and go "ha ha" at the general population in them while cheering for the hero.. And why are these kind of movies popular? Is it that the heros are just common "everyman" type of people? Discuss......... Mar 19 12 03:09 am Link People like good storytelling. Good storytelling requires a protagonist who faces a challenge. Protagonist with no challenge = no story. Challenge with no protagonist to face it = no story. A dystopian society -- whether it's played dead-serious (1984) or played for laughs (Brazil) or a combination of both (Escape From New York) -- poses a great challenge. Not all protagonists in dystopian stories are everymen. Escape From New York's Snake Plisskin was a former Special Forces legend. Will Smith's character in I Am Legend was a high-ranking figure with training to deal with the plague that wiped out the world. In those stories, an everyman would be grossly inadequate to the task. One everyman protagonist who does come to mind is from Golden Age SF: Isherwood Smith from Earth Abides. His everyman status played a direct role in the story, in that he had no special talents to deal with the almost-complete wiping out of the human species. He was left to restore humankind (and back to the then-present [1948] level of civilization) with nothing but resourcefulness, powers of persuasion, and hope. Mar 19 12 03:37 am Link I love these movies. Don't know exactly why, but I do. Mar 19 12 07:44 am Link AdelaideJohn1967 wrote: question which has intrigued others ... Mar 19 12 05:23 pm Link AdelaideJohn1967 wrote: Almost any documentary about George W. Bush administration. Mar 19 12 05:59 pm Link Does "V for Vendetta" qualify? LOVE that movie. Mar 19 12 06:51 pm Link The original one : Metropolis all others must bow to this movie and are derivatives of this movie... Even an Apple Macintosh Commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhsWzJo2 … re=related which I'm sure NOT so coincidentally was released in 1984 (the actual year - as opposed to the movie by the same number...) As well as 1984 the actual movie/book not the year by the same number, The Running Man, Hunger Games, Brave New World, Logan's Run, Blade Runner etc etc etc Especially the two bolded ones... made in 1927 by Fritz Lang's http://www.kino.com/metropolis/ official site by the current copyright holders note: 1984 was first published in 1949 long after Fritz Lang's Metropolis was created Mar 19 12 07:02 pm Link AdelaideJohn1967 wrote: Mainly because it's fun to imagine what we would do in that situation. "How would you survive a zombie apocalypse?" type of discussions are always very popular. Mar 19 12 07:10 pm Link I never viewed Blade Runner as a dystopia.... I think more a fractured world. As people were free to come and go as they wanted. They bought and sold replicants to do dirty, grungy work, and I'm pretty sure some other stuff that humans would loathe like the Darryl Hannah character who was manufactured as a living sex doll. I viewed the replicants as unwilling particiapants bordering on slaves. Mar 19 12 07:27 pm Link DeniseRegan Photography wrote: DEFINITELY. Mar 19 12 07:28 pm Link I actually just started reading 1984 and I find it HILARIOUS so far. It must be because Orwell is british but the irony is just painful sometimes. Haven't watched the movie yet, curious to see how they interpreted it. I'm only in 100 pages though I'm sure there will be a shit storm soon. Mar 19 12 10:24 pm Link I actually just started reading 1984 and I find it HILARIOUS so far. It must be because Orwell is british but the irony is just painful sometimes. Haven't watched the movie yet, curious to see how they interpreted it. I'm only in 100 pages though I'm sure there will be a shit storm soon. Mar 19 12 10:24 pm Link Brave New World is very close to an ideal utopia that I independently made up (before being referred to read that book) I disagree with most in how they call it dystopian there are a couple tweaks in my ideal, for instance, there would be no lesser society, no deltas, gammas etc. in my version, birth would be more natural, more akin to a queen in a hive, instead of by engineering/poisoning all of the fetuses like in brave new world Mar 19 12 10:29 pm Link DeniseRegan Photography wrote: God I love this movie Mar 19 12 10:53 pm Link Roberta H wrote: What do you find so hilarious about it? Mar 19 12 11:21 pm Link Orca Bay Images wrote: Yeah I'm curious about that too. The book was anything but hilarious Mar 20 12 01:41 am Link DeniseRegan Photography wrote: Ditto! One of my favorites. Mar 20 12 01:46 am Link 12 Monkeys! Just watched it 2 nights ago. Favorite. And I love Dystopian films. Mar 20 12 02:39 am Link Brazil (also written & directed by Terry Gilliam) is not to be missed.  Mar 20 12 02:42 am Link DeniseRegan Photography wrote: Did you read the graphic novel that the movie was based on? After reading it, it kind of ruined the movie for me... Mar 20 12 08:29 am Link |
