• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.
  • We have made minor adjustments to how the search bar works on ResetEra. You can read about the changes here.

Is Back to the Future Part II the only movie where the future isn't a dystopia?

DiipuSurotu

DiipuSurotu

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
53,148
I can't think of any.

IMO there are way too many movies where the future is dystopic: Minority Report, Demolition Man, RoboCop, etc.

And that's without even mentioning things like Terminator or Matrix (obviously).
 
Duane

Duane

Unshakable Resolve
The Fallen
Oct 27, 2017
6,465
Dystopian alternate 1985 is easy to confuse with 2015 because it pretty much came true in real life 2016.

2560.jpg
 
StopMakingSense

StopMakingSense

Member
Oct 25, 2017
10,753
DiipuSurotu said:
I can't think of any.

IMO there are way too many movies where the future is dystopic: Minority Report, Demolition Man, RoboCop, etc.

And that's without even mentioning things like Terminator or Matrix (obviously).
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

If there wasn't something wrong with the fictional future, there's not much of a story in these cases. Not much point in having a story set in the future if it's 'eh, things are kinda the same'
 
riboflavinrobot

riboflavinrobot

Member
Nov 15, 2020
347
Fifth Element.

Don't think the future New York is dystopia per se, just a logical extension of 1997 New York. Apartments are smaller than ever, rich and famous go on space cruises with blue alien opera singers, celebrities are irritating, and McDonalds!
 
Stooge

Stooge

Banned
Oct 29, 2017
11,338
2015 doesn't seem that great in the movie. I guess its not a dystopia, but its certainly not that great.

Like, for one thing there are roving street gangs with spike shoes and POWAH over water.
 
Farmboy

Farmboy

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,158
deimosmasque said:
Fifth Element has a bit of a Police State vibe considering everyone has orange circles where your hands go painted inside their doors.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

I'll take your word for it, haven't watched it in forever. It's just that I remember thinking, at the time, that this was a rare non-dark future with people just going about their business and such.
 
Teapot Jeffries

Teapot Jeffries

Member
Nov 2, 2019
960
It's just not as obvious as the other dystopian future movies.

Considering Griff was arrested, charged, tried, convicted, and sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2 hours with no attorney representation since they've all been abolished, I'm guessing civil rights and basic Constitutional protections have been thrown out the window.

Just because 2015 looks all cool with hoverboards, flying cars, spandex, and cool neon colors, if you pulled back the curtain on Hill Valley a little more it was probably a hellhole (see future Marty's "bitchin'" Hilldale neighborhood.) But hey, downtown looked cool!

Also, this is a future where they're still pumping out Jaws movies. It was a dystopia.

(I've thought this through way too much. Also, BTTF2 is my favorite movie of all time.)
 
Last edited:
Mr.Deadshot

Mr.Deadshot

Member
Oct 27, 2017
20,285
Valarian comes to mind. I especially liked that intro sequence where all the people and alien races come together and build the city. There obviously still is conflict, but it's far from dystopian:
 
Typhon

Typhon

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,161
Not a popular choice but I Robot didn't seem too bad when the robots weren't trying to enslave humanity.
 

Deleted member 16516

User requested account closure
Member
Oct 27, 2017
8,427
MV5BNmE1OWI2ZGItMDUyOS00MmU5LWE0MzUtYTQ0YzA1YTE5MGYxXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyMDM5ODIyNw@@._V1_UY1200_CR127,0,630,1200_AL_.jpg


I, Robot. Aside from that one robot going a bit haywire and it been a pretty terrible adaptation.


Asimov was rather Utopian with his world building.
 
Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Gernau Morat Gurgeh

Member
Oct 31, 2017
10,088
2001. It has elements of conflict in the background, but Earth is still going and the US, Soviets and Chinese while competitors do cooperate and they haven't nuked the earth into nonexistence.
 
NunezL

NunezL

Member
Jun 17, 2020
2,722
2001; A Space Odyssey. Can't be more optimistic than that.
Even if the novel alludes to earth being pretty belligerent
 
gforguava

gforguava

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,734
Of course BTTF 2's future is dystopian, it is a capitalist nightmare hidden under the comforting sheen of hollow consumerism. If you want to live in its version of 2015 you are mad.
 
Kthulhu

Kthulhu

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,670
Stooge said:
2015 doesn't seem that great in the movie. I guess its not a dystopia, but its certainly not that great.

Like, for one thing there are roving street gangs with spike shoes and POWAH over water.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
They abolished lawyers, which I'd say is pretty dystopian. Aside from that though yeah it's not that bad of a future.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.