Ever since the days of movies like Mad Max, the dystopian genre has offered a dark take on genres like thriller and science fiction, especially John Carpenter’s Escape From New York. Directed by John Carpenter and starring Kurt Russell, the movie follows the hardboiled mercenary Snake Plissken into the prison city of Manhattan to rescue the President of the United States. A decade-defining action flick, it stands near the top of its genre.
As great as Escape From New York might be, a handful of movies edge it out, claiming higher spots on the rungs of the dystopian genre. With a remake of Carpenter’s film on the way, these movies have never been more timely, and some are among the finest movies ever made. From wasteland adventures to movies that feel like eerily realistic near-future predictions, these are the dystopian movies everyone needs to see.
Mad Max: Fury Road Revived George Miller’s Wastelands Franchise
In 2015, George Miller revived his gas-guzzling apocalyptic epic Mad Max for what soon became the ultimate action flick of the 21st century: Fury Road. Set years after the events of the second movie, it follows Max as he’s taken prisoner by the forces of wasteland despot Immortan Joe. When he’s betrayed by one of his warriors and his harem of wives, Joe’s pursuit gives Max the opportunity to escape and join forces with the women.
Mad Max: Fury Road is a triumph on every level possible, bringing a visual masterpiece of a non-stop action movie to the big screen. Like John Carpenter’s movie, it’s one feature-length escape scene that never lets up, but brings so much more style and action than Escape From New York. Just as Russell’s role reinvented action for the ’80s, Tom Hardy’s outing as Max upped the ante for the 21st century.
Gattaca is a Unique Piece of Dystopian Fiction
The topic of genetic engineering has been the subject of debate for decades and formed the basis of Andrew Niccol’s Gattaca. Set in a world where people are encouraged to design their children from conception to be the best they can be, it pits two classes against each other: Valids, the “better” humans who were designed to perfection; and In-Valids, those conceived and born the natural way. In this world, an In-Valid named Vincent deceives his way into the Gattaca Aerospace Corporation with dreams of earning his place in the stars.
Gattaca’s take on the dystopian genre isn’t quite as bleak or apocalyptic as others, instead using genetic engineering to show the more insidious side of discrimination and class systems. One of the most poetic film experiences of its age, Niccol’s film pushes its audience to think about their own prejudices, using themes of fate and self-determination to explore the moral limitations of science. This is a radically different type of film from Escape From New York, but it’s a sci-fi masterpiece everyone needs to see.
Blade Runner Defined the Cyberpunk Dystopian Genre
Blade Runner takes place in a dystopic 2019, where consumption, war, and industry have turned Los Angeles into a sprawling metropolis devoid of non-human organic life. To fill that demand, the ruthless Tyrell Corporation created Replicants, synthetic humans with enhanced strength who are forced to do off-world labor. When six rogue replicants make their way to Earth, bounty hunter Rick Deckard is tasked with “retiring” them before they can extend their lifespans.
Blade Runner took the tone of golden age film Noir and fused it with the cyberpunk side of science fiction, practically pioneering the genre for the ’80s. Casting Harrison Ford in one of his greatest roles as the morally conflicted Deckard, it pushed audiences to question their own humanity in a way few sci-fi stories had before. Every dystopian thriller movie made since 1982 owes something to its legacy, and it joined Escape From New York as an icon of the decade.
V For Vendetta is a Stressful Comic Book Adaptation
Based on the comic book by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, James McTeigue’s V for Vendetta brings viewers to a dystopic Britain in the iron grip of a dictator, Chancellor Sutler. The story focuses on Evey Hammond, a network producer who is accosted by the state’s secret police, spurring a masked vigilante named V to intervene. After their peculiar introduction, V announces his plan to topple the Sutler regime to the nation and recruits Evey to his cause.
A dark superhero story crafted the way only Alan Moore knows how, McTeigue and the Wachowski Sisters’ adaptation of V For Vendetta is one of the most intense films of its decade. At every turn, the director makes the audience feel the weight of Sutler’s police state, creating a suffocating and distressing atmosphere. Better than most of its competition, the movie excels in suspense and psychological terror, leaving viewers unable to forget the slow march towards fascism.
Children of Men is Among the Most Prescient Dystopian Thrillers Ever Made
While some dystopian films find their strength in exploring fantastical, high-tech futures, Alfonso Cuarón’s 2006 movie Children of Men took a different approach. Set in a world where an infertility crisis has left humanity unable to have children, it focuses on a disillusioned former activist named Theo as he protects a miraculously pregnant refugee woman. All that stands between them and safety is the British police state and an armed militia that wants to use the child for their own goals.
Children of Men is a film that’s aged like fine wine in the darkest way possible, with some of its predictions feeling more realistic by the day. From the destabilizing effect of a refugee crisis and the rise of authoritarianism to questions of population collapse, all its core elements are hot topics in today’s world. Children of Men doesn’t revel in action the way Escape From New York does, instead using violence as a harsh warning of what could lie in humanity’s future.