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Posted: |
Oct 27, 2014 - 11:29 PM
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By: |
joan hue
(Member)
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I’ve always been interested in Dystopian novels and movies. Definitions of dystopia or dystopian usually say that, “it is a community or a society that is in some important way undesirable or frightening.” (A current hard-to-put-down dystopian novel is Birdbox by Josh Malerman. I paid good money for this book which is now only $1.99 for a kindle version.)
Anyway, I was curious as to what your favorite dystopian movies are. If you have some you don’t like, also mention them. If I don’t know them, I may look them up. Comment about them if your want. Also, you can google “dystopian movies” and find a lot listed. Imagine my surprise when I found WALL-E on several lists. Hmmm, I’ll have to think about that one.
I was sure that SNOWPIERCER would be one of my favorites because it is so unique and different. Yep, with good music too. However, it fell off my favorite list during the last one third of the movie. Interesting premise, interesting first hour. Then it had nowhere to go except into the silly and absurd.
Dislikes: Can’t get through A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It may be a classic, but it isn’t for me. I also could never get through BRAZIL, THE MATRIX MOVIES, or STRANGE DAYS. (Personal taste. Don’t yell at me.)
Likes: THE ROAD. It is a painful movie, true to the novel with great acting and settings.
THE HANDMAIDEN’S TALE. Been a long time since I’ve seen it or read the book, but it just confirmed my belief that women need to be educated and retain some sense of independence. Unfortunately, we still have cultures that see women as chattel. They get stoned if even accused of adultery or if they marry a man not approved of by parents. They get captured in schools, raped, sold and married off as 12 year olds. Places still mutilate pre-teen females’ genetalia so that they can’t enjoy sex. And so on. Handmaiden’s sent out a big warning that too many cultures on earth STILL ignore. Rant over.
More likes: BLADE RUNNER, CHILDREN OF MEN, A.I., HUNGER GAMES, ON THE BEACH, ROBOCOP (1st one), DISTRICT 9, MINORITY REPORT, and the original PLANET OF THE APES. These movies were entertaining and at the time of their release, rather novel. Also, some of them really appeal to our emotions and concerns.
To a lesser extent, I liked TERMINATOR, GATTACA, and the first TOTAL RECALL. In their time, both THE OMEGA MAN and SOYLENT GREEN seemed pretty good but may have not stood the test of time.
And I really liked WALL-E!
Your dystopian likes and dislikes?
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THE OMEGA MAN is more of a post-apocalyptic setting in which society has been obliterated, but it is by far my favorite of the bunch. Yeah, I'm putting form over substance, but the music and Charlton are so good, I can't help it.
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Posted: |
Oct 28, 2014 - 2:26 AM
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By: |
Francis
(Member)
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Best
12 Monkeys
Alien 1 & 3
Akira
Battle Royale
Blade Runner
Brazil
Children of Men
Dark City
Day of the Dead
Dredd
Gattaca
Metropolis
The Zero Theorem
They Live
Videodrome
Good
28 days later
District 9
Land of the Dead
Mad Max
Minority Report
Running Man
The Matrix
Total Recall
Watchmen
Bad
Any dystopian movie with Will Smith in it.
Worst
Elysium
Well there's also stuff like Logan's Run, The Island, Johnny Mnemonic, Waterworld, Equilibrium, Daybreakers, Fortress, Aeonflux, The Omega Man … Some good premises here and there. Oh, and in TV land my current favorite is of course The Walking Dead.
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Dislikes: Can’t get through A CLOCKWORK ORANGE. It may be a classic, but it isn’t for me. I also could never get through BRAZIL, THE MATRIX MOVIES, or STRANGE DAYS. (Personal taste. Don’t yell at me.)
I won't yell at you, yet I do like the MATRIX movies (even more nowadays than I did when they first opened), Brazil, and to a lesser extend STRANGE DAYS.
An all time favorite of mine is BLADE RUNNER.
HUNGER GAMES I did not particularly care for, I found the movie to be fairly unbelievable. GATTACA I love, A.I. I would like to like, but the movie's heavy handed ending always ruins it for me.
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Posted: |
Oct 28, 2014 - 4:26 AM
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By: |
Tall Guy
(Member)
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Joan, if you appreciate The Handmaid's Tale, then you may have discovered Atwood's stunning Oryx and Crake trilogy. And if you haven't, you're welcome 
As for films, I read The Road in amongst other Cormac McCarthy novels, not expecting to enjoy it - but I did. And then I saw the film, expecting to be disappointed - but I wasn't.
Testimony is another favourite, showing the struggle of one artist against the horrors of living under Stalin in a society that was far from Utopian.
Rollerball, not much liked hereabouts, is a film of which I'm very fond for several reasons, and if anyone needs to re-assess its value, then you need only watch the 2002 version to see how good the original was!
Watchmen is also much slandered but I really enjoy all but the last act, which tends to drag a little.
Here's one out of the blue - Hot Fuzz. A very local dystopian society to be sure, and a rare comedy in the genre, but I think I could defend it.
It's a rich vein of enjoyable books and films, and a great idea for a discussion.
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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2014 - 10:15 AM
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By: |
LeHah
(Member)
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That is a good question, LeHah. I asked myself that same question when I posted THE DAY AFTER and TESTAMENT. I decided that the definition of dystopian (undesirable or frightening community or world) doesn't really have a time limit.
My understanding of the word dystopian is that its the opposite of utopian. And generally speaking, dystopian usually (and I say usually only because I can't think of an example where it isn't but doesn't mean it can't exist) involves broad-reaching government or otherwise some form of "Big Brother" ruling. Stories like 1984, Brave New World, The Giver, Gattaca and Hunger Games all fall into that genre as they involve the rule of Mankind by far-away, all-seeing masters. And though its not a strict rule, dystopian stories tend to takes place in the future (as opposed to fantasy, alternate universes, etc).
On the other hand, Mad Max and The Road Warrior wouldn't fall into the genre. They're Post-Apocalypse but aren't dystopian since they don't have any form of ruling body suppressing people. (An argument CAN be made for Beyond Thunderdome though).
I am not sure about Clockwork Orange. I don't think Anthony Burgess was attempting to write anything except subversiveness or satire. And though it certainly does have a very liberal view of the British Conservative State (basically a criticism of Thatcherism before Thatcher took head office), the state being an oppressive government is an *element* and not *the point*. I'll have to think about this one...
I have not seen THREADS, so I looked it up at IMDB. That movie does not sound cheery either.
Threads seems to have fallen into obscurity (especially since it was much more of a UK event) but its deeply unnerving. Somewhere between The Road and the final scenes of The Day After.
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Posted: |
Oct 29, 2014 - 10:39 AM
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By: |
CinemaScope
(Member)
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I know it has been about 40 years since I saw the movie NO BLADE OF GRASS, and I barely remember it. I do remember it being disconcerting. I'd like to see it again to see how it holds up in our current world. Anyone remember it? (Has to be better than The Happening.)
I remember seeing it at the cinema & no being that impressed. I'd read the book by John Christopher, who seemed to specialise in dystopian stories (he also wrote The World In Winter -to cold! & A Wrinkle In The Skin - too hot!), the film seemed cheap (it probably was). There was a lot of dystopian novels written in the fifties & sixties. I remember enjoying one by Edmund Cooper (I read all his books), All Fools Day, a bit like The Happening...only better. A man has a car crash that kills his wife, has a breakdown & goes into an institution for a few years, & while he's in there people start killing themselves in vast numbers, except those who aren't quite right in the head, so he's OK. I won't go on, all this is near the beginning. I still have the paperback, I think I'll read it again, it's on Kindle.
I like both The Omega Man & I Am Legend, but the alternate cut of Legend on the disc (not the cinema version), it at least gives a bit of a nod to the novel. I like Logan's Run, but the book is so much better, it's crying out for a re-make.
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