Subgenre Sampler
Futurism: 144 Films to Buy & Rent
- Scanner Darkly, A (2006)
- Dir. Richard Linklater
Feat. Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jnr., Woody Harrelson…
- Richard Linklater’s latest ‘rotoscope’ animation adapts Philip K. Dick's sci–fi novel into a dystopian proxy for the near future, where…
- Ultraviolet (2006)
- Dir. Kurt Wimmer
Feat. Milla Jovovich, William Fichtner
- Bleak and vaguely coherent sci–fi actioner, with Milla Jovovich playing a diseased half–vampire who must protect a small boy –…
- Island, The (2005)
- Dir. Michael Bay
Feat. Ewan McGregor, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Buscemi…
- Surprisingly effective dystopian actioner proposes a blandly synthetic future world, in which humans inhabit cities to protect themselves from the…
- Karas - The Prophecy / The Revelation (2005)
- Dir. Kei'ichi Sato
- Large–scale, CG rendered anime concerns the battle for Tokyo between two guardian angels who weld various powers of the occult. Two volumes:…
- Puzzlehead (2005)
- Dir. James Bai
Feat. Stephen Galaida, Robbie Shapiro
- Grungy sci–fi set in a desolate future in which a lonely scientist creates a self–aware android and unwittingly a love rival. Shot on a…
- V for Vendetta (2005)
- Dir. James McTeigue
Feat. Natalie Portman, Hugo Weaving, Stephen Rea…
- Set in the year 2020, this dystopian thriller adapts Alan Moore's graphic novel about a world where deadly viruses have wiped out most of America and…
- Casshern (2004)
- Dir. Kazuaki Kiriya
Feat. Yusuke Iseya, Kumiko Aso, Akira Terao
- Set in a ravaged, post–nuclear war future, ruled by a fascist clique, this rearranges some familiar elements with a visually charged, epic…
- Final Cut, The (2004)
- Dir. Omar Naim
Feat. Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel…
- Pertinent in an age where everything is over–recorded, and continuing a wave of films that play with memory, this sci–fi speculation from…
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence (2004)
- Dir. Mamoru Oshii
- Visually emphatic, conceptually flummoxing sequel to Mamoru Oshii's cyberpunk touchstone GHOST IN THE SHELL.
Cybernetic detective Batou returns to…
- I, Robot (2004)
- Dir. Alex Proyas
Feat. Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, Bruce Greenwood…
- Standard model adaptation of Isaac Asimov's 1950s sci–fi speculations about the dystopian possibilities of a robot–riddled…