This article talks about the best movies in the cyberpunk genre, those that are worth watching for true science fiction lovers. The material contains summaries of these paintings, interesting facts, lists the actors who played in them, and much more.
What is cyberpunk?
This concept refers to the genre of science fiction, which reflects the decline of human culture in the era of technological progress. In films of the cyberpunk genre, the audience is presented with the frightening world of the future, where society is in a deep social decline, despite the presence of developed cybernetics and high information technologies.
One of the most prominent writers who worked in the cyberpunk genre is Philip Kindred Dick, the author of the popular book hit "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" This non-trivial novel served as the basis for Ridley Scott’s legendary and cult film Blade Runner starring Harison Ford. Next, let's talk about this picture and its competitors in this genre of cinema.
It is worth noting that films in the cyberpunk genre began to be shot in the 1980s. After several decades, interest in such cinematic projects by ordinary viewers remains at an extremely high level, and there are no prerequisites for its decline.
Blade Runner
Most film critics agree that this sci-fi film tops the list of the best paintings in the cyberpunk genre. The picture was shot in 1981 by the director from England, Ridley Scott. The tape with a temporary duration of 117 minutes at the global box office earned about $ 33 million.
The main character of the film is police officer Rick Deckard, an employee in the department engaged in the search and destruction of replicants - artificial creatures that look like people. They are used as cheap labor in hazardous jobs. The replicants are assigned a “four-year lifespan,” after which they die. Some of them escape to continue to exist. The work of Rick Deckard is to find fugitives for their subsequent elimination. One day he goes to a girl on the estates of Rachel, who is required to take a test to identify replicants.
Blade Runner won the Hugo Award for Best Performance. In 2017, a continuation of this tape was released called "Blade Runner 2049".
"Matrix"
One of the best films of the cyberpunk genre, created by directors Wachowski brothers in 1999. The actors of The Matrix are Keanu Reeves, Kerry-Anne Moss, Lawrence Fishborn and others. With a budget of $ 63 million, the box office picture collected about 464 million.
The protagonist of this story is the hacker Neo, who once becomes aware that the world in which he lives, seemingly groomed and prosperous, is in fact a gloomy ruin. Together with like-minded people, he enters into a guerrilla war with intelligent machines that use people as a source of energy for their submission and pacification.
Matrix received the 2000 Academy Award in several categories, including Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.
"Johnny Mnemonic"
Another big picture in the cyberpunk genre. Created by filmmakers in the USA and Canada in 1995. In the film directed by Robert Longo, $ 26 million was invested. The basis of the picture was the work of the writer William Gibson. Starring: Keanu Reeves, Dolph Lungren, Takeshi Kitano, Dina Meyer, etc.
"Johnny Mnemonic" is a story about a young man making a living using his brain as a container and transportation of confidential information. During one of his commercial operations, he is in mortal danger due to an overdose of information "pumped" into his brain, which is necessary for the mafia. The background for this visual story is a technocratic world where corruption rules and poverty breeds.
Avalon
A film in the cyberpunk genre directed by Mamoru Hosea, released in the summer of 2002. The 106-minute project had a budget of $ 9 million. The film was shot in collaboration between Japanese and Polish filmmakers. Actors starred in the film Avalon: Malgozhata Forenyak, Marek Stavinsky, Vladislav Kovalsky and others. Kenji Kawai created the music for the film.
The picture tells about young people who, in the era of depression and despondency, are trying to find the meaning of existence in the forbidden computer game Avalon, risking their lives.
The film Avalon is a triumph of several film festivals.
"Strange days"
In 1995, the director Katherine Bigelow, the creator of the fantastic film "Strange Days", offered her vision of the film in the cyberpunk genre. A picture of American production with a temporary duration of 145 minutes earned at the box office $ 42 million at a cost of 8 million.
At the center of the story is Los Angeles resident Lenny Nero. Once he was a policeman, but now he has mastered a new business niche - the trading of memories. With the help of a small device, the hero offers his customers to feel the whole gamut of other people's sensations. One day, Lenny gets a record of the murder of a girl with whom he was familiar. Lenny Nero cannot help but start after the investigation of this terrible crime.
List of the best cyberpunk movies
- Blade Runner.
- Robocop.
- "Johnny Mnemonic."
- "Nirvana".
- "Thirteenth floor."
- "Matrix".
- "Special opinion".
- "Strange days."
- The Lawn Mower.
- Avalon
In 2017, science fiction fans were pleased with the director Rupert Sanders, presenting the film “The Ghost in the Shell”, where the main character, a girl with an artificial body, rushes about in search of clues about her past. "Ghost in the Shell" occupies a special place in this list of films in the cyberpunk genre.