From cinema to novels, creatives have always speculated about what the world might look like in the future. For some filmmakers, this came in the form of flying cars and robot maids, and for others, it was a dystopian nightmare. While it is always impressive when the future predictions come to fruition — The Simpsons isknown for its accurate predictions— but more often than not, they miss the mark by a wide margin.
While we may not have the flying cars and rocket boots we had hoped for as a kid, there is equal reason to be happy with the future these films predicted have not come to pass. From future tech to global catastrophes, these movies presented a future that was never meant to be (at least not yet).
Death Race 2000 (1975)
Y2K dystopia on the brink of collapse
The most exciting event in the year 2000 is Death Race. Fans worldwide participate in the race where points are scored by running over the living, with extra points given for taking out kids and the elderly. The movie focuses mainly on the rivalry between the rider Frankenstein (David Carradine) and Machine Gun Joe Viterbo (Sylvester Stallone) as they try to one-up each other. However, the race gets upended when a terrorist group looks to put an end to the glorified violence of the globally adored Death Race.
What it Got Wrong
Death Race 2000isa wonderfully campy action flickfrom director Roger Corman, who likely never saw his 1975 film as a prediction for the future. Still, the movie did play on the idea of our love of extreme sports, reverting to the gladiatorial days. Considering the gloomy atmosphere brought on by the economic recession from 1973-75, it isn’t surprising that a film emerged that looked at curtailing the population and creating a glorious distraction at the same time. Thankfully, we as a society did not go down that route, and we are death race free as of 2023.
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Akira (1988)
Unrestrained science and technology
The Japanese seminalclassic that would define animefor the modern era,Akira, takes place in a dystopian Tokyo where lawlessness and technology clash. The film follows lifelong friends Kaneda, the leader of a biker gang, and Tetsuo, who acquires incredible telekinetic powers through involvement with a secret government program named “Akira.” As Testuo’s powers increase, it becomes up to Kaneda to stop his friend from overtaking Japan.
Akira, released in 1988, shows Japan in 2019. It’s fascinating to look back at how different eras envisionour relationship to technologywill change with time, and even when they are way off, certain elements still hold relevance. Notably,Akirashows the misuse of technology by those with little care for morality, as seen in the experiments on Tetsuo. Still, the world today is far from the cold, desolate landscape shown inAkira.
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Soylent Green (1973)
“It’s made of people.”
Set in New York City in 2022,Soylent Greenfollows the story of an officer named Thorn (Charlton Heston), who is called in to investigate the death of a top executive of the Soylent Green Corporation. Overseeing the feeding of an overpopulated New York City, Thorn slowly learns the source of Soylent Green’s food stock during his investigation. The film has gone down in history for its conclusion, one which many people know without having ever seen the movie given the iconic line, “It’s made of people.”
What It Got Wrong
Our growing population has been the topic of speculative fiction for decades, withSoylent Green’s release in 1973 being based on the 1966 science-fiction novelMake Room! Make Room!written by Harry Harrison. In this case, the ultimate solution was to start processing people into food, which, thankfully, has not happened. Still,Soylent Greendoes address real current issues; some countries suffer from starvation, and there are historical periods wherecannibalism was used for survival.
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Gasoline and food become rare commodities
Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior
Set in a post-apocalyptic futurein which fuel is a scarce and valued commodity.Mad Max 2: The Road Warriorfollows Max Rockatansky, a former police officer who scavenges for food and fuel in the Australian outback. When Max stumbles upon a small refinery inhabited by a group of survivors under attack, he agrees to help the community defeat the marauders in exchange for a portion of their fuel supply.
Set in 1989, seven years after the release date of the film, George Miller’sMad Max 2did not give itself much wiggle room in predicting a future where gasoline and food become rare commodities. Decades later, we are still not out of fuel and have made strides towards becoming less reliant on fossil fuels. This is another case where it feels like George Miller was not necessarily making a statement but instead just presenting a desperate world to tell an exciting, action-driven story.
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Z.P.G. Zero Population Growth (1972)
Society forced into a strict 30-year no-child policy
Inspired by the best-selling 1968 non-fiction book “The Population Bomb” by Paul R. Ehrlich, 1972’sZero Population Growthis a sci-fi dystopian movie that shows a society forced into a strict 30-year no-child policy. To subvert the desire to have children, the government utilizes brainwashing and robot substitutes, with the death penalty acting as the ultimate deterrent. The film largely focuses on one couple, played by Oliver Reed and Geraldine Chaplin, who decide to have a child and keep it hidden from the government.
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While one can point to instances where population control through restricting birthrates, like the Chinese one-child policy that lasted from 1979 to 2015, there has not been anything as extreme since then. Essentially,Zero Population Growthgot everything wrong about reaching a state where the entire world has to have growth rates implemented. This is one film where the future date said is not expressly clear, but even then, the idea of a global acceptance of choosing not to have kids seems an impossibility.
A Boy and His Dog (1972)
2024 nuclear fall-out
A Boy and His Dogis a 1972dark comedy-sci-fi film directed by L.Q. Jones, based on the 1969 novella of the same title by Harlan Ellison. The plot follows a young boy named Vic and his telepathic dog, Blood, and their survival through a post-apocalyptic world brought on by a nuclear fallout. Raised without an education, Vic depends on Blood to help him navigate morality and dangers in the new world.
Taking place in the year 2024, with the nuclear fall-out already occurring, we are thankfully not having to scavenge a nuclear landscape trying to survive. Undeniably, there is still a threat of nuclear war, but the paranoia around a potential incident has declined since the Cold War. One thing that the film did predict with utmost clarity is that we will always be able torely on our furry friendsto carry us through the worst.
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1984 (1956)
No free thought
The first adaptation of the 1949 novel of the same name by George Orwell, 1956’s1984showed society under the control of one, all-powerful party known as Big Brother. The catalyst for the event came via a nuclear war, creating three superstates: Oceania, Eurasia, and East Asia. The film primarilytakes place in London, part of Oceania, where a man named Winston Smith (Edmond O’Brien) has the job of rewriting history. He falls in love with Julia (Jan Sterling), defying the law of the totalitarian state.
The George Orwell dystopian sci-fi novel and its premise are still referenced today, and for good reason. There are certain aspects of the work that have become partially true and other elements that still seem plausible. Still, 1984 is long gone, and we have not had a nuclear fallout; we still have free thought, and we are still allowed to love who we want.1984still works as a cautionary tale; even if everything in it has not come true.
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Escape From New York (1981)
NYC, a maximum security prison
Escape From New York
One of the best filmsfrom horror royalty John Carpenter, 1981’sEscape from New Yorkshows the bustling city Manhattan has transformed into a penal colony where only the strongest survive. After an accident causes the president’s plane to crash within the confines of the maximum security prison, the government offers a prisoner, Snake Plisskenplayed by Kurt Russell, a pardon if he can withdraw the president within 23 hours.
While crime rates have always fluctuated, we have never reached the 400% increase, as shown inEscape From New York. In addition, the US has yet to quarantine an entire city for the sole purpose of housing convicted criminals. This prediction always seemed like it was bound to be off, and realistically, it seems more an extension of the many New York crime-drenched stories that came before it.
The Omega Man (1971)
The only survivor of an apocalyptic war
Based on the 1954 novelI Am Legendby Richard Matheson,The Omega Mantakes place in 1977 after biological warfare has wiped out the earth’s population. The only man left alive, Nevilleplayed by Charlton Heston, struggles to survive against humans-turned-monsters that now rule the world. Neville spends his days scavenging and hiding until he finds another uninfected survivor, Lisa (Rosalind Cash), and the two become the last hope for humanity’s survival.
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There have always been worries about apandemic wiping out the population, and since the release of the 1954 novelThe Omega Man, there have been several that caused panic. Thankfully, none have been as catastrophic as predicted here. In addition, there have been no subsequent diseases that cause the infected to become violent. Unfortunately, new strains of old viruses and new diseases are bound to appear, but it seems unlikely we will ever face anything on the same scale asThe Omega Man.
Back to the Future
No time travel (yet)
Back to the Future follows teenager Marty McFly as he is inadvertently sent back to 1955, where he disrupts his parents' meeting. With the assistance of eccentric inventor Doc Brown, Marty must restore the timeline by ensuring his parents fall in love and find a way back to 1985.
One of the most popular films of the 80s, Robert Zemeckis’Back to the Futurefollows high school student Marty McFly (Micheal J. Fox), who is sent 30 years into the past in a time-traveling “DeLorean” invented by genius scientist and friend Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd). Marty must make sure his high-school-age parents unite to ensure he is not wiped out in the future while also trying to find a way back to 1985.
Time travel, as far as we know, is never going to happen. It is not an entirelyaccurate depiction of time travel, but that doesn’t matter when considering how beloved the film is. The various wrongful predictions throughout the series, including hoverboards, are unfortunately inaccurate. Still, the series has notable correct guesses, including brain-controlled, wireless games, voice-activated tech, virtual Reality, wall-mounted flatscreen TVs, mobile credit card readers, and biometrics, to name a few.
