Cyberpunk is a science-fiction sub-genre dealing with the integration of society and technology in dystopian settings. Often referred to as “low-life and high tech,” Cyberpunk stories deal with outsiders (punks) who fight against the oppressors in society (usually mega corporations that control everything) via technological means (cyber). If the punks aren’t actively fighting against a megacorp, they’re still dealing with living in a world completely dependent on high technology.
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Lemmy needs more content that isn't about US politics right now so I'm making a random post.
What's the most obscure cyberpunk movie you've seen? Name a cyberpunk movie you don't think anyone else has heard of.
I'm not saying you have to think it's a good movie (or that you even like it), I just want to discuss obscure, unknown cyberpunk movies. Come on, let's talk about something other than politics here.
Not sure if it's obscure but Johnny mnemonic. But Tek Wars is a bit more ... B movie esque.
There was some 90s mini series that I haven't re watched since when it aired. Wild Palms. Maybe not cyberpunk. But future dystopia at least
Hotel Artemis (2018) Caught this on Netflix a few years back, pretty decent 'takes place in one night' movie. Really good cast and a cool premise.
Nobody mentioned it, so it's either really obscure or way too obvious, but: Nirvana (1997).
A game developer finds out that the main character in his next title has become sentient and must save him from endless suffering by deleting all copies of the game shortly before it launches. I saw it many years ago, and really liked it. It hasn't aged perfectly, but all the important cyberpunk bits are there.
Definitely obscure. It's hard to find online anywhere. I've only been able to find it on the internet archive. It's got a weird plot but amazing cyberpunk visuals.
I saw a Cyberpunk movie around 2014 that I've been searching for since then. Maybe the folks in this thread can help me find it. I only remember one scene:
It's nighttime, and our protagonist (a white male) walks down a subway-style staircase into an underground (literally and figuratively) VR cafe of sorts. He meets with a woman who takes him down a hallway, and they glance into several of the rooms. We can see people in their VR worlds - some of them are men playing simulations of making love to groups of attractive women. Some are engaging in violent fantasies. They come to the room the protagonist will use to enter the VR space, and it looks like a dentist chair with the headset dangling from the ceiling on a metal contraption. There's CRT displays all around that will allow the woman to monitor the protagonist as he's in his VR world on a mission.
Likely English but possibly a foreign film.
That's all I can remember. Does it ring a bell for anyone? I've spent countless hours trying to track this one down.
It's not Johnny Mnemonic or Strange Days.
Are you sure it wasn't Minority Report with Tom Cruise? There's a scene where the precog takes Cruise to a seedy club to use a VR headset to view his memories. He looks in on the other customers as he walks by.
Hmm, I don't think that's it. Don't suppose you can find a clip of this scene on YouTube? I tried searching but came up empty handed
I can't find the scene with Tom Cruise entering with the precog, but here's a clip of the club being introduced before they show up.
I have a very similar memory but can't for the life of me remember anything else about the movie!
For a while I was convinced it was A.I. Artificial Intelligence the scene had Jude Law's character Gigolo Joe in it. But from a quick search that doesn't seem right.
i don't know if it counts as proper cyberpunk but it floated to tie top of my mind when i read the post.
in fall 2014 i was visiting a friend in stockholm, and through some weird mix of circumstances we found ourselves in the apartment of a friend of a friend of theirs, at three in the afternoon, like eight of us in a three-person sofa bed and watching Algorithm. the guy who lived there really wanted to show it to us since he thought it was so cool, gritty and realistic. i remember that he had a photograph on his wall of him shaking hands with the king. i think he worked for google. anyway...
it is one of the worst movies i've seen. and it's not funny bad. it's an angsty drama about a computer hacker hiding from the authorities, so it's mostly about how good he is with computers. all in this muted gray-green color, it's mostly shot day-for-night, and it's just soooo boring.
the only detail i vividly remember is a scene where the protagonist swaps to a new burner phone. he does this by taking the SIM card out, throwing the old phone in a bin, and putting the SIM into the new phone. i still think about that scene.
Not a movie, but a TV show: Max Headroom
It’s about journalists and an AI having adventures.
I think his first appearance was actually in a made for TV movie, but also Max Headroom is far from obscure. Still good though.
Actually, this is an interesting one to me... Max Headroom was everywhere in the 80s (even in coke commercials) and yet his popularity dropped off so quickly, it wouldn't surprise me if most people born after the 80s would never have even heard of him. If you didn't grow up with Max Headroom, I don't know how you would find out about him today. Definitely a product of the time.
That's actually fair, it is weird how he was such a huge part of the cultural zeitgeist and then wasn't. Kinda like Ronald Mcdonald..
I can't read that title now except for "The Gene Gene-Ration"
I'm just talkin' 'bout my gene-generation.
Well great, now I can't un-see that...
Strange Days is one of those often listed near the bottom on lists of the best cyberpunk movies and I almost never see it talked about or mentioned in discussions. I think it goes under the radar because it's not visually spectacular, nor is it very futuristic. Classic dialogue heavy sci-fi.
100% agree. This jumped right to the top for me, really enjoyed it and always recommend it to people.
You're right, Strange Days is definitely a classic yet visually it isn't very sci-fi. The themes and plot are extremely sci-fi (and cyberpunk) yet if you just looked at a random frame from the movie you wouldn't really be able to tell.
Probably tekwar. I don't think I've ever seen mention of it.
William Shatner's TekWar! It all looks awful, I don't know how they made so much of it.
Said the robot pimp disdainfully.
Based upon the books by William Shatner, a.k.a. the original Captain Kirk? It was a thing for a few years in the '90s, but yeah - pretty much dropped off the radar entirely afterwards.
Cyberpunk has never been what draws me to science fiction, but I'd say the most obscure is probably existence (if that counts?). It came out in 1999 and was overshadowed by the matrix. I
The sushi factory was filmed in my back yard. (Well not technically my back yard, but close enough.)
eXistenZ definitely counts! Cronenberg being weird in a way that only Cronenberg can.
Oh yeah I also came across something called Terminus (1987) which sounds kinda cyberpunk, but haven't watched it yet. See it free on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dBxa992y1g
In the year 2037, an international sport has been established, wherein a driver of a truck must cross the country and arrive at a designated terminus, while confronting obstacles and enemies along the way. The lead truck, named "Monster", has been designed by a boy genius (Gabriel Damon) and is to be piloted through the course by a woman named Gus (Karen Allen). Eventually, the truck's AI fails and Gus ends up in uncharted territories...
Does Avalon (2001) count?
Absolutely! That one's super obscure to me. I'm pretty sure I've seen it yet I don't remember anything from it.
Can't even seem to find it now. It was a non-English film. Eastern European, I think. Most of it was shot in sepia tones. It's about people who put everything into a virtual reality game. Build their whole lives around playing it.
The protagonist makes a fantastic meal for her cat while eating slop herself.
Was probably from the early 2000s. I think I watched it because I ran across a review of it and it happened to be orderable on Netflix DVD.
Since someone else just mentioned this movie, is it possible you were thinking of Avalon (2001)?
That's the one!
oh yeah I also came across a movie called "CyberTracker" (1994) recently. It sounds pretty cyberpunk but def low-budget, I haven't watched it.
In the future, Eric Anthony Phillips is the head of the Secret Service detachment assigned to protect Senator Bob Dilly (John Aprea). Senator Dilly is a champion of the recently implemented Computerized Judicial System (Computerized Justice for short), a product of Cybercore Industry, that uses data as evidence to determine the guilt of accused criminals, then carries out the sentence using cyborg executioners called "Trackers" (Maniaci). However, the more Phillips learns about Dilly and the Cybercore's ruthless plans, the more uncomfortable he becomes...
At least Cyber Tracker has a Rifftrax for it, which could make the movie bearable. (RiffTrax is from the guys who made Mystery Science Theater 3000)
I've watched this specific one! The rifftrax actually made for a pretty great time - from what I remember the movie had some cool ideas (and the jokes kind of filled in for the rest).
Hmmm.... I started watching OtherLife (2017) the other day... it's more of a techno-thriller than cyberpunk tho.... But it does have evil corporates and evil government types... you can see it free here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x93okqm
It's kind of meh, but if you're in the mood for something Inception-like, you might dig it.
OtherLife is a 2017 Australian science fiction thriller film directed by Ben C. Lucas. It stars Jessica De Gouw as the co-founder of OtherLife, a company that developed a form of biological virtual reality. When her business partner, played by T.J. Power, insists she license it for unethical use, she struggles to retain control of her invention with the help of her lover...
edit: oops forgot this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherLife
Not that obscure but I liked the cyberpunk portions of cloud atlas.
New Rose Hotel. Featuring Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken! Story by William Gibson! I may be mistaken, but I think he even wrote the screenplay, like in Johnny Mnemonic. But sadly not a very good movie. Its painfully slow. The original short story clearly did not have enough content for a movie. However, if you were to cut it down, there is a really good Cyberpunk movie hidden there. Maybe someday it gets the fancut it deserves...
Oooo listed! Moon was amazing!
Fun fact: Clint Mansell created the OST for both movies. Enjoy!
I wanted to like Mute but I really didn't like Paul Rudd's character in it. Overall, I think it had some good visuals but something about that movie just didn't work for me.
Did you like the movie? What was your favorite part?
It's not my favorite but i enjoy rewatching it.
Oh man, that's a movie i haven't thought about in a long time... I know I've seen it and I'm pretty sure I liked it but I don't remember a single thing about it. Time to go see if it's streaming anywhere...
Hardware. Saw this with a friend in the theater, we thought it was terrible. I've revisited it since, and while I won't say it's great I think it's worth a watch.
I didn't know about Until the End of the World (1991) till recently. Can't say it was worth watching, but bounty bear was amazing.