The Running Man (Arnie film) set in 2019...!

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I originally saw the Running Man in 1996. It is set in 2019 which was still quite a way off when I saw it, but of course 2019 is now this year! How well do you think the film has aged? What did you think life was going to be like in 2019? The music, especially the game show music is very 80s, so that didn't age too well. As for the 2019 setting, it was set during a time of financial crisis, which is kinda true in some parts of the world in the real 2019 but not to the same extent that the film predicted. As for the film itself, I watched it again recently (hence this thread) and I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Should sci fi films use year numbers (if set in the future)?

I think Mad Max / Mad Max 2 had the right idea in that at the start of the film, it says "a few years from now". So it doesn't give a year number, just that it's at some point in the future.

Another film that is set in the future is Demolition Man, although we haven't quite got there yet year-wise as I think it's set in the mid-2030s. So that film has another 15 years or so before it gets "out-yeared".

Can anyone think of other examples, and how well they have aged?
 
Caporegime
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One thing I always note about these films is that when the actual year comes round, we’ve never got as far as the filmmakers thought we would have.

Wasn’t back to the future 1 or 2 set a couple of years ago? Where’s our Hoverboards?

As for Demolition man, I still don’t think we’re ready for the seashells yet. Andrex shares would plummet!
 
Associate
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I, Robot is set in 2035 so still some potential there for advanced robotics.

Although we've only got 10 years left before The Terminator comes true!! :eek:
 
Soldato
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Also Blade Runner and Akira are set in 2019.

I've seen Blade Runner (the original). I forgot that it was set in 2019! Not seen Akira though.

2001: A Space Odyssey is quite a well known film.

Following that 2010: The Year We Make Contact.

1984.

Good call about 2001 AD. I think I saw it around year 2000, maybe NYD 2000 or NYD 2001. I'll have to re-watch it and see how it has aged.

As for 1984, that's where we are now tbh. Mass surveillance state with smart TVs being telescreens, monitored by Ingsoc, as we are essentially a 1-party state with Labour and Libdems being irrelevant nowadays. Then propaganda / doublethink in the form of fake news.
 
Soldato
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I love The Running Man. I'm glad Hollywood hasn't remade it... yet. It's cheesy, but a classic; in my opinion at least. :D

Robocop and Total Recall are two sci-fi classics that did get remade and both remakes sucked arse. Predator is another classic sci-fi films and despite two recent Predator films, they haven't bettered the original. The latest was a steaming pile of dung.

I don't really think about when sci-fi is set. It's just someone's view of what the future might be like. I know it's just a bit of fun though; seeing what they thought/think the future will be like, and what will happen or not, when that year comes around..

I suppose it depends on the film whether they give a year it's supposed to be set. In Robocop, it just set in a dystopian future. With Demolition Man; you'd expect that to be set in a specific year, because the start of the film was set in the present day at the time. For a film with a high tech prison; you wouldn't expect John Spartan to be released 'sometime in the future'. :p

As for Mad Max; everything had gone to pot; no one gave a **** about what year it was any more. Not like anyone was going to be late for an appointment if their calendar was wrong! :p

It will be interesting though, to see how modern sci-fi ages compared to older sci-fi. I suppose now there is a better understanding of what might be possible in 40 years, compared to what people thought might be possible back in the 60s 70s and 80s.
 
Caporegime
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Funnily enough I only saw this film a couple days ago. It's completely and irredeemably awful. And I like Herr Governator.

Beyond the sets and the props, I honestly don't think they put much effort into anything. It's so horribly unimaginative and sterile. It's a by-the-numbers stinker of a story that never deviates from what you expect to happen. It lumbers from one foregone conclusion to the next, and contains not a single surprise. Not one.

Dreadful film.
 
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