2012

The year 2012 is when the Mayans predicted the world will be destroyed; the disastrous events in the film 2012 are based on that Mayan prediction.

I saw 2012 recently, and I thought it was a mediocre film. 2012 can be seen as dystopian because it deals with a frightening future where human beings will have to fight for survival. Unfortunately, that was about the only dystopian aspect of the film. 2012 was heavy on the apocalyptic side, but it probably would have been much better if it would have focused more on a dystopian storyline. To be fair, my fondness for dystopia makes it sometimes harder to be objective.....but I do really believe that 2012 would have been better if the story began with the "launch" of the arcs (no spoilers here), what do you think?



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"The Road" An Exercise in Dystopian Horror

In the dystopian themed film, The Road, which is due to be released November 25, a desperate Viggo Mortensen travels across an obliterated US countryside with his young son. In the storyline of The Road, the world has been ravaged by an unnamed cataclysmic event. The pair are seeking a fabled utopia that is rumored to be on the West coast, but there are two major roadblocks standing in their way; the father is ailing, and they have to defend themselves against surviving humans who have been reduced to cannibalism --- with children being their prime target!

The Road is based off of Cormac McCarthy's best selling 2006 novel by the same name. McCarthy's book was an excellent read, and hopefully the film will deliver as well.

"Panic in the Year Zero" 1962

I found this little dystopian science fiction nugget while surfing the digital cable channels one evening. The film stars Ray Milland and Frankie Avalon and it tells the story of a family's struggle to survive in the very beginning days of a nuclear holocaust. The family is leaving Los Angeles in their RV, heading out to the country in order to go on a vacation. While exiting the city limits the family hears a Conelrad alert (nuclear war is imminent) that L.A. has been hit by a nuclear weapon. What ensues next is a surprisingly engaging story about their efforts to survive the nuclear holocaust.

I had never heard of this film until I stumbled upon it. I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys dystopian science fiction.

"The Omega Man" (1971) Film

Richard Matheson's 1954 book "I am Legend" has been translated into film three times. The second translation was the 1971 science fiction film "The Omega Man." The film starred Charleton Heston and Rosalind Cash. "The Omega Man" is my personal favorite of the three translations as it is the scariest. Perhaps I only perceive it to be so scary because I first viewed it as a child. The vampirish inhabitants of the night with the milky white skin and pale, colorless eyes were chilling to me as a child, and remain so for me as an adult. At any rate, pick up a copy of "The Omega Man: (1971) and recapture some frightening scenes from a great 70's horror/dystopian/sci fi flick.

The Omega Man

The Omega Man - Movie Poster - 11 x 17

"Things to Come" (1936) Film

"The Shape of Things to Come" was adapted into a screenplay titled "Things to Come." The film was released in 1936, and it starred Raymond Massey & Sir Cedrick Hardwicke. Luckily for us, "Things to Come" has since fallen into the public domain. Of Course, the film is in good old black and white, and of poor quality (1936, c'mon now), but it is very watchable - if you oppose such things you should give it a try, the story is worth the effort. "Things to Come" can be viewed right here in its entirety on this post - click the play button below:


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"The Last Man" (2008) Film

"The Last Man" by Mary Shelley was translated into a movie in 2008, this was its first film adaptation, but it didn't receive good reviews. I plan to place the film into my Netflix queue once it becomes available; stay tuned for a film review.

"Gattaca" (1997) Film

"Gattaca" (1997) is one of my absolute favorite Dystopian Science Fiction films. The story tells of a future in which people can be pre-screened for their abilities at birth, then predestined with their duties. For example, if at your birth your maximum IQ predictor reflects that you will be of average intelligence, you are then destined to having a "pencil pusher" type of career. However, if your predictors are lower than average, you can expect to have a life as a janitor - and vice versa for highly intelligent people. The highly accurate method of screening is all in the DNA, hence the title of the film (Guanine Adenine Thymine Thymine Adenine Cytosine Adenine), and it can predict almost everything from future IQ to entire lifetime medical makeup.

The film chronicles the life of two brothers, one predestined to be lower than average, and the other predestined to be of far superior mental and physical ability. The film is not exactly "in your face" dystopian sci fi horror, but one can imagine how truly awful life would be if people didn't actually have real belief in each other, regardless of how the odds may seem. The main point of "Gattaca" (1997) is the triumph of the human spirit in the face of almost certain adversity and failure. The film stars Uma Thurman, Ethan Hawke, Jude Law, and Gore Vidal. This is a film which should not be missed

"The Time Machine" - Novel by H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells' "The Time Machine" was published in 1895 and can probably more accurately be described as a novella rather than a novel. The work is more straight science fiction than dystopian fiction, but the story does contain some elements of a dystopian theme. The novella chronicles an un-named scientist who builds a machine which travels through time. On one of his time travels takes him to a time on Earth in which one group of people is subjugated by a much more dominant group.




The film adaptation of "The Time Machine" was released in 1960, and it starred Rod Taylor as the time traveller (in the film he is given the name "George"), and a strikingly beautiful Yvette Mimieux as one of the subjugated Eloi - the Morlock are their masters. In my very humble opinion, the film was actually better than the book. It seems that the book moved too slowly for me, perhaps it was my twelve year old mind, I should probably re-read it as an adult.

There was a remake of "The Time Machine" (1960) which was released in 2002. The remake stars Guy Pearce, Samantha Mumba, and Jeremy Irons. The makeup in this film is decent enough, but the story is nearly the same and completely forgettable. You won't miss out on anything special by not seeing this remake, unless of course, you are a die hard Time Machine fan....At any rate, throw the original in your Netflix queue and you will not be disappointed.

"Children of Men" - Novel by P.D. James

Picture it, England, 2021 (in my most Spophia Petrillo-ish voice). You will see a world on the edge of complete chaos where no one can conceive. The human race is faced with the extinction of the species when lo and behold....a pregnant woman emerges from the nightmarish ghetto that has become much of our precious Earth. Such is the setting for P.D. James' novel, "Children of Men". The novel was published in 1992 and I read it upon its initial release -- I was hooked on the book until the very end. I simply could not put it down.

The 2006 film adaptation invoked a different kind of reaction from me. It starred Julianne Moore, so against my better judgment I watched it anyway. I will watch anything starring Julianne Moore (including "The Forgotten" (2004) -- what a trainwreck!) but the film adaptation of "Children of Men" was almost too bad to watch. It was nothing like the world I had imagined in the book, but to its credit, most films are never as good as what the human mind can imagine when reading a book. Alas, it was a bearable film, watch it in that vein and you won't be too terribly disappointed; if you've never read the book, you might actually love the film.

*Check out my Youtube Favorites Channel for a view of the trailer: http://www.youtube.com/DystopianFictionFan
*The film version also stars Clive Owen, Michael Caine, and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

"Planet of the Apes" - Novel by Pierre Boulle

Ahhhhh Yeah! "Planet of the Apes" is definitely one of my all-time favorites. Turner Classic Movies (TCM) and American Movie Classics (AMC) brings this film, and its sequels, to life dozens of times throughout the year, but they can also be rented from Netflix. "Planet of the Apes," or "Monkey Planet" was written by Pierre Boulle in 1963. The novel is well followed by the ground breaking, and award winning film which was released in 1968. "The Planet of the Apes" (1968) stars Charlton Heston, Roddy McDowall, Kim Hunter, and Maurice Evans (remember this old dude, Samantha's father from Bewitched?). There was a remake in 2001 which starred Mark Wahlberg and Helena Bonham Carter, with a smal role by Charlton Heston (one of his last roles), but the original is FAR SUPERIOR! The original film was followed by sequels which finally resulted in a pentalogy (five films in total). Each of the sequels were good to me, some of the reviews were not so kind for the third through fifth films: "Planet of the Apes" (1963), "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970),
"Escape from the Planet of the Apes" (1971), "Conquest of the Planet of the Apes"
(1972), and "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" (1973).

Following the films, there was a very imaginative television series, several cartoon series, and comic books. "Planet of the Apes" has gained legions of fans througout the years, and if you've never seen it, you should put all five of the originals into your Netflix queue and watch them in order. The 2001 version is really all that bad, in fact, the makeup & settings alone are enough to watch the film (it's Tim Burton's stuff Baby), I'm just a diehard fan of the original.





If you have lived underneath a rock and you have no idea what "Planet of the Apes" is all about, here is a very brief synopsis: Astronauts land on a wierd planet which can sustain human life, it looks very Earth-like in parts -- Astronauts journey through strange planet and come upon a lush jungle filled with mute, pre-historic looking humans -- Astronauts study the humans who seem not to really notice them -- after a short while, the humans seemed to be startled by something and they react much like a herd of animals do when they are being hunted -- Astronauts spot the menace that is hunting the humans.....large talking apes on horses (gorillas to be exact)complete with rifles, nets, and atrocious attitudes towards the humans -- very soon the astronauts realize that they too are being hunted, then what follows is a total breaking loose of all Hell..... "Planet of the Apes" is the perfect dystopian work of fiction.

*There is to be yet another remake of this film which is currently in production.

"Fahrenheit 451" - Novel by Ray Bradbury

"Fahrenheit 451" was written by Ray Bradbury and released in 1953. I read this novel when I was in the 6th or 7th grade and it has remained vividly in my mind ever since. The title refers to the temperature at which books will burn. The story surrounds a "fireman" by the name of Guy Montag. In this dystopian future, people are chastised for independent and/or creative thinking, and their minds visions are guided by governmental plasma television screens which are installed in everyone's home. A "fireman" in Montag's world (he is generally addressed only by his last name) is a professional who actually goes around burning books with a team of other fireman -- of course because books require an imaginative thought process. When one is caught with books in their possession, the firemen are dispatched immediately to dispel of the menace (the books), if the owners object, they can be burned along with their books.








As usual, Ray Bradbury's novel is far superior to the film (and very different), but the film does capture the overall essence of the novel. The film "Fahrenheit 451" (1966) was directed by Francois Truffaut and it stars Oskar Werner and Julie Christie. There is one very famous scene in which Irish character actress, Bee Duffell, is set to flames along with her books because she simply wouldn't give them up. In the end, Montag's feelings about books are completely changed and soon his life will never be the same as he is suddenly faced with being on the receiving end of his own medicine. A remake of "Fahrenheit 451" is in the works for release in 2010 - why they want to mess with perfection is far beyond me........

*This original film version of Fahrenheit 451 can be watched entirely online from Netflix.

"I am Legend" - Novel by Richard Matheson

"I am Legend" 2008, "The Omega Man" 1971, and Richard Matheson's original novel, "I am Legend" tells the story of Dr. Robert Neville, a scientist, and lone "totally human" survivor of a nightmarish bacterial apocalypse that turns its victims into vampires. Dr. Neville was a part of the scientific team that was originally assembled to fight the bacteria at first outbreak, but the germ goes rampant and infects everyone across the globe -- except Neville (???). Dr. Neville works feverishly to try to find an antidote. The story in "The Last Man on Earth" 1964 is much the same except that the title character's name has been changed to Dr. Robert Morgan. All three films are actually very good, and you cannot go wrong viewing any of them, but you should watch them all - they all tell virtually the same story, but it is told in three very different ways. However, Richard Matheson's original novel should be read before viewing any of the films. Matheson is truly a master of sci fi.

*Richard Matheson wrote many of the original Twilight Zone episodes.

"The Shape of Things to Come" - Novel by H.G. Wells

"The Shape of Things to Come" was written by H. G. Wells in 1932. It is an engrossing film which starts off slowly, then progresses rapidly to its finish. The story begins on a bleakly snowy evening on a crowded early nineteenth century British thoroughfare. The newspaper headlines reflect that it is near Christmas, but it also shows reports of a growing world-wide conflict (war). As time wears on, the inevitable happens and the story takes on an ominous nature complete with a post apocalyptic world filled with extreme poverty, vampirish/zombie-like disease, and eventual human evolution into a superior state. The book is a challenge as it is slow in some parts, but it is well worth the read for dystopian science fiction fans.

"The Last Man" - Novel by Mary Shelley

"The Last Man" is a dystopian novel which was written by author Mary Shelley in 1826. You can probably tell from the title that the story concerns the end of humanity (think: Richard Matheson's novel "I am Legend" minus the vampirish ghouls). The story is told in first person, and it depicts a lone man trying to eek out life in a twenty-first century world that has been destroyed by a global pandemic.

In "The Last Man," the audience is also given insight into how the world came to be in its particularly bleak state. "The Last Man" was previously lost for many years, but was recovered in modern times. The novel is known by most science fiction fans to be the first of its kind (dystopian genre).

*Mary Shelley is more celebrated for penning the sci fi/horror novel "Frankenstein." She is said to have written "The Last Man" whilst she was in mourning for her father.

*It is rumored that Mary Shelley first got the idea for "The Last Man" during one of her prophetic visions.

Classic & Contemporary Dystopian Fiction Examples

Two examples of well known pieces of Dystopian Fiction are George Orwell's "Nineteen Eighty-Four," and Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451." Both of these classic literary works have been made into highly successful films. More contemporary works would include P.D. James' novel "The Children of Men" (also adapted to film), and the Alex Garland screenplay "28 Days Later." To put it plainly, a dystopia is the extreme opposite of a utopia (a perfect world).


Dystopia: Collected Stories

Definition of Dystopian Fiction

Dystopian Fiction is science fiction that deals with an undesirable futuristic world for human beings. A Dystopia is a society characterized by extreme human misery, squalor, oppression, disease, and/or overcrowding. Post apocalyptic wastelands, viral and bacterial pandemic, zombies, and totalitarian regimes are recurring themes in dystopian science fiction. The Dark Future Fiction blog is a comprehensive directory that offers reviews of all media of a dystopian science fiction nature; it includes novels, films, and television media.

The world in which we now live is frequently marred by some aspects of a dystopian society, such as violence, pollution, war, and/or harsh political regimes, but it is not so devastating that normal everyday life is completely stifled - at least not in the Western world. More often than not, dystopian works are a reflection of some new trend that is going on in the world at the time of its creation; the work serves as both a form of entertainment and a warning of continued reliance upon the new trend.

Real Life Dystopian Societies

Dystopian works are of a fictional nature, but history reflects that many human beings have been subject to living in very near dystopian societies. Real life victims of extreme poverty, war torn countries, genocide, slavery, and totalitarian regimes often live in nightmarish conditions which cause similar human suffering experienced by fictional characters in dystopian works.