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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Hey, so this is the list of movies on my local media server which are tagged as "cyberpunk". I am looking for suggestions on more movies I should add to this list. Cheers,
ETA: Well, OK, this should keep me busy for a while. Thanks - y'all are amazing and awesome.
Strange Days (1995). The main premise is cyberpunk as fuck, the story gets real dark and it stars Ralph Fiennes playing what is essentially a brain dance dealer. Great film.
Judge Dread (there are several)
Demolition Man
No cyberpunk collection is complete without Ghost in the shell (not the scar Jo one)
The OG film (1995), the sequel (GitS: Innocence - 2005) and the series Stand Alone Complex (2002-05) are all essentials in the genre.
And once you're done maybe go for GiTS SAC:2045 or GiTS:Arise. But they aren't that great. But films and OG SAC are a must.
Came here to recommend this as well. You beat me to it :p
Trying to avoid the already great recs, for varying levels of cyberpunk themes or aesthetics...
Movies
Gattaca 1997
Elysium 2013
Ex Machina 2015
TV
Almost Human
Cowboy Bebop (any)
Devs
Incorporated (highly recommend!)
Max Headroom
Cyberpunk Edgerunners
Well OP you could literally watch the Cyberpunk series that Netflix put out.
It's really good. Great soundtrack
Altered Carbon S1
That series absolutely blew me away. Season 2 didn’t really compare so I just plan to watch season one once per year or so.
Considering I loved The Peripheral, this is for sure going on my list - thanks!
Does Equilibrium count as Cyberpunk?
Battle Angel Alita was a lot of fun. (Admittedly, I'm a sucker for good action sequences.)
Battle Angel Alita being the original anime, as opposed to Alita: Battle Angel which is the pseudo live action reimagining, which was also OK
Both are cyberpunk
The 1993 Gunnm OVA isn't that great tbh, rather watch the James Cameron adaptation. It covers mostly the same story, but it's paced better.
Here are a couple "cult" movies:
Hardware (1990) - not a "good" movie, but never boring and very worth watching. Great soundtrack, fun cameos, several interesting ideas.
Johnny Mnemonic (1995) - the best really bad cyberpunk movie. A very fun watch, if you're sufficiently protected from cringeing to death. Apparently there's a 2022 black and white cut that has a much better feel, but I've never seen it.
Videodrome (1983) - it's got lowlifes, it's got high tech (for that time and place), it's got urban dystopias, and it's got evil corporations. I'd argue it's "proto-cyberpunk". Irregardless, it's one of the best SF horror movies ever made. Yes, right up there with Alien, arguably better bc it has more to say about how technology mediates reality and bc it really gets in your head. Heh.
Johnny Mnemonic was the most like cp2020 movie I've seen.
Hardware looks good. Added to my list.
I've seen Johnny M (big Gibson fan) but not in black and white. I really didn't love it, from what I rememeber but seeing that might make it better?
Videodrome is great too. Haven't seen that in many years. Cheers,
Equilibrium
Not 100% sure it qualifies but i believe so, i enjoyed the dredd movie with carl urban and it has a very dystopian setting.
There is also an older one with stallone but i believe that one is more comedic.
E: also since you got blade runner in there i cant help myself and must suggest my favorite movie Alien, at least the first two. Supposedly they play in the same universe as blade runner
Dredd was good and deserved more attention, and a sequel, but Paul Leonard-Morgan's Dredd soundtrack was awesome.
Hackers
This one from 1995, yeah?
That’s the one. It might be to literally cyber and punk but both are definitely in this film.
Is there any other?
I don't think I'd call Dark City really cyberpunk. I don't know what you'd call it. Retro-1940s but in a sci-fi environment?
checks Wikipedia
Wikipedia calls it "neo-noir".
It's part of a wave of tech noir movies that came out of the late 90s, along with e.g. Gattaca, The Matrix, Strange Days, eXistenZ, 12 Monkeys... I'll also count The Thirteenth Floor, even though it's an adaptation of a 1964 novel that had already been adapted in the 70s (and very well, for that matter).
(One addendum: The Matrix feels slightly out of place but that's because it brought more action and innovative special effects to the mix and ended up all but ending the genre as audiences demanded more of that now.)
Those movies were good watchin'.
How do you not have Johnny Mnemonic?
and Mars Express
Aeon Flux, you gotta get the animated series though!
I’ll endorse Hackers also, very heavy with style
1992 - sneakers
1975 - rollerball
1982 - TRON
2002 - equilibrium
1989 - cyborg
1994 - timecop
2015 - chappie
1995 - 12 monkeys
1992 - the lawnmower man
2002 - minority report
My favorites I don’t see!
Strange Days A Scanner Darkly Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Campy ones, if you’re into that: Space Truckers Cherry 2000 964 Pinocchio Nemesis
Ghost in the shell both the original movie and the first two seasons of the of og anime are both classic cyberpunk media
Upgrade (2018)
Here are my cyberpunk categories on my Plex server, for both movies and TV shows. Please let me know if you think I should edit any of these; I was a little loose in my definition of "cyberpunk" for some of these.
Movies:
TV Shows:
EDIT: My library is in alphabetical order, except where a series of related films or TV shows pop up; then they're sorted in viewing order by a common name. That's why some of these aren't in alphabetical order. Like Futureworld on the movie list, which is a sequel to Westworld, so it's at the end of the list.
If you have Escape From New York, you should also have Escape From LA.
Terminator
Metropolis
Came here to mention Metropolis. Both the original black-and-white 1927 film and the 2001 anime remake film.
Yah, seen that too. Agree, it set the bar high.
https://piefed.social/c/fullmoviesonyoutube/p/1642470/metropolis-1927-1080p-silent-w-music
Minority Report and the sixth day
A bit of a stretch for cyberpunk, but Alphaville (1965) is awesome (and has lemmy in it's alternative tilte).
Also THX 1138 (1971)
I'd definitely recommend adding Space Sweepers for something fun and upbeat (for cyberpunk).
For a scifi horror with more cyberpunk elements than you might expect, I'd suggest Morgan (2016).
Soldier (1998) might be too much of a stretch but it's got a lot of the elements (minus an evil corporation) and it's a solid film.
1995 The Net
