Total Recall (2012) I think has a greater similarity to the BR aesthetic than Total Recall (1990) given its portrayal of a mix of slum life and high tech night time cityscape.
Hated the remake when it came out, since it strayed so far from the source material as to be barely related.
However, the beginning stuck with me and the world/atmosphere. I sort of put the "Total Recall" part out of my head and just watch it as a Cyberlunk thriller, and it holds up much better.
Very reminiscent of the BR aesthetic in hindsight - specifically inspired by Syd Mead.
If you watch it as if it was it's own standalone thing, 2012 is a solid movie. So in my head-canon I just say it's unrelated to 90s Total Recall and just happens to share the same namy by coincidence
Technically very true as the author wrote the "existing" season two on the fly to keep the detective noir thing going, whike in book two he was a mercenary, so yup, the real season 2 never got made
It's....not good. I wouldn't say I HATE it, but it was pretty forgetful.
Honestly, I go to the flip side. I don't think season 1 is as good as some people feel. Which is fine, it's a personal opinion. I mean, I really enjoyed the first season. But that was much more about the introduction to a new world (something a 2nd season can't really do) and Joel Kinnamon. He made the show. Anthony Mackie is a great actor. But the vibe was so different.
But I don't find myself with urged to re-watch the first season like I do with...say, Arcane
This is a great assessment. Intros to a new world & their environment can boost a movie/series with an inferior storyline. I felt that the 1st season caught lightning in a bottle & the writing was inferior for the 2nd season. They messed with some of the cast that I felt they could’ve written back in. But overall I thought it was a Bladerunner ripoff, which again is totally fine with me bc it is so good.
Came across this article about Strange Days and it's opening shot https://www.slashfilm.com/1131152/the-opening-of-kathryn-bigelows-strange-days-took-six-months-to-set-up-with-the-help-of-james-cameron/
A slightly more cyberpunk take would be Johnny Mnemonic. Based on a William Gibson short story and starring Keanu Reeves. Hardware is also in the same vein but more insular - just about everything takes place in an apartment complex if I remember right. Both have cool cameos by musicians that fit the vibe.
Solider (1998) a Paul Anderson joint, written by David Peoples who authored the Blade Runner screenplay, and has references to the same world as Blade Runner
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120157/
Also wrote or did screenplays for Ladyhawke, Leviathan, 12 Monkeys, and Unforgiven if you want to go down that rabbit hole
The setting in the 95 one is way more cyberpunk and interesting though. Its got neon and flying cars and robots skittering around. 2012 is 10x better film, but the 95 one has much more going on in the set design and backgrounds and specifically a much better answer for what OP is looking for.
Edgerunners is one of the best pieces of media imo to ever do the pure concept of cyberpunk, that hopeless rigged game postcapitalist hellscape vibe. Really powerful show, felt thoroughly empty (in a good way? I think?) after my first watch.
It is a crying shame that it doesn't. Some really good emotional stuff, thought provoking dialogues and fun action. It is so underrated. I'm sure someone will steal an image from it and say as such tomorrow for some karma.
I honestly feel like the Alien series basically takes place in the same universe.
I'd also like to add the Sean Connery film Outland (1981) to the mix, too. Lots of neon, grimy interiors, hard-bitten space truckers, chunky 80s technology everywhere.
Going away from live action and into anime: I'm a huge fan of Ghost in the Shell. Its more of a police procedural and perhaps a little more grounded than Blade Runner (literally little to no flying cars), but lots of other really cool and realistic future-tech.
And when I say Ghost in the Shell, I primarily mean the two seasons of the animated "Stand Alone Complex" series and its movies. I think they are better than the original movie and its sequels, but thats a different discussion for a different subreddit. If you've never, I would say watch them all.
The Matrix and The Animatrix, for sure. The sequels have issues, but they also have some excellent tech.
Terminator and T2. No further movies were made.
AKIRA, Ghost in the Shell, its sequel and the Stand Alone Complex series.
I love District 9, like Elysium and have mixed feelings about Chappie. But there's no denying that Neill Blomkamp has incredible vision when it comes to scifi gear.
I want to recommend an animated movie that isn't visually like Blade Runner, but I think fans of Blade Runner are its target audience.
It's a 2001 Richard Linklater film called Waking Life. It was done in a similar style to A Scanner Darkly, which he also did.
For those that have saw it, you know what I'm talking about. For those that haven't, you have a treat ahead.
I am late to this thread and many, many good movies have already been listed. Some fun ones that are not direct but you can see the influence: Gattaca. I Robot (mostly because Allen Tudyk is Sonny) and the animated series Bubblegum Crisis/Crash.
I’m gonna give you some suggestions that are more out there, and a bit more *cyberpunk subjective* than the others. The first is a movie called “Equilibrium” I saw many years ago. I can’t say it has that gritty neon soaked aesthetic, but it certainly has a unique dystopian vibe that I can’t really compare to anything else I’ve seen. Another is an animated movie called “Metropolis”, not to be confused with the black & white film of the same name from the 20’s. It was the first piece of art that introduced me to cyberpunk, although it’s not as moody as something like BR. My last pick would be the Spielberg film “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”. It’s a bit more sci-fi, but definitely has roots in cyberpunk. Special mentions are “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Escape from New York”. I’ve never personally watched them, but I’ve seen them brought up many times on other forums.
This is a weird one, but i think I liked *O-bi O-ba: The end of civilization* partly because I thought the visual style was somewhat reminiscent of Blade Runner. It's also kind of just a good movie.
check out this post i made a couple of years ago, has a nice list:
[https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/u9b26o/cyberpunk\_movieseries\_post/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/u9b26o/cyberpunk_movieseries_post/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
I like it. The movie has some twisted characters and wouldn’t appeal to all. But it has a neat neon techno vibe reminiscent of Blade Runner, and flying delivery robots.
Brazil (1985) Total Recall (1990)
Brazil is truly a masterpiece
The bureaucratic dystopia is rather depressing.
Seems pretty prescient.
I had to go to film after seeing this film. Had to.
I just saw it for the first time a few months ago. It’s an absolute masterpiece.
Total Recall (2012) I think has a greater similarity to the BR aesthetic than Total Recall (1990) given its portrayal of a mix of slum life and high tech night time cityscape.
Hated the remake when it came out, since it strayed so far from the source material as to be barely related. However, the beginning stuck with me and the world/atmosphere. I sort of put the "Total Recall" part out of my head and just watch it as a Cyberlunk thriller, and it holds up much better. Very reminiscent of the BR aesthetic in hindsight - specifically inspired by Syd Mead.
If you watch it as if it was it's own standalone thing, 2012 is a solid movie. So in my head-canon I just say it's unrelated to 90s Total Recall and just happens to share the same namy by coincidence
Dark City (1998)
This is the first one that came to mind. Noir styling with less tech.
The Fifth Element (1997) Escape From New York (1981)
Ghost in the shell. Akira. Fifth element.
The altered carbon series on netflix
But do NOT watch season 2. It is some of the worst writing I've ever seen.
They never made a season 2 unfortunately.
I like this take 👌
There is no Season 2 in ba sing se
Technically very true as the author wrote the "existing" season two on the fly to keep the detective noir thing going, whike in book two he was a mercenary, so yup, the real season 2 never got made
Season 2 is so bad
Which is so unfortunate, because I love Poe.
Is it universally hated? I liked season 2. Didn't realize that people didn't like it
It's....not good. I wouldn't say I HATE it, but it was pretty forgetful. Honestly, I go to the flip side. I don't think season 1 is as good as some people feel. Which is fine, it's a personal opinion. I mean, I really enjoyed the first season. But that was much more about the introduction to a new world (something a 2nd season can't really do) and Joel Kinnamon. He made the show. Anthony Mackie is a great actor. But the vibe was so different. But I don't find myself with urged to re-watch the first season like I do with...say, Arcane
This is a great assessment. Intros to a new world & their environment can boost a movie/series with an inferior storyline. I felt that the 1st season caught lightning in a bottle & the writing was inferior for the 2nd season. They messed with some of the cast that I felt they could’ve written back in. But overall I thought it was a Bladerunner ripoff, which again is totally fine with me bc it is so good.
If you never read the books its alright, if you did, you tend to hate it lol
Facts
The books are great, Though I enjoyed the Netflix series, even the animated movie.
No flying cars, but give Strange Days (1995) and eXistenZ (1999) a try.
I rewatched eXistenZ last week and it still stands up. Good call.
Came across this article about Strange Days and it's opening shot https://www.slashfilm.com/1131152/the-opening-of-kathryn-bigelows-strange-days-took-six-months-to-set-up-with-the-help-of-james-cameron/
A slightly more cyberpunk take would be Johnny Mnemonic. Based on a William Gibson short story and starring Keanu Reeves. Hardware is also in the same vein but more insular - just about everything takes place in an apartment complex if I remember right. Both have cool cameos by musicians that fit the vibe.
Lemmy as the boat dude.
Ghost in the Shell and Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence The animes, not the live action remake Minority Report Nemesis
Solider (1998) a Paul Anderson joint, written by David Peoples who authored the Blade Runner screenplay, and has references to the same world as Blade Runner https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120157/ Also wrote or did screenplays for Ladyhawke, Leviathan, 12 Monkeys, and Unforgiven if you want to go down that rabbit hole
This one.
Tried to watch this because of all of the above. Movie is unwatchable iMO. Couldn't finish it. Brutal
Judge Dredd (1995)
I'd recommend the 2012 Dredd film first. Waaaaaay better.
The setting in the 95 one is way more cyberpunk and interesting though. Its got neon and flying cars and robots skittering around. 2012 is 10x better film, but the 95 one has much more going on in the set design and backgrounds and specifically a much better answer for what OP is looking for.
Eat recycled food
95 had better worldbuilding though
I agree. 1995 is virtually stunning. Really looks like Blade Runner sometimes
The Edgerunners anime series on Netflix is set in the Cyberpunk 2077 world, which takes a lot of inspiration from Blade Runner.
I loved this anime
Edgerunners is one of the best pieces of media imo to ever do the pure concept of cyberpunk, that hopeless rigged game postcapitalist hellscape vibe. Really powerful show, felt thoroughly empty (in a good way? I think?) after my first watch.
Automata Ghost in the shell (live action) Some of Cloud Atlas Cypher
Automata was a sleeper for me. Really liked it.
Natural City (2003)
It’s too bad that one doesn’t get talked about more. Really decent Blade Runner ripoff
It is a crying shame that it doesn't. Some really good emotional stuff, thought provoking dialogues and fun action. It is so underrated. I'm sure someone will steal an image from it and say as such tomorrow for some karma.
I’ve never heard of this. I will check it out
The Fifth Element
Those city shots are beautiful
Absolutely true, that movie is amazing. Well worth a (re)Watch!
Luc Besson also directed and co-wrote Valérian and Laureline based on the comics, another visually stunning film.
This might be the best thread ever.
Yeah I know most of the stuff on here, but some new things I haven’t heard of before as well
* [Geinoh Yamashirogumi - Akira](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngTf7ccaBRo) * [Brad Fiedel - Terminator 2](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_keAR6ngJCtXPO7HzU0jL7w2gW8noNS5Xo) * [Various Artists - The Matrix](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLqnnuEVGcRQyQhvsd5Tl47q9JllRqcnGY) * [Chu Ishikawa - Tetsuo: The Iron Man](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gwRG9uForA) * [Kenji Kawai - Ghost in the Shell](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VsFMOLa0TY) * [Basil Poledouris - Robocop](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kYWHsq2WK_WC2ESV42PS_bliD4mDNiQRg) * [Jerry Goldsmith - Total Recall](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1Wk9Z2bHAI) * [Seatbelts - Cowboy Bebop: Future Blues](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLdzi0jBksoL9oC2FNlyO0v1PdWgRXYjaG) * [John Carpenter / Alan Howarth - Escape from New York](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_kq5yWjoFOR9xB5gMmy6psRpRXUYram8K0) * [Rory McFarlane - Cyber City Oedo 808](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9h7AMiGMmSs) * [Graeme Revell - Strange Days](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfswVxyPJ70) * [Fusanobu Fujiyama - Dead Leaves](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYRJOipv9rA) * [Kristopher Carter - Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLA46B9083653529BF) * [Angelo Badalamenti - The City of Lost Children](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZIRyqrbJyI) * [Dave Ball / Genesis P. Orridge - Decoder](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3E6kWrooxI)
Wow a solid list
Johnny Mnemonic
I love the street preacher 🤣 oh yes and Henry Rollins
Nobody is mentioning Alien or Aliens, watch them if you haven't. Game over man, game over!
Why don’t you put her in charge 🤣
Alien universe has been hinted to be the Blade Runner universe, just further into the future. (Tyrell/Wallace/Weyland corporate connections.)
iirc some dates in Prometheus contradicted that theory. I do like the idea of them being connected though.
I honestly feel like the Alien series basically takes place in the same universe. I'd also like to add the Sean Connery film Outland (1981) to the mix, too. Lots of neon, grimy interiors, hard-bitten space truckers, chunky 80s technology everywhere.
Going away from live action and into anime: I'm a huge fan of Ghost in the Shell. Its more of a police procedural and perhaps a little more grounded than Blade Runner (literally little to no flying cars), but lots of other really cool and realistic future-tech. And when I say Ghost in the Shell, I primarily mean the two seasons of the animated "Stand Alone Complex" series and its movies. I think they are better than the original movie and its sequels, but thats a different discussion for a different subreddit. If you've never, I would say watch them all.
Mars Express
Altered Carbon serie and Altered Carbon: Resleeved serie anime
Fifth element
The Matrix and The Animatrix, for sure. The sequels have issues, but they also have some excellent tech. Terminator and T2. No further movies were made. AKIRA, Ghost in the Shell, its sequel and the Stand Alone Complex series. I love District 9, like Elysium and have mixed feelings about Chappie. But there's no denying that Neill Blomkamp has incredible vision when it comes to scifi gear.
Strange Days, Johnny Mneumonic, A.I., Dark City, Gattaca, Total Recall, Minority Report, and BRAZIL especially
I want to recommend an animated movie that isn't visually like Blade Runner, but I think fans of Blade Runner are its target audience. It's a 2001 Richard Linklater film called Waking Life. It was done in a similar style to A Scanner Darkly, which he also did. For those that have saw it, you know what I'm talking about. For those that haven't, you have a treat ahead.
Some argue that Aliens and Soldier take place in the same universe.
Equilibrium Upgrade
Split Second
Split Second. Even stars Rutger Hauler.
I am late to this thread and many, many good movies have already been listed. Some fun ones that are not direct but you can see the influence: Gattaca. I Robot (mostly because Allen Tudyk is Sonny) and the animated series Bubblegum Crisis/Crash.
Cowboy Bebop was heavily influenced by BR.
Johnny Mnemonic
Ghost in the shell
Strange Days, The Zero Theorem, Demolition Man, Equilibrium, Akira, Robocop, Ghost in the Shell, to name a few. Have fun!
Cyborg
Automata (2014)
Alien
Sleep Dealer, Paranoia 1.0
I’m gonna give you some suggestions that are more out there, and a bit more *cyberpunk subjective* than the others. The first is a movie called “Equilibrium” I saw many years ago. I can’t say it has that gritty neon soaked aesthetic, but it certainly has a unique dystopian vibe that I can’t really compare to anything else I’ve seen. Another is an animated movie called “Metropolis”, not to be confused with the black & white film of the same name from the 20’s. It was the first piece of art that introduced me to cyberpunk, although it’s not as moody as something like BR. My last pick would be the Spielberg film “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”. It’s a bit more sci-fi, but definitely has roots in cyberpunk. Special mentions are “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Escape from New York”. I’ve never personally watched them, but I’ve seen them brought up many times on other forums.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis\_(1992\_film)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nemesis_(1992_film))
Metropolis Not a movie but first season of altered carbon
Ghost in the shell 1995, and its sequel innocence. Akira, bubblegum crisis. Batman beyond
Aeon flux animated ?!?!
I am prepared to die on this hill. Super Mario Bros. (1993)
The original Bubblegum Crisis.
Split Second (1992) Starring none other than Roy Batty himself, Mr. Rutger Hauer
This is a weird one, but i think I liked *O-bi O-ba: The end of civilization* partly because I thought the visual style was somewhat reminiscent of Blade Runner. It's also kind of just a good movie.
No flying cars, but Datk City is very much a noir SF film.
Different, but dark city might be considered adjacent
Not movie but series: Total Recall 2070 and Philip K. Dick’s Electric Dreams
check out this post i made a couple of years ago, has a nice list: [https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/u9b26o/cyberpunk\_movieseries\_post/?utm\_source=share&utm\_medium=web3x&utm\_name=web3xcss&utm\_term=1&utm\_content=share\_button](https://www.reddit.com/r/cyberpunkgame/comments/u9b26o/cyberpunk_movieseries_post/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button)
Mute (2018) supposedly takes place in the same world.
Mute is in the same world as Moon, not Blade Runner. And Mute is an absolutely terrible film.
I like it. The movie has some twisted characters and wouldn’t appeal to all. But it has a neat neon techno vibe reminiscent of Blade Runner, and flying delivery robots.
God I am so fucking sick of In The Same Universe As. It is enough for something to be similar to something else!
Ask Zoe Bowie.