When sci-fi gets too optimistic...

[J.R.]

Have you ever watched a film set in the future, which is now the present, that's a bit off when it comes to how advanced we are?

Star Trek 2- According to this film human cloning and interstellar travel were possible in 1997.

2001- Last year one of our gigantic space stations flew to Jupiter.

First Spaceship On Venus- In 1970 we went to our sister planet and found it to be much like our own, without the unbearable heat and toxic air.

Any film set in New York after 2001- Apparently we will rebuild the World Trade Center.

[Steven Millan]

         Here are a few to name,J.R. .....
     * "The Omega Man" :In 1977,a plague wipes out mankind,leaving L.A. in complete shabbles,with George Lucas spared to make all of the "Star Wars" movies.
      * "Escape From New York" :New York is so overidden by crime in 1997,that the entire city becomes a Mad max/Road Warrior-type prison. New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani almost made this very possible,considering the way he ran the city as a police state.
        * "Predator 2": In 1997,L.A. is still the same,with the exception of a new train system,and that both Gary Busey and Morton Downey Jr. still have legit mainstream careers.
        * "Death Race 2000": the President allows reckless speeding and aggressive driving as a legit sport,with both the later and road rage becoming a
illicit reality,only it's not a sport.

[jmc]

"Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man"--brand new drugs and bulletproof leather overcoats.  Can't remember anything else that stood out.

[J.R.]

"Demolition Man"- In the late '90s L.A. is turned into a demilitarized zone. What is it about L.A.? Why did so many seem to think it would become a dangerous wasteland? Must have been right after the riots...

[AndyC]

Lots of examples of predictions that were a bit off.

Planet of the Apes (original movies) The first had a manned interstellar space mission, with crew in suspended animation. By some of the conversation, it seemed to have been launched in the late 70s. In Conquest of the Planet of the Apes, trained ape servants were everywhere by the early 90s.

On TV, the original Lost in Space had a family colonizing Alpha Centauri in the 90s as well.

Apparently, the moon was blown out of obit three years ago, because we'd been storing nuclear waste there. A pity to lose the lunar base there. Of course, everybody was so busy enjoying other people's recorded experiences to notice.

Things to Come was another one that was pretty far off.

In the case of some stories in the not-too-distant future, you just shove them forward another 20 years and they still work.

[john]

What's even funnier are the real predictions for the future. Every now and then SFC shows little spots with predictions that were made about the future. By now we should have anti-gravity cooking, motorized kitchens that operate at the touch of a button or the wave of a hand, and robot servants will be common-place.

[Sakerson]

Here's one that's kind of in reverse of others mentioned here:  I remember from "Forbidden Planet" the voice-over at the beginning said that we had landed on the moon in 2000.  It's unusual for Sci Fi to be make predictions to late, though Sci-Fi completely missed the computer revolution thing (although William Gibson did touch on it a bit).  Example:  In Rollerball (the original) how the main character went to a large central computer that was the repository for all knowledge.  Sounded futuristic at the time, but the internet has made that idea seem primitive.

Come to think of it, the later Star Trek episodes (TNG, DS9, Voyager) all have primitive display consoles for their computers.  We could easily come up with the same thing today.

Aren't there a few environmental disaster movies that take place around this time (i.e. shouldn't I be frying my pants off as I type)?

[J.R.]

What I find hilarious is when someone in a film set in the future ("Alien" and "Blade Runner" comes to mind) uses a computer and the screen is black with orange or green type, which has been obsolete since the early '80s. So many of these films just touch upon computers, yet they're already indespensable parts if everyday life.

[BoyScoutKevin]

The reverse is also true. In the "Time Machine," the original and not the remake,
London was supposedly nuked by an atomic bomb. That has yet to happen.
What I am waiting for is London to be destroyed by some type of dragon-like creature, as it happened in "Reign of Fire." When does that take place? The 2020's? Enjoy!

[Flangepart]

Ims STILL waiting for my flying car, Dammit! A big magnesium overcast that has geese speared on the nose probe. Supercar with an attitude! When did Supercar take place anyway, sportsfans? Or Fireball XL-5, for that matter. Us old farts want to know!

[Special K]

RIKI-OH: The Story of Ricky: By the year 2001, Prisons, like parking lots, have become franchized businesses.

[John Morgan]

Sakerson said:

"Come to think of it, the later Star Trek episodes (TNG, DS9, Voyager) all have primitive display consoles for their      computers. We could easily come up with the same thing today."


I've felt the same way.  I look at all the technology shown in scifi shows and feel that it will all be surpased or has been surpassed.  I have a Star Trek Technical Manual that shows the "inner workings" of the orginal series Tricorder.  Transistors everywhere!

Usually when scifi tries to "recreate the universe' by blowing up a city or saying we will live in space on the moon by the year 1980, I just laugh.  I try to think of what would have to happen to get us to that point.  When you start to put the events together, you see that the timetable is wrong or the Government would get involved to stop it.  

There are just so many movies and TV shows that try to create their own timeline that many contradict each other.

[Chadzilla]

"Alternate history!"  

or

"Alternate universe!"


When I was a kid I saw one of those Strange New World documentaries.  I am supposed to be living in a house that is completely automated and features electronic home schooling!

[Flangepart]

Works for me. There is the Real world, and the Reel world. Sci-Fi plays "What if" with reality. Nuff said.

[Lee]

Amen Flangepart.