Science fiction is a genre that typically focuses on advanced technology and futurist concepts. It's been nearly 300 years that creatives have used their imagination to depict what the years ahead may look like. A Trip to the Moon (1902) by Georges Melies is the first sci-fi film that shows a spacecraft being launched to the moon. Since then, there have been several other movies that have accurately predicted events and inventions of the future.
Update July 23, 2023: This article has been updated with even more great sci-fi films that predicted future technology.
Artificial Intelligence has made a major impact on modern sci-fi. How are writers thinking of these innovative ideas years before they come to fruition? From flying drones to FaceTime, we've watched countless films show us shocking prophecies. Which movies actually nailed their predictions? Here are the ones that stand out as having called it early on.
10 Minority Report
Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s incredible novel foretold many things about the future, much in the way that Dick’s work has continued to do long after his death. The Sci-Fi action/thriller was released in 2002 and follows Precrime police officer John Anderton (Tom Cruise) through Washington D.C. in 2054 as he hunts down criminals for murders they commit in the future. But after Anderton is accused of a crime hasn’t committed yet, he’s forced to go on the run.
Though we can’t tell the future, Minority Report showed us a lot of technological advancements that would become commonplace in the years to come, including self-driving cars and touch screens. But most notably, Minority Report accurately predicted targeted advertising. When Anderton walks through the mall, trying to hide himself, numerous holographic billboards and signs scan his retinas and say his name aloud to sell him various products. He has to take drastic measures in order to hide from the ads. But then again, don’t we all nowadays?
9 The Matrix
The Matrix was the cyberpunk dream come true. Virtual reality designers dream of creating a simulated world as accurate as the Matrix. And even if the movie didn’t predict Artificial Intelligence correctly, it certainly predicted the fear everyone has of it. When The Matrix came out in 1999, the internet was still young, and Neo was still copying files onto floppy discs. But the world in which he lives is a completely perfect simulation of the real world, including tricks of sensory perception and “rules like gravity.”
Currently, virtual reality engineers are still working out how to get walking down, but the principle is the same. One could also argue that Elon Musk’s Neuralink isn’t too far off from that big metal spike Neo has to thrust into his spine to enter the Matrix. Even if AI isn’t a legion of tentacled robots trying to conquer humanity, The Matrix did get some things right.
8 2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey is probably a more accurate picture of AI, even if the timing was a little off. 2001 is largely seen as one of the most monolithic (pardon the pun) movies in the science fiction genre. And the robot, HAL, is one of the most famous evil robots in cinema.
In the movie, HAL receives orders to keep a discovery secret but was programmed not to conceal any information. The contradiction causes the robot to become paranoid and it attempts to kill the crew. That way he wouldn’t have to keep this information hidden from anyone. But until it went insane, HAL was a voice in the interior of the ship capable of interacting with the crew through voice commands much like Alexa or Siri do today. But they probably won’t go crazy and take over humanity. Probably.
7 Soylent Green
Soylent Green is a 1973 film that was based on the consequences of climate change. In the film, a severe greenhouse effect has forced drastic changes to society. Wealth is concentrated in the violently reinforced homes of the rich. And the poor scrounge for water and are fed processed wafers called Soylent red, yellow, and green.
The film explains that society was forced into this position due to the Earth’s depleted oceans, rising temperatures, and increasingly scarce resources. While the climate crisis hasn’t gotten that bad yet, we are beginning to see surprising changes in the Earth’s climate that scientists began predicting in the 70s. Soylent is also an actual company now that serves meal supplements you can survive on for a long time. So it looks like the movie got two things right, now all we have to do is wait for the dark economic dystopia.
6 The Running Man
Arnold Schwarzenegger delivers an amazing performance in the 1987 film, The Running Man. His character is forced to participate in a game that "nobody survives." The film is directed by Paul Michael Glaser and takes place in 2019. It focuses on Americans' obsession with brutal game shows. The Running Man may remind you of Squid Game, for example, which became one of Netflix's most-watched shows of all time in 2021. The film's prediction exposes society's addiction to violent and competitive entertainment. The Running Man is considered to be one of the best sci-fi films of the 80s.
5 Demolition Man
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Demolition Man premiered in 1993 and stars Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes. This is an action/sci-fi that has many eerie prophecies about social distancing. Marco Brambilla is the director of the film who also directed Destricted and Excess Baggage. The main characters are sentenced to a state of frozen incarceration known as "CryoPrison." They were thawed out in the year 2032, when the world looks entirely different.
Society is recovering from a massive earthquake that unleashed deadly viruses and even destroyed the restaurant industry. Physical contact ends up getting banned, and people are introduced to video calling. Does this remind you of something? Sylvester Stallone recently reflected on Demolition Man being ahead of its time and teased a potential sequel in the future.
4 Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Perhaps Star Trek has predicted our future regarding technology more than anything. The 1979 motion picture showed Captain Kirk using voice commands to interact with the ship. He would say "computer" the same way we use "Alexa" or "Siri '' today.
In 1999, Star Trek Writer David Gerrold took it a step further by writing a column insinuating that smartphone devices would soon be coming to life. He perfectly described everything about the invention down to its size and potential privacy issues. Apple released its first smartphone in June 2007, which matched David's prediction. Star Trek is also known for predicting other things like tablets, audio translation, and debit cards. Is this a bizarre coincidence?
3 Blade Runner
Harrison Ford stars as Rick Deckard in Blade Runner. The film is set in the year 2019 with advanced technology and flying cars. Deckard is on a mission to terminate human clones that pose a threat to society. Blade Runner was directed by Ridley Scott. The movie had a budget of $30 million that included stunning visual effects. In this 1982 Sci-Fi/Action, there were futuristic billboard ads in the skyline of Los Angeles. Today, digital Ads are spotted all over the country, making it a spot-on predication.
2 The Terminator
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The Terminator was directed by James Cameron and released in 1984. It gives a glimpse inside a world of computer-controlled aircraft. Arnold Schwarzenegger arrives from 2029 to stop the vicious Terminator created by humans. The movie features killer robots, global surveillance, and advanced depictions of the future. Prophecies of The Terminator have come to life as we see Military drones being widely used across the globe. The 1991 sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day landed number one on our best films about androids list.
1 The Truman Show
The Truman Show stars Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank. In this Drama/Sci-fi, Truman was adopted by the OmniCam Corporation, where his whole life became a TV set unbeknownst to him. The film explores the dark side of reality TV, media manipulation, and surrealism. Jim Carrey said yes rather quickly to this role after being eager to show his range as an actor.
After its release in 1998, the reality TV genre became increasingly popular. The rise of shows like The Real World, Big Brother, and Survivor started a new era. An accurate prediction was made about how modern reality TV would impact the human experience. The Truman Show is ranked number 2 on our best Jim Carrey movies list.