7 Sci-Fi Movie Futures That Lied To Us

Science fiction films frequently explore potential futures for humanity, but they’re usually off the mark. Thankfully, that’s often a positive – no one wants to live in a bleak, oppressive world filled with dangerous robots. However, it can be a little disappointing when we don’t get the cool technology we were led to expect, like flying cars or instantly made pizza.

It’s strange to watch old movies that try to predict the future and get it wrong. They were limited by the knowledge and imagination of their time, and so their visions of tomorrow never actually happened – which is probably a good thing in many cases.

‘Johnny Mnemonic’

TriStar Pictures

In the 1995 sci-fi thriller Johnny Mnemonic, Keanu Reeves plays a unique data courier. Johnny carries important digital information using an implant in his brain, but this makes him a target for killers. He’s forced to team up with a group of rebels to survive.

It’s a good thing we don’t send data by having people memorize it and travel across the country! Sending files online is much safer and cheaper. You can tell William Gibson’s 1981 short story is a product of its time because the idea of using a person to transport digital information seems so outdated and clunky, even compared to technology from the mid-1990s. We’re all better off with online file transfers than relying on someone like Johnny, a needlessly complex digital messenger.

‘Strange Days’

20th Century Fox

Released near the end of the 20th century, Strange Days is set in a 1999 Los Angeles where people can buy and experience recordings of others’ lives through a virtual reality system. The film follows Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes), a dealer who uncovers footage of a murder and begins to investigate the crime as the new millennium dawns.

Okay, let’s talk about Strange Days. Looking back, the film’s vision of 1999 feels…off. It imagined a world saturated with constant personal recordings and readily available VR, with these ‘experiences’ even being sold on the street. That just didn’t happen. While the movie did predict things like body-cam footage and the growth of VR, the way it presented them – a black market for intense, first-person experiences – feels way off the mark. Today, you’re more likely to stumble upon that kind of content in the hidden corners of the internet, not being hawked from a van.

‘The End of Evangelion’

Toei Company

The End of Evangelion, the concluding installment of the groundbreaking anime series, completes its bleak vision of the future. Even after surviving a world-altering catastrophe, humanity faces a new, immense threat from powerful angelic beings. In 2015, the NERV organization rebuilt cities and created giant robots to fight these creatures, but even with skilled teenage pilots, victory this time seems impossible.

The world of Neon Genesis Evangelion has some appealing features, but ultimately it’s a pretty bleak place. On the plus side, cities are designed with incredible technology – buildings can even retract underground to avoid destruction from massive monsters or extreme weather. However, the major downside is that humanity is on the brink of extinction thanks to these world-ending threats. Considering everything, it’s probably a good thing we don’t live in that future, even if the giant robots are awesome.

‘Death Race 2000’

New World Pictures

In a dark future, America is ruled by oppressive governments and finds entertainment in the brutal Transcontinental Road Race. The race, featured in Death Race 2000, awards points for hitting pedestrians. As rebels plot to end the race, a fierce rivalry unfolds between racers Frankenstein, played by David Carradine, and Machine Gun Joe, played by Sylvester Stallone.

Around the year 2000, while reality TV was popular, nothing compared to the outrageous concept of the Transcontinental Road Race. This dangerous sport—essentially turning people into targets on the road—remained firmly in the world of video games, like Grand Theft Auto III and Carmageddon. Hopefully, the violent vision of Death Race 2000 stays fictional, especially with newer versions like Death Race 2050 suggesting it could happen sooner than expected.

‘Blade Runner’

Warner Bros.

The Los Angeles depicted in the film Blade Runner is a far cry from the future we actually have. Based on a story by Phillip K. Dick, the movie portrays a world of huge skyscrapers, artificial people (called Replicants) used as slaves, flying cars, and technology that could manipulate images in remarkable ways. It’s a grim and atmospheric vision, where a bounty hunter named Rick Deckard hunts down Replicants who have escaped from the Tyrell Corporation. The contrast within this world is striking: a Replicant named Roy, facing death, is found in a dilapidated building, while the powerful CEO Eldon Tyrell resides and works in a massive, illuminated pyramid.

Blade Runner’s predictions about technology haven’t quite held up. The most obviously outdated item is probably the video payphone Deckard uses in a bar. However, the film portrays such a bleak future that it’s believable even older technology would still be in use. Even the Voight-Kompf machine, used to test Replicants, looks incredibly dated with its strange, accordion-like parts.

‘Akira’

Toho

The classic anime film Akira takes place in a rebuilt Tokyo, now called Neo-Tokyo, after a devastating World War and a mysterious event. The city is a chaotic place, filled with corruption, a heavy-handed police presence, and dangerous biker gangs. Kaneda is the leader of one such gang, riding a sleek, futuristic motorcycle that leaves trails of light as he speeds through the streets. But even that impressive bike might not be fast enough to escape the growing power of Tetsuo, Kaneda’s friend, who is afflicted with uncontrollable psychic abilities that threaten to destroy both him and the city.

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While the futuristic motorcycles in Akira didn’t quite come true, that’s not the only prediction the movie missed. The film also featured children with incredible psychic abilities – they could read minds, fly, and move things with just their thoughts. Though those powers would be amazing, a more realistic wish would be to own Kaneda’s bike and pull off that famous skid.

‘Back to the Future Part II’

Universal Pictures

In Back to the Future Part II, Marty McFly, having already worked through family problems, attempted to fix things in his own future. Continuing his adventures with Doc Brown, Marty traveled to a vision of 2015 filled with incredible technology like flying cars, self-tying shoes, and hoverboards. Although the movie explores multiple timelines, Marty’s journey to 2015 is particularly memorable.

Robert Zemeckis’s film imagined a future filled with amazing inventions that, sadly, never came to be. It’s disappointing that the iconic hoverboard didn’t become a reality by 2015 – what we got instead was a far cry from the real thing. We also missed out on quick-cooking dehydrated pizzas and more movies in the Jaws series. Interestingly, the film did correctly predict our current fascination with 1980s culture and the growing influence of wealthy celebrities in politics. Most viewers probably would have preferred the hoverboards and instant pizzas, though, over the parts of the future that actually came true.

2026-01-17 22:21