13 films that predict the future of coronavirus and more

Sometimes film directors turn out to be real clairvoyants. It delights, and sometimes even scares. Edition Lifehacker compiled a list of 13 films that predicted the future.

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1. Forbidden planet

Original title: Forbidden Planet

• USA, 1956 year.
• Science fiction.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,6.

What is the movie about

A rescue expedition flies to rescue a distant earthly colony, which was attacked by an unknown creature. By their arrival, only Dr. Morbius, his daughter Altair and the robotic servant Robbie survived.

What came true

This superb sci-fi movie of the 1950s not only inspired writer Stanislav Lem to create Solaris, but also surprisingly predicted a world in which people communicate using mobile phones. And even 40 years before the actual appearance of these gadgets.

2: Space Odyssey

Original title: 2001: A Space Odyssey

• USA, UK, 1968.
• Sci-fi thriller.
• Duration: 149 minutes.
• IMDb: 8,3.

What is the movie about

In prehistoric times, the black monolith turned Australopithecus into people. After millions of years, humanity finds on the moon the same stone, sending a powerful signal somewhere in the region of Jupiter. The Discovery research ship is sent there. But on the way, the on-board computer HAL 9000 starts to behave very strange.

What came true

Mankind has not yet flown to distant planets, but Kubrick still guessed a lot. For example, tablets and video calls really appeared in the future. Well, the HAL 9000 can be considered the progenitor of modern voice assistants like Siri or Alice.

3. TV network

Original title: Network

• USA, 1976 year.
• Psychological drama
• Duration: 121 minute.
• IMDb: 8,1.

What is the movie about

TV presenter Howard Beal fired due to low ratings. Then he decides on extravagant acts on the air: threatens to commit suicide, swears, makes revealing speeches. All this unexpectedly brings him breathtaking popularity.

What came true

Talk about the decline in ethics and morality of the media has been going on for a long time, but the ingenious film by Sidney Lumet was one of the first to start it. Heroes do everything possible to attract more viewers, for example, give the crazy messianic chatter the best airtime. Despite the fact that the picture has been around for many years, the idea itself and the plot turned out to be so accurate that they are also suitable for describing today's online news media.

4. Video drome

Original title: Videodrome

• USA, 1982 year.
• Fiction, horror movie.
• Duration: 84 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,2.

What is the movie about

Max, director of a small adult channel, in search of a new porno sensation, stumbles upon a video signal from a pirate satellite. The broadcast show, entitled “Videodrom,” contains horrific scenes of violence with bloody torture and murder. Max is trying to learn more, but soon the line between the real world and hallucinations begins to blur.

What came true

Cronenberg, with his Video Drome, to some extent anticipated YouTube, where a myriad of videos are uploaded every minute. Among them there are far from the most harmless.

5. Back to the future - 2

Original title: Back to the Future Part II

• USA, 1989 year.
• Adventure, science fiction, comedy.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,8.

What is the movie about

In the second part of the franchise, young Marty McFly departs from 1985 to 2015 to help his own children out of a very unpleasant situation. However, in the future, he and Professor Emmett Brown make a mistake, as a result of which the elderly Biff Tennen takes possession of the time machine and changes a lot in the fate of the heroes. McFly and Brown understand that everything needs to be fixed urgently, and are postponed to 1955.

What came true

Despite the fact that many of the invented technologies of the future have remained fantastic (especially offensive to flying boards), the amount of guessing is still impressive. Take at least payment for purchases using fingerprint identification, flexible displays or video communication programs. You won’t surprise anyone with a tablet.

6. Remember everything

Original title: Total Recall

• USA, 1990 year.
• Fiction, action, thriller.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,5.

What is the movie about

Builder Douglas Quaid has obsessive dreams about Mars. In search of answers, he turns to a company that implants false memories into his brain. But everything is not going as planned, after which the hero suddenly discovers the capabilities of a super agent. Douglas realizes that his whole life until this moment was an illusion.

What came true

During the story, the hero of Arnold Schwarzenegger uses the services of a friendly robot taxi driver. At the time of the release of the film, it really seemed fantastic, but nowadays the largest corporations have been working on the development of self-driving cars.

True, far from all can take a ride on these drones. And the concept itself is significantly different from what is shown in the movie (but this is rather a plus, if you recall the frightening image of the “driver”).

7. Network

Original title: The Net

• USA, 1995 year.
• Action, Thriller.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 5,9.

What is the movie about

Programmer Angela Bennett accidentally crosses the path of the Praetorian hacker group. Then the attackers substitute information about her identity in the databases. And now the heroine is considered a dangerous criminal on the federal wanted list.

What came true

When this thriller was released, nobody was afraid of identity theft. But these days, Internet security issues have become very relevant. Another, more pleasant moment predicted by the creators of the Network is the ability to order food remotely, which we are now using with pleasure.

8. The Cable Guy

Original title: The Cable Guy

• USA, 1996 year.
• Black comedy, drama.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6,1.

What is the movie about

Stephen Kovacs moves to a new apartment and calls a cable man to set up a TV. The charming Chip Douglas comes to him, and they quickly become friends. But Chip is behaving more strangely, and Stephen decides to stop communicating. This is where the real nightmare begins.

What came true

In the story, the hero of Jim Carrey pronounces words that turn out to be prophetic.

“Soon in every American home, TV, telephone and computer will be closely connected! You can watch the Louvre exhibitions on one channel, and enjoy women's wrestling on another. You can shop right from home or play Mortal Kombat with your Vietnamese buddy! It will be a world of endless possibilities!” - he says.

On the subject: 'Contagion': how a 2011 film predicted the coronavirus epidemic

In 1996, this seemed transcendental, but now it’s hard for many to even imagine life without smart TV, game consoles and online shopping.

9. The Truman Show

Original title: The Truman Show

• USA, 1998 year.
• Dystopia, tragicomedy.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 8,1.

What is the movie about

Truman Burbank considers himself the most ordinary person, but in fact he is a participant in a reality show involuntarily. Video cameras watch him around the clock, and his whole world - sets and actors. And one day the hero begins to notice it.

What came true

This very deep and philosophical work, among other things, ridiculed the general obsession with television. Already at the time of the film's release, people were ready to spend their lives watching someone else's. Today, the situation has not improved a bit: the TV is not so popular, but the Internet is successfully replacing it.

10. Enemy of the state

Original title: Enemy of the State

• USA, 1998 year.
• Action, Thriller.
• Duration: 132 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,3.

What is the movie about

In the hands of a successful lawyer Robert Dean is compromising evidence exposing an dishonest official. Very quickly, the life of the protagonist turns into a nightmare: American intelligence chases him everywhere, he becomes a universal enemy and outcast.

What came true

Previously, "Enemy of the State" was considered an ordinary conspiratorial thriller, but it suddenly turned out to be a very accurate prediction of the story of Edward Snowden. An employee of the US National Security Agency (NSA) found that the US government is spying on its citizens. After that, he had to, changing countries and planes, hide from his all-powerful employer.

11. A letter to you

Original title: You've Got Mail

• USA, 1998 year.
• Romantic romance.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 6,6.

What is the movie about

Dreamer Kathleen Kelly and practical Joe Fox go online every day to write a letter to each other. They do not suspect that in real life they are already familiar. Not only that, Joe can inadvertently destroy the girl's family business.

What came true

When the film first appeared on the screens, online dating did not happen so often. Well, now dating services have become commonplace and have given us the opportunity to have more free choice than ever.

12. Dissenting opinion

Original title: Minority Report

• USA, 2002 year.
• Fantastic action movie.
• Duration: 145 minutes.
• IMDb: 7,6.

What is the movie about

Events unfold in the near future, where three clairvoyants can show the exact time and place of the crime. Therefore, the police detain a person before he activates his evil plan. Everything is going well until the head of the prediction department, John Enderton, is himself accused of the murder that has not yet been committed.

On the subject: Why do people in quarantine watch disaster films and how does this affect the psyche

What came true

A team of futurologists worked on the film "Minority Report" with Spielberg. Perhaps this is why many of the fantastic technologies that heroes use are already being translated into reality. Contextual advertising, for example, has firmly entered our lives. Other chips, such as controlling a computer using gestures or unmanned taxis, have not yet spread everywhere, but their development is in full swing.

13. Infection

Original title: Contagion

• USA, 2011 year.
• Sci-fi thriller, disaster film.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6,7.

What is the movie about

A deadly virus of unknown origin is rapidly spreading across the planet. The development of a vaccine is still a long way off, and the general panic is fueled by rumors that one unscrupulous journalist is spreading on the Internet.

What came true

The coronavirus pandemic has fueled spectator interest in films about various fictitious diseases. Most lucky picture Steven Soderbergh "Infection." What is happening on the screen is really one in one resembles the scenario of the spread of a new epidemic.

Both diseases originated in China, were transmitted to humans from animals and rapidly spread throughout the world. The film also truthfully reflected the most effective methods of fighting infection: social distance, self-isolation and quarantine. Even the symptoms that appear in those infected with COVID ‑ 19 are partly similar to those shown by Soderberg.

Read also on ForumDaily:

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