Cyberpunk Movies and Shows

[LordEntrails]

Been in the mood for a couple weeks now to watch some cyberpunk themed movies or shows. Double points if it's something available on Netflix or Amazon Prime.

Here are the ones I know of (and have seen repeatably):

• Matrix et al
• New Jack City
• Bladerunner (x2)
• Dredd (x2)
• Ghost in the Shell
• Tron (x2)
• Ready Player One
• Total Recall (x2)
• Robocop et al
• Terminator et al
• Strange Days
• Johnny Mnemonic
• Repo Men

Are the older Ghost in the Shell worth tracking down? Are they not only good enough but different enough from the newer one?

I remember the names Freejack Cypher, but were they any good?

There's got to be something else right?

[Clertar]

I quite enjoyed Altered Carbon as a genre piece.

[CarpeGuitarrem]

It doesn't have the 90s trenchcoat cyborg aesthetic, but Black Mirror hits squarely on cyberpunk themes a surprising amount of the time. Lots of episodes about how institutionalized tech gets used to control people or as an outlet for bad human behavior.

That said, aesthetically, it's not terribly futuristic in its setting; the world feels very similar to our own, but with different disruptive technologies depending on the episode (each episode is its own story, and fair warning that I haven't seen them all).

Dollhouse (only available as part of Hulu streaming, sadly) does a similar thing: the setting is ostensibly 2010s, but the core concept of uploading different personalities into bodies is so very cyberpunk. I think both it and Black Mirror are a type of cyberpunk that draws on grittier neo-noir, as opposed to the classical film noir that original cyberpunk draws from.

[zlefin]

which do you mean by "the older ghost in the shell"?
you mean the original movies, or the tv series? (need clarification to answer the question, not sure which ones you referred to by your question and which ones you've seen)

otherwise, have you seen Akira?

[Lurkmoar]

New Jack City is Cyberpunk? I thought it was a crime movie...

[comicshorse]

I remember the names Freejack Cypher, but were they any good?

There's got to be something else right?

IMHO 'Freejack' is terrible on pretty much every level. Bad script, acting, action and no real decent ideas or tension at all

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104299/?ref_=nv_sr_1

'Cypher' is a low budget movie but much better. A tense spy movie with the added element of spying occurring in a world where brainwashing and plastic surgery are freely available, adding a whole new level of mistrust and opportunities for betrayal

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0284978/?ref_=nv_sr_2

I haven't actually seen it myself yet but 'Upgrade' got good reviews


https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6499752/?ref_=nv_sr_1


P.S
Oh and 'Ex Machina' . You have got to see this just because its a fantastic movie. Its also very Cyberpunk

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[LordEntrails]

Thanks for the input all. So far we've got;
- Black Mirror
- Altered Carbon
- Cypher
- Upgraded
- Dollhouse (I think I've seen this)
- Akira

which do you mean by "the older ghost in the shell"?
you mean the original movies, or the tv series? (need clarification to answer the question, not sure which ones you referred to by your question and which ones you've seen)

The GitS that I saw is the one with Scarlett Johanssen. IMDB shows me that there are 6 more movies and a TV show; https://www.imdb.com/find?ref_=nv_sr...he+shell&s=all

[BWR]

The original GitS manga is very good and has a lot more than the Puppet Master story they adapted into the first anime movie, which is frickin' amazing and an absolute must, even if you watch no other cyberpunk anime. The later installments of the manga are less good and more confusing, but if you really like the first manga you should check them out.
GitS 2: Innocence is an expanded version of the Ghost Dubbing story from the original manga and doesn't really fit in the same continuity as the first movie, and I was slightly disappointed when I watched it. However, I feel I should watch it again and see if I still feel that way.
GitS: Stand Alone Complex (1st and 2nd Gig) are excellent and absolute musts, right after the first movie. GitS SAC Solid State Society is less good but still very good.
GitS Arise is, I gather, less popular among the fandom but I liked it. It's (probably) another timeline and less good than SAC.

The live action movie from a few years ago is controversial and IMO not worth your time for getting pretty much everything about the franchise wrong. Seriously, if this is the only thing you have watched, ignore it and watch the original movie, then SAC.

[Rogar Demonblud]

There was a series on FOX a few years ago called Almost Human with Karl Urban and Michael Ealy. On the surface, a bit shinier than most cyberpunk, but under the hood...oh my.

Naturally, FOX did their usual thing and showed the episodes out of order (the pilot was shown third) and missed three of them (including the finale).

[BWR]

Tsutomu Nihei's work is generally very cyberpunk, if set in degenerate, decaying and/or post-apocalyptic settings (postapocapunk?) rather than near future cities teeming with people and basically everyday life. Blame! is an excellent manga, but the ONA and movie don't stand up well on their own, but they might be a good intro to get someone interested. I like his work but it isn't for everyone.
He's sorta like the H.R. Giger doing cyberpunk.

[Wraith]

I can offer you a comprehensive list of cyberpunk media at TV Tropes, if that is of any help to you? They have a list of cyberpunk in TV, Film, Games and more along with dedicated pages telling you more about them to see if they are of interest.

From my own experience, I would definitely recommend Altered Carbon as one of my favourite Netflix shows, let alone cyberpunk or otherwise.

[Mordar]

Have to add Solo (heck, the name is ripped from Cyberpunk "classes") and Soldier to the list. Neither are great, but that wasn't a criteria

- M

[BannedInSchool]

Just watch tech news. We're living in the Stupidest Cyberpunk Timeline right now.

[Wraith]

Have to add Solo (heck, the name is ripped from Cyberpunk "classes") and Soldier to the list. Neither are great, but that wasn't a criteria

It's kind of weird that you would have mentioned Soldier. I think it's a pretty good film, but it has virtually no Cyberpunk themes to it - almost no one uses a computer, it's not set in a dystopian city, cybernetic implants categorically don't exist.... BUT it's a sequel to Blade Runner, and thus is set in the same universe as one of the ur-examples of Cyberpunk aesthetic.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

It's kind of weird that you would have mentioned Soldier. I think it's a pretty good film, but it has virtually no Cyberpunk themes to it - almost no one uses a computer, it's not set in a dystopian city, cybernetic implants categorically don't exist.... BUT it's a sequel to Blade Runner, and thus is set in the same universe as one of the ur-examples of Cyberpunk aesthetic.

It's a sort of sequel. It supposedly takes place in the same universe, but artificial humans are pretty central to both plots, and there are some pretty big inconsistencies in how they work. So it feels like it only works as kind of an alternative Blade Runner universe thing, at which point it could just as well just have its own setting.

I love Soldier. I probably enjoyed it more than Blade Runner. But it's a weird kind of space western (as in: frontier town, a lone rambler, people left behind by rapid change, lots of western elements in space) family drama about a highly autistic fish out of water (it's supposed to be some sort of PTSD/never having had a youth mixture, but it reads as oddly autistic) framed by the beginning and extended end of a super soldier movie (and like most of those, it seems weirdly set on making the super soldiers move like movie robots). It's super worth watching as what it is, but its cyberpunk status is questionable (as Wraith said) and its connection to Blade Runner weak at best.

[Wraith]

In the same way that Soldier is a "sequel" to Blade Runner, it's also a "sequel" to Aliens which has yet another interpretation of artificial humans working for a megacorporation in a dystopian future.

I always put it down to different models being developed by different corporations, each so big with borders so far from their hubs that there's virtually no overlap where the plot is set. That's head-canon rather than specifically supported by the plot, but what little overlap there is is worth noting, I feel.

In either event, Soldier is probably where I'd drawn the line in regards to the discussion above - all cyberpunk is sci-fi but not all sci-fi is Cyberpunk, for certain. As you said, Lv2 Expert; Soldier is more like a Western which just happens to be set in Space, and is only 'Punk by a very distant tangential relationship.

[VexingFool]

TekWar (4 made for TV movies and one 18 episode season)
Elysium
Hackers

[Brother Oni]

It's rather old but AD Police is a 3 part OAV and set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe and handles the conflict between humans and robots (known as Boomers). Warning, a fair amount of sex and violence.

Psycho-Pass is another anime series which is watchable provided you can stand the anime conventions and tropes in your cyberpunk.

[Anteros]

I can't recommend any shows, but the recent Shadowrun games are very good if you'd be interested in that. They left me wanting more Cyberpunk, and I don't even like the genre.

[Tyndmyr]

To that list, I'd include the following as more or less cyberpunk.

Cowboy Bebop. Kind of. There's tech, there's some mood that's similar. It's not a perfect match, but for an early entry, it probably counts.

A Scanner Darkly. A western animated entry, and it's...kind of odd. But definitely in that vein.

Minority Report. Dark City and Metropolis if you're going oldschool.

Uhhh, I think they're doing a Snow Crash movie. If completed, that would definitely qualify. I'd argue that in many respects, The Expanse counts as a cyberpunk series. At least, probably the closest thing on TV right now.

There also was a sadly shortlived Fox show with great potential. Almost Human, if I recall correctly. Also, Dollhouse.

Bright is cyberpunk in the same sort of fantasy inspired way that Shadowrun is.

Have to add Solo (heck, the name is ripped from Cyberpunk "classes")

What, the star wars film? That is...not cyberpunk.

[Mordar]

What, the star wars film? That is...not cyberpunk.

Nope, just plain Solo (the Mario Van Peebles movie?!? That's hard to say with a straight face!) from 1996. Interesting that it doesn't show on a title search on IMDB, but here's their summary:

"Mario Van Peebles stars as an android killing weapon designed by the military and utilized to enter into a Latin American war to destroy the rebels - natives fighting simply to maintain their freedom. Contrary to his programming, he develops an affinity for the villagers and decides to help them fight back. This lets his creators bring him back and ultimately leads to one of them being given more powerful circuitry to defeat him."

The Han Solo solo movie Solo: A Star Wars Story added the subtitle because of the other movies already named Solo. This one, however, was so low quality that it is easy to forget.

Aside: I don't recall him being an android...I really thought he was more cybered.

- M

PS: Regarding Soldier, I had thought the new generation of soldiers were cyber/bio-enhanced, hence inclusion on the list...not straight androids.

[druid91]

Batman Beyond is fairly cyberpunk. Also Batman.

[Wraith]

Mordar's use of the phrase "android killing weapon designed by the military" reminded me that the Universal Soldier franchise is also a thing.

It's somewhat lacking in traditional cyberpunk aesthetic - there's no trenchcoats or rain-soaked cityscapes - but its core theme of cybernetically enhanced humans grappling with what little is left of their humanity while being exploited for military gain is quite similar to those in RoboCop. Not quite as good on the satire though, it's more a straight-up action flick but certainly worth a watch.

[LibraryOgre]

Arguably, Battlestar Galactica (the reboot, at least).

Max Headroom hasn't been mentioned, which means you kids need to get off my damn lawn.

Shadowrun WAS mentioned, but that's not really a movie or TV show... unless you count "Bright", which decided not to do cyberpunk, or this, which I always giggle and figure is part of SOMEONE'S CV.

[Lvl 2 Expert]

Mordar's use of the phrase "android killing weapon designed by the military" reminded me that the Universal Soldier franchise is also a thing.

It's somewhat lacking in traditional cyberpunk aesthetic - there's no trenchcoats or rain-soaked cityscapes - but its core theme of cybernetically enhanced humans grappling with what little is left of their humanity while being exploited for military gain is quite similar to those in RoboCop. Not quite as good on the satire though, it's more a straight-up action flick but certainly worth a watch.

Part 5 (or 3, or 2, depending on how you count) is good as well. That's the one that picks up where the first movie leaves off rather than just going for plain action. The cloning thing they introduce dilutes the idea from the first movie a little, but it doesn't really go of the rails until movie 6 (which is pretty cool in its own right, but different.)

Now that they've been mentioned in the same thread: Universal Soldier 1 and 5 actually kind of remind me of Soldier. There's a similar blend of touchy feely stuff that people can't quite express and people exploding all over the place.

For the purpose of this thread I would put the van Damme/Lundgren franchise Universal Soldier a bit closer to Cyberpunk than the Kurt Russel movie that is Soldier. It has a more present day/near future (or even alternate past at this point) look to it, but with more robot parts added on to people and more folks stepping out of cryopods.

[Leewei]

Cyberpunk blends themes of noir detective, advanced technology, and what it means to be human.

Dark City isn't what I'd normally think of as cyberpunk, but it does contain all these themes - and executes on them incredibly well.

[Rogar Demonblud]

PS: Regarding Soldier, I had thought the new generation of soldiers were cyber/bio-enhanced, hence inclusion on the list...not straight androids.

Just bioengineered for better physical performance (and likely reduced empathy, maybe some other cognitive 'improvements' to make them more reliable) compared to the previous model that were just drafted at birth. The movie does a decent job of grappling with dehumanization themes.

[HandofShadows]

As a note for the future, Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex (SAC 2045) has a new series coming out in 2020 on Netflix.

[Tyndmyr]

Nope, just plain Solo (the Mario Van Peebles movie?!? That's hard to say with a straight face!) from 1996.

Oh, interesting, I wasn't aware of that, will have to peruse it. That makes a good deal more sense!

Cyberpunk blends themes of noir detective, advanced technology, and what it means to be human.

Dark City isn't what I'd normally think of as cyberpunk, but it does contain all these themes - and executes on them incredibly well.

Yeah. I included it because in a lot of ways, it's sort of cyberpunk adjacent, but you're right in that some parts of the feel are a bit different.

Cyberpunk usually includes vast chunks of humanity all piled together in a bleak cityscape, a sort of morally grey adventure that leaves the protaganist not all that much better off in the end, and so on. They aren't truly definitional or universal, but the genre does have a kind of feel to it that others may not include.

's a bit fuzzy where cyberpunk leaves off and the rest of sci-fi begins.

[druid91]

But yeah. Going to repeat it for good measure...Batman Beyond.

Batman itself had roots in Noir, which Cyberpunk largely evolved out of.

Batman Beyond takes that to the logical conclusion, and does future Batman as Cyberpunk.

Admittedly it's a different feel, since it's Batman, and he's most assuredly not your typical cyberpunk main character. But still. The setting screams it.