Top 20 Futuristic Movie Cities

  • 4 months ago
Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the best, most noteworthy cities in science fiction films.
Transcript
00:00 "A new life awaits you in the off-world colonies.
00:04 The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure."
00:10 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the best, most noteworthy
00:15 cities in science fiction films.
00:17 For this list, we'll be looking exclusively at places set in the future.
00:21 Sorry Star Wars fans.
00:28 #20. San Angeles of 2032.
00:31 Demolition Man.
00:32 Talk about urban sprawl.
00:34 In the now-near future, the Los Angeles, San Diego, and Santa Barbara area will merge into
00:39 one region known as San Angeles, at least according to Hollywood.
00:43 "Where?"
00:44 "The Santa Barbara, Los Angeles, San Diego metroplex were merged in 2011.
00:48 You are in the center of what used to be Los Angeles."
00:52 "That's great."
00:53 San Angeles was a concept developed as early as 1982's Blade Runner.
00:58 The megalopolis was eventually put to good use in Demolition Man, in which a cop and
01:01 a crime lord are cryogenically frozen.
01:04 They eventually wake up years later in this city, where there is virtually no crime.
01:08 "Are you shitting me?"
01:09 "John Spartan, you are fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute."
01:15 "What the hell is that?"
01:17 "John Spartan, you are fined one credit for a violation of the verbal morality statute."
01:20 "It's chocolate, gasoline, uneducational toys, and anything spicy."
01:23 Of course, this future is definitely on the bleak side, but at least the design is sleekly attractive.
01:29 #19. Chicago of 2035, iRobot
01:33 The future belongs to robots.
01:35 Based on the short stories of Isaac Asimov, iRobot is set in Chicago of 2035, where realistically
01:42 human robots work alongside people, the latter protected by the three laws of robotics.
01:47 "Those robots don't do anybody any good."
01:49 "Of all the people on God's Earth, you should know better."
01:52 But of course, not everything is as it seems.
01:55 The film's design for its city mixes present-day architecture with digital billboards, a tall,
02:00 spire-like skyscraper for the U.S. Robotics Building, and even a futuristic Audi.
02:05 Sprawling, imposing, and gleaming, this Chicago is our kind of place.
02:10 And it may well be part of our real-life future, too.
02:13 "Uh-oh. I'm really scared right now."
02:15 #18. Big Market, Valerian in the City of a Thousand Planets
02:20 Luc Besson's works rarely disappoint with their visual and design splendor.
02:25 While this one was technically a box office flop, Big Market is nothing to scoff at.
02:29 "Whose first time is this at Big Market? Good luck, good luck. Wonderful, wonderful.
02:33 Now let me remind you that Big Market is in another dimension.
02:37 You won't be able to see it without your helmet or touch it without your gloves."
02:42 The place comprises countless stores whose products are accessible through virtual holograms.
02:47 Although the actual planet it's located on is a desert,
02:51 the virtual shopping experience is nothing less than brilliant and colorful.
02:55 It's a kind of Amazon and eBay on holographic steroids created by stunning visual effects.
03:01 "Just think, baby, a million stores."
03:04 "Only stuff that we can carry, okay."
03:07 "My props."
03:08 And hey, we may be closer to a Big Market future than we think.
03:11 Don't give Jeff Bezos any ideas, though.
03:14 Number 17. Traction Cities. Mortal Engines.
03:18 What if cities could move?
03:20 "Predator! Predator City! Six miles and closing!"
03:24 That is the premise for this 2018 sci-fi flick where entire ones have been motorized
03:29 and fight for the best land, with the most aggressive swallowing up the smaller ones.
03:33 Often huge and imposing, like glorified military tanks,
03:37 big Traction Cities have a creative design with futuristic steampunk elements.
03:41 Though they're clearly dystopian in their violent conquest and subjugation,
03:45 they have jaws. They are nonetheless visually impressive.
03:49 "Great game of survival. This is checkmate."
03:52 We wouldn't want to live in a world of Traction Cities like these,
03:55 but there's no denying this is CGI put to good use.
03:59 Number 16. Todayland. Meet the Robinsons.
04:02 An underrated entry, Meet the Robinsons includes a typically whimsical Disney vision of a futuristic city.
04:08 When Lewis accompanies Wilbur Robinson to the future, he's taken to Todayland,
04:12 a pastel-themed place filled with rounded buildings, flying vehicles, and bubble transportation.
04:19 It also features a scanner that plays your memories and a flying pizza delivery service, to name a few.
04:25 There is even a nod to Space Mountain.
04:27 Todayland reportedly took cues from the Tomorrowland areas in Disney's real-life amusement parks,
04:33 meant to capture the creative ethos of Walt Disney himself. We're here for it.
04:37 "Pretty amazing story, huh?" "Yeah."
04:39 Number 15. New York City of 1997. Escape from New York.
04:44 1997 may be long gone now, but this film's dystopian vision of the prison-industrial complex lingers on.
04:51 In the '80s action flick, Manhattan has been turned into a literal prison.
04:55 "The once great city of New York becomes the one maximum security prison for the entire country."
05:01 Sure enough, it's grimy and dark, a place that feels cold and unforgiving.
05:06 Ironically, the film designer didn't want production to take place in New York itself,
05:11 citing the difficulties in making it look run-down.
05:14 Instead, they largely filmed in East St. Louis, Illinois.
05:17 The result is distinctive, conveying the grit and cynicism of post-Watergate America.
05:22 "Remember, once you're inside, you're on your own."
05:25 "Oh, you mean I can't count on you?" "No."
05:28 "Good."
05:29 We're only glad the real New York wasn't this grimy in 1997.
05:33 Number 14. City of Domes of 2274. Logan's Run.
05:38 Here's a dystopian sci-fi film that has one of the most disturbing premises yet.
05:43 City of Domes, which is technically unnamed in the movie, presents itself as a hedonistic utopia.
05:49 "Look at the crowd. Good carousel tonight."
05:52 It's vibrant, with gleaming crystal and abundant nature.
05:55 Except that society kills off anyone who reaches 30 to prevent overpopulation,
06:00 in a grisly ritual known as "The Carousel."
06:03 People who don't acquiesce to this are dubbed "runners."
06:06 It's a shame, because the way the city's colorful '70s hues blend with its architecture to create something new is attractive.
06:13 "Hello, Sandman. We don't get many Sandmen.
06:18 I think we've only had one other since I've been here."
06:21 "Well, a Sandman can get as sick of his face as anyone else."
06:24 Don't trust anyone over 30 may have gone too far, but the design is hip.
06:28 Number 13. Newport City. Ghost in the Shell.
06:32 Few animated films can say they have visuals as truly amazing as this iconic anime.
06:37 "Major, are you there?" "Yeah, I heard you."
06:40 "I'm surprised you could hear anything. What's with all the noise in your brain today?"
06:44 "Must be a loose wire."
06:46 Ghost in the Shell's visual design inspired many other films, from The Matrix to Avatar.
06:52 We imagine Newport City, styled after Hong Kong, is a big part of this.
06:56 There are soaring skyscrapers, colorful signs and lights, digital advertisements, and more.
07:02 The beautiful art and animation is much of the draw,
07:05 emphasizing the beauty in the cosmopolitan urban sprawl through an almost watercolor-style aesthetic.
07:11 Decades later, Ghost in the Shell and Newport City still exemplify some of the best animation has to offer.
07:17 "Yeah, should have known."
07:19 Number 12. Mega City 1. Dread.
07:22 It's time for another dystopian society, and another equally dystopian city.
07:27 "Inside the walls, the cursed city, stretching from Boston to Washington, D.C.
07:33 An unbroken, concrete landscape."
07:37 Though not a remake of the 1995 film with Sylvester Stallone, Dread is based on the same source material,
07:43 following the titular judge and his fight against a drug lord.
07:47 It's set in Mega City 1, which is full of seedy slums, highways, and cold, intimidating buildings.
07:53 Mega City 1 is a ruin, surrounded by miles of radioactive desert and plagued with urban anime.
07:59 "So why do you want to be a judge?"
08:01 "Sir, I want to protect and serve the city, to make a difference."
08:05 "Make a difference? To a block like this?"
08:08 "I was born and raised in a block like this."
08:12 The setting is a grim, but plausible vision that takes the worst aspects of modern society and projects them into the future.
08:19 Number 11. San Francisco. Star Trek franchise.
08:23 Gene Roddenberry's heart clearly never left San Francisco.
08:26 The Star Trek creator's love for this West Coast city reportedly led to its becoming an important city in the franchise.
08:32 "It's a miracle these people ever got out of the 20th century."
08:35 Reconceived in a futuristic manner, it acts as the home of the Starfleet headquarters, among other things.
08:41 This San Francisco boasts vehicles like flying shuttles as well as an elaborate mass transit system.
08:47 The design is also inspired by real-life naval command and culture, making it feel extra real.
08:53 "Spock, I'm telling you, this is why he called. I can feel it."
08:56 "Your feeling aside, I consider it highly unlikely that we will be selected for the new program."
09:00 But through it all, the Golden Gate Bridge still stands proud as an iconic landmark.
09:05 It's a beautiful tribute to a beautiful city.
09:08 Number 10. The Capitol. The Hunger Games franchise.
09:11 The Capitol may be the hub of a callous society that has no problem sending and watching children fight to the death for entertainment.
09:19 "It's huge. It's incredible."
09:23 But one thing we can't deny is that it has style.
09:26 In The Hunger Games' dystopian future of horrific wealth disparity, you get cross-country bullet trains, sleek stations, flamboyant fashion, and riotous parties.
09:36 The Capitol's penchant for ancient Roman themes, architecture, and of course games doesn't hurt either.
09:41 The metropolis takes bread and circuses to a whole new level.
09:45 The rebellion arriving there is of course a good thing for humanity.
09:51 But seeing that destruction visually is not easy, though we know they emerge stronger on the other side.
09:57 Number 9. Hill Valley, California of 2015. Back to the Future Part II.
10:03 It's official, 2015 should have had flying cars.
10:06 "You said 15? You mean we're in the future?"
10:10 "Future, Marty? What do you mean? How can we be in the future?"
10:13 Granted, director Robert Zemeckis has admitted that the reality depicted in this film didn't come from a place of them actually trying to guess what the world would look like in that period.
10:23 Instead, it was more about bringing the laughs and entertainment.
10:26 Regardless, the depiction of Hill Valley as a 2015 abode succeeds wonderfully at both to a certain extent.
10:33 The flying cars and hoverboards may not quite exist as they do in the movie, but there's widescreen TVs, video chats, fingerprint scanners, animated billboards, and more that are rather familiar nowadays.
10:45 It goes to show that trying to predict the future may just be a matter of having a wicked sense of humor.
10:51 "I know, I know, darling."
10:53 Number 8. San Fransokyo, Big Hero 6. Animation once again proves to be a fantastic medium for creating imaginings of the future.
11:02 "Where are we?"
11:03 One of the most attractive cities, San Fransokyo combines — you guessed it — San Francisco and Tokyo to great effect.
11:11 It's been said that in the Big Hero 6 world, the 1906 earthquake in California led to immigrants from Japan coming in to reconstruct San Francisco.
11:20 San Fransokyo's resulting hilly streets, colorful homes, iconic trolleys, and digital billboards therefore showcase the best of both worlds.
11:29 If you ask us, it'd be easy to leave your heart here, considering the advanced technology and truly gorgeous design.
11:36 "That's… that's right, buddy."
11:38 Number 7. New York City of 2263. The Fifth Element.
11:42 Can you believe this came from the mind of a teenager?
11:45 Director Luc Besson first conceived the sci-fi world of The Fifth Element when he was just 16.
11:51 "I can't believe it."
11:52 Later on, his futuristic New York took direct inspiration from French comics as well as historical architecture.
11:58 Some details include flying taxi cabs and vehicles, but some things never change, including sky-high buildings, tiny apartments, dim-witted muggers, and McDonald's drive-thrus, apparently.
12:10 "You're hungry to go chasing some hotline?"
12:12 "Thank you so much."
12:16 Yet even the old somehow feels new, and we become fully immersed into the 23rd century.
12:22 Indeed, it's that mix of futuristic technology and present-day culture that makes this film's design ultra-memorable.
12:29 Number 6. Washington, D.C. of 2054. Minority Report.
12:33 This vision of future Washington, D.C. gives a new meaning to the term "thought crimes."
12:38 "The precogs can see a murder four days out. Why the late call?"
12:41 "We call it a red ball. With crimes of passion, there's no premeditation, so they show up late.
12:45 Most of our scrambles are flash events like this one. We rarely see anything with premeditation anymore."
12:50 "People have gotten the message."
12:51 In the world of Minority Report, police now have psychic knowledge that enables them to stop crimes before they happen.
12:58 Steven Spielberg's commitment to plausibility in constructing this setting made its design more modest than most.
13:04 You'll find, for instance, that the Capitol building remains.
13:07 However, the city also has those modern, curvaceous domes and buildings.
13:11 There's also elements including retinal scanners, spider robots, jetpacks, pod-like self-driving vehicles, personalized advertising, and much more that place it firmly in the future.
13:22 "A road diverges in the desert. Lexus, the road you're on, John Anderton, is the one less traveled."
13:31 It's a vision both striking and realistic.
13:34 Number 5. Berninzana, Wakanda. Marvel Cinematic Universe.
13:38 When it comes to next-level, breathtaking futuristic cities, the Marvel Cinematic Universe spares no expense.
13:44 "Sister Nakia, my prince, we are home."
13:50 Although glimpsed briefly in the MCU before, the city of Berninzana in the fictional African nation of Wakanda is fully introduced in 2018's Black Panther.
13:59 Inspired by the kingdom of Lesotho, the city blends megalopolis splendor with natural beauty, modern futuristic technology with the romance of royalty.
14:09 Berninzana naturally incorporates traditional African architecture elements such as thatched roofs.
14:15 Unlike many other futuristic cities, it has pedestrianated streets with low traffic.
14:20 "Come home, Nakia." "I'm right here." "Stay."
14:24 This beautifully designed spot is definitely one we'd like to live in someday.
14:29 Number 4. Neo-Sol of 2144. Cloud Atlas.
14:34 We're on Cloud Nine just thinking about this Cloud Atlas city.
14:38 This futuristic Sol has a sleek and svelte design, including high-speed vehicles on digital highways and flying ships.
14:46 "That's old Sol. If the tides keep rising at their present rate, Neo-Sol will also be underwater in a hundred years."
14:54 It's a new iteration of old Sol that emerged after, as the story goes, the latter was flooded with the rising tides.
15:01 Beautiful as it looks on the surface, however, it's no paradise.
15:05 Like most sci-fi cities, Neo-Sol is a corporate dystopia, complete with authoritarian government, humanoid clones, and censorship, among other things.
15:15 While Cloud Atlas as a whole gained mixed reviews, the Neo-Sol segment of the story is a winner in our book, visually and narratively speaking.
15:23 "The problem you create is a political one. Which means you're my problem."
15:31 Number 3. Metropolis of 2026. Metropolis.
15:36 A classic film of the '20s, Metropolis' greatest triumph is certainly its design,
15:41 which utilized the most advanced special effects available at the time.
15:45 The dystopian cityscape is a sprawling, towering one, eerily reminiscent of our own large modern world.
15:51 Even fantastical details like dome-like structures and flying vehicles are now common tropes in the science fiction world.
15:58 Even nearly a hundred years later, the craftsmanship on display, with everything from the Art Deco style to the special effects-utilizing miniatures, continues to impress us.
16:08 Metropolis' prescience in its sci-fi future makes its city among the most iconic in the canon.
16:14 Number 2. Neo-Tokyo of 2019. Akira, known for its stunning animation.
16:20 This iconic 1988 movie has left an impactful mark on countless media releases after it.
16:29 Just one aspect of its artistry is its take on a futuristic, if dystopian, Tokyo.
16:34 You get things like bright searchlights, high-speed motorbikes, imposing skyscrapers, the list goes on and on.
16:41 From the soaring heights of its buildings to the seedy poverty of its underbelly, Neo-Tokyo is beautifully conceived, well-detailed, and impressively crafted.
16:51 Based on the manga of the same name, Akira is chock-full of design and animation that has informed other futuristic cities, making it a surefire cyberpunk hit.
17:00 Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about our latest videos.
17:17 You have the option to be notified for occasional videos or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into settings and switch on your notifications.
17:27 #1. Los Angeles of 2019. Blade Runner. Why couldn't 2019 look like this? Actually, maybe we dodged a bullet, societally speaking.
17:38 "A new life awaits you in the off-world colony. The chance to begin again in a golden land of opportunity and adventure."
17:48 However, Blade Runner provides the perfect example of what a dystopian future should look like. The film's futuristic Los Angeles was apparently designed to look like what director Ridley Scott called "Hong Kong on a bad day."
18:01 Inspired in part by Metropolis, Los Angeles' smoky towers, awe-inspiring buildings, and flying vehicles, including spinners, are incredibly atmospheric.
18:10 We'd also be remiss not to mention the sci-fi staples the city has to offer, such as a futuristic lie detector test, dubbed the "Voight-Kampff Machine," used to find replicants.
18:20 "Is that part of the test?" "No. Just warming you up, that's all." "It's not fancy or anything."
18:27 Which other futuristic movie city takes your breath away? Let us know in the comments down below.
18:32 "This never gets old." Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo, and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
18:41 [ ♪ Outro ]