President Schwarzenegger and acid rains in Los Angeles: how Hollywood singled out the future 40 years ago

Ridley Scott's Blade Runner begins in November 2019 in Los Angeles. The gloomy futuristic city with flying cars and ruthless replicants has little in common with a modern metropolis: the bold fantasies of the filmmakers, fortunately, did not come true. However, some directors and screenwriters still managed to to some extent predict the future, which is gradually becoming the present (or is already becoming a thing of the past).

Photo: YouTube video screenshot

Edition Air force studied how Hollywood imagined the future of 40 years ago.

Scott's famous sci-fi neonar was released in 1982 and quickly became a classic of the genre. According to the plot, the main character of the film - detective Rick Decard performed by Harrison Ford - must find and destroy several runaway androids (replicants) that are outwardly indistinguishable from people.

The plot centers on the mysterious Tyrell Corporation, where replicants are produced - copies of people created using genetic engineering. They are raised as slaves to perform dangerous or humiliating jobs, but gradually become increasingly active in opposing their masters and rebelling against humans.

Los Angeles in the picture is a chaotic, depressive, criminal city without sunlight. Cold neon signs flicker on giant light panels, flying cars fly between endless skyscrapers, and poisonous acid rain is constantly dripping from the sky.

Photo: video screenshot YouTube

However, through the gloomy style of 1980's cyberpunk, one can discern the real problems of modern cities: overpopulation, climate change, environmental problems and the growing human dependence on high technology.

A similar gloomy picture can be seen in other science-fiction Hollywood films of that era. However, some filmmakers still preferred to look into the future with optimism. Here are some of the most striking “predictions”.

1. Terminator (1984)

The action takes place in 1984 and in 2029do.

Photo: video screenshot YouTube

James Cameron's film still looks like a kind of warning to humanity against the backdrop of rapid technological progress and robotization. Events begin to unfold in 2029: the world is immersed in a war of people against machines, and the machines are clearly looking stronger. The robots are controlled by the Skynet network, which many years ago left human control. Skynet sends one of the robots into the past to kill the mother of the hero, who in the XNUMXst century must rebel against the machines and win the war.

The future here is also shown without sunshine and beautiful landscapes: monstrous cars drive through scorched dead earth in search of surviving, grimy people who hide in tunnels and catacombs.

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The terminator performed by Arnold Schwarzenegger not only became the most famous cyborg in the history of cinema, but also demonstrated how helpless an ordinary person feels defenseless against a soulless machine with artificial intelligence.

2. "Running Man" (1987)

Action takes place in 2019 year.

Photo: YouTube video screenshot

The current year was chosen as the time of action for another fantastic dystopia with Schwarzenegger based on the novel by Stephen King. This time, the inhabitants of Los Angeles are no longer threatened by an army of robots, but by a totalitarian government that came to power after an earthquake and a protracted economic crisis.

The protagonist, police officer Ben Richards, refuses to comply with the order to shoot a peaceful demonstration of the starving, after which he is forced to take part in a television show whose heroes act as gladiators and must be killed live for the amusement of the public.

3. Back to the Future 2 (1989)

Action takes place in 1985, 1955 and 2015 yearah.

Photo: YouTube video screenshot

If in the first film of the famous comedy franchise, a young California resident Marty McFly went to the 30 years ago, then in the second part he goes to the future. Although today it can not be called such.

In 2015, the heroes of the film wear extravagant colorful costumes, travel on flying cars and skateboards, and meanwhile, the film “Jaws-19” directed by Max Spielberg (the son of Steven Spielberg, born in 1985) is shown on cinema screens. From newspaper headlines, we learn, in particular, that Washington is preparing for a visit from “Queen Diana” and that the thumb can be used for payments instead of a bank card.

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The predictions of the film’s authors did not come true: the last (fourth) sequel to the film “Jaws” was released in 1987, and Diana, Princess of Wales, died in a car accident eight years after the film’s release.

4. "Destroyer" (1993)

The action takes place in 1996 and 2032 year.

Photo: YouTube video screenshot

The creators of the fantastic action movie with Sylvester Stallone also decided to look into the future with humor. According to the plot, policeman John Spartan and terrorist Simon Phoenix end up in a cryogenic prison in 1996, from where they manage to free themselves after almost 40 years.

Los Angeles in 2032 has become an absolutely safe city where virtually no crimes are committed, sex has become virtual, profanity is prohibited, and the police no longer use firearms. Therefore, the escape of a dangerous criminal from the “cruel XNUMXth century” sows such panic that the authorities have to unfreeze an equally cruel policeman from the past ahead of schedule in order to capture him.

In one episode, the film's heroine mentions "Arnold Schwarzenegger's presidential library" and explains that the popular actor was allowed to run for president despite his Austrian origins. In real life, Schwarzenegger did not become president, but 10 years after the film was released, he was elected governor of California.

5. "Escape from Los Angeles" (1996)

Action takes place in 2013 year.

Photo: video screenshot YouTube

In the wake of the success of the action film Escape from New York (1981), director John Carpenter decided to make a sequel, this time choosing the West Coast of the United States as the location. In the sequel, the country finds itself under the rule of a brutal totalitarian dictatorship, Los Angeles (like New York before) turns into a kind of concentration camp for those who do not recognize the new laws.

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At the beginning of the film, viewers are immediately informed that red meat and religious freedom are prohibited in the country, and all marriages must be approved by the Ministry of Health.

Los Angeles once again appears on the screen as a gloomy post-apocalyptic hotbed of crime and vice, and its most famous tourist spots (including the famous Sunset Boulevard) are destroyed and are in desolation.

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