Fifteen Movies That Predicted the Future and Blew It
AMC Movie List

Fifteen Movies That Predicted the Future and Blew It

Hollywood is always predicting what the future will be like. Rarely is it right. Which movie most screwed up its depiction of tomorrow?

rank title points votes your vote
1 Terminator [Film Series]
Society had dodged several doomsdays, thanks to the ever-shifting timeline of the series. No luck on dodging Governor Schwarzenegger. 406 944
2 Escape from New York
If you believe the big-screen version of 1997, New York City was a maximum-security prison ruled by roving gangs. 233 883
3 Mad Max
People fight over gas and Mel Gibson drives like a maniac, but, as of yet, Australia is still not home to marauding gangs of bikers. 231 895
4 Back to the Future Part II
It's pretty safe to say that, no matter what Michael J. Fox promised for 2015, supercool hover boards will not be the norm. 223 939
5 I Am Legend
It's 2009, and zombies destroy most of humanity, save for a buff Will Smith. Humanity sure dodged a bullet. 88 916
6 Demolition Man
This one is set in 2032 L.A., where there hasn't been a homocide in 22 years. If nobody gets killed after 2010, then we're still on track. 47 821
7 The Day After Tomorrow
Perhaps the only good environmental news is that global warming hasn't yet devastated the entire planet. Take that, Roland Emmerich. 33 901
8 1984
Luckily, 25 years later we still don't have thought police. Though we have had eleven seasons of Big Brother. Which is worse? -14 786
9 2010
A sequel to 2001: A Space Odyssey set nine year later, this one had the U.S. and Soviets on a joint mission to Jupiter. We better get cracking. -79 779
10 Timecop
Timecop thought time travel would go mainstream by 2004. That's dead-on, if by "time travel," they meant the "Atkins diet." -125 725
11 Death Race 2000
This thriller imagines a tomorrow in which America's love for NASCAR is cross-pollinated with its contempt for traffic laws. -169 709
12 Freejack
Freejack predicted people would go back in time to kidnap innocents and sell their body parts to rich people. Just like Craigslist. -215 649
13 Streets of Fire
This movie envisions a future so far-fetched, it's possible for Diane Lane to have the hots for Rick Moranis. -217 631
14 Rollerball
A 2002 remake that projected the future of (gasp!) 2005, it foretells a deadly game played on Rollerblades. -219 695
15 Strange Days
Set in 1999, this movie prophesized sensory recordings taken from your brain. Instead, we have kitten videos on YouTube. -224 646