The Best Shows & Movies Set in the Future
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If there's one commonality throughout most of science fiction, it's the setting taking place in the future. While that's not true of all sci-fi, it's certainly a common trope, which is why some of the best movies and TV shows set in the future also line up with the very best of science fiction. While some of the best examples in this genre can be found on the big screen, there are also dozens of excellent TV shows set in the future fans of the genre regularly enjoy.
Movies like Alien and Blade Runner are obvious examples of futuristic movies that are incredibly popular, but there are far more that you may not be aware of and this list compiles the very best. While many examples are considered classics, this list sticks closer to the more recent additions to the genre with examples like Netflix's Altered Carbon and Black Mirror. Both offer glimpses into a futuristic world that suggests we might just ruin ourselves with technology. Whatever your preference in the genre, there are plenty of movies and TV shows about the future that involve comedy, drama, action/adventure, and more for everyone to enjoy.
Which shows and movies set in the future deserve the top spots on this list? Help decide by giving your favorites a thumbs up and adding any good movies or shows missing from the list.
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Neo (Keanu Reeves) believes that Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), an elusive figure considered to be the most dangerous man alive, can answer his question -- What is the Matrix? Neo is contacted by Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss), a beautiful stranger who leads him into an underworld where he meets Morpheus. They fight a brutal battle for their lives against a cadre of viciously intelligent secret agents. It is a truth that could cost Neo something more precious than his life.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
- Warner Bros.
Deckard (Harrison Ford) is forced by the police Boss (M. Emmet Walsh) to continue his old job as Replicant Hunter. His assignment: eliminate four escaped Replicants from the colonies who have returned to Earth. Before starting the job, Deckard goes to the Tyrell Corporation and he meets Rachel (Sean Young), a Replicant girl he falls in love with.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
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In this sequel set eleven years after "The Terminator," young John Connor (Edward Furlong), the key to civilization's victory over a future robot uprising, is the target of the shape-shifting T-1000 (Robert Patrick), a Terminator sent from the future to kill him. Another Terminator, the revamped T-800 (Arnold Schwarzenegger), has been sent back to protect the boy. As John and his mother (Linda Hamilton) go on the run with the T-800, the boy forms an unexpected bond with the robot.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
- 20th Century Fox
In the science fiction thriller Aliens, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver), survivor of the spaceship Nostromo, returns to confront her nightmares. Waking up 57 years later, she discovers a human colony has been established on the alien-infested planet she once escaped from. Accompanied by a squad of marines, Ripley must face her fears and the extraterrestrial menace once again. Directed by James Cameron, this sequel boasts an Oscar-winning visual effects team that brings the terrifying creatures to life. With suspenseful twists and thrilling action sequences, Aliens is a cinematic masterpiece in its genre.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
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- Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
An imposing black structure provides a connection between the past and the future in this enigmatic adaptation of a short story by revered sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke. When Dr. Dave Bowman (Keir Dullea) and other astronauts are sent on a mysterious mission, their ship's computer system, HAL, begins to display increasingly strange behavior, leading up to a tense showdown between man and machine that results in a mind-bending trek through space and time.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
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- Total Recall
Douglas Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) is a bored construction worker in the year 2084 who dreams of visiting the colonized Mars. He visits "Rekall," a company that plants false memories into people's brains, in order to experience the thrill of Mars without having to travel there. But something goes wrong during the procedure; Quaid discovers that his entire life is actually a false memory and that the people who implanted it in his head now want him dead.Is this the best of the genre?- Photo:
