The films that I'll be listing in my April postings may not necessarily be films that I'd call my favorite films, but they will be favorites in the genres I'll be naming. The A to Z genres are very specific micro genres as opposed to the broader genres like action, romance, or comedy.
Somehow Utopia always sounds like it should be wonderful, but in literature and film it's never as good as it seems on the surface. I guess that's why there's a story. Humankind develops perfect society, but things are not really as good as it all appears or something goes drastically wrong.
Here are some of my favorite films based on Utopian societies:
Lost Horizon (1937)-- Planeload of Brits gets hijacked and crashes in the remote mountain area near the legendary Shangri-La. You'd think they'd be happy in such a perfect world, but, no, they need to get back to their world. There are consequences.
Logan's Run (1976)-- It's a perfect world until you turn 30 and then it's the end of the line folks. Most citizens accept this fate, but a small group don't want to end things there. Logan decides to become a "runner" and once away from Utopia he discovers that his fellow citizens have been fed a lie. Now what to do?
The Mosquito Coast (1986)-- Harrison Ford stars as an idealistic inventor who moves his family to Belize to start a Utopian society. For starters it's in the jungle. What could possibly go wrong there?
Total Recall (1990)--In the future you can make all your dreams come true. Or are those nightmares?
Pleasantville (1998)-- Things always seemed so perfect in some of those old TV shows from the 50's. What would happen if you actually ended up in that imaginary TV world?
The Truman Show (1998)--Truman Burbank has been living in the perfect world since the day he was born. Then one morning he awakes to begin suspecting that perhaps all in his world is not as it seems. How could life be so perfect?
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)--In the future, society will try to make life perfect in as many ways as it can. This may include providing us with perfect children. Of course we know that nothing in this world is perfect.
Minority Report (2002)--In a perfect future, crime will be eliminated. Since we already know nothing in this world is perfect, something is bound to put a kink in the system when we try to make it so. This is a sci-fi mystery thriller directed by Steven Spielberg and based on a story by Philip K. Dick. Some cool futuristic world building in this film.
The Island (2005)-- A lot borrowed from Logan's Run with much the same story, but with better special effects and some great action sequences. This film gets a lot of mixed reviews, but I liked it quite a bit.
Wall-E (2008)-- Things on Earth have not gone well in the future, but the humans who have managed to escape are living in a Utopian world inside a spacecraft. With every need tended to by robots, the humans are living fat and happy--literally fat and happy because they know no other life. This is an animated film from Pixar.
Which of these films do you like? Can you suggest other films based on Utopian society? Would you like to live in a Utopian society?
