10 Old School Sci-Fi Movies That Are Technically Set In The Past

Thanks to the uninterrupted passage of time, films that belong to the sci-fi genre don’t end up being “futuristic” forever. Many science fiction stories do indeed take place in what once seemed like the distant future, when writers of the past envisioned what a possible present for humanity would look like. Sometimes science fiction writers make solid or even somewhat prescient predictions, but other times they are not entirely correct.

Whether they are right or not, the fact remains that time is the only thing that will tell how close or far such science fiction writers were. There are a lot of sci-fi movies out there these days that look to the future once released, but now that many years have passed, these stories have now been taken back in time for modern audiences. These stories were once thought to be futuristic but now seem far-fetched.

10 Blade Runner (1982) is set in 2019.

Back in 1982, 2019 seemed far enough away to be a distant future, but close enough to provide a large number of Blade Runner viewers (at least those who didn’t ignore it) will still be alive to witness the coming of the year. This ensures that the film is one with things that are both alien and familiar, with a unique look and feel. Blade Runner The world is a huge reason why this is a science fiction classic.

Viewing it around 2019 or later - ultimately shows how Blade Runner the depiction of the future wasn’t entirely on the money, though that doesn’t stop the movie from being great. And 2017 gave fans a long-awaited sequel with the title - Blade Runner 2049 - making it clear that events are unfolding again in the distant, but not too distant future.

9 Soylent Green (1973) - Set in 2022.

Few sci-fi films about the future are as bleak as the one shown in Soylent Green version of 2022. There have been many factors that have made the 2020s a difficult decade for many so far, but the most dubious of them may be that the real 2022 was not as dystopian as the one shown in Soylent Green.

This is a stern warning to humanity, showing a world completely devastated by overpopulation, global pollution and poverty, with desperate measures taken to hopelessly control these issues. Maybe it’s still a prophetic movie because the issues it touches on were big real life issues in the 2020s, but hopefully things don’t come close to being done. Soylent Green 100% reality.

8 Back to the Future Part 2 (1989) - Partially set in 2015.

see how Back to the Future often oh… well, going back to the future, the trilogy films are often set in the past. In the original 1985 film, most of the film was set in 1955, the second film is also partly set in 1955, and the third film is set as early as 1885.

What is he doing Back to the Future Part 2 stand out because part of its story is played out in 2015. The futuristic scenes in the film are far from what they were in 2015, but they are still very funny. It gets away with an exaggerated depiction of the future due to its generally comedic nature. Back to the Future row.

7 Godzilla: Final Wars (2004) - Set in 2020.

2004 Godzilla: The Last Wars really predicted that a large-scale event would shake the world and affect all of humanity in 2020. However, the event in question - an alien race trying to take over the world with the help of various monsters once defeated by Godzilla - ends up being very different from the COVID-19 pandemic that shocked the world.

In any case, those who Final Wars The 2020 image is lucky because Godzilla ended up saving the world by having a series of rematches with all of his old enemies. The COVID-19 outbreak didn’t have a silver bullet, meaning that even if the impacts were less explosive and cinematic, they inevitably lasted longer than the alien invasion from the 2004 movie.

6 Akira (1988) - Set in 2019.

To say it Akira the outlook for the once-futuristic 2019 was bleak is an understatement. This classic Japanese animated film is essentially dystopian, set in a Neo-Tokyo overrun by crime, a brutal military, and various people with strange telekinetic powers that aren’t always used for good.

However, it never felt like a sci-fi movie that tried to be completely accurate. Instead, he explores some interesting ideas related to things like law and order and the military’s complex relationship with technology. On the other hand, he did predict that the 2020 Olympics would be held in Tokyo, and oddly enough, he also portrayed people wanting to cancel or postpone the event, which ended up happening in early 2020 during the COVID-19 outbreak, with the event takes place in 2021 instead.

5 ‘2012’ (2009) 0151 Release date: 2012

When 2012 was released in 2009, it didn’t look too far into the future due to the premise of a disaster movie about the end of the world. He played with fears of the end of the world in 2012 as his characters struggled to survive various natural disasters, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.

This is just one time in history that some people believed the world would end, and perhaps the early days of social media only exacerbated the worry. In any case, the end of the world clearly didn’t come in 2012, and now the movie, which shares its title with the year named, seems more fantastic than ever before.

4 “Until the end of the world” (1991) - the action takes place in 1999.

Released in 1991, Until the end of the world looks ahead only about a decade, as most of his films are played at the very end of the 20th century. It is an epic journey film that follows several characters around the world as the world’s population prepares for the end of the world when the century arrives.

Ultimately, it doesn’t feel like a disaster movie, as it’s more interested in exploring the protagonist’s thoughts, feelings, and relationship with technology. It’s a powerful and hard-to-forget sci-fi movie, but it’s time-consuming considering the (excellent) director’s cut is nearly five hours long.

3 Rollerball (1975) - The action takes place in 2018.

Rollerball predicted that by 2018 the world’s most popular sport would be even more chaotic and violent than anything before. The sport is titular rollerball and, frankly, its rules are a little hard to understand, even if the sequences it plays in end up being the most memorable parts of the movie.

More broadly, this is a film showing how sports control the world’s population and what happens when one famous player decides to fight back against the corporations that control sports and therefore the world. Like many sci-fi stories, it didn’t quite come to fruition, but it has elements of the world that still resonate today.

2 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) - mainly takes place in 2001.

Like 2012it’s easy to guess when 2001: Space Odyssey installed. Admittedly, the prologue is set in prehistoric times, and the trippy ending may take place in the far future after 2001, but otherwise the film tells a story set in the named year.

This is one of the many great films made Stanley Kubrick and not the director’s only sci-fi film, as evidenced by Clockwork orange (1971). For its time, the future he portrayed looked reasonable and real, and even if it didn’t quite materialize, it’s still easy to admire how far-sighted and well-done 2001: Space Odyssey was, even after all these years.

1 Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion (1997) - Set in 2015-2017.

Akira late 2010s image was pretty hellish but End of Evangelion depicts one that is possibly even worse. This is the finale of the feature film to the original neon genesis evangelion an anime series from the mid-1990s, with its climactic post-apocalyptic events taking place around 2015 or 2016 and possibly even 2017.

It’s a dark ending to the iconic series, and therefore also serves as a particularly pessimistic portrayal of what was once the future. Fortunately, this did not happen in reality. Those around during the first 20 years of the 21st century also saw a more positive ending. Evangelion saga thank you Evangelion Rebuild a series of films.