Top Ten Movies That Predicted the Future

I had to put this one in the top spot for many reasons. Firstly, I dedicated this list to this movie, basically, so that would have been a big stab in the back if I decided to not put this in first place. Of course, it's common knowledge as to what this movie effectively predicted. Let's see how many I can name, shall we?

- giant flat screen televisions
- Skype-like video conferencing
- biometric scanners (iPhones can now scan thumbprints)
- high-quality 3D projection
- auto-stereoscopic 3D (3D without the use of glasses)
- a Major League team based in Miami (the Florida Marlins (formed in 1993) changed their name to the "Miami" Marlins in 2012)
- wireless, hands-free video gaming
- high-tech glasses (like Google Glass and Microsoft HoloLens)
- flying cars (sort of - AreoMobil, a company from Slovakia, has created a similar prototype)
- power laces (Nike, the company featured in the film, has made promises that they will be unveiling shoes with actual power laces sometime in 2015)
- hoverboards (Lexus has developed a very similar prototype board that uses liquid nitrogen and magnetics to create a levitating skateboard device - only it does require magnetic materials to be implanted under underground)
- automation (self-reliant robotic devices)
- Hollywood's reliance on sequels and franchises (remember Jaws 19?)
- mobility devices (of course, they don't hover you about the ground or carry you 180° upside down)
- our obsession with nostalgia (I'm sure there are plenty of "Café 80s"-themed places all over)
- rejuvenation through surgery (only most people don't come out looking as good as Doc Brown did)
- multitasking (we all have multiple screens going at once and carry many different electronic devices that can perform multiple tasks at the same time)

Wow. That's a lot of stuff. Mind you, there are a lot of things the movie was mistaken about.

Here's what the movie got... more

Society has developed a really unhealthy love for reality programming. The shows that fall under the category of "reality T.V." usually have a less-than-savory premise and are filled with seedy characters that nobody would actually like in real life. However, "we" (as a society) still flock to our television and computer screens to watch the shows, anyway.

Technology is famous for being time-sensitive in the sense that what is new today can be considered obsolete tomorrow. The "replicants" of 'Blade Runner' are given 4 year lifespans. And while that's more time than what the average smart phone or computer of today is given (essentially), the premise remains intact.

Rioting and crime isn't going away. Not even a little bit. And a future where it has basically overtaken even the most civilized of nations (in this instance, the U.K.) could very much be on the horizon. The ideas presented in this movie revolve, mainly, around an increase in crime amongst sociopaths, and today's society is seemingly an active breeding ground for people of this very sort. This is why harsher gun regulation laws need to be established, in my opinion, in the United States.

And what a movie, by the way. These were the most accurate predictions. People today wake up to be evil.

Robotic drones are now used as effective killing machines in the hands of the army (and other militant organizations). They may not be as self-aware as Hal was, but the idea that robots can make effective killers is evidently an accurate prediction made by this film.

There is a scene featured in this movie that shows a series of advertisements in a shopping mall directly aiming themselves at Tom Cruise's character. Well, doesn't that sound a lot like online ads that make use of previous computer searches to affect which ads to display on your computer?

No, Robbie the Robot is not real. That's not what this movie predicted. What it DID predict, however, was that every person on the planet would eventually carry personal communication devices everywhere they go. Of course, we know just how true that prediction is, don't we?

The idea of humans replacing missing limbs and damaged organs and bones with mechanical prosthetics isn't a new one, but RoboCop's prediction that we will, one day, be able to almost completely replace a living body with artificial appliances doesn't seem to far off, does it? This item is referring to the 1987 film, but the 2014 film does feature a scene where multiple subjects are testing newly-developed mechanical limbs that does seem very close to reality, also.

The idea of erasing someone's memories of a particular event was featured in this movie as fiction. Well, apparently some scientists in the Netherlands have developed a procedure that can effectively remove traumatic memories from someone's mind. Sure, it won't solve your relationship issues, but I think forgetting about witnessing a murder is more important, anyways.

I certainally predicted a big elephant in the room that occurred in 2020.