Five Movies That Predicted the Future
And the technology that came to be
Advancements in technology over the past decade seem more rapid than ever, continuing the changes of the decades before. While now we can make use of this new technology, many of them were envisioned on the big screen long before they became reality. What are some movies from the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s that predicted the future, and what did they predict?
Some movies are evergreen (you may even be able to get some worthwhile marriage advice from an episode of “I Love Lucy”!), but we’re talking about science fiction movies that, at the time, thrust you into an unknown world and made fairly accurate predictions about technologies we have today.
Let’s take a look at some movies that predicted the future and what they foretold.
‘Westworld’ (1973) and ‘Blade Runner’ (1982)
Who would have thought artificially intelligent (AI) robots would ever be a real thing?
The AI-powered machines and systems we have today might not look quite as human-like as they did in the classic “Westworld” and “Blade Runner” films, but we aren’t very far off from that being a reality. In fact, there were quite a lot of films that made predictions about AI that were pretty close to hitting the nail on the head.
So it’s not too far of a stretch to say that in the very near future, we could see robots similar to the likes of those in “Blade Runner” that look, think, and act just like humans do (for good and for bad!). Maybe we’ll even get an AI-run theme park like in “Westworld” — minus the robot rebellion, of course.
‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ (1968) and ‘Star Trek’ (1966)
How about interactive computers, two-way digital communications systems, and video chats?
Especially if you work from home or use computers regularly, communicating with people this way might not seem like a big deal to you anymore. But it likely seemed pretty out of this world when Star Trek first aired or when 2001: A Space Odyssey hit the theaters.
We certainly can’t communicate over light years yet, but you can easily have a video chat, like they did on the spaceships, with a friend, relative, or coworker.
‘Star Wars’ (1977)
Of course, if we’re talking about favorite movies that predicted the future, we can’t leave out the Star Wars series. We might not be on the brink of a space war yet, but there is plenty of tech from those films that we are well on our way to developing or have already created.
Most notable are the holograms. Who can forget that scene with R2-D2 projecting the hologram of Princess Leia saying, “Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You’re my only hope!”?
Hologram technology isn’t widely available yet, but it is already in use. It was used on CNN for the 2008 election and has also appeared during concert performances to “resurrect” legendary music artists.
These are just five of the many films that have made some pretty accurate predictions about technology. They may have seemed wildly outlandish at the time, but now, with so much of our world going digital, the future that these films predicted is happening right now.
Who’s to say that, down the road, we all won’t be trading in our cars for hovercrafts or learning how to fly a spaceship?
Visit iconic film locations from classic movies
Charlie Fletcher is a freelance writer from the lovely “city of trees” – Boise, Idaho. Her love of writing pairs with her passion for social activism and search for the truth. You can find more of her writing at CharlieFletcher.Contently.com.
