A film set in the future where it is BETTER than it is today?
As in less human suffering and with healthier, happier, safer people/communities. And one or some of today's problems have been solved such as: war, poverty, violence, disease, sustainability etc...
Don't just name the film say why the future is better in the film and give examples from the film as to why.
The Jetsons -- lol, IK it's not a film.
Forbidden Planet (1956) is listed as a utopian film.
The Martian (2015) - any civilization that goes that far to rescue one guy can't be all that bad.
The Fifth Element.
shareA lot of people in this thread make the argument that a happy future would make for a boring movie. I get where they're coming from, but I don't agree. I think a very intresting movie could be made about an ideal future. How about an epic, following some families for generations from the ruins of WWIII to creating a perfect future? Or one where humans are a technologicly advanced culture, and we follow some aliens from a culture more like our present day that ends up on earth after an experiment with a warp drive gets them stranded here. And the movie revolves around showing these aliens how we once were like them and how we got to where we are, while at the same time helping them get back home. I can think of many more scenarios of interesting movies like this, and I'd think they'd be fun to watch anyways.
shareOr one where humans are a technologicly advanced culture, and we follow some aliens from a culture more like our present day that ends up on earth after an experiment with a warp drive gets them stranded here. And the movie revolves around showing these aliens how we once were like them and how we got to where we are, while at the same time helping them get back home.
maybe Interstellar
so many movies, so little time
Not trying to bring you down but why would they male a movie about a utopian future? It would get pretty boring after 5 mn, no?
Usually movies and books use dystopia to highlight traits, issues and themes in our present. A movie about a utopian future would accomplish exactly none of these.
As for reality, the way things are spiraling downward, I doubt utopia is in our future.
Watch Tomorrowland maybe?
For every lie I unlearn I learn something new - Ani Difranco
The future in Sleeper doesn't look so terrible!
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070707/?ref_=nv_sr_3
I think it depends on how you define Utopia.
I think a utopia would be where no-one has any physical needs left unfulfilled - no hunger, no homelessness, no poverty, no sickness, no mental illness. It need not mean no conflict, just that conflict is resolved peacefully.
Star Trek TOS and NG achieved this through mostly unlimited energy and mostly unlimited manipulation of matter, particularly NG. Note that they rarely mentioned money, or paying for things. I this think was Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future, and why the series and movies after he left were not as good. (IMHO)
You could still make a utopian movie that would be interesting. Forbidden Planet is one variation, where exploration of the unknown provided the basis of the plot.
This was also the basis in part for the plot of Contact although that society was not completely utopian.
The other option is that utopian societies may not be the only ones in the universe. For Star Trek there was conflict with the Romulans and Klingons, plus later the Borg and Cardassians.
Will we ever become a utopian society? Not any time soon, and not if we do not believe it is possible.
I think that is why we do not see more utopian-type Sci-Fi movies/TV - most writers/directors/producers do not have the vision of someone like Gene Roddenberry, where the future can be made better.
Also because it is easier/faster to destroy than to create.
I think it depends on how you define Utopia.
A film where everyone is happy, without strife, stress or Kanye? Where's the drama in that?
shareThere are plenty of "non-dystopian" future films. But realize that just because a future is better than today, doesn't mean that there are not problems.
Let's play with two examples, shall we?
"Alien" and "Avatar" both represent futures with a focus on life within a corporate/commercial structure. Both of these futures have space travel, intra-galactic trade and colonization; both which represent a substantially functional economy. Our main characters in both movies are gainfully employed. The crew of the Nostromo spend part of the movie arguing about their shares of the profit from the cargo. Considering that the Nostromo was towing a large multi-billion unit refinery, we are probably talking about a pretty large amount of money per crew member. Now the suck in both of these movies comes from the fact that the companies that the characters work for really don't give a damn about their employees other than just being resources that they can exploit for profit. But since when has that ever not been a thing?
I could do more, but I'm out of time.
Fun topic...take care and good luck in your future!