Ridley Scott’s 1982 sci-fi noir is set in Los Angeles in November 2019. As in
RIGHT NOW!
And given that it was made nearly 40 years ago, the movie’s idea of the future is slightly off, but it predicted a few things too. The 80s hope for flying cars has NOT come true yet –not in my driveway, anyway. Can you imagine? We can’t even get self-driving cars right… who’s in charge of “air traffic control”?
BR’s November 2019 concept of LA saw more constant rain and smog covering the skies. The desolate, dystopian landscape of Los Angeles has not come true, unless you call out-of-control fires with the scary bonus Trump as president “dystopian”.
The film also saw robots called replicants and we may not be there just yet with AI, but robotics continue to advance. Facial and vocal reconstructions are improving by leaps and bounds, making it harder to recognize “them.”
The world of Blade Runner was mobile phone free, but it did predict technology’s ever-increasing presence in our lives and even without iPhones, Harrison Ford’s Deckard and cast was talking into devices, just as like our Siri and Alexa.
We’ll see in 30 years if Blade Runner 2049 gets us any closer.
The future was now.
(Photos, Warner Bros; via ExpressUK)
