Lemmy needs more content that isn’t about US politics right now so I’m making a random post.

What’s the most obscure cyberpunk movie you’ve seen? Name a cyberpunk movie you don’t think anyone else has heard of.

I’m not saying you have to think it’s a good movie (or that you even like it), I just want to discuss obscure, unknown cyberpunk movies. Come on, let’s talk about something other than politics here.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️@yiffit.netEnglish
    341·
    2 months ago

    Strange Days is one of those often listed near the bottom on lists of the best cyberpunk movies and I almost never see it talked about or mentioned in discussions. I think it goes under the radar because it’s not visually spectacular, nor is it very futuristic. Classic dialogue heavy sci-fi.

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      9·
      2 months ago

      You’re right, Strange Days is definitely a classic yet visually it isn’t very sci-fi. The themes and plot are extremely sci-fi (and cyberpunk) yet if you just looked at a random frame from the movie you wouldn’t really be able to tell.

  • toothbrush@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    16·
    2 months ago

    New Rose Hotel. Featuring Willem Dafoe and Christopher Walken! Story by William Gibson! I may be mistaken, but I think he even wrote the screenplay, like in Johnny Mnemonic. But sadly not a very good movie. Its painfully slow. The original short story clearly did not have enough content for a movie. However, if you were to cut it down, there is a really good Cyberpunk movie hidden there. Maybe someday it gets the fancut it deserves…

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      8·
      2 months ago

      I just watched that recently! Yeah, very weird movie. The vast majority of it takes place in a hotel room and all the major events occur off-screen. Such a strange movie. And with that cast, you’d think they could’ve made it more interesting.

  • mrnarwall@lemmy.world
    12·
    2 months ago

    Cyberpunk has never been what draws me to science fiction, but I’d say the most obscure is probably existence (if that counts?). It came out in 1999 and was overshadowed by the matrix. I

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      11·
      2 months ago

      eXistenZ definitely counts! Cronenberg being weird in a way that only Cronenberg can.

    • GCanuck@lemmy.worldEnglish
      1·
      2 months ago

      The sushi factory was filmed in my back yard. (Well not technically my back yard, but close enough.)

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      I wanted to like Mute but I really didn’t like Paul Rudd’s character in it. Overall, I think it had some good visuals but something about that movie just didn’t work for me.

      Did you like the movie? What was your favorite part?

      • TotallyNotSpez@startrek.website
        41·
        2 months ago

        I did enjoy the visuals and was okay with the protagonist, but lots of the story and most other characters were not really working out for me. I can’t really put my finger on it why that is. But the soundtrack? Oh.My.God! Clint Mansell absolutely nailed it - like he always does! I’ve been following his career since his first soundtrack: Pi from 1998. Maybe I should mention here that I’m an ex musician myself.

        My favourite Cyberpunk movie is Upgrade from 2018.

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      7·
      2 months ago

      I’m learning a lot by googling these obscure movies. Apparently Welt am Draht was called World on a Wire in its English release and it’s based on the same novel that The Thirteenth Floor (1999) was based on. Neat!

      • toothbrush@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        5·
        2 months ago

        I saw that movie! Its soo bad, terrible effects, every dialog takes forever, scenes drag on too long, etc. The 13. Floor is superior in every regard, and both are pretty accurate to the book, so its basically a remake!

  • Davel23@fedia.io
    8·
    2 months ago

    Hardware. Saw this with a friend in the theater, we thought it was terrible. I’ve revisited it since, and while I won’t say it’s great I think it’s worth a watch.

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      4·
      2 months ago

      I agree, I think it’s worth a watch. It’s the only real “cyberpunk horror” movie I can think of. I mean, there are plenty of body horror cyberpunk movies (especially in Japanese cyberpunk) but Hardware is the only one I know that really follows a “slasher” horror movie format.

  • lime!@feddit.nuEnglish
    8·
    2 months ago

    i don’t know if it counts as proper cyberpunk but it floated to tie top of my mind when i read the post.

    in fall 2014 i was visiting a friend in stockholm, and through some weird mix of circumstances we found ourselves in the apartment of a friend of a friend of theirs, at three in the afternoon, like eight of us in a three-person sofa bed and watching Algorithm. the guy who lived there really wanted to show it to us since he thought it was so cool, gritty and realistic. i remember that he had a photograph on his wall of him shaking hands with the king. i think he worked for google. anyway…

    it is one of the worst movies i’ve seen. and it’s not funny bad. it’s an angsty drama about a computer hacker hiding from the authorities, so it’s mostly about how good he is with computers. all in this muted gray-green color, it’s mostly shot day-for-night, and it’s just soooo boring.

    the only detail i vividly remember is a scene where the protagonist swaps to a new burner phone. he does this by taking the SIM card out, throwing the old phone in a bin, and putting the SIM into the new phone. i still think about that scene.

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      5·
      2 months ago

      Absolutely! That one’s super obscure to me. I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it yet I don’t remember anything from it.

  • Sergio@slrpnk.netEnglish
    7·
    2 months ago

    Oh yeah I also came across something called Terminus (1987) which sounds kinda cyberpunk, but haven’t watched it yet. See it free on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dBxa992y1g

    In the year 2037, an international sport has been established, wherein a driver of a truck must cross the country and arrive at a designated terminus, while confronting obstacles and enemies along the way. The lead truck, named “Monster”, has been designed by a boy genius (Gabriel Damon) and is to be piloted through the course by a woman named Gus (Karen Allen). Eventually, the truck’s AI fails and Gus ends up in uncharted territories…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terminus_(1987_film)

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      5·
      2 months ago

      Oh man, that’s a movie i haven’t thought about in a long time… I know I’ve seen it and I’m pretty sure I liked it but I don’t remember a single thing about it. Time to go see if it’s streaming anywhere…

  • shmanio@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    Nobody mentioned it, so it’s either really obscure or way too obvious, but: Nirvana (1997).

    A game developer finds out that the main character in his next title has become sentient and must save him from endless suffering by deleting all copies of the game shortly before it launches. I saw it many years ago, and really liked it. It hasn’t aged perfectly, but all the important cyberpunk bits are there.

    • Hammerjack@lemmy.zipOPMEnglish
      5·
      2 months ago

      Definitely obscure. It’s hard to find online anywhere. I’ve only been able to find it on the internet archive. It’s got a weird plot but amazing cyberpunk visuals.

  • Sergio@slrpnk.netEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    oh yeah I also came across a movie called “CyberTracker” (1994) recently. It sounds pretty cyberpunk but def low-budget, I haven’t watched it.

    In the future, Eric Anthony Phillips is the head of the Secret Service detachment assigned to protect Senator Bob Dilly (John Aprea). Senator Dilly is a champion of the recently implemented Computerized Judicial System (Computerized Justice for short), a product of Cybercore Industry, that uses data as evidence to determine the guilt of accused criminals, then carries out the sentence using cyborg executioners called “Trackers” (Maniaci). However, the more Phillips learns about Dilly and the Cybercore’s ruthless plans, the more uncomfortable he becomes…

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CyberTracker_(film)

  • Sergio@slrpnk.netEnglish
    6·
    2 months ago

    Hmmm… I started watching OtherLife (2017) the other day… it’s more of a techno-thriller than cyberpunk tho… But it does have evil corporates and evil government types… you can see it free here: https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x93okqm

    It’s kind of meh, but if you’re in the mood for something Inception-like, you might dig it.

    OtherLife is a 2017 Australian science fiction thriller film directed by Ben C. Lucas. It stars Jessica De Gouw as the co-founder of OtherLife, a company that developed a form of biological virtual reality. When her business partner, played by T.J. Power, insists she license it for unethical use, she struggles to retain control of her invention with the help of her lover…

    edit: oops forgot this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OtherLife