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Now Playing: Three essential cyberpunk movies
By: Gordon Briggs
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Cyberpunk, with its dystopian urban settings, corporate overlords, and cybernetically enhanced bodies, is a style that has been used to describe several memorable science fiction movies. However, after being disappointed in Avatar: Fire and Ash, I wanted to highlight three cyberpunk films from three different decades that showcase the best of what this genre has to offer.
Anime got most of the attention, but throughout the ’80s Japan unleashed a series of gritty low-budget cyberpunk flicks that can only be described as punk rock body horror. One of the best was Tetsuo: Iron Man, a cult film that plays like Eraserhead by way of Frantz Kafka. Tetsuo: Iron Man gives us an ordinary ‘salary man’ whose body suddenly transforms into a monstrous piece of metallic machinery. Viewers won’t believe their eyes as steel bars are shoved into bloody wounds, metal wires burst out of a man’s skull, and in a particularly messed-up scene, a penis turns into a giant spinning drill. Doubtless, its graphic imagery and abstract story will turn off some, but any adventurous fan of sci-fi must seek it out. ★ ★ ★1/2
Upon its initial release, the reviews were tepid and the box office dismal, but for my money, Strange Days proved to be both a superior cyberpunk movie and one of the best films of the ’90s. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow and co-written by James Cameron, there is plenty to praise here. It has a terrific look (Matthew F. Leonetti’s cinematography looks sharp even 25 years later), and the characters are engaging (I would follow Angela Bassett’s butt-kicking bodyguard anywhere). The action is technically innovative (every film student should study the camerawork in its opening scene). Most disturbing, with its story involving mobile surveillance, police brutality, and violent social unrest, the film’s dystopic vision isn’t just prophetic; it has come true. ★ ★ ★ ★
The last movie I wish to highlight proves – thank the Lord – that body horror and cyberpunk aren’t dead. They’re alive and well in strange little movies like Possessor. Set in a not-too-distant future, we are dropped into a world where brain-implant technology allows you to inhabit other people’s bodies temporarily. Things get weird when a corporate assassin uses these possessed bodies to murder her enemies. What’s cool is how director Brandon Cronenberg’s style emphasizes the scar tissue around punctured skin, the sound of bleeding of orifices, and the different ways our bodies can betray our minds. It’s a strange and sensual cyberpunk thriller that will make your skin crawl. ★★ ★1/2