Top 10 Films Ahead of Their Time
For this list, we'll be going over the films whose content was innovative, predicted future societal issues or trends, and/or went unappreciated by audiences when they were first released. Our countdown will include “The Truman Show” (1998), “Psycho” (1960) & “Star Wars” (1977). Which film do YOU believe was most ahead of its time? Let us know in the comments!
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Top 10 Films Ahead of Their Time
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These movies were ahead of the curve. Way ahead of the curve. For this list, we’ll be going over the films whose content was innovative, predicted future societal issues or trends, and/or went unappreciated by audiences when they were first released. Our countdown will include “The Truman Show” (1998), “Psycho” (1960) & “Star Wars” (1977). Which film do YOU believe was most ahead of its time? Let us know in the comments!
#10: “The Truman Show” (1998)
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What if your life was a TV show? “The Truman Show” follows this premise to its most extreme conclusion, depicting a man raised from birth within a carefully constructed gigantic set, with his whole life manipulated by producers, and spent interacting with actors. While reality TV shows were around when the film came out, they had yet to take over the airwaves to quite the degree they have today. “The Truman Show” also does a great job of illustrating our current paranoia over surveillance of our every move, albeit in a charming, whimsical manner.
#9: “Tron” (1982)
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“Tron” follows a computer programmer after he is whisked inside a computer filled with sentient programs, and his attempts to escape and free the programs from the oppressive leadership they face. “Tron” was groundbreaking in terms of its visual effects, as it was one of the first films to utilize computer animated visuals. The subject matter, namely someone within a virtual reality fighting against a dictatorial regime, is also decades ahead of similar films, such as “The Matrix”. “Tron” went largely unappreciated at the time, though it has developed a cult following – and eventually earned a sequel – since its release.
#8: “A Clockwork Orange” (1971)
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In a near-future dystopia, a young man named Alex leads his gang of rapists and murderers on a series of “ultraviolent” crimes, before being caught and brutally reconditioned. “A Clockwork Orange” set a new standard for how much violence could be shown in films, to the point where it sparked protests in response to how graphic it was. In addition, the movie also influenced future films with its stylistic choices, such as contrasting violence with unfitting music. No one could look at “Singin’ in the Rain” the same way after this, not say nothing of ol' Ludwig van.
#7: “Blade Runner” (1982)
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Set in the once far off year of 2019, “Blade Runner” follows Harrison Ford as a grizzled cross between detective and hunter in his pursuit of a rogue group of artificial humans known as replicants. Though divisive and a poor performer at the box office when it came out initially, “Blade Runner” is now regarded as a landmark film, whose iconic, stunning visuals and retro-futuristic aesthetic have influenced everything from anime to the sci-fi and neo-noir genres to film in general. “Blade Runner” also helped bring the question of what being human will mean in the future, and in the present, into the public consciousness.
#6: “Psycho” (1960)
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The story of Norman Bates, a hotel owner with a complicated maternal relationship, “Psycho” broke ground in a lot of ways. Looking back, some are less obvious – like daring to show an unmarried couple sharing a bed, showing a toilet flushing, or to include a shot of an actress in a bra. Others are easier to understand, such as new standards for how violence could be shown on screen, how much of the female body could be exposed, and putting concepts like gender dysphoria in the forefront – with Hitchcock fighting the censors all the way. Plus, it basically invented the slash genre.
#5: “Star Wars” (1977)
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Besides its groundbreaking special effects that blew minds at the time, “Star Wars” also revolutionized the sci-fi genre by introducing elements of fantasy, which helped make it more accessible for casual audiences than the heady or depressing fare that preceded it. It also changed the science fiction aesthetic, opting for a more broken-in, previously used world rather than a gleaming, shiny, chrome plated high-tech future, and drew more from westerns than popcorn sci-fi. In addition, “Star Wars” helped set trends in merchandising and franchise building that have become staples of the film industry.
#4: “The Wizard of Oz” (1939)
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A Technicolor musical about a young girl’s journey to return home from a strange land and the adventures she gets into along the way, “The Wizard of Oz” is a timeless classic. Its colorful, creative sets helped codify the look of musical films and its effects were also revolutionary for the time. Its focus on a female protagonist was also an uncommon move in the 1930s. Decades later, “The Wizard of Oz” is among the most popular and beloved films of all time and everything about it – from no place like home, to ruby red slippers – has seeped into our collective cultural consciousness.
#3: “Citizen Kane” (1941)
Often cited as the greatest film ever made, Orson Welles' masterpiece follows the rise and fall of newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane, as a reporter tries to discover the meaning behind his last word. From a pure filmmaking standpoint, “Citizen Kane” practically wrote the book, inventing and improving upon many techniques that are now industry standards – including use of deep focus, and low shooting angles, and overlapping dialogue. Story wise, Kane used a non-linear, flashback based approach, and using multiple – and often unreliable narrators – to deliver the story. In short, it's loaded with technique and style that's still groundbreaking today.
#2: “Metropolis” (1927)
Arguably one of the finest pieces of German cinema, and certainly among the finest examples of silent German expressionism, “Metropolis” follows a young man and woman from different social classes as they fight to bring about equality in a futuristic, dystopian cityscape. Along with being one of the first sci-fi movies, its plot would not be out of place among today's crop of young adult films. “Metropolis” is also one of the first movies to feature a robot, and one that imitates a person at that, and done with a style and grace that was long absent in the years that followed. Before we get to our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions: “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” (1964) “Toy Story” (1995) “It’s a Wonderful Life” (1946) “Fight Club” (1999) “Videodrome” (1983) “Brightburn” (2019)
#1: “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968)
A film that depicts everything from humankind’s early beginnings to its exploration of space, “2001: A Space Odyssey” was unlike anything that came before it. Not only were its effects groundbreaking, they were also very realistic … for the most part, while a many of the technological advances it suggested were fairly accurate. “2001” also deals with a multitude of concepts that have since become customary to storytelling, such as AI turning on its creators. The film’s minimal dialogue and musical score help create a lasting emotional connection in ways few others have been able to replicate.
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