8 Futuristic Sci-Fi Movies With Dated Technology, According to Reddit (original) (raw)

Published Oct 16, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT

Daniela is a freelance writer with two years of experience covering entertainment. She is a senior writer on Collider’s freelance team and has also been published in other platforms, such as Elite Daily. When she’s not writing, she's diving into thought-provoking, existentialist films and classic literature.

While technology is assuredly a crucial aspect in a great number of science fiction movies that rely heavily on technological advancements to tell their story, some films have seemingly mastered the field of predicting the future much better than others.

Some Redditors believe that science fiction classics like the TV show Star Trek: The Next Generation still hold up today. However, other popular media in the genre arguably fail to depict huge technological advancements that still awe audiences today. Though this is not necessarily bad, some users on the platform have shared which science fiction movies feature dated technology.

8 'WarGames' (1983)

Image via MGM/UA Entertainment Company

As it turns out, the fifth highest-grossing movie of 1983 in the United States remains entertaining even after all these years. The techno-thriller by John Badham centers on a young man, played by Matthew Broderick, who finds a back door into a military central computer in which reality is confused with gaming, possibly marking the beginning of a third World War.

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Prophetic and cautionary, this film raised real-life concerns about the unintended consequences of evolving computer technology.

Although its tech is "obsolete as hell," as a now-deleted account suggested, WarGames is nonetheless an engaging movie. On the other hand, some other users on the platform, including XInsects, even feel like it is a "topical" and "fresh" film for its time.

7 'Runaway' (1984)

Image via TriStar Pictures

Runaway is an action crime sci-fi set in the near future and centers around a police officer who uncovers a plot to create killer robots after discovering a robot that was programmed to kill. As he delves deeper into the investigation, he realizes that his son has become a target.

An old-fashioned movie starring Tom Selleck, Michael Crichton's feature is said to be outdated given the "futuristic" concepts it features. "If you've never seen 1980's classic Runaway starring Tom Selleck, Christy Alley, and Gene Simmons, I just don't know what to tell you," Iminforthat wrote. "That hadn't aged well a month after it was released," replied Gecko23.

6 'Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope' (1977)

Han Solo, Leia and Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope

Image via Lucasfilm

A groundbreaking and undeniably impactful movie that captured the attention of many when it came out, the first entry for George Lucas' globally beloved movie follows the adventures of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker and his quest to save Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) alongside space pirate Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

As some on the platform agree, the first Star Wars installment — and arguably the sequels that followed — is understandably both innovative for the time it came out and dated technology-wise compared to today's science fiction. "So many switches and levers everywhere! Also, they've got lightsabers but crappy prosthetics," noelbk01 wrote. "Capable of traveling at the speed of light and building planet-sized space bases, but still smooshes their trash together between two metal walls," added DAMWrite1.

Image via Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Following a joint USA-Soviet expedition is sent to Jupiter to investigate the fate of the "Discovery" and its H.A.L. 9000 computer, 2010: The Year We Make Contact is the sequel to Stanley Kubrick's iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey, combining the genre of adventure, mystery, and sci-fi to interesting — but much weaker — results.

Moviegoers believe that besides disappointing compared to its predecessor, the Peter Hyams movie starring Roy Scheider is not exactly innovative. "Gigantic CRT monitors coupled with Atari 2600 style graphics ensured that the tech portion of this movie didn't age well," commented mharsh.

4 'Total Recall' (1990)

Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'Total Recall'

Image via TriStar Pictures

In this Arnold Schwarzenegger-led feature by Paul Verhoeven, viewers tag along as a construction worker named Douglas Quaid, who has always dreamed of visiting Mars, embarks on a wild ride in the year 2048 when he heads to a company that inserts fake memories into people's brains.

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When it comes to films with outdated technology, many picked Total Recall. "There were video payphones and video carphones," samurai77 wrote, highlighting that such inventions already exist (and we're not in the year 2048). "There are a lot of out of the box concepts that have been touched on irl," explained The73atman86.

3 'Johnny Mnemonic' (1995)

Image via Alliance Movies

With a Rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes, the Keanu Reeves sci-fi movie has certainly fallen short of many expectations. Based on the William Gibson story, the Robert Longo-directed film centers around a data courier who has a secret stash of information implanted into his mind. The main issue seems to be that the data will kill Johnny if he cannot retrieve it within 48 hours.

To jsabo and others who agreed, a negative standout aspect of the cult classic Johnny Mnemonic is the fact that "everyone still ran BBSes." Pa79 added, "And they needed a human brain to transfer 800 MB."

2 'Back to the Future II' (1989)

Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly looking over at Christopher Lloyd as Doc with concern in Back to the Future Part II

Image via Universal Studios

Some of the most hilarious sci-fi movies to come out of the 1980s, the Back to the Future films undeniably remain the subject of tremendous praise even today, and rightfully so. Nevertheless, some consider the technological advancement featured in the second installment of the iconic science fiction franchise, which follows the time-traveling duo Marty (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Brown (Christopher Lloyd) on yet another adventure, to be laughable.

Although weaker than its predecessor, Back to the Future II is still a fascinating and absorbing comedic movie. What may throw some off, though, is that it doesn't hold up as well today when considering that it was set partly in 2015. "Future Marty's entire house is wired for fax," commented Wild_type. "I'm very upset that the first time I see a comment from a time traveler, it's to find out that we'll still be using fax machines in 2023," thor561 joked when a user argued that we are still using the device.

1 'Alien' (1979)

Ellen Ripley holding a cat and looking at the camera in 'Alien' (1979)

Image via 20th Century Studios

A groundbreaking film with a strong and influential action heroine at its center (Sigourney Weaver), this Ridley Scott film marks the beginning of a memorable universe by following a commercial ship that diverts to a desolate planet, stumbling upon a chamber that contains thousands of bizarre eggs.

Just like Back to the Future and Star Wars, Alien, of course, endures one of the most well-known and cherished science fiction movie series of all time. Despite this, some believe that the technology in the first installment does not hold up. "They have human level, higher intelligence androids but non-graphical computer interfaces and essentially an old mainframe computer access setup, but with futuristic room design," stupendousman commented. Wraith-mayhem highlighted the "computer Mother in Alien," saying that not only is it "slow and outdated, the captain needs to go to a special computer room to access it and while processing, it makes relay noises..."

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