Next Friday the film adaption of the popular book 'The Hunger Games' is being released in theaters. Its my understanding that it is a film, featuring something we all love, a strange and horrific future. So today I'm talking (writing I guess), about dystopia.
When I was in college, yes I was in college, with my awful grammar and spelling, I had an elective called 'Dark Days Ahead.' The class can be summed up as 'Studying dystopia and time travel'.
Every week we discussed the end of the world, and the degradation of society. With the question always being raised, 'Why are we as a species so obsessed with the end?'
Its a paranoia we all share, some of us are worse then others. People worry about 'big brother', 'natural disasters', and 'terrorism' to no end. Actually it goes beyond that, some worry about 'God', or 'Aliens', and the most delusional of all people are convinced our end will come at the hands of people of a different race or creed.
Some day, the government will just out right enslave us! Or some day we'll be ruled by a religious fanatics! Or the Aliens will descend from the stars and take our resources!
Something is always out to get us, someone always has an agenda, there is ALWAYS a new witch to burn. It is our pattern as a species. We are largely ruled by fear, and NO its not all fear produced by the media or government, its fear produced from within ourselves.
I think its a evolution thing. We never really got past the point where we stopped fearing for our lives at every turn. It is a fact, that those that didn't fear Sabertooth tigers... didn't live long. The future is a our greatest predator. We have no idea how its going to get us, but we're all worried about it. Some day, this world, is going to be worse then ever... Or is it?
We all know, that stats show a decline in crime and war. The world is actually the most peaceful its ever been, even the threat of nuclear war isn't as big as it once was. And anyone with a brain knows the hadron collider isn't a threat, and that killer bees aren't coming up from the south. The shortage of food? That’s slowly being eradicated by GMO's. There is no proof of 'hostile aliens' or 'angry gods' and the hole in the Ozone is apparently shrinking.
The reality is that the future is probably nowhere near as bleak as we like to think it's going to be. But... What if we get lulled into a false sense of security, and we let everything we've developed (Out of fear of the future) fall apart? Then what? I think, strangely, that the scariest future we can imagine, is a future without fear.
Regardless, to shoot back on topic. We can't help but think about what kind of horrors are in our future. We find entertainment in the thought of it, through books and movies, such as 'The Hunger Games'. And today I'd like to present you with, my top five dystopian movies.

5. Mad Max trilogy (soon to be quintet)
Mad Max (1978), Road Warrior(1981), Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome(1985). And in development is Mad Max Fury Road and a untitled sequel.

Mad Max is the classic dystopia. After the world has been destroyed by nuclear war, all that is left is a desert wasteland called... um Australia.
We see that there is a society formed in the first film, a society that is attempting to hold onto the world as it once was, with some form of hierarchy. What we also see, is that not everyone agrees with the ideals of the past and have embraced the harshness of the world. A society that is lead by Tina Turner enjoy a classic piece of entertainment. Mortal Combat in the Thunderdome. They also dress bizarrely.
This is the world we could have been in if the cold war had ever truly heated up, a planet scorched, with natural resources used up in the war machine. With no nations, mankind has banded together in small groups, each with their own agenda, all at odds against one another. Its all very clique.

4. Terminator (Quadrilogy)
The Terminator(1984), T2:Judgment Day(1991), Terminator 3 Rise of the Machines(2003), and Terminator Salvation(2009).

The terminator dystopia is caused by our own natural development of technology. Some point in the future of... 1997 um. Oh wait, it like most apocalypses, got pushed back a few years. It actually ended up happening in 2003... The date isn't important.
What happens is we become so reliant on technology, the United States puts a computer known as “Skynet” in charge of its defenses. Thing is they make the computer to smart, and it becomes self aware. The operators where kind of wigged out I imagine, when their Mac turned on, and asked, 'Where am I? Why do I feel?'
So they quickly attempted to shut off the system. 'Skynet' in self defense... did this.

Over reaction much? In the end, mankind rose from the ashes, only to find that 'Skynet' had decided all of mankind was a danger to it, so we must be terminated.
This future shows mankind united against the horrific machines. Life is a terrible struggle, we have no time for love, and man, women, and child are all Soldiers. If you think Kony is bad? You should be going after John Connor.

Interesting, the paragraph I wrote for 'Logan's Run' pretty much mirrors the trailer perfectly.

3. Logans Run
Logans Run (1967)

Imagine a future, where we're all living together in a single domed city protected by the radiation of the outside world. We're happy, and free, plenty of food. More orgies then Caligula could shake his dick at. And there isn't a single catch... Except for something called Carrousel.
In this world, you have a little diamond implanted in the palm of your hand that keeps track of your age, and when you turn 30 you must show up, and partake in the event, Carrousel.
If you're lucky you may walk out of Carrousel 'renewed' meaning you get to continue to live in this cute little utopia we've built for ourselves.
Thing is, has anyone ever actually been renewed? Some people don't buy into Carrousel and attempt to run. Its then up to men called Sandmen to catch the runner and vaporize them. But the truth is the world outside the dome isn't irradiated, and the atmosphere isn't deadly.
This is a terrifying dystopia, well the movie isn't scary at all. Its very brightly coloured and, NOT the point. The point is that dystopia made up to look like utopia is a scary idea. But really whats the possibility of a government, lying to its people about false dangers, so they can control them more easily... right?


2. Class of 1984
Class of 1984 (1982)

Again, in the horrible future of 1984! Where the youths of a Toronto, disguised as New York are revolting! Drugs and violence are ramped among teens! Kids fear for their lives in graffiti filled hallways of inner city schools! Metal detectors at every entrance, due to the fear of guns being snuck into the class room and used on other students!
This dystopian future was... reality, that actually happened. When this film came out, people criticized it as not being realistic. But about ten years later, it was a reality. There was shootings in schools, metal detectors were installed, and people were afraid of their teens. This is a dystopian future that became real!... Sort of.

1. They Live
They Live (1988)

They Live is known for two things. This line:

And its 8 minute long fist fight that serves no other reason then to be, a 8 minute fist fight.
The story of They Live, REALLY isn't for everyone. John Nadda, played by Rowdy Roddy Piper discovers a pair of sun glasses allow him to see the world as it really is. I'll just show you.

If you're to lazy to watch that video at least to the 3 minute mark, then I'll give you the break down. The government, and the rich, are controlling us through the media, to be consumers, that don't question authority, and just obey.
This controlling portion of society are actually Aliens, who have quietly taken over the world and enslaved the human race. Which is really the most genius way to make someone a slave, you convince them that they're free!
This dystopia takes number one, because its a satire of the world we actually live in! John Carpenter was making a point with this movie. He was calling us all slaves to the media. He was trying to get us to swap our rose coloured glasses, for a bad ass pair of shades! This IS our world.