One of the best parts about science fiction is seeing how all of these stories create the future. From interstellar space travel to tiny handheld everyday products; the teams writing the stories and then working to bring the writer’s and director’s visions to the screen helps bring us further into the world the movie is creating. Every so often that futuristic technology comes to fruition down the pipeline.
Some movies that take place in the future are actually now in the past, and some take place so many years away that none of us reading this now will see it. In any event, for several of these movies at least for the technology - the future is now. Here are 10 Times 90s Sci-Fi Movies Predicted The Future.
Total Recall - Self-Driving Cars
Arnold Schwarzenegger owned the late eighties and early nineties. Even when he seemed woefully miscast in a role, he was able to make it his own and churn out great movie after great movie. Total Recall is a prime example of his abilities. During the movie, he ducks into a car being driven by “Johnny Cab.” So far, thankfully, Elon Musk hasn’t retrofitted his self-driving cars with annoying robot drivers. But he HAS gifted the world automated cars that drive themselves around.
The Truman Show - Reality TV Rules
Big Brother is always watching in The Truman Show, and Truman doesn’t even realize it. In this movie, everyone in the world is watching the life of Truman - an unwanted baby that was adopted by a corporation to solely exist for being the star of his own reality show.
While (so far) no company has ever been that maniacal, people from all over the world have no issue with their entire lives being broadcast in all kinds of reality shows, plus their own social media accounts.
Demolition Man - The Governator
To this day, no one knows for sure if Demolition Man is unintentionally hilarious, or one of the best science fiction comedies ever made. There are actually quite a few aspects of the movie that have been predicted by the film. There’s a self-driving car, there’s a huge PC culture (you even get fined for not being ‘woke’). One more prediction that came true was Arnold getting into politics. The movie mentions him as president, predicting that the Austrian Oak would eventually get into politics.
The Jetsons - Robot Vacuums
After spending years on TV as a Saturday morning cartoon, everybody’s favorite futuristic family, the Jetsons made it to the big screen in 1990. Along for the ride was the family’s sassy fueled Rosie the robot maid. They’re not quite sarcastic just yet, but several years ago, the iRobot mechanical vacuums started patrolling our floors to clean hardwood floors and carpets the world over.
Smart House - Smart Homes
Remember, we’re not talking about the quality of a movie, we’re talking about technology found in the movie. For that, Smart House fits the bill. If you’ve ever been a fan of Katey Sagal, this movie does provide a few chuckles. She plays Pat, the voice of a Smart House that Ben Cooper has won in a contest.
Since Ben has recently lost his mom, he programs Pat to be maternal and she’s learns how from classic shows. Hopefully, all of the Alexa’s and Google Homes don’t learn to be as sassy as Pat.
Face/Off - Facial Transplant
The idea shouldn’t have worked - it was just too crazy. In Face/Off, Nicolas Cage was a crazed terrorist Castor Troy and John Travolta was the FBI Agent, Sean Archer hot on his trail. He finally catches him, but Troy is knocked out in a coma. Archer has to go undercover to find a bomb Troy placed and undergoes a highly experimental procedure, involving a complete facial transplant. After extensive research, the first full facial transplant occurred in 2010, in Turkey.
Various Films - Virtual Reality
In the nineties, there were several movies exploring the concept of virtual reality; living and existing within a pixelated world. The Matrix explores being imprisoned inside of a VR program and not even knowing it! Virtuosity explores the batcrap crazy idea of a VR serial killer escaping into the real world. But one of the earliest examples of the genre is The Lawnmower Man. In that cult classic, a doctor decides to experiment on a simple-minded gardener, Jobe. Jobe gains higher functioning and begins to take revenge on everyone that wronged him.
Star Trek: Insurrection - VISOR
For seven years on Star Trek: The Next Generation, Geordi La Forge was blind, but was able to see with the help of a VISOR (Visual Instrument And Sight Organ Replacement). By the time First Contact rolled around, future tech had been able to fit Geordi with a pair of cybernetic ocular implants. The real-world version of this amazing piece of tech has been worked on for years and tested on rats and at NASA. A practical version for humans has yet to surface.
Total Recall - Full Body Scans
As security concerns around the world have grown over the years, so has the technology used to try and keep anyone and everyone safe. At airports, courts, anywhere where there could be a massive safety issue involving as massive amount of people, there is usually a full body scanning machine.
A similar machine was introduced in Total Recall, albeit scanning people all the way down to their bones. TSA has this installed in the Los Angeles subway system.
Demolition Man - Face Time
Predicting Arnold’s eventual run in politics, Taco Bell’s massive success in fast food, and self-driving cars - all part of Demolition Man. One more invention that was in the movie, and has been in several science fiction movies over the years - FaceTime. In the future of the film, San Angeles residents are able to dial any number and bring up a call on a Gia view screen. It’s makes the wrong number scene all the funnier when you realize that kind of stuff can happen at any time.