Having just watched The Creator, this is a vibe they were going for a lot of futuristic technology being presented in a really mundane way. Something like futuristic-looking dashboard controls for a vehicle, but placed into a decrepit-looking car that you would have seen on the road 20 years ago (from now IRL), things of that nature where there is some kind of technology that we don’t currently have, but it’s used for something really mundane, or presented as really unimpressive looking rather than any grand ideas that commonly get associated with futuristic tech in sci fi movies.
One to come to mind for me is commercial flights to the moon in Ad Astra. Civilians are able to book commercial flights to the moon, but the experience is similar to an international flight, purchasing blankets and pillows from flight attendants. And they land in a place that looks like any generic airport terminal, and the moon as a destination is a lifeless tourist trap with Subway restaurants and cardboard cutouts of aliens for kids to take pictures with.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=LJ14KFtRevM
by TJTrapJesus
17 Comments
and the moon as a destination is a lifeless tourist trap with Subway restaurants and cardboard cutouts of aliens for kids to take pictures with.
Like the second episode of Futurama.
Not exactly technology, but *Looper* introduces telekinesis as a mundane part of its world. It doesn’t even seem relevant at the time.
Not sure if this counts, but the [phone built into your hand](https://i.imgur.com/odfQgRE.jpg) from *Total Recall (2012)*.
Only pops up like once or twice throughout the whole movie I think.
Children of Men (2006) had this aesthetic. Just enough to place you in the future but not enthusiastic about it.
[Joaquin Phoenix playing video games in **’her’**](https://youtu.be/c8zDDPP3REE?si=6QB5yAQPZITd6Z0x)
I still want to know how the 3 shells work
Star Wars is really good for this aesthetic. They have hovering cars, faster than light travel, laser weapons and incredibly advanced AI, but everything is dirty and decrepit, things are falling apart, and although the technology is everywhere it’s used for the most mundane things. In the very first film Luke’s uncle purchases two super-intelligent robots just to communicate with farm equipment. And the Millennium Falcon is famously described more than once as a piece of junk.
The Fifth Element has a lot of this: NYC cabs of the future, microwave meals of the future, cruise ships of the future, McDonald’s of the future, mobile noodle shops of the future, etc.
I like the starship scene in The Fifth Element where there’s a garbage strike causing vermin to infest the starship and these stoners go around with flamethrowers smoking them out, like no big deal! And the matter-of-fact approach of the crew during takeoff, it’s so ordinary, like air travel is today, but they’re literally going to another star system, not Cincinnati.
2001 a Space Odyssey had a scene very much like the one from Ad Astra. I suppose the difference in the portrayals shows how commercial air flight shifted from glamorous to much maligned.
The Sci fi tech in Tenet was wonderfully mundane in it’s production design.
*Gattaca* (1997)
The futuristic cars are all old Triumph, Citroën, Jaguar cars from the late-60s/early 70s.
Looper had good “baked in” tech
Moon comes to mind. Not sure how far in future that is.
Blade Runner for sure.
Love the mundane moon flights in Ad Astra. Reminds me of my dream trip to surf the lunar waves.
Upload (Amazon TV series) has loads of these, and it’s a thoroughly enjoyable show too.
Total Recall the receptionist can instantly change the color of her nails with a touch of a pen.
Blade Runner has a ton of that. Futuristic technology but it’s all shitty and run-down.