Virtual Reality In Film

Before there was Ready Player One, we had Neo, Tron and The Lawnmower Man. Relive Ten Films Which Predicted The Future of Virtual Reality. 

Honourable Mentions - Existenz, Vituosity, The 6th Day, Demolition Man, Brainstorm, Brainscan, Arcade, Hackers, The Thirteenth Floor, Avatar, Tron, Timecop 

The Matrix - Perhaps the most well known film about Virtual Reality, The Matrix not only set a new standard for Action in Film, it gave us a stunning look into a dystopian future where our reality was in fact a virtual simulation. Timeless, iconic and excellent, The Matrix remains a must see action film and perhaps the pantheon of Virtual Reality Cinema. 

Total Recall - Schwarzenegger’s Science Fiction Action Classic is based on a short story by Philip K Dick called “We Can Remember It For You Wholesale”. The film follows a man obsessed with Mars who decides to have a memory implant holiday, except his memory has already been erased, causing him to have Total Recall. The ambitious  film is enjoyable and entertaining, but so powerful in its ambiguity, constantly making us the audience question what is and what is not real. 

Being John Malkovich - Starring John Cusack, Being John Malkovich introduces the concept of what it would be like to inhabit another person’s body and see through their point of view. If celebrity’s felt an invasion of privacy before, Malkovich’s very mind and body becomes the user’s point of view. 

The PageMaster - Again another unlikely entry into this list, The PageMaster showed Macaulay Culkin entering the land of books after a stormy spill in a local library. Again like Stay Tuned and Last Action Hero, audiences were shown a world where they not only controlled the story but were part of it as well and as a child watching it, I wondered how amazing it would be to step inside and walk around my favourite books. 

The Lawnmower Man - Perhaps the most iconic Virtual Reality film of the 1990s, The Lawnmower Man envisaged a cyber virtual world and all its possibilities like no other. Following the story of Pierce Brosnan as a scientist researching new realms of possibility in Virtual Reality and soon experiments with a simple Lawnmower Man, who’s entrance into virtual reality and exposure to science turns him from man into a God. 

The Cell - Most definitely a cult film and perhaps not everyone’s taste, The Cell is one of the most visually striking and unique horror thrillers of the 1990s. Starring Jennifer Lopez a a criminal psychologist asked to enter a criminal’s subconscious to find the location of one of his victims. Immersed inside the mind of a monster, the environment Lopez weaves around is scintillating and shocking and showed not only the power of horror in Virtual Reality, but the potential of creating environments that envisage a part of the mind and placing characters within them.

Strange Days - Set in a future where memories are recorded and can be relived by others, Strange Days, like the later Being John Malkovich introduced what it would be like to walk in someone else’s shoes and inhabit their thoughts and memories. An enjoyable futuristic thriller, Ralph Fiennes does fantastically well to convey the concerns of Virtual Reality in the 90s and more so its dangers. 

Stay Tuned - The only Film here to not show Virtual Reality in anyway, Stay Tuned was the 90s Ready Player One. Our main character and coach potato Roy Knable is addicted to his television, so much so, when it breaks down he sells his soul for a new set. Sucked into the television, he must survive Satanic versions of different films and television series. On this list, because no other film until Ready Player One and perhaps Last Action Hero, showed the possibility of entering a film or story as well. 

Minority Report - Its amazing to think only ten years ago we saw Tom Cruise swiping back and forth on an augmented display and now we have Augmented Realitu Headsets commercially available such as the Hololens and Magic Leap. Minority Report showcased a stunning science fiction future from Steven Spielberg and provided an early glimpse into holographic Virtual home entertainment and even virtual reality adult entertainment. 

Gamer - The most recent addition to the list, Gamer is an action packed thrill ride featuring Gerard Butler it 300 fame. Set in a not too distant future, witness a world where humans control actual humans in real environments. Well worth a watch, with a highly original and well executed concept of a dark future of gaming and control.