The Similarities Of The Science Fiction Films

Student’s Name: Instructor’s Name: Course Number: Date: Science Fiction Films The Science Fiction movies, just like any other aspect of filmography have undergone tremendous changes and development over the years. These great changes have led to diversified development of complex movies highly characterized by use of sophisticated technology to either give a clear picture of the future, the present or the past days. In this text the particular subgenre of interest is the cyberpunk or what is defined as a futuristic model where the whole of humanity, without their consent, is trapped in what is termed as the matrix, a simulated reality created by artificial, machine like beings in form of a distraction while utilizing their bodies for energy (Kim et al. 450). In this regard the movies to focus on are The Matrix, Ready Player One and Upgrade. The Matrix film, released in 1999, in which a neo, a computer expert, programmer and hacker, uncovers the truth about the matrix and he is involved in a rebellion against the machines, fighting alongside his fellows who have been set free from the reality. Ready Player One, released in 2018, is another cyberpunk Science Fiction film recorded in a futuristic setting of 2045 where much of the existing humanity go into a virtual reality called the Ontologically Anthropocentric Sensory Immersive Simulation (OASIS), to escape the desolate nature of the world (Hibschman 98). During his stay in the OASIS, an orphaned teenager, Wade Watts, discovers certain clues hidden in the portals of the game, which grants the winner full ownership of the OASIS. He, together with his friends, make attempts to complete the game and win before a huge organization run by Nolan Sorrento can win. Upgrade is another cyberpunk film released in 2018 in the genre of Science Fiction with features of action and body transformation horror where a man is implanted with a microchip that allows his to have full control of his paralyzed body that he got after a mugging (Ebert 2). This research seeks to examines the similarities of the films and the manner in which all of them represent the Science Fiction genre and the cyberpunk subgenre. Firstly, the three films take place in a dystopian earth or a near future environment where technology is deeply part of human existence and without it, the survival of humanity is nearly impossible (Kim et al. 451). Again, in this setting, there is a deteriorated climate and famine is part of the daily life of human beings and necessary resources are scarce and highly challenging. Also, the films have aspects of fractured societies where criminal characters such as machines, Nolan Sorrento and Eron Keen, are part of the community and hackers such as Neo, Wade Watts and Grey, loners and punks as well as jockeys operate on the dark side of the cyberspace underworld in order to make it through. Secondly, the films have features of high tech and low life. The characters of these films have grown up with advanced technology that is arguably controlling most and even all aspects of their lives. In The Matrix, characters are trapped in a simulated reality which is equipped with advanced technology used by the artificial beings to control all aspects of their lives except the few enlightened individuals like Neo and his colleagues. In Ready Player One, Hibschman elucidates that Wade Watts, using his avatar called Parzival, alongside Samantha as Art3mis, Helen as Aech, Toshiro as Daito and Zhou as Sho, use a virtual reality machine to travel to the OASIS with the help of advanced technology (99). Basically, the virtual world is controlling their lives. In Upgrade, after the death of his wife Asha, and a mugging ...