Back to the Future day: 9 other films that actually got the future right

From Minority Report to Total Recall

Back to the Future II predicted Jaws 19 would happen in 2015

Director Robert Zemeckis and writer Bob Gale never intended their film to accurately depict the future but Back to the Future II managed to get a whole lot right about 2015: wearable technology, video calls, fingerprint technology - the list goes on.

However, they are not the only filmmakers who have predicted the future correctly.

From Steven Spielberg’s Minority Report to Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, here are 9 other films that predicted elements of the future correctly.

1 - Minority Report

Watching Minority Report today, you’d be forgiven for forgetting that in 2002 touchscreen computing wasn’t an everyday thing. Not only did Spielberg predict gestures such a swiping would become the norm, he foresaw tailored adverts, facial recognition software and voice automation.

2 - Woman in the Moon

The moon landing wasn’t until 1969, but almost 40 years prior, in 1929, Fritz Lang managed to predict that man would fly to the moon in a rocket. While he did also believe there would be a breathable lunar atmosphere on the moon, his depiction of space flight at the time was unprecedented.

3 - 2001: A Space Odyssey

Stanley Kubrick’s groundbreaking sci-fi film predicted many technologies that would become a norm for us today: computer tablets, IOS’s that can converse with you, and Skype. If Siri turns evil don’t say we weren’t warned.

4 - Blade Runner

While our cityscapes may not be as bland and black as Blade Runner's (yet), Ridley Scott’s implementation of digital billboards was on the money. Expect Blade Runner 2 adverts being ironically projected from screens at Piccadilly Circus.

5 - Terminator

In the original Arnold Schwarzenegger film, we saw a number of things that would eventually become real. In one scene, a heavily loaded metallic helicopter is seen. Today, of course, our military have very similar killer drones. Also, the British army has a satellite system called Skynet…

6 - The Truman Show

Not exactly brimming with high-tech, but The Truman Show did predict one thing: Reality TV. Big Brother, Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Geordie Shore: the only difference is that in the real world participants are willingly being observed, unlike poor Jim Carrey.

7 - Jetsons: The Movie

We may not have flying cars, nor do we have entire meals in pill form, but we do have robot vacuums. The futuristic family also predicted video chat, tanning beds and TeleViewers (pretty much iPads).

8 - Enemy of the State

The Will Smith featuring spy thriller follows one congressman’s attempt to implement legislation that would dramatically increase mass surveillance powers. In a post-Edward Snowden age, this is eerily similar to what has happened in the real world, except invasive surveillance actually happens and, unlike Smith’s character, Snowden is still wanted by the state.

9 - Total Recall

Another Arnie film, Total Recall followed Douglas Quaid in 2084 and his worrying dreams about a mysterious woman on Mars. One notable scene sees him get into a driverless car. Philip K. Dick probably had no idea that 70 years prior to the films setting Google would be pushing for their own self-driving cars.