The Matrices Of Cyberpunk 2.0

So The Matrix blew your mind. But if the Johnny Mnemonics and Lawnmower Men and Judge Dredds and Fifth Elements and Ghosts In The Machine and Hackers and Virtuosities were all we had to judge the “cyberpunk” movement in science fiction, it would seem nothing more than a mere B-movie hiccup. Thankfully, there exists a library of phenomenal films that paved the way for The Matrix.

Roots of Cyberpunk
Fahrenheit 451 (1966). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic Orwellian fascism.
A Clockwork Orange (1971). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic nihilism.
Soylent Green (1973). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic cannibalism.
A Boy And His Dog (1975). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic telepathic sexism.
Altered States (1980). Cyberpunkery: Pre-apocalyptic consciousness-raising through techno-pharmacology.

Cyberpunk By Appropriation
Alien(s) (1979). Cyberpunkery: Mega-corporation cybernetic dirty tricks.
Blade Runner (1982), Cyberpunkery: Mega-corporation cybernetic dirty tricks.
Terminator(s) (1984), Cyberpunkery: Mega-corporation cybernetic dirty tricks.
Robocop (1987), Cyberpunkery: Mega-corporation cybernetic dirty tricks.
Total Recall (1990). Cyberpunkery: Mega-corporation memory upload dirty tricks.

Elemental
Brazil (1985). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic Kafka-esque bureaucracy.
Max Headroom (1985). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic Kafka-esque media-cracy.
Until The End Of The World (1991). Cyberpunkery: Pre-apocalyptic noirish technocracy.
Tetsuo(s) (1988). Cyberpunkery: Pre-apocalyptic unholy fusion of man and machine in a technocracy.
12 Monkeys (1995). Cyberpunkery: Pre-, Post-, and A-pocalyptic sensory overload in a supposed democracy.

Forgotten Cyberpunk Classics
Brainstorm (1983). Cyberpunkery: Pre-apocalyptic unholy fusion of man and telepathic machine.
Hardware (1990). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic Orwellian fascism and mega-corporation cybernetic dirty tricks.
Fortress (1993). Cyberpunkery: Post-apocalyptic Orwellian fascism and mega-corporation cybernetic and memory upload dirty tricks.
Strange Days (1995). Cyberpunkery: Pre-apocalyptic mega-corporation consciousness-raising through techno-pharmacology dirty tricks and nihilism.
Anything from David Cronenberg. Cyberpunkery: He’s David Cronenberg.