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80's tech noir

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Brazil (1985) isn't quite 'tech noir' like how you describe it, it's soft-dystopian retro-futuristic tech, and it's an amazingly awesome movie. One of my favorite Dystopian movies, too. A lot of it is heavily 80s-tech influenced though, like as if technology stopped progressing in 1981, and you jumped forward 300 years into a hapless society with the same pieces of technology as the 1980s.
 
Tatsumaki Senpuukyaku! said:
Not a film but we are on a video game forum so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Snatcher

snatcher-neokobe.gif


Bonus: It came out in Japan in the 80s so it's technically 80s
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Not influenced by Blade Runner in any way whatsoever.
 
I wouldn't consider them tech noir I don't think, but if you wanted some gritty sci-fi from the 80's scanners and Videodrome are pretty good. I recently just discovered them myself.
 
gforguava said:
For another entry: Wild Palms, Bruce Wagner's miniseries, is a sunnier variety of this.

Tech Noir + Sunny California + Media + Politics + Criticism of Scientology = Wild Palms.

A true blue masterpiece, it was so ahead of its time and totally gonzo that ABC had a 1-900 line(1-900-773-WILD) so people could call if they didn't understand the show. It is amazing, prescient, and just about the weirdest thing ever put on broadcast television. Twin Peaks came and a lot of imitators followed in its wake but they all followed the flavor(small town weirdos!) and not the soul of big, weird, creator driven ideas. But Wild Palms is just that, it is Bruce Wagner just going big with all of his crazy(with the clout of Oliver Stone producing, the likes of Katheryn Bigelow directing an episode, and Ryuichi Sakamoto doing the score) and the result is, well,... TRAILER

wp3.gif

"I have seen the future...and it is Channel Three."
Click to expand...

I'd heard of this as a Twin Peaks "imitator" but didn't realize the cast was that great (Loggia! David Warner! Ernie Hudson!). That looks genuinely fun, is it on any steaming services?
 
wanderingprostheyltite said:
I'd heard of this as a Twin Peaks "imitator" but didn't realize the cast was that great (Loggia! David Warner! Ernie Hudson!). That looks genuinely fun, is it on any steaming services?
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Unfortunately it is not.

And it isn't really like Twin Peaks at all, though they are lumped together often(on the rare occasion people remember that Wild Palms even existed), its interests are about as far removed as one could get from what Lynch and Frost created. But it definitely deserves a better place in cult TV history than it currently has.
 
Vlaphor said:
Well, if it is cyberpunk that you are looking for, look no further than

http://rekall.me/

which is a classic cyberpunk themed tumblr with an emphasis on Japanese cyberpunk (as well as excellent yet unusual shots of architecture). A bit of a warning, this tumblr can be a bit NSFW at times (as classic cyberpunk could occasionally be). Still, as someone who absolutely loves cyberpunk, I could read through this tumblr for hours (and I take every chance I get to tell people about it).
Click to expand...

super-famicom said:
Click here and keep scrolling down: http://rekall.me/

Edit-Damn, beaten
Click to expand...

This is great! Thanks.
 
gforguava said:
For another entry: Wild Palms, Bruce Wagner's miniseries, is a sunnier variety of this.

wp.jpg

Tech Noir + Sunny California + Media + Politics + Criticism of Scientology = Wild Palms.
Click to expand...

Ten points for Wild Palms, I had the book and watched it as a kid, I tried to find it back when file sharing started and could not find it- had to settle for episodes of Max Headroom instead.
 
I love that this style is getting recognition now. For one, I don't care overmuch for Terminator 2 but LOVE Terminator 1. It's soooo great. Also, the closest thing I have had to a religious experience in my life is seeing Robocop at a Drive-in at like 8 years old. It was confusing, brutal, and terrifying as hell.

Nothing I love more than driving around town jamming to synthwave.
 
I feel like Alien Nation deserves some recognition. I'm afraid to rewach it after all these years, but I loved it as a kid. It even spawned a short lived TV series nobody else remembers. It wasn't nearly as noir (I mean, we are talking about 80's TV production values), but it was quite avantgarde for its time.

Trailer.

There were talks about a TV reboot some years ago, but I guess it's stuck in development hell.
 
Early 90's film, but Split Second starring Rutger Hauer isn't totally unlike Terminator.

The tagline "They have seen the future, now they have to kill it" is just fantastic.
 
I've always had a soft spot for Runaways.

Tom Selleck as Cop after runaway robots.Good solid 80's sci fi with the tech noir to match.
 
Theres not a lot for the 80's tech noir im afraid OP, sure theres a bit but if you want you can start checking out the Cyberpunk genre since it kind of overlaps it, and then you can look at more modern stuff, also that can lead you onto Dystopian stuff as well (but thats more post apocalyptic and less Neon Coulours with the Dark Setting)

I'm still waiting for the offical gaf Cyberpunk/Dystopian thread, so we can discuss stuff from Bladerunner to Dredd, Mad Max to Akira and everything inbetween, whilst i'm still on my discovery of the genre myself.
 
gforguava said:
For another entry: Wild Palms, Bruce Wagner's miniseries, is a sunnier variety of this.

wp.jpg

Tech Noir + Sunny California + Media + Politics + Criticism of Scientology = Wild Palms.

A true blue masterpiece, it was so ahead of its time and totally gonzo that ABC had a 1-900 line(1-900-773-WILD) so people could call if they didn't understand the show. It is amazing, prescient, and just about the weirdest thing ever put on broadcast television. Twin Peaks came and a lot of imitators followed in its wake but they all followed the flavor(small town weirdos!) and not the soul of big, weird, creator driven ideas. But Wild Palms is just that, it is Bruce Wagner just going big with all of his crazy(with the clout of Oliver Stone producing, the likes of Katheryn Bigelow directing an episode, and Ryuichi Sakamoto doing the score) and the result is, well,... TRAILER

wp3.gif

"I have seen the future...and it is Channel Three."
Click to expand...

YES! Love this show! I've never met anyone in person who's seen it.

I first heard about it through this article about Suda51.
http://blog.hardcoregaming101.net/2009/07/suda-51-and-wild-palms.html
 
Vlaphor said:
Well, if it is cyberpunk that you are looking for, look no further than

http://rekall.me/

which is a classic cyberpunk themed tumblr with an emphasis on Japanese cyberpunk (as well as excellent yet unusual shots of architecture). A bit of a warning, this tumblr can be a bit NSFW at times (as classic cyberpunk could occasionally be). Still, as someone who absolutely loves cyberpunk, I could read through this tumblr for hours (and I take every chance I get to tell people about it).
Click to expand...

This is run by Fullbright's Steve Gaynor. I've been following it for years and was really hoping the Gone Home followup would be cyberpunk. Maybe Tacoma is a bit.

Funky Papa said:
I feel like Alien Nation deserves some recognition. I'm afraid to rewach it after all these years, but I loved it as a kid. It even spawned a short lived TV series nobody else remembers. It wasn't nearly as noir (I mean, we are talking about 80's TV production values), but it was quite avantgarde for its time.

Trailer.

There were talks about a TV reboot some years ago, but I guess it's stuck in development hell.
Click to expand...

Yes! I wast thinking this same thing and came back to the thread to make sure it got posted.
 
Would 12 Monkey count?

Zepp Twofist said:
So anybody think it's weird that John Connor send his good friend Kyle Reese back in time to bang him mom?
Click to expand...

SillyNonsense said:
If you were sitting in your bunker and your only choices were to stop existing and doom the human race, or send your bro back in time with a beer and some flowers, which would you choose?
Click to expand...

CarpeDeezNutz said:
He picked his best friend to be his dad, I don't know how I would wrap my head around that but it would probably be the best pick I think.
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I think in the original timeline they were not close.
 
The anime of Yoshiaki Kawajiri should fit. Wicked City, Demon City Shinjuku and Cyber City Oedo 808 in particular though the latter veers more into cyberpunk. (I would kill for a Souls-like in this style)

Vlaphor said:
Well, if it is cyberpunk that you are looking for, look no further than

http://rekall.me/

which is a classic cyberpunk themed tumblr with an emphasis on Japanese cyberpunk (as well as excellent yet unusual shots of architecture). A bit of a warning, this tumblr can be a bit NSFW at times (as classic cyberpunk could occasionally be). Still, as someone who absolutely loves cyberpunk, I could read through this tumblr for hours (and I take every chance I get to tell people about it).
Click to expand...

super-famicom said:
Click here and keep scrolling down: http://rekall.me/

Edit-Damn, beaten
Click to expand...
Been following this one for years, fantastic stuff.
 
Can anyone advise on any tech noir films (or any films) that were made which were influenced by Blade Runner?
Interested in seeing some thats all :)
Thinking things like Dark City and The Matrix for broad examples.
 
I don't suppose Outland applies, is more of a space western.

grounded_dreams said:
Can anyone advise on any tech noir films (or any films) that were made which were influenced by Blade Runner?
Interested in seeing some thats all :)
Thinking things like Dark City and The Matrix for broad examples.
Click to expand...

Equilibrium
 
Funky Papa said:
I feel like Alien Nation deserves some recognition. I'm afraid to rewach it after all these years, but I loved it as a kid. It even spawned a short lived TV series nobody else remembers. It wasn't nearly as noir (I mean, we are talking about 80's TV production values), but it was quite avantgarde for its time.

Trailer.

There were talks about a TV reboot some years ago, but I guess it's stuck in development hell.
Click to expand...

And 5 tv movies.
 
Vlaphor said:
Well, if it is cyberpunk that you are looking for, look no further than

http://rekall.me/
Click to expand...

These image blogs are cool but I wish they would source some of this stuff. Simple all lowercase tags with the titles would suffice. I hate having to manually reverse image search every image I like (which is a lot of them).

Edit:
It seems some do have sources when you click through but it's hit or miss.
 
"Tech Noir"?

Nah. They were just sci fi films with their own vision on how the future would be like.

Bundling it all up in some kind of mythology is a bit of a stretch IMO.
 
Funky Papa said:
Just chimming in to say that http://rekall.me/ is my sexuality.

Some of those pictures are damn obscure, though. I have to wonder how/where they get them.
Click to expand...

Is that a gif of Cursor drawing the Automan car in there? Wow.

Nice to see the mention of Hardware upthread. Interesting factoid - the production company were sued by Fleetway (publishers of 2000AD) for ripping off a one-off strip called 'Shokk!' which was published a couple of years prior to the film. Great movie tho - I rewatched it a couple on months ago, and some of the character beats are surprisingly prescient.
 
I have it on DVD and the last time I watched Wild Palms I didn't think it had aged that well, although I think I had rose-tinted glasses about it from watching it as a kid and loving it. Still a cool concept and very ahead of it's time, it just didn't impress me as much as I thought it would after all that time.

It's not really tech noir, as it's more like a Mad Max type setting for the most part, but Cherry 2000 has some tech noir stuff early on with the club scenes and where the protagonist lives. It's strangely prescient about dating app culture and it's set in 2017 too.
 
Laputa_94 said:
I wouldn't consider them tech noir I don't think, but if you wanted some gritty sci-fi from the 80's scanners and Videodrome are pretty good. I recently just discovered them myself.
Click to expand...

80s Cronenberg is gritty as fuck. I reckon people in here should watch those two films (and also The Fly and Dead Ringers because they are awesome 80's films).
 
gforguava said:
For another entry: Wild Palms, Bruce Wagner's miniseries, is a sunnier variety of this.

wp.jpg

Tech Noir + Sunny California + Media + Politics + Criticism of Scientology = Wild Palms.

A true blue masterpiece, it was so ahead of its time and totally gonzo that ABC had a 1-900 line(1-900-773-WILD) so people could call if they didn't understand the show. It is amazing, prescient, and just about the weirdest thing ever put on broadcast television. Twin Peaks came and a lot of imitators followed in its wake but they all followed the flavor(small town weirdos!) and not the soul of big, weird, creator driven ideas. But Wild Palms is just that, it is Bruce Wagner just going big with all of his crazy(with the clout of Oliver Stone producing, the likes of Katheryn Bigelow directing an episode, and Ryuichi Sakamoto doing the score) and the result is, well,... TRAILER

wp3.gif

"I have seen the future...and it is Channel Three."
Click to expand...
Yup, it's amazing.
 
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