15 best movies about virtual reality

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

You know exactly which picture comes first. But the rest can surprise and delight.

15. Lawnmower

• USA, Japan, UK, 1992.
• Science fiction, horror, thriller.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 5.

Scientist Trace conducts brain stimulation tests in a military laboratory. After the first failure, the mentally retarded lawnmower Job becomes his test subject. Combining drugs with immersion in virtual reality, Trace turns him into a genius. But then the military intervenes in the experiment, who have their own plans for technology.

Today the special effects in this film may look very weak, but the picture was filmed for little money back in the early 90s. True, the authors for promotion decided to declare "The Lawnmower Man" an adaptation of the story of the same name by Stephen King, although they are not connected in any way in the plot. But the writer through the court made sure that his name was removed from the credits. A few years later, the sequel Lawnmower 2: Beyond Cyberspace was released, but it failed miserably, and now the sequel has a frightening 2.5 points on IMDb.

14. Johnny Mnemonic

• USA, Canada, 1995.
• Science fiction, action, thriller.
• Duration: 98 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 7.

Johnny doesn't remember his childhood. The thing is that he is a mnemonic - a courier transporting information in a special chip implanted directly into the brain. Because of this, he loses parts of his own memory. One day, too much information is loaded into his head, which can lead to the death of Johnny. And the yakuza is hunting him, wanting to get the chip.

A whole series of adaptations of the works of William Gibson could have begun with this film. But the producers decided to shift the focus and make the project more youthful. Keanu Reeves was invited to the main role, and the plot was greatly simplified. Unfortunately, the film failed at the box office, burying all further plans.

13. Gamer

• USA, 2009.
• Science fiction, action, thriller.
• Duration: 95 minutes.
• IMDb: 5, 8.

In the not too distant future, a computer genius managed to combine a video game with a reality show. The project, called "The Assassins," quickly became the habitat of many criminals. This is the game that prisoner John Tillman must go through in order to gain freedom. But for a rich player, he is just a virtual character.

The author's project of the creators of "Adrenaline" Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine was not very popular: the film did not even pay off at the box office. But the directors managed to create a very driving and bright action movie. And the brutal Gerard Butler in the title role only adds to the atmosphere.

12. Nirvana

• Italy, France, 1997.
• Science fiction, drama.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 1.

The film is set in the future, where the power in the world belongs to corporations. Programmer Jimi creates a computer game in which the events are very similar to the real world. But she was infected by a virus, and now the main character Solo remembers all his previous lives, which makes him more careful. He asks Jimi to remove it along with the game. To do this, the programmer will have to get into the territory of the corporation.

The film, now half-forgotten, can be called one of the brightest examples of on-screen cyberpunk: here advanced technologies and the virtual world go side by side with the decline of society and the power of money.

11. Another Life

• Australia, UAE, 2017.
• Science fiction, detective, thriller.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 3.

Ren Amari has invented a new drug that allows you to live in your thoughts for weeks and even years in a matter of minutes. But then officials have an idea to use this tool for virtual prisons. Ren does not agree with the proposal, but soon she herself ends up in such a cell.

In this film, the virtual world is created not on a computer, but right in the head of a person, based on his own memories and thoughts. This made it possible to make the plot multi-layered and confusing: the heroes themselves cannot distinguish reality from fantasy.

10. Brainstorming

• USA, 1983.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 106 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

Scientists invent a fantastic device that reads emotions and memories and writes them to a special medium. Subsequently, another person may experience the same experiences, be it fear, orgasm, or even death. But soon the military began to take an interest in the apparatus, who wanted to use it for torture and brainwashing.

The release of the film was almost prevented by a tragedy: the famous actress Natalie Wood died on the set. After that, the work was frozen for a long time. As a result, "Brainstorm" was still filmed, inviting Natalie's sister into the remaining scenes.

9. Ender's game

• USA, 2013.
• Science fiction, action, adventure.
• Duration: 114 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 6.

In the distant future, humanity is waging a difficult war with alien invaders - beetles. To train officers, the government selects the most talented children and sends them to a special school. Young Ender turns out to be the one who will command the army. But first, he needs to go through training on a virtual simulator.

Ender's Game shows how much warfare can change in the future. It is quite possible that everything will turn into a kind of computer game, which will be controlled by children.

8. Existence

• UK, France, Canada, 1999.
• Science fiction, action, thriller.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

During the presentation of the virtual game "Existence", its creator Allegra is attacked by a mad assassin armed with a strange organic pistol. She escapes, but the only copy of the game is damaged. Allegra then persuades the trainee to connect to Existence to see if it works. As a result, the heroes begin to confuse the real world with the virtual one.

This picture was shot by the master of body-horror David Cronenberg, and therefore the intricate plot and movements in virtual reality here are interspersed with eerie physiological scenes characteristic of the director. And a separate plus of the picture - young Jude Law and Jennifer Jason Leigh starring.

7. Throne

• USA, 1982.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Talented developer Kevin Flynn of ENCOM Corporation creates very unusual games. But the bosses appropriate them for themselves, and the programmer himself is fired. Kevin sneaks into the laboratory at night, wanting to take his property. Suddenly, he falls under the digital beam and finds himself in a virtual space where totalitarian orders reign.

For the early 1980s, Tron turned out to be a real breakthrough in terms of special effects. About 20 minutes of this picture was created on a computer, and facial animation also appeared for the first time. And shots with live actors had to be printed on sheets and reshomed on a camera with a filter of a certain color.

6. Throne: Legacy

• USA, 2010.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 125 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

The protagonist of the first film, Kevin Flynn, disappeared without a trace. Many years later, his son goes in search of his father. He enters the virtual world and discovers that Flynn's doppelganger has re-established tyranny and even plans to invade reality.

In the sequel, released a quarter of a century later, the logic is much more convoluted than in the original. But the development of special effects made it possible to show races on virtual motorcycles and battle with discs much brighter and more interesting, as in modern computer games.

5. Thirteenth floor

• USA, Germany, 1999.
• Science fiction, detective, thriller.
• Duration: 100 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

A team of scientists creates a computer capable of simulating virtual reality inhabited by thinking people. It looks like 1937 Los Angeles. When a person is immersed in a simulation, he moves into the body of one of the sleeping characters. But soon one of the developers of the technology dies. Douglas Hall, who is suspected of murder, is trying to understand the circumstances of his colleague's death.

The film is based in part on the book Simulacron-3 by Daniel Francis Galuier, but with significant changes. For the most part, this is a complex detective story, where plot twists are based on the substitution of the minds of people and computer characters. In addition, virtual reality in the "Thirteenth Floor" does not look futuristic, but, on the contrary, allows you to feel the retro atmosphere.

4. Source code

• USA, Canada, 2011.
• Science fiction, action, thriller.
• Duration: 93 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

Military Coulter finds himself on the train. He does not remember how he got there, but he does not have time to figure out the situation: an explosion occurs. After that, Coulter again finds himself in the same place. It is revealed that he is imprisoned in a simulation and must live the same moment in his life until he finds a way to prevent a catastrophe.

This picture was directed by Duncan Jones, director of Luna 2112 and the son of musician David Bowie. He very unusually combined a cyclical story like Groundhog Day, where the hero gets into the same events over and over again, with a detective in the spirit of Murder on the Orient Express. And in addition, he put everything that happens in virtual reality.

3. Get ready for the first player

• USA, 2018.
• Science fiction, adventure.
• Duration: 140 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

The whole world is fascinated by the virtual game OASIS. So people try to forget about the problems, which in real life are too many. Poor neighborhood guy Wade Watts could win first prize. But the hero and his friends are confronted by the powerful corporation IOI.

Steven Spielberg's film is based on the novel of the same name by Ernest Kline. The book featured a myriad of 80s and 90s pop culture references, with literally all of the characters and levels of OASIS referring to old movies, games, and music. Spielberg decided to do it on screen as well. The action of the picture was mostly created on a computer, but this allowed the author to show races in a car from the film "Back to the Future", the Steel Giant, to recreate a scene from Kubrick's "Shining" and many more legendary moments.

2. The world is on the wire

• Germany, 1973.
• Science fiction, detective.
• Duration: 212 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

The Institute of Cybernetics is developing the Simulacron supercomputer, which simulates full-fledged virtual worlds and even populates them with people. But shortly after launch, its creator, Henry Vollmer, is electrocuted. Fred Stiller takes his place, and strange things begin to happen around: employees change and even disappear without a trace.

The two-part film, like The Thirteenth Floor, is based on the book Simulacron-3. But in this case, the adaptation more accurately conveys the content of the original. Therefore, the two pictures differ in both the plot and the atmosphere itself.

1. Matrix

• USA, Australia, 1999.
• Science fiction, thriller.
• Duration: 136 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 7.

During the day, Thomas Anderson works in the most ordinary office, and at night turns into a legendary hacker named Neo. But one day his world turns upside down: Neo learns that everything around is just a computer simulation. And in the end, it was he who must become the chosen one, who will help awaken humanity and begin the fight against the power of the machines.

Of course, the first place in the list of films about virtual reality can only be "The Matrix". This film by the Wachowski duo showed that ideas from cyberpunk can be brought into mainstream cinema: the enslavement of people by machines and a virtual world indistinguishable from reality. And at the same time, the authors brought special effects in cinema to a new level of entertainment.