Blade Runner / 2049
It would be impossible to kick off this list in any other way than putting a spotlight on Blade Runner and its sequel.
The critically acclaimed 1982 movie is widely regarded as one of the greatest films of all time, let alone the cyberpunk genre’s high watermark, and the recently released Blade Runner 2049 is perhaps one of the greatest examples of a modern sequel that managed to near-perfectly recapture the magic of its predecessor.
In both cases, across every facet of their production, from the thrilling plots and superb writing to the grittiness of its bleak vision of a dystopian future, both Blade Runner movies stand as definitive examples of cyberpunk fiction.
Incidentally, the franchise is based on Philip. K. Dick’s novel Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep? — another hugely important piece of cyberpunk fiction.
You obviously want to watch the Blade Runner films in order, but you actually can’t go wrong with either if you only have time for one. While they do follow on from each other, both stories can be enjoyed standalone.
Without spoiling any of the suspense of their respective plots, both films follow police detectives charged with seeking out rogue synthetic humans (replicants) created by the Tyrell mega-corporation.
Originally designed essentially as slave labor, a group of these replicants has started to think freely and rebel against their programming.
But not all is as it seems, as Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) and, later, Ryan Gosling find themselves at the center of something far greater in consequence than what they signed up for.
Ghost in the Shell
Equally as well-known as Blade Runner to those familiar with the cyberpunk film genre is Ghost in the Shell, the 1995 anime movie based on the manga series which debuted in the late 1980s.
The story takes place in Tokyo 2029 and follows a cyborg public-security agent who hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. It’s a plot that features many themes quintessential to the genre, including transhumanism, augmentation, corporate warfare, and philosophical questions about self-identity in a technologically advanced world.
These are themes you’ll encounter throughout CD Projekt Red’s Cyberpunk 2077, and indeed, Ghost in the Shell would almost certainly serve as a strong inspiration and point of reference during the game’s development.
The anime was later remade as a live-action film that released in 2017 starring Scarlett Johansen, which is perhaps better known in the mainstream but certainly isn’t the best version.
If you can, watch the anime, which does a far better job of portraying the “high tech, low life” aesthetic so important to any cyberpunk production.
Akira
Recognize the bike? Akira’s iconic red motorcycle was the inspiration for Cyberpunk 2077’s sexy Yaiba Kusanagi that we’ve seen so much of during the game’s promotion.
But Akira is a classic anime worth watching for more reasons than its futuristic motorcycle.
Quite apart from its utterly brilliant animation, Akira is highly regarded as a seminal Japanese anime production whose popularity and acclaim essentially paved the way for the country’s film industry to gain international recognition.
Its story has also proved hugely influential to many modern films, television series, and video games.
The story is set in a futuristic Neo Tokyo and follows the leader of a bike gang, Shōtarō Kaneda, whose friend, Tetsuo Shima, mysteriously gains telekinetic powers after he’s involved in a crash with an Esper called Akira.
Those powers end up threatening an entire military base as they struggle to contain the threat, the same which destroyed the original Tokyo years earlier.
It’s a gripping plot with a pacing that moves at warp speed, making for an edge-of-your-seat type of experience. But Akira also serves as great homework for anybody interested in learning about the origins of the cyberpunk genre, exploring many of its key themes and generally oozing that dark ambiance and tone that makes cyberpunk so intoxicating.
The Matrix
Unless you’ve long been a fan of the genre, you’re likely to have already seen its most popular films many times without ever realizing what a huge part of cyberpunk’s history it is.
The classic film is worth studying for Cyberpunk 2077 fans, and not just because it also stars Keanu Reeves. It’s perhaps the ultimate expression of “high tech, low life” and transhumanism themes, as mankind’s interest in creating artificial intelligence and robotic machines ends in their complete downfall.
Indeed, in The Matrix, humans are quite literally replaced by machines, existing only in a cyberspace that they’re completely ignorant of.
Their salvation rests on the efforts of a rogue community of humans who have broken free of their shackles and now live outside the machine’s control, rescuing special individuals from the program and allying them with their cause.
Even if you’ve seen The Matrix trilogy before, rewatching it with special attention to observing cyberpunk themes makes for interesting viewing.; particularly so, if you also get around to watching other films on this list too slike transhumanism, augmentation, artificial intelligence, and the
Cypher
Cypher isn’t a film you’re likely to have heard of unless you’re a sci-fi nerd or just an avid fan of cyberpunk fiction. It more or less released direct-to-video back in 2002 and certainly didn’t receive anything like the critical acclaim as other entries on this list.
Still, despite being a little rough around the edges, this unknown gem stands apart with its unique, complex plot and interesting corporate espionage themes.
The story is about a recently unemployed accountant named Morgan who becomes bored with his suburban life and attempts to reinvent himself as a corporate spy.
After weeks of secretly recording corporate presentations from rival companies across the country, though, he experiences strange flashbacks and neck pain.
Later, thanks to a women he meets named Rita, he discovers those odd sensations are the result of something far more nefarious than he could possibly imagine.
The pace and scope of Cypher’s plot then suddenly explodes into something grander and more sci-fi. Although the aesthetic of the movie never leans into cyberpunk tropes, there’s the same sense of tension, paranoia, and claustrophobia that are ever-present in many cyberpunk works of fiction.
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