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Videos that Forecast the Future:
Here's are some of the videos we recommend for their ability to entertain while provoking thought
about the future. Click on the link if you're interested in purchasing the video or DVD.
- Demolition Man
- 1993 (VHS)
- Demolition Man
- 1993 (DVD)
OK, it's a Stallone film. But I don't think I've seen a more amusing, entertaining, and consistent
picture of what the world could be like in 2034. Stallone plays his usual action figure but he's placed
in a future that has done away with cursing, salt, toilet paper, and full-contact sex. Unforgettable
vignettes on the future of entertainment, restaurants, corporate consolidation, presidential leadership,
and hit music. One of my favorites.
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Blade Runner - 1982 (VHS)
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Blade Runner - 1982 (DVD)
One of the first, and best, images of a future city that has been overtaken by rampant pollution and
unforeseen methods of crime. Robotics have made great leaps forward. See this film and then watch the
latest Spielberg opus, A.I., and see which one had the original ideas of extending robotic development
into self-awareness. Great depictions of ethnic diversity, transportation, living conditions in a darkly
depicted Los Angeles of mid-21st Century.
- Trigger Effect
- 1996 (VHS)
- Trigger Effect
- 1996 (DVD)
What happens if the power goes out and stays out? I don't mean for the few hours of a rolling blackout but
for days, weeks, maybe even a month? How would you gas your car? Feed your family? Protect yourself when the going
gets really ugly? Trigger Effect is a film that plays through the classic worst case scenario of a blackout extended
realistically into a nightmare. What wins out in the end? The film may surprise you. This video keeps you thinking.
- Disclosure
- 1994 (VHS)
- Disclosure
- 1994 (DVD)
Although the plot of this movie centers around a sexual harassment incident, there is a fascinating undercurrent
of future technology. From video mail to virtual reality business environments, this film has wonderful sections of
future scenarios. I especially like the representation of the "help angel" who looks like the CTO.
- Johnny Mnemonic
- 1995 (VHS)
- Johnny Mnemonic
- 1995 (DVD)
In a future world there is no internet security. The only way to securely transport information is to place it with
a courier. Johnny carries the information in his head through a "wet wire" interface. Could we eventually carry around
chips and other information technology integrated with our bodies? This film, based on a short story by renowned sci-fi
writer William Gibson, gives us a possible view to that world. Only downside: pedestrian acting from Keanu Reeves. Best
moment: in order to do the job, Johnny had to drop some short term memory. What? "My childhood."
- Red Planet
- 2001 (VHS)
- Red Planet
- 2001 (DVD)
It's 2057 and we've been sending terraforming devices to Mars that should have made it inhabitable. An expedition
heads to the planet to investigate. The technology is fascinating. It's a logical extension of today's NASA probes and
potential future technology. A protection robot plays a big part in the plot. Fairly good acting and some spectacular
special effects sequences make this a good buy. Best moment: a return to a future yesteryear when a Russian Mars probe
needs to be reprogrammed in what will seem an ancient computer language by mid 21st Century.
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Books on the future
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New additions to our book recommendations
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Books we rank as classics of thought and practice
on the future, strategy, and philosophy.
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Books we recommend for their broad perspective and
usefulness in developing a personal scanning system.
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