10 Films That Predicted The Trump Presidency

Don't worry, there are characters good and bad on both sides...

Biff Tannen
Universal Pictures

Those of us who remember the election night in November of 2016 - a day that seems so long ago now - can recall the fear, excitement and downright bizarre experience of watching Donald Trump be elected to the highest office in Western civilization. It must have been what Doc Brown felt when he was told that actor Ronald Reagan would one day be president - bewilderment, amusement.

Soon the jokes came. His supreme court would be filled with the likes of Gary Busey and Meatloaf.

Some, called it early. Bill Maher and Ann Coulter were both convinced his success would be a reality, one begrudgingly and the other happily.

And then twitter came. And came again and again. Every day, we're awoken to weaponized social media, the number of verbal lies he's spoken to media outlets has surpassed any politician.

But there was a time, we all must remember, that he was simply a New York sleazebag socialite - the kind of man who stood by corrupt and vile people like Roy Cohn until he was dying of AIDS, only to all but abandon him.

And being in Real Estate in the New York, he made the rounds, which meant the supposedly liberal Hollywood had to pay their dues when the time came. Even before he was notable outside of the city called home, Hollywood seemed to have a good grasp on who he was, and even who he would one day become.

10. Gremlins 2: The New Batch

Biff Tannen
Warner Bros.

Before he got his hands on the actual Warner Bros. property, Joe Dante was aching to make a Looney Tunes movie. The closest he came was Gremlins 2: The New Batch which, in retrospect, is very much a live-action cartoon. Considering the success of the original, it's shocking what the studio allowed him to get away with.

But the best addition to the film is John Glover's brilliantly over-the-top portrayal of Daniel Clamp, owner of the Clamp Cable News network, among other enterprises. Clamp is clearly Trump as we knew him in the early 90s, with a dash of Ted Turner for good measure; nevermore is he the future president when we learn his network runs black and white movies, "Now in full colour...and with [happier endings]."

We now know the kind of film that Trump enjoys from eyewitnesses: namely just selected fight scenes from Bloodsport, with all the dialogue fast-forwarded.

Contributor
Contributor

Kenny Hedges is carbon-based. So I suppose a simple top 5 in no order will do: Halloween, Crimes and Misdemeanors, L.A. Confidential, Billy Liar, Blow Out He has his own website - thefilmreal.com - and is always looking for new writers with differing views to broaden the discussion.