2. Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984)
Faithfully adapted from George Orwell's novel, the story is the defining bleak science-fiction scenario. Actually made in 1984, the film follows Winston Smith (John Hurt) who works at the Ministry of Truth as a re-writer of history. Eventually, Smith begins a relationship with a woman named Julia (Suzanna Hamilton), which leads to Winston trying to fight against the Party and Big Brother with tragic consequences. Apparently, the future is going to suck. While the movie wasn't ground-breaking, the story Nineteen Eighty-Four is the reason so many of these other movies exist. It brought to the forefront the notion the government could watch you at all times, like Big Brother. Plus, the crushing of culture for the sake of safety has been used many times throughout science fiction. Michael Radford's Nineteen Eighty-Four brings all of Orwell's elements together in a masterful adaptation of the legendary source material, and it channels the bleak message perfectly. The world is in shambles and everything is grey, it is as if the world is washed up and used up. This bleakness stretches into the plot we watch as Winston Smith fights against Big Brother, but there's always a sense of futility about it all that just won't be shaken.