Future doesn’t look too bright — in the movies

Welcome to the wasteland
Just as the “Apes” movies were running out of time-travel paradoxes, the post-nuke genre was revitalized by L.Q Jones’ sharp adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s novella, “A Boy and His Dog” (1975). The year is 2024, World War III has wiped out most of the planet, and only scavengers survive. The title refers to a rapist (played by Don Johnson) and his shrewd pet (voice by Tim McIntire). When the “boy” is lured into an underground city ruled by a merciless committee, the gallows humor really takes over.

Inhabiting a similar desert wasteland was George Miller’s Australian “Mad Max” series starring Mel Gibson as a vengeful policeman who loses his wife and child to a cyclist gang. “Mad Max” (1979) sets up the story and Max’s character, but it’s 1982’s “The Road Warrior” (aka “Mad Max 2”) that demonstrates Miller’s genius at creating a believable post-apocalyptic society that literally runs on gasoline. The weaker 1985 finale, “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome,” continues in a similar vein.

In 1982, while “E.T.” was shattering box-office records, Ridley Scott’s “Blade Runner” and John Carpenter’s “The Thing” paid homage to science-fiction traditions that weren’t so rosy. The following year, Lynne Littman’s “Testament” echoed “On the Beach” with its story of a mother (Jane Alexander) who can do little but watch as her children die from radiation sickness.

Michael Radford’s relentlessly grim adaptation of George Orwell’s “1984” arrived on schedule — in 1984. John Hurt played the oppressed Winston Smith, who learns to stop worrying and love Big Brother. Richard Burton (in his last movie role) played the minister who brainwashes him.

An earlier, more conventional but still disturbing version, starring Edmond O'Brien as Smith, was released in 1956. George Lucas’ “THX-1138” (1971), Terry Gilliam’s “Brazil” (1985) and this year’s “V for Vendetta” (written and produced by the Wachowski brothers) often play like unofficial remakes of “1984.” Indeed, it’s difficult to imagine a futuristic cinema without Orwell’s book, which has served as the downbeat template for so many movies since its publication in 1948.

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