Cyberpunk

Cyberpunk (a portmanteau of cybernetics and punk) is a genre of science fiction that focuses on computers or information technology, usually coupled with some degree of breakdown in social order. The plot of cyberpunk literature often revolves around the conflict between hackers, artificial intelligences, and mega corporations, tending to be set within a near-future dystopian Earth, rather than the "outer space" locales prevalent at the time of cyberpunk's inception. Much of the genre's "atmosphere" echoes film noir, and written works in the genre often use techniques from detective fiction. While this gritty, hard-bitten style was hailed as revolutionary during cyberpunk's early days, later observers concluded that, literarily speaking, most cyberpunk narrative techniques were less innovative than those of the New Wave, twenty years earlier. Primary exponents of the cyberpunk field include William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, John Shirley and Rudy Rucker. The term became widespread in the 1980s and remains current today.

Film and television

The film Blade Runner (1982), adapted from Philip K. Dick's Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, is set in a dystopian future in which manufactured beings called replicants are slaves used on space colonies and are legal prey on Earth to various bounty hunters who "retire" (kill) them. Although Blade Runner was not extravagantly successful in its first theatrical release, it found a wide viewership in the home video market. Since the movie omits the religious and mythical elements of Dick's original novel (e.g., empathy boxes and Wilbur Mercer), it falls more strictly within the cyberpunk genre than the novel does, and it can be credited with introducing many viewers to the genre's themes.

Related Topics:
Blade Runner - 1982 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - Replicant

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In addition, James Cameron's short lived television series, Dark Angel (2000–2002), played with many of the same themes as Blade Runner. Cameron's version, however, is told from the point of view of the female replicant (Max), rather than that of the bounty hunter. James Cameron also played with similar themes in The Terminator (1984) and ' (1991).

Related Topics:
James Cameron - Dark Angel - 2000 - 2002 - Blade Runner - Replicant - The Terminator - 1984 - 1991

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As mentioned above, the short-lived television series Max Headroom also spread cyberpunk tropes, probably with more success than the genre's first written works.

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The Robocop series has a more near-futuristic setting where at least one corporation, Omni Consumer Products, is an all-powerful presence in the city of Detroit. Johnny Mnemonic was not successful, but detailed William Gibson's world rather faithfully. Strange Days used many cyberpunk elements as well.

Related Topics:
Robocop - Corporation - Detroit - Johnny Mnemonic - Strange Days

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Anime has contained cyborgs and other plausibly "cyberpunk" elements since the early 1960s. Witness the series 8 Man (1963), about a human-turned-cyborg who fights an endless struggle against his lawless world. This series arose two decades before Gibson propelled the genre to celebrity, though as with many such questions in science fiction, the actual extent to which these early works influenced later ones is open to debate. (One can always aggrandize the cyberpunk genre by retroactively "claiming" earlier works to be members, or at least vital precursors; consider The Six Million Dollar Man or Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Indeed, one could even aggrandize postcyberpunk, by laying claim to optimistic fantasies like Tron.) The anime series Bubblegum Crisis (1985) was also an early animated form of cyberpunk, and in a more explicit manner: both the 2032 and the newer 2040 series serve as extended homages to Blade Runner. The anime movie Ghost in the Shell (1995), based on a 1991 manga and often hailed as a cyberpunk classic, explores the boundaries between man and machine in a futuristic Japan. The television series ' carries over the movie's characters to explore the movie's world in more sociological depth. Indeed, this focus upon the social impact of network technology has led some commentators to feel that the television series leans more toward being a product of the postcyberpunk period. {{ref|associated-content}}

Related Topics:
Anime - Cyborg - 1960s - 8 Man - 1963 - The Six Million Dollar Man - Fritz Lang - Metropolis - Postcyberpunk - Tron - Bubblegum Crisis - 1985 - Ghost in the Shell - 1995 - Manga

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The Matrix series, which began with 1999's The Matrix (and now also contains The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolutions, and The Animatrix) uses a wide variety of cyberpunk elements. The series's basic premise revolves around a virtual reality so realistic as to be indistinguishable from the real world; human brains are directly connected to this computer system. The Wachowski brothers, writers and directors behind the series, drew many of its elements from Japanese anime, and The Animatrix carried the idea exchange in the reverse direction. While the first movie was extremely successful, earning $456 million worldwide and beating ' for special-effects Oscars, viewers continue to debate the quality of the sequels. Some fans believe the sequels exceed the quality and conceptual heights of the first film, while a considerable number of viewers believe the latter films to be disappointing lesser achievements. Charges include the assertion that Reloaded was "hyped beyond the point where it can possibly deliver" {{ref|socialism-today}}. After Reloaded's underwhelming critical reception and box-office performance, many hoped that the third installment would "redeem" the series; however, Revolutions turned out to be, in one reviewer's words, "a whimper in bang's clothing" {{ref|avclub-matrix-revolutions}}. Despite these tribulations, the franchise has also spawned three video games and a number of comic books.

Related Topics:
1999 - The Matrix - The Matrix Reloaded - The Matrix Revolutions - The Animatrix - Wachowski brothers - Oscars - Comic book

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:See also the list of films and list of TV series.

Related Topics:
List of films - List of TV series

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