In this article, we’ll look at some of the Top Cyberpunk Films You Haven’t Seen. We’ll include an overview of Cyberpunk films from the last 50 years in addition to some lesser-known Cyberpunk Films that fans of the subgenre might enjoy. This is a follow-up article to our list of the Best Cyberpunk Films which listed the Top 20 films of the Cyberpunk Film subgenre. You can reference that article for all the must-see Cyberpunk Films.
The Cyberpunk Film subgenre has become one of the more popular Sci-Fi subgenres over the last few decades. Cyberpunk films typically have a few themes including an environment set in a dystopian or totalitarian future, a societal structure where lower class people take on the elite class and is a world where technology has taken over in the form of AI, cybernetics and other forms of human augmentation. Many of these films also feature the social, ethical and biological impact of various futuristic technologies on humans. Cyberpunk can generally be summed up as “High Tech, Low Life”.
Though the Cyberpunk Film subgenre didn’t start taking off until the 1980’s, there were two earlier films considered to be precursors to the Cyberpunk boom. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970) did not have a visual Cyberpunk style but did have themes of Cyberpunk with evolving AI that becomes sentient and the fear of a totalitarian state. Another early film, A Clockwork Orange (1971), featured a dystopian society, behavioral rehabilitation through technology and a general Punk theme of rebellion. The Punk themes in the film are most closely associated with Cyberpunk and helped set the stage for various Cyberpunk themes that would evolve over the next few decades.
In the 1980’s, the Cyberpunk Film subgenre rose to prominence with the release of Blade Runner (1982). This film is often considered not only one of the top films of Cyberpunk but also of Future Noir. The themes in Blade Runner would help solidify some of the tenets of Cyberpunk including Dystopian futures, societal class divides, and advanced technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI). These tenets would find their way into other films of the decade including the dystopian virtual world of Tron (1982), the societal class divide and rebellion in The Running Man (1987) and humans battling against AI in The Terminator (1984). Other notable Cyberpunk films of the 80’s included Escape from New York (1981), Videodrome (1983), Runaway (1984), Brazil (1985), RoboCop (1987) and Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989).
The 1990’s would see further evolution of Cyberpunk themes that expanded on sentient AI, human augmentation with technology and virtual reality. Ghost in the Shell (1995) and The Matrix (1999) are often considered two of the best Cyberpunk films due to their focus and expansion on these three themes and influence on future films of the subgenre. Examples of other subgenre films of the decade that focused on evolving or sentient AI included Virtuosity (1995) and Screamers (1995). Circuitry Man (1990), Total Recall (1990) and Johnny Mnemonic (1995) would focus on human augmentation often in the form of ‘brain hacking’. And The Lawnmower Man (1992) and The Thirteenth Floor (1990) would incorporate virtual reality with themes of Cyberpunk. Other notable subgenre films of the 1990’s included Class of 1999 (1990), Hardware (1990), RoboCop 2 (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), Freejack (1992), Sneakers (1992), Tetsuo II: Body Hammer (1992), Judge Dredd (1995), Hackers (1995), Strange Days (1995), Nirvana (1997), The Fifth Element (1997), Gattaca (1997), Dark City (1998), eXistenZ (1999) and Bicentennial Man (1999).
Film adaptations of Sci-Fi novelist Philip K. Dick and Cyberpunk Anime were the dominant trends of the subgenre in the 2000’s. As the popularity of all things Cyberpunk continued to soar, so to did the interest in adapting works of prominent Cyberpunk authors. Philip K. Dick was one of the preeminent Cyberpunk authors and some of his works had already been adapted into top Cyberpunk Films in prior decades – Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? novel as Blade Runner (1982), We Can Remember It For You Wholesale short story as Total Recall (1990) and Second Variety short story as Screamers (1995). The 2000’s saw even more adaptations of Dick’s works with the Impostor short story as Impostor (2002), The Minority Report short story as Minority Report (2002), the Paycheck short story as Paycheck (2003) and A Scanner Darkly novel as A Scanner Darkly (2006). The South Korean Sci-Fi film Natural City (2003) was also loosely based on Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? novel. Cyberpunk Anime was another dominant trend that emerged in the decade – so much so that we’re going to cover all Cyberpunk Anime films in a separate article. Other prominent Cyberpunk films of the decade included A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001), Avalon (2001), Cypher (2002), Equilibrium (2002), The Matrix Reloaded (2003), Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), Code 46 (2003), The Matrix Revolutions (2003), One Point O (2004), I, Robot (2004), Sleep Dealer (2008) and Surrogates (2009).
The 2010’s experienced a slow-down in Cyberpunk Films as remakes and sequels became the major trend of the decade. The most anticipated and prominent Cyberpunk sequel of the decade was Blade Runner 2049 (2017). The sequel was released with three short films – 2036: Nexus Dawn (2017), 2048: Nowhere to Run (2017) and Blade Runner: Black Out (2017) – all of which continued the Blade Runner story while also expanding the Blade Runner universe. Additional subgenre sequels and remakes included TRON: Legacy (2010), Total Recall (2012), Dredd (2012), RoboCop (2014) and Ghost in the Shell (2017). Other prominent subgenre films from the decade included Repo Men (2010), In Time (2011), Looper (2012), Cloud Atlas (2012), Elysium (2013), Automata (2014), Ex Machina (2014), Hardcore Henry (2015), Ready Player One (2018), Upgrade (2018) and Alita: Battle Angel (2019).
Though it is still early in the 2020’s, there have already been three prominent films of the subgenre – Archive (2020), Possessor (2020) and The Matrix Resurrections (2021). Though there was a slowdown of film production in the early part of the decade due to the Covid-19 pandemic, we anticipate even more great Cyberpunk films coming out soon such as The Creator (2023).
Our complete list of Cyberpunk Films features over 160+ films from 1970 – 2022. You can find just about every film featuring Cyberpunk elements in this collection. You can also read our Best Cyberpunk Films article for the Top 20 films of this subgenre. We’ll also have another article for Cyberpunk Anime Films soon, so subscribe to our newsletter if you want to be updated once we release these additional articles or make updates to our Cyberpunk film list.
Classic Cyberpunk Films: Best Cyberpunk Films
Lesser-known Cyberpunk Films that didn’t make our list: Looker (1981), Gunhed (1989), Circuitry Man (1990), Split Second (1992), Fortress (1992), Nirvana (1997), Andromedia (1998), Thomas in Love (2000), Electric Dragon 80,000 Volts (2001), Avalon (2001), Returner (2002), Resurrection of the Little Match Girl (2002), Cypher (2002), Timecop 2 (2003), Eden Log (2007), RoboGeisha (2009), Garm Wars (2014), Mute (2018) and Hotel Artemis (2018).
We have embedded a compilation video of our Top Cyberpunk Films You Haven’t Seen and more details on these films can be found in the list below. Note: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.
#10
Karmalink
Plot: In this Buddhist sci-fi mystery, a teenage orphan in the slums of Phnom Penh, Cambodia investigates her friend’s past-life visions, uncovering a conspiracy of scientific reincarnation.
KBZ’s Take: What could have been with this film. Karmalink can be summed up by a great first half of the film filled with Cyberpunk themes, mystery and adventure that suffers from a confusing and meandering back end.
The film is unique in how it mixes religious and scientific themes with reincarnation and ‘brain hacking’ – or in this film’s case ‘soul hacking’. There are also great performances by the child actors – especially Srey Leak Chhith and Leng Heng Prak.
If we sound like we’re negative about the film, we’re not. It’s still a great addition to the subgenre. Even though the story can get confusing, the Dystopian visuals and “High Tech, Low Life” Cyberpunk themes in the film shouldn’t be missed by fans of the subgenre.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3IxWJnH
#9
Hardwired
Plot: After surviving a car crash that kills his pregnant wife, Luke Gibson (Cuba Gooding Jr.) wakes up in the hospital with complete amnesia. He’s been severely injured but is alive thanks to a groundbreaking brain implant from a powerful multinational corporation. As Luke recovers, he starts to realize his implant is dangerous and seeks help from Hal (Michael Ironside), the leader of a group of hackers. A shadowy executive (Val Kilmer) tries to stop Luke and Hal before they learn too much.
KBZ’s Take: We’ll start off by saying this is not a great film. The ideas set forth in the film are much grander than the low budget allowed for. But that is why we’re primarily listing the film here – it has some great Cyberpunk themes.
Though the film has some A-list acting talent in Cuba Gooding Jr., Val Kilmer and Michael Ironside, they’re all actors on the back nine of their careers – and it shows in the film. However, we still recommend the film for its ideas including the opening credits with corporate sponsorship literally everywhere on earth to the Augmented Reality-generated advertisement Gibson (Gooding Jr.) can’t seem to get out of his (newly implanted) head.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3q3IujY
Plot: Bobby (Lorenzo Lamas), a policeman with bionic eyes, has been assigned to protect Pamela (Kari Salin), a famous actress targeted by kidnappers. It turns out that the men after her, Matthews (Chris Sarandon) and Vivyan (Peter Coyote), hope to clone Pamela and then market the clones as sex slaves to a depraved and corrupt clientele. The cop and the actress fall in love as they combat the bizarre and ingenious weapons that pursue them throughout the city.
KBZ’s Take: This was a direct-to-video film of the 1990’s that’s much better than its plotline, cast and obviously low budget would suggest. While it stars Peter Coyote and Chris Sarandon, they’re basically in supporting roles for the film. Lorenzo Lamas and Kari Wuhrer are the leads of the film and they were both never well known for their acting ‘talents’.
However, Lamas and Wuhrer are better than expected in this film and the film has some good Cyberpunk ideas held back by the budget. Most interesting were the futuristic ideas about cloning, Augmented Reality vision and Virtual Reality crime scenes. One specific concept that stuck with us after the film was the control of a user’s bionic vision by the police department. It’s a similar Augmented Reality concept explored by Anon (2018) and seems like it could be developed further in future Cyberpunk films.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3WoqwVw
Plot: A corporate raider and his henchman use a chanteuse to lure a scientific genius away from his employer and family.
KBZ’s Take: Widely known as the pioneer of Cyberpunk Sci-Fi, William Gibson has only had a few of his stories adapted into films to date – the short story Johnny Mnemonic into Johnny Mnemonic (1995) and short story New Rose Hotel into this film. Apple TV is also reportedly developing a series based on one of Gibson’s most influential Cyberpunk novels, Neuromancer.
Though many of Gibson’s works haven’t yet been adapted for film, they have heavily inspired other subgenre films. While Strange Days (1999) isn’t a true adaptation of Gibson (the screenplay was written by James Cameron and Jay Cocks), it does borrow heavily from many of his Cyberpunk concepts in his Sprawl trilogy.
As for New Rose Hotel, it’s a Gibson film adaptation with mixed results. Though it has a great cast with Willem Dafoe, Christopher Walken and Asia Argento and captures the bleak tone of Gibson’s story, the film’s extensive use of flashbacks to fill in the narrative hamper the film. It’s a common issue with trying to make a full-length film from a short story.
Despite its flaws, New Rose Hotel shouldn’t be missed by fans of the subgenre as it still captures the essence of Gibson’s story.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/41ZSVT7
#6
Xchange
Plot: Thriller set in a future in which people can travel across the globe by swapping bodies with someone at their destination. A businessman discovers that his body has been hijacked by a terrorist, and with only a couple of days left before the life span of his cloned temporary body runs out, he must battle to win back his own physical being.
KBZ’s Take: This is another 90’s film with a great concept but questionable acting and low budget. Had this film had a much higher budget and recast some of the roles, it would likely be a much better known and appreciated film of the subgenre.
As it stands, the film does have some great things going for it. Kyle McLachlan makes an excellent ‘bad’ guy and Kim Coates is good as the initial Toffler. The film also takes a unique perspective on the premise of ‘swapping bodies’. Why waste time exercising when you can swap consciousness with another who will do it for you.
On the bad side, Stephen Baldwin is not a bad actor, but wasn’t right for the genetic clone / Toffler 3 in this film. And though the film doesn’t feature many special effects, the low budget is apparent in more than a few scenes.
Xchange was more good elements that outweigh the bad and fans of the subgenre should enjoy the film’s premise and concepts.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/42ZlVvI
Plot: Advertising executive Dale Hunter (Michael Muheny) works at the agency Arora. But after a car accident, his life changed abruptly. He has nightmares at night and by day he suffers from hallucinations. The world looks like it’s from a computer. Numbers and names adhere to the objects. A doctor cannot help him and the hallucinations are getting worse. Librarian Wendy seems to be the only person he can trust. Together they try to find out the truth.
KBZ’s Take: Though this TV movie was based on Frederik Pohl’s short story, The Tunnel under the World, it’s very reminiscent of The Matrix (1999) and The Thirteenth Floor (1999). In fact, many of the same themes from those films are in Virtual Nightmare.
However, the film doesn’t have the budget of those films and as a result, is much more of an intelligent story exploring Sci-Fi concepts. It uses subtle elements throughout the film that the main character Hunter (Muheny) starts to notice are out of place that lead him to question reality. And it expands on a central theme of The Matrix that we don’t want to spoil here – but you’ll know what we’re referring to when you see it.
You’re not getting an action-packed Matrix-like film with Virtual Nightmare, but if you enjoy films that explore concepts such as Simulation Theory or Virtual Reality, you won’t want to miss this one.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://youtu.be/smmA92sUe7E
#4
Code 46
Plot: In a dystopian future, insurance fraud investigator William Gold arrives in Shanghai to investigate a forgery ring for papelles, futuristic passports that record people’s identities and genetics. Gold falls for Maria Gonzalez, the woman in charge of the forgeries. After a passionate affair, Gold returns home, having named a coworker as the culprit. But when one of Gonzalez’s customers is found dead, Gold is sent back to Shanghai to complete the investigation.
KBZ’s Take: We debated including this film on our list as it has much stronger Future Noir elements than Cyberpunk. However, the very unique Dystopian future and “High Tech, Low Life” Cyberpunk themes are unique in the subgenre, so we decided to include it.
While the core of the film is a Romantic Drama, it’s the Cyberpunk elements that are the foundation of the film. From the Orwellian government to gene research and compatibility tests, Code 46 features quite a few Cyberpunk themes but presents them in a much different way. There’s the obvious “High Tech, Low Life” theme running throughout the film but also various futuristic elements such as a pidgin language of English, Spanish and Mandarin Chinese spoken by people, memory ‘viruses and wipes’ and a unique danger of cloning in this fictional world.
We realize quite a few people might have already seen Code 46, but on the oft chance you haven’t seen the film yet, it’s definitely one of the most underappreciated films of the subgenre.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/422xv7H
#3
One Point O
Plot: Paranoid computer programmer Simon wakes up to find a package in his room one day. Despite attempts at securing his apartment, the packages keep arriving. While cameras watch Simon’s every move, he struggles to find the answers to the mysterious forces taking over his life.
KBZ’s Take: Also known as Paranoia 1.0, this is a film typically left off Cyberpunk Film lists. It’s also a film that makes more sense (and is appreciated more) upon repeated viewings.
You will need patience to watch this film as it’s slow in revealing Simon’s world. You could think of it as a Twilight Zone episode on the surveillance state and government conspiracies directed by David Lynch. There’s a lot to digest in this film and you likely won’t understand it all on your first viewing.
If we sound like we’re being vague on the details of the film, we are. It’s best to go into One Point O knowing as little as possible so you can enjoy the mystery and eventual reveal that much more.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3WleTih
#2
Sleep Dealer
Plot: Strangers try to connect in a futuristic world where they work in virtual labor.
KBZ’s Take: One subset of Cyberpunk Films includes AR & VR Films. Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) are often staples of futuristic technologies used in the Cyberpunk Film subgenre. For a better understanding of AR & VR, we have a technological explanation and breakdown in our Best AR & VR Films article.
Sleep Dealer was way ahead of its time in relation to showing how Mixed Reality would enable virtual ‘skilled’ labor in a Dystopian society. It’s often cited as one of the top films to watch for AR, VR and MR and utilized many early concepts that we’re starting to see today. While the film focuses on a variety of futuristic technologies, they are all centered around the central Cyberpunk theme of “High Tech, Low Life”.
Highly recommended not only for AR & VR film fans but also for Cyberpunk fans looking for unique Dystopian society themes.
Additional Lists: Top Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Films You Haven’t Seen #2, Best AR & VR Films #5
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3Wvgjqn
#1
Natural City
Plot: Two cops, R and Noma, hunt down renegade cyborgs. Cyborgs are used as commandos by the military, as lust objects and for companionship. Normally they have a limited lifespan of three years but black market technology is being developed to be able to transfer a cyborg’s artificial intelligence into human host. This drives R to find a suitable host for his expiring cyborg Ria.
KBZ’s Take: Detractors of this film often cite it as a blatant Blade Runner (1982) rip-off. Well it partially is as it was based on Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? novel. Though the film was clearly inspired by both Dick’s novel and Ridley Scott’s film, it also a visual Cyberpunk marvel.
Coupled with the beautiful visuals of this Dystopian world, are the just as intense action scenes. There are some great action sequences and fights between the ‘cyborgs’ and the military police. There are also many Sci-Fi Military Film themes throughout the film.
On the Cyberpunk side, it expands on the central theme of a Replicant’s expiration date in Blade Runner, and the idea of transferring the AI you have come to know and love to another body. The film’s central theme explores the moral and ethical implications between humans and artificial intelligence.
The film does suffer from a plot that gets a bit confusing in the second act, but that’s a minor complaint. You likely won’t be paying as much attention to the plot anyway as you take in some of the best visuals and action of the Cyberpunk Film subgenre.
Where to Stream / Buy: https://amzn.to/3BJTi9x
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