You might have noticed that we have somewhat untypical criteria according to which we rate cyberpunk movies. But then again, if you just needed the standard ratings, then you probably would not have come to this site in the first place and would have just checked out IMDB. To help you better understand how we got to this rating system, and also to help you find movies you like by using our ratings, let us just quickly explain what the main criteria are.
Overall ratings
Our ratings start with a standard overall rating. This is the result of a brotherly consensus on how much we like the movie, all factors considered. In addition, since both of us have somewhat different preferences and give a different weight to different factors, we also have an rating from each individual brother.
In very general terms, “Big Brother” tends to give a heavier weight to the themes covered in the movie, how well it is crafted and the stringency of the storyline. “Little Brother” on the other hand has a much lower tolerance threshold for low production quality and especially bad action sequences.
General ratings
The next seven rating categories are pretty standard and similar to the ones you will find on any general movie review site. “Acting” and “Visuals” hardly need any further explanation. “Obscurity” is perhaps a bit less obvious. Here we rate how obscure or difficult to find movies are. In general, a Hollywood blockbuster will be at the very top end of the range whereas some obscure budget film is very likely to be found near the bottom.
“Violence” and “Sexiness” contain just what the label proclaims. Both ratings can serve as a basic parental guidance helpline: Squeamish or prude viewers would be well-advised to steer clear of movies that get a very high rating on either of the two categories. And “Mood” is a general feeling rating on how the movie left us feeling after it was done. For example, if you are having a bad day, you might want to avoid any movie that is rated on the “Depressing” upper end of the range. On the other hand, if you are too happy, how about watching a real downer?
Thematic ratings
And now on to the interesting part, and the part that we believe will be the greatest help to you to find good cyberpunk movies. Many of these categories are not a simple good to bad, but will enable you to pigeonhole where a particular movie fits in.
Cyberaesthetic [Appleesque — Neuromancer]
This is an aesthetic indicator. We have observed that most cyberpunk movies fall somewhere on a continuum between an Apple-like clean/white/glass kind of style and a heavier/darker/industrial style, very often mixing in greens. This is often obvious in the way that user interfaces in the film look like or the interior design.
Technoporn [Modern — Incomprehensible]
While the “porn” in “Technoporn” might mislead some viewers, what we are rating here is how the movie handles futuristic technology and concepts. At one end of the spectrum, some cyberpunk film make do with almost no significant advances in technology. At the opposite end the spectrum, the viewer is bombarded with strange technology that can become a distraction as the viewer struggles to understand how this technology changes the rules of the fictional setting.
Powerlocus [Big Government — Multinationals]
A very common theme in cyberpunk movies are either all-powerful corporations or orweillian-style constant surveillance states. In this rating, we attempt to catch from various hints and conversations in the movie which of the two powers is more dominant. Ultimately, since most cyberpunk fare is about a struggle against the existing powerstructure, or the system, this category is an indicator of who the main protagonist is. When it is unclear, we give a neutral rating somewhere in the middle.
Transhumanism [All natural — Machine being]
Based on another general theme often encountered in cyberpunk: The fusion of man and machine and the question of self in this context. We use this category to suggest whether the movie raises any such questions.
Vision of the Future [Minor Dystopia — Postapocalyptic Fuckall]
Some movies are set in a postapocalyptic setting with few rules in endless urban wastelands. Other movies feature a very similar social system structure as today with just a few tweaks. In this rating we try to determine on which end of the spectrum a movie falls. Often, since very few cyberpunk style movies (perhaps by definition) are a very happy vision of the future, this is directly related to how messed up the portrayed world is.
Futuredistance [Tomorrow — Far gone]
This final rating category is an attempt at estimating how far away from the present state of the world the movie is. Important considerations are the portrayed advances in technology, changes in the system and the general look and feel of the settings (in particular cities).
Final Words
We hope you find our rating system useful and that it will help you to find a movie that you will enjoy to watch. Since we are still at the very beginning of this project, if you have any suggestions on how to improve the rating categories to make them more useful to you, please leave us a comment. One thing that we are also planning to enable is a way for you to adjust ratings of a movie if you believe that we got it completely wrong.