Art imitates life... or is it the other way around? From technological predictions to tragic coincidences, we're exploring fascinating moments where cinema seemed to peek into the future. These incredible instances of Hollywood seemingly predicting real-world events will leave you questioning reality itself.
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00:00Sounds like she's in trouble, I better play back the whole thing.
00:06He says the restraining bolt has short-circuited his recording system.
00:09Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at events that happened in movies before they eventually occurred in real life.
00:15Beware of spoilers.
00:17Wait a minute, Cubs win World Series?
00:21Against Miami?
00:23Scott Peterson's imprisonment, Demolition Man.
00:25You realize you're setting a bad example for other officers and sworn personnel.
00:30Thank you for the attitude readjustment, Chief Earl.
00:32This 1993 film takes us on a ride into a futuristic world set in 2032.
00:37Not only is it bristling with satire and explosive action, it's prophetic in many ways.
00:43One eerie prediction? Scott Peterson's imprisonment.
00:46In an early scene, after Lenina pulls up a list of prisoners awaiting parole hearing, among them is Scott Peterson.
00:52August 4th, active file. 7 a.m. Hyde Quinton, 815, Peterson Scott.
00:58Shockingly, in 2003, a man by that exact name was arrested for killing his wife, convicted in 2004, and re-sentenced to life in 2021.
01:07He's a criminal, the likes of which you have never seen.
01:10Add in its other accurate predictions, like Arnold Schwarzenegger's political career, and Demolition Man feels less like sci-fi and more like a time-traveling documentary.
01:18The Schwarzenegger Library?
01:20Yes, the Schwarzenegger Presidential Library.
01:23Wasn't he an actor when you-
01:24Stop, he was president?
01:26Hologram Message. Star Wars Episode 4, A New Hope.
01:29Got something jammed in here real good.
01:32Were you on a star, Kuz, or a-
01:33Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
01:36You're my only hope.
01:37What's this?
01:37There's no denying it. Star Wars was far ahead of its era.
01:41With groundbreaking concepts like cloning, prosthetics, artificial intelligence, and more,
01:46it shaped a galaxy of ideas that inspired a lot of technological developments.
01:50Take the hologram messages, for example.
01:53The first we see one is in A New Hope, where Princess Leia's 3D image pleads with Obi-Wan Kenobi to help her.
01:58Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi.
02:00You're my only hope.
02:02Help me, Obi-Wan Kenobi. You're my only hope.
02:09Since then, holograms have become a staple of the franchise.
02:12In reality, scientists are working hard to bring this technology to life.
02:16While there have been some breakthroughs, holograms aren't yet as common or as seamless as portrayed in movies.
02:21But who knows? One day, they might just be the ultimate way to communicate.
02:24I think she was a passenger on our last voyage. A person of some importance, as I believe.
02:29Our captain was attached to-
02:30Is there any more to this recording?
02:31And-
02:32Behave yourself, Arthur. You're going to get us into trouble.
02:37Video Calling and Hal. 2001, A Space Odyssey.
02:40Oh, wait a minute. I gotta make a couple of phone calls. You go on ahead to the restaurant, I'll meet you there.
02:44Right.
02:45This visionary film dives into the growth of humanity, technological advancement, and its darker sides.
02:51Long before AI and video calling became everyday realities, they were already depicted here.
02:56Incredible, right?
02:56In the film, there's Hal, a supercomputer programmed by humans to guide a space exploration mission.
03:03Good evening, Dave.
03:04How you doing, Hal?
03:05Everything's running smoothly. And you?
03:07Oh, not too bad.
03:08Have you been doing some more work?
03:10A few sketches.
03:11May I see them?
03:12Sure.
03:13Like the AIs we have today, Hal can perform automated tasks, understand, and even respond conversationally with the astronauts.
03:20Then, there's the video calling scene, where Dr. Floyd chats with his daughter from space.
03:25Hello.
03:26Hello.
03:27How are you, Squirt?
03:28All right.
03:29What are you doing?
03:32Playing.
03:33Where's Mummy?
03:35Going to shopping.
03:37A prophetic vision of Zoom, FaceTime, and Skype calls decades before their time.
03:42Truly, Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece isn't just a cinematic marvel.
03:45It's a groundbreaking achievement, both on a conceptual and technical level.
03:49Listen, sweetheart, I want you to tell Mummy something for me, will you remember?
03:52Yeah.
03:53Well, tell Mummy that I telephoned, okay?
03:57Yeah.
03:58That I'll try to telephone again tomorrow.
04:00Who, Doctor?
04:01World War Z.
04:02They're dormant.
04:04They're awaiting stimulus.
04:07Now this is Vault 139.
04:11That's where your samples would be.
04:13Peter Capaldi wasn't zipping through time and space just yet in Mark Forster's World War Z,
04:17but the film subtly hinted at his future as Doctor Who.
04:20Remember Brad Pitt as a former United Nations investigator racing to stop the zombie apocalypse?
04:26Among the few surviving medical experts he meets in Wales is a World Health Organization doctor with a brief screen time.
04:32That doctor was played by none other than Capaldi and is literally credited as Who Doctor.
04:37Shortly after playing this minor role, Capaldi was announced as the 12th doctor in BBC's iconic sci-fi series Doctor Who.
04:44Coincidence?
04:45Maybe.
04:46But it's almost as if the universe or even the casting department was dropping a cheeky little hint.
04:50This is the sky bridge that connects B-Wing to the main building here.
04:57And this is the only thing standing between us and the sky bridge.
05:02So, what do you propose Mr. Lane?
05:06Rise of reality TV.
05:08The Truman Show.
05:09Incidentally, I believe Truman is the first child to have been legally adopted by a corporation.
05:14That's correct.
05:15Way before digital technology became a big part of our lives, this thought-provoking flick foreshadowed how it would shape our lives.
05:21From our obsession with celebrity lifestyles to the rise of social media and mass surveillance, it almost detailed today's digital reality.
05:29Jim Carrey plays a man who's unaware that his entire life is a reality TV show.
05:34Sounds familiar, anyone?
05:34I predict that in just a moment, we will see a lady on a red bike, followed by a man with flowers, and a Volkswagen Beetle with a dented fender.
05:47Of course, shows like Keeping Up with the Kardashians literally blur the line between what's real and what's scripted.
05:52While reality TV wasn't something new in the 1990s, it didn't dominate like it does today.
05:58The Truman Show foresaw how it would evolve and take over in ways no one would have imagined.
06:03No signing.
06:03Okay, Marlon, why don't you head back to town and join the others?
06:07Everyone else is at first positions, okay?
06:10Pandemic Society.
06:12Contagion.
06:12Government officials are reporting the closing of Mondale Elementary School in suburban Minneapolis.
06:17In response to the recent outbreak of a still unknown disease.
06:21Almost 10 years before the coronavirus turned our lives upside down in 2020,
06:25Contagion predicted what our lives would look like in the face of this global crisis.
06:29Don't open the door.
06:30Don't open the door.
06:31It's Andrew.
06:32Sorry, Andrew.
06:34I can't let you in.
06:36I just came to give my condolences, Mr. Amoff.
06:38I understand.
06:40But I can't let you in.
06:43I'll just leave him then.
06:45No, actually, you should take them.
06:47Thank you, though.
06:48Steven Soderbergh's 2011 disaster film follows several characters battling the effects of a mysterious airborne virus.
06:55While it may not have been the thrill ride some expected, it was downright prescient.
07:00From the science of the virus to human reaction, social distancing, and the dangers of conspiracy theories,
07:05the film feels like it's all 2020 before we did.
07:08I think I'm sick.
07:09What?
07:10What's going on?
07:11What kind of symptoms do you have?
07:13I can't swallow.
07:15Severe headache.
07:17What's your temperature?
07:19101.8.
07:21Well, if anyone wants to relive the horror of that year,
07:24Contagion is the perfect and creepy reminder of how closely art mirrored reality.
07:28It's without a doubt unsettling.
07:30On day one, there were two people with it, and then there were four, and then it was 16,
07:36and you think you've got it in front of you.
07:38But next it's 256, and then it's 65,000, and it's behind you and above you and all around you.
07:43Personal Advertising.
07:44Minority Report.
07:46Back in 2002, Minority Report felt like pure sci-fi, but looking at it now, it's hauntingly predictive.
07:52In the film, John Anderson isn't just dodging crime predictions,
07:55but also billboard-like ads calling out his name and pitching products Taylor made for him.
08:00Hello, Mr. Yakamoto.
08:02Welcome back to The Gap.
08:03How'd those assorted tank tops work out for you?
08:07Mr. Yakamoto.
08:08Fast forward to today, our phones and smart TVs are basically doing the same thing.
08:13The film wasn't just about cool techs.
08:15It also nailed the darker sides of these advancements.
08:18From intrusive advertising to the eerie capabilities of AI, the precogs,
08:22the film predicted a future that feels uncomfortably real.
08:25Honestly, it's creepy how Steven Spielberg's game-changing vision wasn't just sci-fi,
08:30but a crystal ball into our ad-filled, tech-driven lives.
08:34The future is now.
08:35The Cable Guy.
08:36Hey, wait, come back.
08:42Well, look who decided to show.
08:44When this psychological thriller comedy came out,
08:46not many people got it, or even liked Jim Carrey's obnoxious character Chip Douglas.
08:51To some, it was yet another goofy Carrie comedy.
08:53Hold on, I gotta warm up.
08:55I don't want to pull a hammy.
08:56But it was clever in its own way, and ahead of its time, too.
09:16In one memorable scene, Carrie's character screams on top of a satellite dish
09:20about a future where your TV, phone, and computer would all be connected.
09:25He even predicts playing Mortal Kombat with a friend in Vietnam and shopping online.
09:29The future is now.
09:33Soon, every American home will integrate their television, phone, and computer.
09:38You'll be able to visit the Louvre on one channel,
09:41or watch the Mild Mon Wrestling on another.
09:44You can do your shopping at home,
09:46or play Mortal Kombat with a friend in Vietnam.
09:51Doesn't that sound a lot like streaming, video calls, and online gaming that we have today?
09:55So beneath the chaos of Carrie's antics,
09:57the cable guy in some ways saw how technology and the internet would transform our lives.
10:08Put some money on the cubbies.
10:10Back to the Future Part 2.
10:12Hey kid, some 100 bucks, will you, and help save the clock tower?
10:15I'm sorry, no.
10:17Come on kid, that's an important historical landmark.
10:19The cable guy may have been futuristic,
10:21but it wasn't as eerily specific in his predictions as Robert Zemeckis' 80s time travel adventure.
10:26In Back to the Future Part 2,
10:28Marty and Doc travel to the future to save his kids.
10:31While there, Marty spots a headline announcing the Chicago Cubs as World Series champions.
10:36To his shock, an old man confirms it's true.
10:38Lightning struck that thing, 60 years ago.
10:41Wait a minute.
10:42Cubs win World Series.
10:46Against Miami?
10:47Yeah, it's something, huh?
10:48Back in 1989, when the film was made,
10:51it was a laughable joke,
10:52since the Cubs hadn't won a single championship since 1908.
10:55But in 2016, just a year after the movie's timeline,
10:58the Cubs won the World Series in real life.
11:00What was meant to be a joke about impossible odds
11:03became one of history's most astonishing victories.
11:05I said I wish I could go back to the beginning of the season.
11:08Put some money on the cubbies.
11:09Brandon Lee's Death, Game of Death
11:28While some films serve as windows into groundbreaking inventions and events,
11:37others are premonitions of doom, like 1978's Game of Death.
11:41In this Bruce Lee film, he plays a martial arts star who was shot on set with a prop gun
11:45that is secretly tampered with.
11:47Tragically, this storyline mirrored the real-life death of his son, Brandon Lee.
11:52Decades later, while filming The Crow,
11:54Brandon was fatally shot when a lodged dummy bullet was propelled out of the prop gun's barrel,
11:59following the firing of a blank, all due to negligence.
12:02And, like his father, Brandon died before the film was released.
12:06Whether it's a chilling foreshadowing or a cruel twist of fate,
12:09this connection adds a layer of tragedy to the untimely deaths of both father and son.
12:14I see you have made your decision.
12:18Now let's see you enforce it.
12:19Which of these films had the most mind-blowing foreshadowing?
12:22Let us know in the comments section.
12:23Thank you for the delightful evening, everyone.
12:27I guess I'll be leaving now.