Future Shock (1972)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Alexander Grasshoff

Writers:

Ken Rosen (writer)
Alvin Toffler (book)

Release Date:

22 February 1972 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot Keywords:

Technology | Future Shock | Prediction | Narration | Future

Cast

Orson Welles

...

Narrator

Runtime:

43 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Metromedia Producers Corporation (MPC)

Movie Connections:

References La monaca di Monza (1969)

Very dated but interesting

This was shown to me multiple times when I was in high school back in 1979. At first I paid no attention (I had no interest in this at all) but it slowly pulled me in. It's a documentary narrated in a ponderous fashion by Orson Welles. It talks about how technology is moving too fast and too quick for humans to keep up with it. This leads to "future shock". Also it talks about how pollution will destroy the planet. Surprisingly it also shows a gay marriage between two men! That was considered shocking and beyond belief in 1972. Look at it now. Aside from that one thing nothing in the movie has come to pass. If the events mentioned here HAD happened we'd all be dead by now. Still it is interesting as a period piece. Back in the early 1970s activism was in--people were all positive the world wouldn't make it into 2000--and this picture (based on a best-selling book) shows a very dire future. So it is interesting now in a historical context but it's more amusing than anything else. I give it a 7. If you want to see it someone downloaded it onto YouTube