With the creation of the cyberpunk genre, many offshoots were created in fiction including biopunk and steampunk among others. This also happened in video games when the cyberpunk game System Shock and its sequel influenced the biopunk/steampunk hybrid series BioShock.
Released in the mid-2000s and early 2010s, the BioShock games focused around two fantastic cities from different eras that exist in parallel universes with many elements tying them together. So, naturally, there are many movies out there that are similar to these games in of style. Though these 10 movies, in particular arguably, reflect BioShock and its sequels the most.
The Butterfly Effect
When it comes to stories about parallel universes and time travel, a common theory that’s often utilized is the Butterfly Effect. Popularized by the Ray Bradbury short story “A Sound of Thunder,” the basic idea is that every action we take leads to a series of unintended outcomes.
One of the movies that fully explores this concept is The Butterfly Effect starring Ashton Kutcher as a young man who tries to change the past to create a better future. This ties into BioShock Infinite’s heroine Elizabeth, whose actions in the Burial at Sea DLC set into motion the events in the first BioShock game.
Chinatown
Among the various cinematic styles, the BioShock games borrow from is Noir, which was popular in the 1940s and early 50s. Distinguished by an emphasis on shadows, morally ambiguous characters, and intense violence, Noir films usually coincided with detective and/or gangster stories.
The same is true of Neo-noir movies like Chinatown, where a private investigator named Jake (played by Jack Nicholson) gets hired by a woman who may not be what she seems. In Burial at Sea, the plot is very similar—except that the two leads both lie about themselves. Plus, it takes place in the 40s-style underwater city of Rapture seen in BioShock and BioShock 2.
Meet Me in St. Louis
Plot-wise, the lighthearted period musical Meet Me in St. Louis has nothing to do with the BioShock games. With that said, it is stylistically similar to BioShock Infinite since both take place during the early 1900s.
On top of that, they have idyllic depictions of the time period, except that BioShock Infinite does it to deliberately contrast the underlying darker elements, while Meet Me in St. Louis doesn’t. Yet, the latter has some unintentionally dark moments, like the Halloween segment. In it, the lead heroine Esther’s devious younger sisters commit several dangerous pranks with other children who all wear masks.
Master of the World (1961)
While Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is a well-known work of literature, Robur the Conqueror is not. Yet it’s just as much of a precursor to steampunk as the former. After all, it revolves around an advanced airship run by a man named Robur who wants to take over the world.
There was even a film adaptation made in 1961 called Master of the World that was based on Robur the Conquerer and the sequel, which the movie is named after. Starring Vincent Price, it does have parallels to BioShock Infinite since the floating city of Columbia serves the same destructive purpose as Robur’s airship.
The Manchurian Candidate (1962)
If there’s one thing that never seems to change, it’s the notion that there are hidden political conspiracies that threaten to undermine the security of a country. Thus, we get movies like The Manchurian Candidate which was released at the height of the Cold War in 1962.
Based on a book of the same name, the movie is about an American POW who returns from the Korean War after he was secretly brainwashed to be a communist sleeper agent. Now, communism is mentioned in BioShock, since the game takes place in the early 60s. Plus, the main character of BioShock finds himself in a similar conspiracy.
Gattaca
A major theme in the BioShock games is genetics, which ties into the familial relations of its main characters and how that affects their lives. There are also the Plasmids and Vigors, which are substances that can manipulate genes and grant amazing powers to those who consume them.
Though one movie that delves into the real-life consequences of genetic manipulation is Gattaca, which didn’t do well financially but was given a lot of critical praise at the time of its release. Set in a dystopian future ruled by eugenics, a genetically inferior man decides to impersonate someone else to fulfill his dream of going to space.
Snowpiercer
Compared to other post-apocalyptic movies, Snowpiercer is one of the more stylized ones. Based on Le Transperceneige, a French graphic novel, it depicts the remnants of humanity riding a train that constantly circumnavigates a frozen world. But all is not equal on board as the first-class engers live comfortably in the front while those at the tail end barely get anything.
There are many parallels between this movie and the BioShock games, from the aesthetic to plot elements such as a revolution and the abduction of children. Not to mention that the train’s owner has the same charismatic and religious authority as Rapture and Columbia’s founders.
Dark City
Besides Gattaca, another science-fiction film from the 1990s that was critically praised but not a financial success was Dark City. Set in a place without sunlight, it follows a man who wakes up with amnesia and is on the run from mysterious figures called “The Strangers.” On top of that, he discovers he has similar powers to the Strangers and a wife who doesn’t him.
While many people have drawn comparisons between Dark City and The Matrix, it arguably has parallels to other things outside of films like the BioShock games. Not only is there the Noir style, but also the faulty memories of the main characters.
The Shining
At their core, the BioShock games combine first-person shooter mechanics with horror elements that are woven into their stylistic settings. Though the games’ creator Ken Levine was inspired by two Alien.
Of these, The Shining is the most obvious due to its setting having the same antique yet rundown look as Rapture. Then there’s the aspect of substance abuse, with The Shining’s protagonist Jack Torrance succumbing to his alcoholism while the Plasmids in BioShock are addictive, much like a drug. In addition, the Overlook Hotel’s ghosts have similar violent tendencies to Rapture’s Splicers.
The City of Lost Children
Before the quirky yet critically-acclaimed romantic comedy Amélie came about, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet created another movie that’s certainly the former, though not quite the latter. Known as The City of Lost Children, it’s an artistic film with steampunk elements where an emotionless being steals children including a strongman’s adopted brother.
Though the plot is about the strongman (played by Ron Perlman) trying to get his brother back with the aid of other kids including a young girl, the movie focuses more on the art. Nevertheless, its similarities to the BioShock games are numerous, from its main character who barely speaks to the unnerving atmosphere.
