Shadowrun
Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: Magnusson on <09-26-19/1901:21>
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Hi All!
I have some new players to Shadowrun and I'm trying to find some good movies and/or tv shows that would be great resources for them to get the feel of the universe of Cyberpunk or Fantasy Cyberpunk.
The ones that immeditately come to mind are:
Movies: Johnny Mnemonic, Bladerunner, The Matrix
Shows: Bright
What are some others?
Thanks!
-Magnusson
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Sneakers (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105435/) is pretty much the seminal work on how to conduct a Black Trenchcoat style Shadowrun. And if Pink Mohawk is more your style, the ridiculousness of Tank Girl (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114614/?ref_=nv_sr_1?ref_=nv_sr_1) ought to scratch your itch.
Reservoir Dogs (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105236/) is a neat look into what a run gone wrong might look like. And exploring criminal morality. Is your Runner more of a Mr. White, a Mr. Pink, or a Mr. Blonde? Of course, it also plants the seed of what a Shadowrun-one shot might look like if one of the runners is a Lone Star rat...
Really, every heist movie ever is also good fodder for Shadowrun as well.
Of course the seminal movie every Shadowrun player (and especially GM) should have seen is Blade Runner. But you've already got that on your list... I'll add Ghost in the Shell (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113568/) and Akira (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094625/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1) as absolute must sees.
some recent movies I'd add that would be good inspirational material:
Alita (what a "civilized" portion of the Barrens might look like- and of course cybernetics cranked up to 11)
Ready Player One (Really, the Oasis is more akin to AR than how Shadowrun treats VR, but lots of material anyway. Especially about megacorporate "loyalty center" gold-farms... it's such a very very plausible thing...)
Dredd (You'll never convince me Lone Star was not heavily inspired by Judge Dredd... just look at the uniforms...)
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Movies:
Elysium
Hardcore Henry
Aeon Flux
Shows:
Altered Carbon
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I'd be remiss to omit mention of the Chicago Shadows (https://www.remalternis.com/main/) production :D
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I'm quite a fan of the Robocop remake myself. Evil corporation, visual representation of lots of cyberware, you dive into how he feels about all the cybernetics and how people react to him, drones/cyborgs...Sam Jackson and his propaganda news is, if not 5th world, very 6th world.
The Expendables movies have a lot in common with a team of shadowrunners, even if the setting is quite different.
On a side note, if your players need help with contact ideas, just point them toward any criminal from The Blacklist. That show is a wealth of ideas for this game.
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Television:
The 80's are A-Team, Knight Rider, The Equalizer, and Stingray for hooding. Toss in some Miami Vice for morals and undercover work, a bit of Remington Steele for enigmas of fake identities. And A Man Called Hawk for badassery. And Max Headroom for matrix and comedy.
The 90's had Cobra and The Cape, neither of which did much. Not a lot of 'running in the 90s, which is really ironic when you think about it. But there was La Femme Nikita for badassery.
The 00's were better, with everything from Archer to Veronica Mars, giving a lot of shows that centered on groups of misfits doing a lot of hooding and such. For a bit more shadows: Alias, Dollhouse, Leverage, The Pretender, and The Unit. Firefly, of course, is the epitomy of a shadowrun team IMHO, but for weirdness, I'd go with Harsh Realm, John Doe, and Level 9. Magic's got it's thing with The Dresden Files and Charmed, and there's plenty of supernatural hunting with Angel, Buffy, and Supernatural.
Movies:
Blade Runnery, both TRON movies, Sneakers is the best shadowrunning team ever assembled, and you can't go wrong with The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. There's a ton more, but if I start going through my collection, you won't see me for three or four weeks (because I'll be watching them all!).
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Ghost In The Shell, both the original anime and the recent live action version.
Hackers for ridiculous Neo-Anarchist nonsense and over the top bad hacking and worse but funny Matrix effects. A good example of what not to do but has a fair bit of the techno-punk to it.
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Would the Dark Angel TV series fit? ???
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Would the Dark Angel TV series fit? ???
Its a good cyberpunk-style show about a bunch of augmented people running from The Man, so I'd say it fits.
And people, for some good high-tech hooding, you can't forget the show M.A.N.T.I.S.
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Would the Dark Angel TV series fit? ???
Its a good cyberpunk-style show about a bunch of augmented people running from The Man, so I'd say it fits.
And people, for some good high-tech hooding, you can't forget the show M.A.N.T.I.S.
I was considering both for my list, but I had to make cuts somewhere. I do remember both fondly though.
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I am late to the party. You have listed most of the top movies and series I came here to suggest.
Having said that, nobody so far listed Escape from New York (pretty sure it take place in the same universe as William Gibson the sprawl trilogy) and Strange Days (early attempts at showcasing how BTL work)
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I cannot believe that no one here has mentioned Scandal's "The Warrior" music video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=47y5bo8wtqM
;D
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Another music video that might fit the bill; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-B7-Vcdlld8 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJdt25fl9oI (and also the movie Gunhed that it ripped scenes from)
More movies: Hotel Artemis
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Great list! You guys came up with a bunch I had never heard of or forgot about. Awesome!
-Magnusson
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I'd be remiss to omit mention of the Chicago Shadows (https://www.remalternis.com/main/) production :D
Natural 1 from Zombie Orpheus Entertainment. I was hoping for a sequel.
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White Collar and Burn Notice are good shows to watch for inspiration about home-brew runs and fun twists, in my opinion.
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Late in, my apologies.
However, I once ran a street-gang / organized crime campaign based on the movie "King of New York" with Christopher Walken, Laurence Fishburne (Morpheus) and Wesley Snipes. Converted them all into relevant archetypes and let it roll. It was incredibly violent and visceral. Even to this day my players curse the names of those bad guys.
Dont forget that similar movies can inspire great story arcs. "Man on Fire" or "Training Day" or even "American Gangster" are potential sources of future runs.