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canopic jug [soylentnews.org] writes:

The film Aliens [imdb.com] was released to theaters in 1986, that is to say 40 years ago. Many new technologies were featured in the film and some have come to be in real life. The Conversation looks at the film and at the then fictional technologies [theconversation.com] and reviews which did and did not come to pass.

The technology featured in Aliens appears to be there to support the wonderful storytelling, rather than predict the path of innovation, as a futurologist might.

But let’s take a look at it. The film is set in 2179, 153 years into our future. Journeying 153 years into the past would land us in 1893, when common technologies were horse drawn and steam streetcars and gas lighting. Typewriters with Qwerty keyboards went on sale the following year.

Previously:
(2025) 50 Years of JAWS [soylentnews.org]
(2025) Monty Python and the Holy Grail Turns 50 [soylentnews.org]
(2024) The Terminator: How James Cameron's 'science-fiction slasher film' predicted AI fears, 40 years ago [soylentnews.org]
(2018) Sci-Fi Classic "They Live" -- 30 Years Later [soylentnews.org]

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