Okay, so “Gamer” isn’t exactly a movie about virtual reality — the whole point of the film is that Gerard Butler’s character is a real person, being cybernetically controlled by a kid in a gaming room — but from the kid’s perspective, it’s totally a virtual experience, right?
That thin conceptual thread was good enough for this week’s MSN Movies gallery, which examines earlier attempts by dopey studio suits to bring the bleeding-edge awesomeness of Virtual Reality to the screen. And yes, I know I left “Brainscan” out; you can’t really get into that one without blowing the twist.
My life is hard.
Interesting that you mention Dark City and The Matrix in the descriptions of other movies (and include Matrix Revolutions), but didn’t put them on the main list. Too obvious?
A few biggies you missed: Brainstorm, Videodrome (from a certain point of view), Total Recall (from a certain point of view), Hackers, Strange Days, Abre Los Ojos/Vanilla Sky (though you’d need to give away the twist).
TV shows also tried to get in the act, including Wild Palms, VR.5, and Harsh Realm.