Björk imagines a world that balances technology and nature; cyberpunk confronts technology’s darker side. From the early 1970s to the 80s, cyberpunk began to build its world through tropes. In World on a Wire (1973), simulated realities and blurred human identities emerged, setting the stage for themes of perception and power in virtual spaces. Blade Runner (1982) introduced neon-lit, rain-soaked streets, corporate overlords, and replicants struggling with human feelings. Tron (1982) popularised the idea of computer-driven worlds, echoed later in The Lawnmower Man (1992) and eXistenZ (1999). Meanwhile, Brainstorm (1983) explored transferring memories and consciousness, influencing films like Strange Days (1995) and The Thirteenth Floor (1999).

By the late 80s, body modification and the darker side of tech transformed the human body. Robocop (1987) and Akira (1988) showed cybernetic enhancements as both a potential and a trap, while Tetsuo: The Iron Man (1989) and Hardware (1990) pushed this boundary, questioning where humanity and machinery meet.

In the 90s, cyberpunk deepened its exploration of virtual worlds and data manipulation. Johnny Mnemonic (1995), Hackers (1995) and Ghost in the Shell (1995) show characters “jacking in”, merging with tech, and fighting rogue AIs. The Matrix (1999) spread cyberpunk’s warning of a tech-dominated future, as it questioned control, individuality, and technology’s impact on our destiny. Cyberpunk continues to examine where tech will take us, who will hold power, and what we might risk in the process.

Black mirror
Cyberpunk is a warning. We can already see signs of its dystopian world around us. Surveillance by governments and corporations reflects today’s data tracking and social media monitoring. In cyberpunk, big corporations have huge power, like how tech giants like Google and Amazon influence politics and our privacy. Cybernetic upgrades, once just sci-fi, are becoming real with high-tech prosthetics and brain implants. Virtual reality and the metaverse create digital worlds first imagined in cyberpunk. Hacktivism, central to the genre, is mirrored in movements like Anonymous and WikiLeaks. The rundown cities and inequality in cyberpunk reflect real problems, such as economic gaps and gentrification.

The emergence of cyberpunk
In the 1980s, cyberpunk grew from the New Wave science fiction movement of the 1960s and 70s. Writers like Philip K. Dick (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, 1968) and JG Ballard (High-Rise, 1975) looked at how technology can create feelings of alienation and urban decay. Unlike earlier sci-fi writers, who imagined a hopeful 1950s-style future, the pioneers of cyberpunk warned of the darker side of technological progress. William Gibson’s novel Neuromancer (1984), Katsuhiro Otomo’s manga Akira (1982–90) and Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner (1982) all appeared around the same time in the early 80s. They reflected worries about the rapid growth of technology and corporate power. As personal computers became common and networks evolved into the early internet, concerns over privacy, surveillance, and the influence of large companies also grew.

The genre’s dark settings symbolised the 1980s. Technologically advanced but unequal cities mixed the style of Japan’s booming tech industry and America’s growing inequality. Cyberpunk combined this with a rebellious spirit drawn from 1970s punk and hacker culture, focusing on themes of marginalisation and resistance.

Hard sci-fi to cyberpunk

Featured in this constellation

Special effects in Blade Runner (Hades landscape)

Delivery Dancer's Arc: 0° Receiver

The Matrix

3 Body Problem

Neuromancer

Escape from New York