Sci-Fi – or science fiction as it is more commonly referred to – is often credited as initiating innovation and new technology.

From movies to comics, the genre, although fantastical at times, has been said to inspire the future, from flying skateboards to hologram communication.

But how many times have they got it right?

From The Telegraph, here are our five on-point sci-fi films that correctly predicted – or inspired – the future:

Blade Runner – Skype

Blade Runner looks set to be wide of the mark on some of 21st-century Los Angeles. The packed city freeways of 2019 are imagined as skylanes where flying cars drift above the dystopian landscape; a perennial downpour soaks the residents that haven’t fled “off world”, and noodles seem to be the only available sustenance for sale.

But Ridley Scott’s drama did at least get video messaging correct, when a slightly tipsy “Blade Runner”, Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) attempts to woo the movie’s “replicant” love interest Rachael (Sean Young) via a FaceTime-style call.

Total Recall – Autonomous Cars

Twenty seven years ago, nobody could have imagined that Tesla would be transporting passengers around in driverless cars. Nobody except director Paul Verhoeven, that is, who delivered autonomous vehicles in his 1990 science fiction thriller Total Recall.

During one scene, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character, Douglas Quaid, is chased by armed assailants. He escapes in a “Johnny Cab”, a self-driving vehicle hosted by a creepy android that specialises in small talk.

WarGames – Cyber Warfare

In WarGames (1983) baby-faced Matthew Broderick plays computer hacker David Lightman, a kid who works his way into the US military’s supercomputer.

Chillingly, this hardware just so happens to control every nuclear warhead in the American armoury. A box office success, the movie predicted a darker version of cyber interference by a meddling outside power, albeit it in a kid friendly format.

Westworld – Sexbots

Set in 1983, the Michael Crichton-directed, future-facing movie, Westworld depicts an adult amusement part where guests can murder or sleep with realistic-looking androids for $1,000 a day. (The film has since been updated into a chilling HBO series of the same name.)

The robots later begin to malfunction and kick back with violent force. While unlikely on the film’s release in 1973, according to reports there are four manufacturers currently developing life-like, mechanised dolls and in the next decade they will be used as ”sexual therapy aids for lonely, disabled or older people.” Things could get weird.

Truman Show – Reality TV

Before Big Brother, Keeping Up With The Kardashians, The Osbournes and The Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills, there was The Truman Show.

Starring Jim Carrey, the 1998 film depicted a man obliviously living in a TV-created fantasy world, surrounded by actors masquerading as community members, for the entertainment of millions of watching viewers.

And that’s only a few. The Telegraph lists more here, but to be completely honest, Rick and Morty has all you need to satisfy your first-rate science fiction thirst.

But you knew that already.

[source:telegraph]