27 Photos Of Life In 2154, According To Futuristic 'Elysium'
Matt Damon looks nearly unrecognizable as tattoo-heavy, ex-con man Max DeCosta.
In 2154, he lives in overpopulated, destitute, and crime-ridden Los Angeles, portrayed by Mexico City in the film.
(Source: "Elysium" production notes)
The wealthy live here, in space station Elysium.
The world is one giant oasis ...
... with advanced scientific technology available to prevent illness and zap away any traces of cancer.
Images and video of Beverly Hills and Hollywood helped inspire the lifestyle there.
(Source: "Elysium" production notes)
Director Neill Blomkamp met with scientists and engineers from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory to conceptualize Elysium.
(Source: "Elysium" production notes)
The design is based on concepts of NASA's Stanford Torus project from the late '70s to house people in space.
(Source: "Elysium" production notes)
Back on Earth, a work accident leaves Max sick.
Since no one can afford health care in the future on Earth, Max sets out on a mission to get to Elysium to be cured.
(Source: "Elysium" production notes)
Everyone wants to get to Elysium. This man, Spider (Brazilian actor Wagner Moura) helps get people there illegally.
Spider fits Max with a biomechanical exoskeleton which gives him superhuman abilities and helps prolong his life.
According to Special Makeup FX, costume, and props supervisor Joe Dunckley it took eight months and 75 revisions to come up with the suit's final design.
Max must also kidnap the creator of Elysium, John Carlyle (William Fichtner) to retrieve the access codes for the space station from inside his head.
Brazilian actress Alice Braga plays Max's childhood friend Frey, a single mom with a sick daughter.
Max's trip quickly becomes not just about his life, but all mankind on Earth.
There's just one problem. 108-year-old (you read that right) Secretary Delacourt (Jodie Foster) doesn't want him — or anyone else from Earth — getting anywhere near Elysium.
To stop Max ...
Note: For an impoverished Earth, it looks like Nissan GT-R's are quite common vehicles in the future.
... gun-for-hire Kruger (Sharlto Copley) gets sent to hold him at bay.
Fans of Blomkamp will remember Copley as the lead in "District 9" who slowly turned into an alien.
Here, he'll play a soldier who works for the wealthy of Elysium on Earth.
This doesn't look good.
He won't be the only soldier out after Max. It looks like a lot of people wear these special exoskeletons in the future.
Max will also have to go up against different types of droids on Elysium consisting of police officers, military, and government personal.
If and when Max gets to his destination ...
... it doesn't look like it will be a cake walk for him.
So far, "Elysium" has decent reviews.
See what critics are saying about Sony Pictures' latest film >
(Stephanie Blomkamp / Columbia TriStar)
Popular Right Now
Advertisement