The science-fiction genre has introduced a number of amazing things into our lives through the exploration of future technology that can ultimately lead to similar real-world developments, though sci-fi movies have also become known for imagining new takes on another dominating aspect of society and culture, organized sports.
And while most of the sports introduced from the future in sci-fi movies are usually offshoots of established sports that never see much development outside of the films, there have been a couple of cases where these weird future sports have developed a real-world passion in fans, which inspired us to take a look at a few of the weirdest futuristic sports and how they are played.
10 A Deadly Transcontinental Road Race Captivated The Audience In Death Race 2000
David Carradine starred as a mysterious masked driver in the Transcontinental Road Race that has become the most profitable sport in the future of Death Race 2000 and was created to appease spectators by the totalitarian regime that took over the country's government.
They functioned similarly to normal races, though the cars were heavily modified to make them deadly killing machines so they could battle with other drivers and take out pedestrians on the road along the way for extra points on one of the most brutal future sports in the genre.
9 Rollerball Is A Heavy Metal Motorized Roller Derby In A Deadly Velodrome
1975's Rollerball (and the less memorable 2002 remake) introduced a world driven by spectators and consumerism as corporations invest heavily in the deadly titular sport to both distract the audience and maintain control, though the players begin to turn on their corporate bosses.
Rollerball is a team sport played by two teams of five players that include both rollerskaters and motorcyclists as they race in a specialized velodrome and attempt to score points by placing a steel ball in the opposing team's goal, all while trying to avoid increasingly violent players.
8 Real Steel Featured Giant Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots In A Boxing League
Hugh Jackman and Dakota Goyo starred in 2011's Real Steel, which saw an estranged father and son bond after finding and repairing a broken training robot so they could compete in the robot boxing league that replaced humans in the near future.
Powerful and sometimes deadly robots are controlled by human boxers and placed into a ring where they fight similarly to human boxing, though each robot's unique design introduced different variables and weapons to the fight.
7 Starship Troopers' Jump Ball Is Like Football But With More Jumping
Paul Verhoeven's Starship Troopers was an action-packed satirical war movie about a galactic conflict with giant space bugs fought by indoctrinated soldiers fighting for citizenship who were partially trained in high school by playing a team sport called Jump Ball.
Much like high school football games today, helmeted and padded teams of players played rival high schools in a game of physicality, tactics, and enhanced gymnastics that was shown to prove useful in games of war with the alien bugs as well.
6 Fighters Battled To The Death On Bungees In Mad Max: Thunderdome
While the Thunderdome that was introduced in George Miller's 1985 sequel Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome was used more to settle disputes in Bartertown, it undoubtedly drew spectators that surrounded the dome to view the matches inside.
Fighters like Mad Max Rocaktanksky (Mel Gibson) entered into the Thunderdome against a chosen champion and were attached to bungees that allowed them to jump around the Thunderdome in order to grab and use weapons stationed around the arena to assist with the duel to the death.
5 Deathsport Was Created To Test Out Weapons For Post-Apocalyptic War
David Carradine starred in 1978's Deathsport from B-movie king Roger Corman which was set 1000 years in a future post-apocalyptic wasteland where warriors known as "Range Guides" were forced to compete in Deathsport if they were convicted of the death penalty.
Deathsport was created in order to help test out newly-created Deathmachines, which were advanced motorcycles with laser guns attached. Contestants of Deathsport were required to race and kill the opponents with lasers, with any draws settled with a duel using specialty swords called Whistlers.
4 Motorball From Alita Battle Angel Is A Gladiatorial Race Between Cyborgs
Robert Rodriguez and James Cameron adapted the hit manga series in 2019's Alita Battle Angel, which is set in a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk future city filled with cyborg bounty hunters and athletes who play Motorball for money, fame, and the chance to earn a new elite life in the floating city of Zalem.
Alita (Rosa Salazar) competed in the sport which plays similarly to Rollerball as players race around a track with a metal ball while other players try to take them out, though Motorball has the added threat of competing against heavily-armed cyborg gladiators.
3 Political Prisoners Had To Survive A Deadly Gauntlet In The Running Man
1987's The Running Man was an adaptation of the Richard Bachman/Stephen King novel from director Paul Michael Glaser that saw convicts and political prisoners of the totalitarian future United States as they were forced to compete in a televised game for the deceived but entertained public.
Arnold Schwarzenegger starred as a framed police officer who was put through a deadly gauntlet of well-armed wrestler-like stalkers who hunt down and kill the runners as they navigate their way through a dilapidated section of Los Angeles loaded with cameras and traps.
2 Children Were Forced To Fight To The Death In The Hunger Games
There are quite a few future sports that focus on pitting others against each other in various gladiator-like arenas, though 2012's adaptation of Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games introduced a game where children are randomly selected in a lottery from each district in a dystopian future world to compete for their survival and their district's prosperity.
Competitors are forced to first compete for the interest of wealthy sponsors to better equip them. They are then forced to fight and kill their fellow competitors using weapons supplied in the game, all while avoiding additional threats and enemies created by the Gamesmaster.
1 Nomadic Teams Play Jugger In The Post-Apocalyptic The Blood of Heroes
1989's The Blood of Heroes from director David Webb Peoples is also known as The Salute of the Jugger, which references the players featured in The Game as teams of nomadic Juggers travel between towns to challenge the local teams for trophies and paid tributes to survive in a post-apocalyptic world devasted by wars.
The Game is played by one player carrying a dog's skull towards the opposing goal while surrounded by teammates wielding an assortment of weapons who have to battle the opposing team with similar weapons. The Game became a real competitive sport called Jugger played across the world with non-fatal weaponry, though "Wasteland Jugger" adheres closer to the film version.