Thrillers over time

2000s
The Butterfly Effect

The Butterfly Effect is a 2004 American psychological thriller film directed and written by Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber. The film stars Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, and Eric Stoltz, and the film was distributed by New Line Cinema. The title is a reference to the so-called butterfly effect which represents a claim within the scientific discipline of chaos theory that a small change may lead to much larger changes elsewhere. The phrase is therefore used here in suggesting that seemingly trivial, innocent, well-intentioned changes made to the past by a time traveller could very possibly bring about far worse conditions within the new timeline. This is actually not a new idea as it was articulated by writer Ray Bradbury several decades ago in the short story "A Sound of Thunder".

Cast

Ashton Kutcher as Evan Treborn
Amy Smart as Kayleigh Miller
Melora Walters as Andrea Treborn
Elden Henson as Lenny Kagan
William Lee Scott as Tommy Miller
Eric Stoltz as George Miller
Ethan Suplee as Thumper
Kevin Durand as Carlos
Callum Keith Rennie as Jason Treborn
Lorena Gale as Mrs. Boswell
Nathaniel DeVeaux as Dr. Redfield
Tara Wilson as Heidi
Jesse Hutch as Spencer
Jacqueline Stewart as Gwen

District 9

District 9 is a 2009 science fiction thriller film directed by Neill Blomkamp. It was written by Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell, and produced by Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham. The film stars Sharlto Copley, Jason Cope, and David James. The film won the 2010 Saturn Award for Best International Film presented by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, and was nominated for four Academy Awards in 2010, including Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Visual Effects, and Best Editing.
The story, adapted from Alive in Joburg, a 2005 short film directed by Blomkamp and produced by Sharlto Copley and Simon Hansen, pivots on the themes of xenophobia and social segregation. The title and premise of District 9 were inspired by events that took place in District Six, Cape Town during the apartheid era.

Cast

Sharlto Copley as Wikus van de Merwe
Jason Cope as Christopher Johnson, an alien
David James as Colonel Koobus Venter
Eugene Khumbanyiwa as Obesandjo
Nathalie Boltt as Sarah Livingstone
Sylvaine Strike as Katrina McKenzie
John Sumner as Les Feldman
Jed Brophy as James Hope
Vittorio Leonardi as Michael Bloemstein
Nick Boraine as Lieutenant Weldon


Summary:

In 2000s thrillers became top genre of films to watch with big budges, special effects, top actors and in depth viewing.