Trainspotting had heroin, Walter White his crystal meth (Blue Ice: accept no substitutes!). Alex in A Clockwork Orange partook of his moloko plus with a side of ultra-violence. Haven't heard of that one? Don't worry - you're not out of touch with the young folk. You just need to see more movies with hardcore fictional drugs. And make no mistake: there are some insane drugs in movies. Stuff that will make you lose your mind. Some drug movies will probably even make you feel like you're on drugs yourself.
The beauty of a fictional narcotic is that writers and directors need not worry about the pesky truth that comes with dabbling in reality. And let's face it - Batman would be a lot less fun if the Joker used crack instead of Smylex. Speaking of crack, some of the films on this list, such as Robocop 2, are obvious examples of how the crack epidemic influenced movies. Leave a comment below if you feel any of the craziest drugs from movies didn't make this list.
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A Scanner Darkly isn't just about drugs; watching it, you feel the effects of drugs coming alive in front of your eyes. Using rotoscope-style animation, director Richard Linklater puts the audience right into the fractured brain of undercover agent Bob Arctor (Keanu Reeves). Arctor eventually becomes addicted to the drug he's trying to get off the streets - Substance D, a powerful psychedelic. The deeper in he gets, the more addicted he becomes, and the stranger the film gets.
- Actors: Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey, Woody Harrelson, Winona Ryder, Rory Cochrane
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Richard Linklater
Agree or disagree?
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Maybe you didn't see Gaspar Noe's three-hour drug trip Enter the Void because you've done DMT enough to not need to see it recreated as cinema. In the event you did see that movie, you know it's trippy as hell. So imagine that super trippiness in a movie that's a bit like Die Hard and a lot like The Raid and you have some idea of what's going on with Slo Mo in Dredd. The drug slows the user's perception of reality to 1% normal speed. And so you become high af and everything is magical. Sounds kind of great, right?
- Actors: Karl Urban, Olivia Thirlby, Lena Headey, Wood Harris, Langley Kirkwood
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Pete Travis
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A slightly more unhinged version of taro milk tea (with boba, obviously), moloko plus, from the Korova milkbar, is the drink and drug of choice for anti-hero Alex and his violent misfit cronies in A Clockwork Orange.
To quote Alex, "The Korova milkbar sold milk-plus, milk plus vellocet or synthemesc or drencrom, which is what we were drinking. This would sharpen you up and make you ready for a bit of the old ultraviolence." Side effects may include a propensity to act out whenever Singing in the Rain enters your head, wanton raping, and a desire to turn every social encounter into an act of sadistic violence.
As ad campaigns go, it's no "Got Milk." But if ultraviolence is your thing, then Korova's the drink for you. Accept no substitutes.
- Actors: Malcolm McDowell, Patrick Magee, Michael Bates, Warren Clarke, John Clive
- Released: 1971
- Directed by: Stanley Kubrick
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In the world of Dune, Melange, also known as Spice, is the most valuable material in the universe. It can increase a user's life span and strength of body and mind. The downside of the drug is, it's incredibly addictive and can result in coming face-to-face with shirtless Sting. If you recall, Dune was directed by David Lynch, so you know Melange, in its cinematic form, was super weird. It made people's eyes glow blue.
All the cool kids in 1984 had the LJN Toys Spice Scout vehicle. You could play with it alongside your Scarface cocaine factory action set and, if you kept it until 1989, your Crack House crack house.
- Actors: Kyle MacLachlan, Sting, Francesca Annis, Leonardo Cimino, Brad Dourif
- Released: 1984
- Directed by: David Lynch
Agree or disagree?
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Similar to the protagonist in Flowers for Algernon adaptation Charly, who takes an experimental drug, Eddie Morra (Bradley Cooper) in Limitless is given the chance to go from handsome, not-too-bright, barley working writer to brilliant, well-paid man who looks like Bradley Cooper (which is to say, very handsome indeed) thanks to NZT-48. Knowledge becomes its own kind of drug. Which doesn't sound dangerous until you discover the side effect is a CBS TV show.
- Actors: Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Abbie Cornish, Anna Friel, Andrew Howard
- Released: 2011
- Directed by: Neil Burger
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Pineapple Express, a formerly fictional, now very real, strain of marijuana, gave Pineapple Express it's name. And it is serious weed. It's not, "let's smoke and listen to Sabbath and joy ride in the '77 Monte Carlo" weed. it's "let's smoke this and awaken our third eye" weed. And it gets Dale Denton (Seth Rogen) and Saul Silver (James Franco) into all kinds of predicaments (though gets them out of a few, too). Weed might not seem like the most hardcore of drugs, but when it gets you into shoot outs with gangsters, it's safe to say this sh*t is for real.
- Actors: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Gary Cole, Rosie Perez, Danny McBride
- Released: 2008
- Directed by: David Gordon Green
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- Warner Bros
Smile and the world smiles with you, whether it wants to or not. In 1989's Batman, the Joker had several nefarious desires, including Vicki Vale's lady parts, power, money, an abundance of purple, and seeing all of Gotham suffer a permanent grin like his, courtesy of Smylex (and a grant from the Chubb group.)
In the film's climax, the Joker releases Smylex gas from a series of floats in an attempt to make his Cheshire face the newest trend. This is also the scene with the Batplane and Joker's gigantic pistol. Making matters worse, he forces the citizens of Gotham to listen to a rare sub-par Prince tune ("Trust"). It's unclear which caused more permanent damage.
- Actors: Jack Nicholson, Michael Keaton, Kim Basinger, Robert Wuhl, Pat Hingle
- Released: 1989
- Directed by: Tim Burton
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This is your brain on Nuke, "the most addictive narcotic in history." It's a crazy future narcotic drummed up in labs that makes addicts feel so good they treat its primary dealer, Cain, like a cult leader. As the man says, "There is a Nuke for every mood."
RoboCop 2, though a far from perfect film, came up with a perfect drug, which is injected via a shot to the neck. Nuke is in such demand even pre-pubescent Hob became a major kingpin. It might look like a dog's flea medicine - and get applied in strikingly similar fashion - but it's the only thing keeping some people going in future Detroit.
RoboCop 2 attempts to address the crack epidemic in a satirical voice like that of the first film in the series, but errs too far to the serious and silly ends of the spectrum. It gets lost fast and, despite some great ideas, never really says anything profound. In the end, young Hob gets (SPOILER ALERT) killed due to his poor life choices.
Just say no, kids, to using & dealing nuke. And watching RoboCop 2 or 3.
- Actors: Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bauer, Tom Noonan
- Released: 1990
- Directed by: Irvin Kershner
Agree or disagree?
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In the not too distant future of Looper, dropper is the drug of choice, administered right to the eye for an immediate, powerful high. Loopers in particular get hooked on it, to help block out the grisly nature of their work. Once a Looper's services are no longer needed, and the time of death is nigh, dropper intake increases until the assassin in question is sent to the past for his or her own "checkout. "
- Actors: Bruce Willis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Noah Segan
- Released: 2012
- Directed by: Rian Johnson
Agree or disagree?
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Sleeper features a drug, in ball form, that gives the user a dizzying high and afflicts you with uncontrollable fits of laughter. The film follows Milo (Woody Allen), a man from the present awakened in the future, who pretends to be a servant robot. One of his tasks entails dutifully passing the Orb around during a party. Problem is, with every touch, he get more effected by the drug, quickly resulting in one stoned, and very horny, fake robot.
- Actors: Woody Allen, Diane Keaton, John Beck, Mews Small, Bartlett Robinson
- Released: 1973
- Directed by: Woody Allen
Agree or disagree?
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The world of Children of Men, overrun as it is by lawlessness, extreme class divide, anti-immigrant sentiment, flagrant systemic racism, and the extremely f*cking nigh end of humanity, isn't the nicest place to live. You'd be forgiven for wanting to call it a day and blowing your brains out. Enter Quietus, a seemingly innocuous drug advertised on television and billboards throughout the movie. In fact, it's a suicide substance any old citizen can get hands on to quietly exit the perpetual hell of existence.
- Actors: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam
- Released: 2006
- Directed by: Alfonso Cuarón
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- Alliance Atlantis
Part virtual reality game console, part embryo, part erogenous zone, part umbilical cord, the Pod does a lot, and users become addicted very quickly. Putting Nintendo Switch to shame, the Existenz Pod creates an experience in which users don't know where the game ends and reality begins. Users become so addicted, quitting the VR game is not an option, which surely sounds familiar to anyone who spent six straight hours trying to knock out Mike Tyson in Punch Out. Except you probably didn't ever stroke your NES remote the way Jennifer Jason Leigh touches her Existenz Pod.
- Actors: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jude Law, Willem Dafoe, Ian Holm, Don McKellar
- Released: 1999
- Directed by: David Cronenberg
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- Lionsgate
Normally, the class drug dealer isn't the best company to keep (no offense to any readers who might support themselves with this lifestyle). But, when aliens start taking over the bodies of school faculty, dealing becomes a lesser of two evils. Using Zeke Tyler's (Josh Hartnett) homemade drug scat - caffeine pills mixed with household "sh*t" and served in a pen - the film's teenage heroes fight off their alien rivals. Prof. Edward Furlong (Jon Stewart) even loses an eye, though Stewart looks mighty spiffy in an eye patch during the end credits.
- Actors: Jordana Brewster, Clea Duvall, Laura Harris, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy
- Released: 1998
- Directed by: Robert Rodriguez
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- Warner Bros
While 1989 Joker saw laughter as the worst medicine, Scarecrow in Batman Begins went the opposite direction. Whenever he's backed into a a corner or looking for new clients, Dr. Crane sprays a little gas, dons his mask, and the patient goes batty. The gas causes the patient's greatest fears to come to life, causing even the bravest of superheroes to lose it.
Only question: Is the fear toxin antidote covered by insurance? Or is fear a pre-existing condition?
- Actors: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Katie Holmes, Gary Oldman
- Released: 2005
- Directed by: Christopher Nolan
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In classic film noir fashion, Minority Report protagonist John Anderton is a haunted man. His personal demons have driven him to neuroin, a powerful drug sucked through an inhaler and purchased from sinister, eyeless prophets in dark alleys of an Orwellian future. The substance rhymes with heroin and, no surprise, has similar affects - it dulls the senses and induces a state of mellow euphoria. Unfortunate side effects include a lackluster series starring Wilmer Valderrama, thespian extraordinaire.
- Actors: Tom Cruise, Colin Farrell, Samantha Morton, Max von Sydow, Lois Smith
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Steven Spielberg
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Squid from Strange Days (the drug, not the animal drown during a Red Wings game), is a hallucinogenic trip into all-too-real virtual reality using other people's memories. With director Kathryn Bigelow at the helm, the movie takes the audience into these long, strange trips. Some of them involve plummeting to the death, others making love to Juliette Lewis. In both cases, you see why Lenny Nero (Ralph Fiennes) becomes a full blown addict.
- Actors: Ralph Fiennes, Angela Bassett, Juliette Lewis, Tom Sizemore, Michael Wincott
- Released: 1995
- Directed by: Kathryn Bigelow
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Remember before Christian Bale became Batman and appeared in a movie where he was basically trying to be Neo, as directed by Kurt Wimmer, erstwhile screenwriter who you might know as the man behind the scripts for the Point Break and Total Recall remakes? Well, if you don't, you probably don't remember Prozium II, a drug everyone in the future state of Libiria has to take, as per the demands of a totalitarian government that came to power in the wake of World World III.
Sounds pretty hardcore, right? Prozium II suppresses emotion and encourages allegiance to the state, which kind of makes you wonder why they didn't just think to have everyone watch bad television all the time. It seems to have the same affect.
- Actors: Christian Bale, Emily Watson, Taye Diggs, Angus Macfadyen, Sean Bean
- Released: 2002
- Directed by: Kurt Wimmer
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