Movie : High Treason (1929)

High Treason is an early British "talkie" and also an early science fiction film as its set in the "near future" 1940. Though despite being only set 11 years into the future the world is a very different place with 2 power blocs in an uneasy peace. Arms manufacturers don't like peace as its bad for business so they engineer a war between the Atlantic States and Europe by bombing the Channel Tunnel. Ironically enough big business manipulating 2 states into a war actually happened in South America a few years later.

As you can imagine the world in 1940 is an Art Deco masterpiece with aeroplanes and airships flying over skyscraper filled cities, video calling and oddly enough fencing being the interval act at a dance. While the film looks a treat it is a bit hokum and the peace message is hammered on thick, the early sound recording technology also needed a bit of refinement. The main actress seems to have been dubbed and much of the vocal track seems a bit detached from the rest of the film... though obviously for 1929 this was cutting edge.

War is averted by a rather neat twist (though you can see it coming). Peace in our times, well for a few years anyway.