Hi Morgan, I'm looking forward to Oblivion.
I agree with Leila, positive is hard, dystopian easier. The first dystopian film that comes to mind is SILENT RUNNING (1974) -
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jxfO_wZYSQ
As far as mainstream movies.....
How about Star Trek TNG : INSURRECTION
The people of the planet Ba'ku, after fleeing their ecologically ravaged home planet, they resettling on a new planet in a region of space called the Brier Patch. The animistic Baku, although technologically advanced, chose to build an agrarian society, free of mechanical technology except when necessary. The Baku settled into small, close knit, ecologically conscious farm communities. They built their town using
sustainable, natural and earthen building materials. They embraced old world craftsmanship skills and flourished as artists, natural scientists, and philosophers.
This is from Wikipedia:
The Ba'ku people were a technologically advanced humanoid civilization. In the early 21st century, the race developed the means of building weapons of mass destruction and was on the brink of self-annihilation. A small enlightened group of the Ba'ku people escaped this horror and found an isolated planet.
This group of Ba'ku followed a simple way of life and disdained the use of technology. (As shown in the film Star Trek: Insurrection, however, the Ba'ku still possessed some form of technology and the ability to use it in emergencies, since they had attempted to repair the damaged Data.) At first the Ba'ku were unaware of the metaphasic radiation in the planet's rings, which caused their aging process to significantly decelerate, although it was later discovered and cherished.
The Ba'ku society consisted of strong bonds between each individual as there were less than a thousand living in a village. Their simpler way of life eventually prompted some of the younger Ba'ku villagers - who wanted to explore the galaxy with offlanders - to rebel against their elders, and an attempt was made to take over the village. When they were unsuccessful, they were exiled and eventually became the Son'a people.
In 2375 peace on the Ba'ku planet was restored, and several members of the Son'a returned to their families.
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