I was reflecting last night on the confusion that surrounds the term "steampunk" and "cyberpunk" as the family was watching "City of Ember", a film that perhaps would have needed a lot more fx and more advertising spent than the entire film budget, in order for it to be success. Not surprisingly, as clockwork boats moved out on an elaborate track in one of the scenes, my brother said, "Wow. I bet the steampunk enthusiasts went nuts over this."
I pointed out that it was a big difference between steampunk and cyberpunk. Steampunk: shiny, new, brassy and leather and clockwork gizmos that are impossibly advanced for their time; Mary Shelley wielding a raygun and HG Wells jumping into a commandeered Martian tripod. Cyberpunk: Grimy, plastic, vents, tubes - extremely clunky old equipment side-by-side with advanced tech, in the future, and The Matrix is a good example, when Neo wakes up in reality. The easiest way to tell cyberpunk is the forty tons of grime and dirt that seem compulsory.
Speaking of movie examples, I am looking for a good one to review- ideally something that is mainly steampunk. Stardust, probably.
