1) LOST

Yeah, yeah, yeah, so the ending was “meh”, but the first three seasons were the cats pajamas.  And besides, you won’t make it past season three before killer hell-spawn chipmunks are eating your face.  The apocalypse waits for no one.

2) Apocalypse Now

A timeless war movie unlike any of the others, due in part to Francis Ford Coppola’s (the Godfather) haunting vision of Vietnam.  But hey… Martin Sheen is young in it, and that alone is worth watching before all the volcanoes on earth erupt at once.

3) Apocalypto

Mel Gibson’s take on the “end of the world” although you won’t see the ending coming.  It’s pretty much a glorified chase movie, but it’s pretty cool none the less.

4) Highschool of the Dead

What happens if the end of the world is filled with zombies and a ton of hot girls who wear little to no clothing?  Well that means you are watching Highschool of the Dead.  This anime is pretty heavy on the gore, fan-service, and zombie tropes, but if that’s your cup of tea then no anime does it better.

5) Tucker and Dale vs Evil

So what happens if the end of the world doesn’t happen and it’s just a bunch of stupid kids getting themselves all worked up over nothing (spoiler: it is)? Tucker and Dale vs Evil takes this to new heights as some stupid college kids scare themselves so badly they accidentally start killing themselves to some darkly hilarious results.  Plus it stars Alan Tudyk.

6) The Walking Dead

Do I need to explain this one?  Look, if you aren’t on the hype train yet you seriously need to get your ass on Netflix and watch the first two seasons.

7) Heroes

In our time of unparalleled mock need, only one show can save us.  Heroes.  Season 1 only though… I swear I will punch you if you watch more than season 1.  It just gets worse and worse and… I digress.  But how bout’ that season one though, eh?!

8) Deadliest Warrior

Who knows?  Maybe the end of the world will have us fighting against Apaches, gladiators, vikings, samurai, Spartans, ninjas, pirates, knights, the Yakuza, the Mafia, green beret, Spetnaz, and Jesse James.  This show will teach you their methods and how to best defend yourself against them (seriously).

9) Rare Exports

Maybe you just want to celebrate Christmas early tomorrow before the solar flare vaporizes you and your tree?  Fear not, you can watch Rare Exports, a movie about how Santa is a giant demon.  Yep.

10) Arrested Development

Since the apocalypse isn’t happening you know what you should really do?  Watch seasons 1-3 of Arrested Development since season 4 will be on Netflix in the beginning of next year.    Now is the perfect time to catch up.  While everyone else is on FaceBook saying, “See I told you it wouldn’t happen” or, on an unfortunate chance, “Oh my god my flesh is melting off!”, you will be enjoying a timeless shows that even the Mayans remember fondly.

John Townsend

Staff Writer

koala@ihogeek.com

If you find yourself in a similar situation, here’s a list of a few recommended end of the world movies that I’ve mostly garnered from others’ suggestions (since, as mentioned above, end of the world themed media hasn’t really been my thing). So fire up your Netflix or swing by the nearest Redbox and get ready for an epic movie marathon. Seriously — start now if you want to get a few good flicks in before el fin.

We’ll begin with the ones I’ve actually seen and can recommend in good conscience:

• 28 Days Later. Not to be confused with the Sandra Bullock rehab movie of nearly the same name, this film chronicles a group of Brits searching for reprieve following a zombie-inducing virus has swept through the nation — leaving disaster and devastation in its wake:

• WALL-E. The first time I saw this movie was with my dear friend Vicky Yue (now Vicky Blue) on the day we met (which was also the day we moved into our dorm apartments for grad school). Good memories! And if you haven’t yet seen this adorable Earth cleaner-upper in action, please check it out:

• Children of Men. Okay, so this one’s not quite about the end of the world, but more about the inevitably approaching end of the world, seeing as humans become unable to procreate in this movie:

• Armageddon. Yes, the one with the terribly cheesy Aerosmith song. The one directed by Michael Bay. Don’t judge. I’m a girl, and I was in middle school when it came out. It gets to stay on the list:

• The Road. This one comes with a big, fat caveat. I haven’t seen the movie The Road, and actually have heard that it’s not all that great. Bad, even. But I have read the book The Road, and it’s not bad. It’s quite wonderful, in fact. And so I suppose I’m actually recommending the book The Road rather than the movie The Road, but this is a post about movies, so there you go:

All right, time for the collection of movies I’m trusting others to recommend, because I haven’t actually seen them myself:

• Independence Day. Not sure how I managed to miss this one (I love Will Smith, after all), but alas, I haven’t seen this movie following Mr. Smith and company as they fight to save the world from aliens’ impending invasion, and their superior technology. (“The most notable part of that movie is that nerdy guy from Jurassic Park teaming up with The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air to save the world.” – Kevin Keller, who has actually seen the movie.):

• The Day After Tomorrow. The world is threatened by another ice age — yikes! Let’s see what happens:

• Seeking A Friend For The End Of The World. Who doesn’t love Steve Carell? In this flick, he’s going on a hunt for a high school sweetheart — with buddy Kiera Knightly in tow — in a race to beat a quickly approaching asteroid:

• The Book of Eli. Denzel Washington struggles to save a sacred text in — you guessed it — a post-apocalyptic world. I hear there’s a pretty good twist at the end, too: 

That should keep us all busy for the next few days, huh? Happy end of the world prepping!

Pull up a chair, pass around some rations, and get comfortable. Here at Lady Anachronism’s Fallout Shelter, I’ll take you back into time, when Atomic Age cats and dolls fretted over the bomb and visions of alien invaders flickered on the big screen at the local drive-in. Technological or political developments may have made these films obsolete, but I hope you’ll join me in rediscovering forgotten Cold War-era cinema.

THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (1976) is a rare treat, a mélange of science fiction and horror, all while blatantly ripping off George Romero. Directed by Argentinian director Leon Klimovsky (THE WEREWOLF VERSUS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN, 1971), the film opens to a bright bedroom. Lily (Maria Perschy) is awakened by her husband, Victor (Tomas Pico). They have to plan for a party they’ll be throwing later that night.

The scene cuts to the office of a Russian ambassador. We know he’s Russian because he calls someone “comrade,” and there’s a picture of Lenin proudly displayed in his office. He’s speaking with someone on the telephone about leaving the country. We discover something bad might happen, but maybe not, at least according to the ambassador.

We move on to the party at Lily and Victor’s mansion in the countryside. Lily and Victor discuss who will be attending. It becomes clearer that this is going to be a kinky party. Doctors and businessmen, who are instructed to wear these bizarre rubber masks, are there to have a decadent meal with plenty of wine and narcotics—and a lovely selection of prostitutes to satisfy their needs. (For the under-18 or nudity-sensitive crowd, there is no explicit sex and only a small amount of nudity.)

Before things can get really kinky, the basement room where the Marquis de Sade-inspired debauchery was to take place begins to shake violently. The ceiling cracks open. The servants come in screaming, their eyes completely white. A pigeon crashes into the house, also devoid of its eyesight.

Dr. Fulton (Alberto de Mendoza) tells everyone he believes Europe has been hit by a nuclear bomb. The cellar-level bordello is the perfect place to hide out until it becomes clearer what steps they should take.

The following day, the men venture out to the village to gather supplies in a scene that looks remarkably like something straight out of THE LAST MAN ON EARTH (1964). While there, they discover everyone in the village is blind, suffering from some strange disease brought on by the nuclear fallout. In one of the stranger scenes, the men break into a grocery store to get some food. They’re accosted by the storeowner, who is blind and doing his best to protect his store. Victor, who seemingly lacks all human decency, takes out his switchblade and jabs it into the guy.

The rest of the men attempt to deliver some of their ill-gotten food to the monastery, where the blinded masses are moaning and wandering around aimlessly. Victor wants nothing to do with their sappy, bleeding-heart charity, and he steps outside to smoke a cigarette. Some of the blind villagers find him and grab at him like zombies. He begins shooting them, but Dr. Robertson (Ricardo Palacios) strangles him to death before he can hurt anyone else.

No one tells Lily what has happened to her husband, beyond the fact that he is dead, out of respect for Dr. Robertson. Even so, murdering Victor takes a toll on Dr. Robertson. He wanders around in a catatonic state for a while, but then starts acting like an animal. The rotund doctor even takes to crawling around the mansion on all fours in the nude. Dr. Messier (Emiliano Redondo) tries to comfort the nutcase with a transistor radio. The radio has been silent since the bomb hit, but Messier tells Robertson that perhaps one day the radio will play music again.

Fulton and the lovely Clara (Nadiuska, who is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Conan’s mother in 1982’s CONAN THE BARBARIAN), find love despite the horrifying circumstances. It’s actually a believable, beautiful relationship, a bond that lasts throughout the film.

The film features Paul Naschy, Spain’s answer to Lon Chaney, who also starred in Klimovsky’s THE WEREWOLF VERSUS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN. He portrays Bourne, a man with flared nostrils who is ready and willing to shoot, punch, or kick anything in sight. Between Bourne and the blind zombie-like folks, the members of the party are in a dangerous spot.

Meanwhile, the blind zombies are being led around by a man who was blind before the bomb struck. He instructs them to attack the members of the party. One woman has her eyes gouged out by the horde. Another is shot in the mouth.

Suddenly, the transistor radio begins playing music. An announcer comes on to tell the survivors of the blast where they should report for further instructions. Between the blind people and the shotgun wielding Bourne, the remaining party members must fight for their lives. Few succeed.

Fulton and Clara make it after escaping into the woods while the others fight it out among themselves and the zombie horde. They flag down a bus driven by two men in radiation suits. Fulton gives them his identification. The two board the bus, which is occupied by other healthy people.

I won’t give away the ending to those who are eager to see this Spanish delight, but it left me feeling cold and frustrated. This was an exceptionally good film with an ending that fell flat for me.

It is obvious Klimovsky was heavily influenced by NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968) and THE OMEGA MAN (1971), or its predecessor THE LAST MAN ON EARTH. He brought his own style and vision to the table, and it makes for a refreshing take on the theme. The film is not without its plot holes. Some of the characters’ reactions to a horrifying situation don’t make much sense, but perhaps Klimovsky intended to demonstrate that people act irrationally when faced with a crisis. Despite its flaws, I highly recommend it.

© Copyright 2012 by Sheri Sebastian-Gabriel

What is real?

Oh yes. We’ve seen this theme time and time again. Why? Because it’s fun! Audiences love having their minds blown. Questioning reality is one of the oldest philosophies of our culture, dating as far back as ancient greece. Asking ourselves ‘what is real’ is a great way to start a premise to a story.

Philip K. Dick’s story Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? or what many of you might know as the movie Blade Runner, is a good example of how a story can lead the audience on, only to throw in a plot twist that questions the character’s entire outlook on reality.

Chris Nolan’s Inception, is another reminder of why reality genres are so much fun in science fiction. Inception leaves us with an idea that keeps us thinking the entire ride home from the movie theatre. From the Matrix to Total Recall, alternate-reality genres will not go away. They have the power send the audience on mind benders. They open windows to different worlds, and let us take a peak into the impossible.

Don’t forget Time Travel!

Back to the Future is a movie that showcases how the invention of a ‘Time Travelling Delorian’ leads to the complete unravelling of time on earth. Marty McFly must race to fix his past, to save himself from being erased from existence! Time travel is an integral sci-fi genre that allows writers to drum up any and all quirky situations.

Time travel will always carry social repercussions, as they fundamentally alter the course of history. Who are we to do that? H.G. Wells knew this question well. He presented us with an alternative theory that we cannot change the past, but can have control over our future. This opens a doorway that a positive change for our corrupt culture is very possible if we act today.

Thankfully, time travel is still a science-fiction theory at this point… hopefully.

Wait a minute! What if someone invents something that has different social repercussions?

Advances in Technology = Social Conflict

Philip K. Dick being a father of great science fiction writing, is also the mind behind the story Minority Report. Popularized by Stephen Spielberg’s 2002 movie adaptation, this story gives the audience a glimpse into an almost perfect future. However, it asks us a fundamental question: Do we control our own fate?

A question like this is the foundation to any great story. Minority Report is a story centred around a crime unit where pre-cognative beings can see a crime before it has been committed. The individual centred around the ‘pre-crime’ is then arrested before having committing murder. Yes we’ve gotten rid of murder in a way, but perhaps we have taken away peoples’ freedoms to choose their own fate?
What if the future isn’t set in stone?

Surrogates is another fantastic movie featuring the social repercussions of a new form of technology. People live their lives vicariously through robots, and never leave their homes. What can get more socially awkward then that? What happens if you lose your surrogate? This type of society creates a false sense of comfort, and humanity can hide behind the blanket of robotics.

When someone finds a way to start murdering people by destroying their surrogates, you open up another whole can of worms. Surrogates are no longer safe? Well, that just F***S up EVERYTHING! New technology is a great way to showcase how society can change in the blink of an eye, leading us all into a bizarre new future.

This is also a question that leads us into the next category:

Dystopian Futures

A good dystopian future (or universe) questions our current living environment or situation. Take these ‘advances in technology’ plots for example:
iRobot, The Time Machine, Idiocracy, Robopocylipse, Tron, Terminator 2: Judgement Day, Repo Men, Timeline, Resident Evil, 2001: A Space Odyssey, In Time, The Matrix, or Jurassic Park.
These stories showcase how society has fallen, and our positive vision of future has collapsed in the aftermath of the technology grabbing hold of us. In addition to these plots, dystopias showcase the follies of man. For example:

What will POLLUTION or GLOBAL WARMING lead to?
Answer: Waterworld, The Day After Tomorrow

Where will WAR or NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGY lead us?
Answer: Mad Max, 9, City of Ember, The Hunger Games, The Book of Eli, The Road, Escape from L.A., Planet of the Apes, or GODZILLA

Where will APATHY, CORRUPTION, or IGNORANCE lead us?
Answer: The Abyss, AVATAR, Brazil, The Day After Tomorrow, The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, or Metropolis

Another way to write a good Dystopian Sci-Fi, is to introduce a foreign element that changes the fate of our world. Entire stories can be written featuring the aftermath or threat of a global catastrophe.

What happens when a SUPER-VIRUS spreads like a plague?
Answer: Night of the Living Dead, Resident Evil, 28 Days, Children of Men, The Happening, The Walking Dead, or 12 Monkeys

What happens when a giant meteorite crashes into earth?
Answer: Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within, Armageddon, Deep Impact

What happens at the end of the world?
Answer: 2012, 7 Days, Titan: A.E.

The only limit we have as writers in the sci-fi genre is our own creativity. There are countless ways to retell and ask the same questions without getting boring. Aliens, Space Travel, Technologies, Viruses, Monsters, whatever element it is that you want to introduce to your story, just remember that it all starts with a question.

What is real?
Do we control our fate?
How do we react to an Alien invasion?
Do we remain civil at the end of civilization?

Click here  to view the presentation I gave last night at St. Monica’s Parish in Santa Monica, CA. The film clips are missing but the list of the films I referenced are in the last slide. (Thanks to Mary Sperry; she’ll know!)

It’s the end of the world as we know it, and we feel fine! And why wouldn’t we, when there are these great apocalyptic flicks to enjoy in the lead up to Earth’s eventual shuttering? The old girl still may have a little life in her yet, but eventually she will explode/implode/pop like a balloon and erratically spurt around the cosmos. Or maybe civilisation will be wiped out before then; perhaps by zombies, perhaps by robots, perhaps by nuclear war, perhaps by viral outbreak, or, most likely, by an army of Nicolas Cage clones with a plan to take revenge on everyone who ever laughed at him and his cinematic choices (spare me Nic!). To celebrate the release of Lars von Trier‘s new DVD/Blu-ray release Melancholia, we’re sharing our picks for the top 10 end of the world movies. So, when the apocalypse comes, don’t say we didn’t warn you.

10. The Tree of Life

The jury is still out on whether or not existence comes to a close at the end of Terrence Malick’s magnum opus, but the image of both young and old Jack O’Brien (Hunter McCracken, Sean Penn) reuniting with his mother (Jessica Chastain), father (Brad Pitt), late brother, and the rest of humanity on some sort of ethereal beach while doing the dance of death (as seen in The Seventh Seal!) is truly something to behold, whether you believe in life after apocalypse or not.

9. The Road

We prefer Cormac McCarthy’s novel, but John Hillcoat still paints a vivid, stark portrait of our planet after an ecological disaster. It doesn’t pull any punches with that ending either. Super depressing.

8. 28 Days Later

Imagine waking up naked on a hospital bed, and then discovering that London has been overtaken by a zombie horde (sorry purists – we know they’re not technically zombies, just people infected by the rage virus, but you know what we mean). The sequel suggested that humanity was able to, at least temporarily, stave off total elimination. That’s the thing about zombies though: what they lack in hygiene, they make up in determination.

7. Knowing

And Nicolas Cage returns to the Top 10 fold in Alex Proyas‘ surprisingly thoughtful disaster flick Knowing! Cage happens upon a notepad filled with numbers that are revealed to predict catastrophic events across the globe. But what happens when the numbers run out? Some have scoffed at the nutso, ballsy finale; we maintain it’s one of the most spectacular and stirring of the past few years.

6. Watchmen

We don’t want to spoil anything here. We’ll just say that, similar to Dr. Strangelove (which was excised from this list on account of it appearing in no less than four prior Top 10s), it concludes with a hint of imminent nuclear warfare. Rorschach, you rabble-rouser, you.

5. 12 Monkeys

Terry Gilliam‘s 12 Monkeys is heavily inspired by the French short film La Jetée, in which a time traveller discovers that a dream he had as a boy was actually of his own death as a man (cue Keanu ‘woah‘). Bruce Willis is sent back through time to halt the release of a deadly virus, but in his dying moments he discovers that his plight is hopeless. Bummer!

4. The Terminator

To combat the rise of the machines, the human resistance of a post-apocalyptic wasteland sends a freedom fighter to protect the not-yet-pregnant mother of their eventual saviour from an unstoppable cyborg assassin… come on, you know what it’s about. Don’t make me try to explain it.

3. Take Shelter

Michael Shannon stars as a husband and father haunted by images of the looming rapture. Is he a modern-day prophet, or is this merely the first sign of his descent into madness? The final scene is sure to fire up some arguments between viewers, but Shannon’s powerful performance is undeniable, and the movie itself presents some fairly ungodly, nightmarish visions of an impending reckoning.

2. Children of Men

Suddenly, and without explanation, men and women lose the ability to procreate. Alfonso Cuarón‘s chilling Children of Men offers up a fairly realistic depiction of Earth’s untimely demise while embracing its fantastical sci-fi premise. Keeping it from #1 is the semi-optimistic end. No, we’ve got to save the top spot for something truly nihilistic.

1. Dawn of the Dead

“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead shall walk the Earth.” If that proclamation by a televangelist on George Romero‘s still-biting (geddit?) zombie satire Dawn of the Dead doesn’t send chills down your spine, perhaps the prospect of having to live in a shopping mall will do the trick. The original cut featured the final two survivors committing suicide; Romero eventually pulled his punches and had them escape, postponing their inevitable death until later. So, props to Zack Snyder for following through on the bleakness with his 2004 remake!

Discuss: OK, what did we miss?

With the Mayan calendar ticking down, Harold Camping moving his prediction forward a year, and Kim Jong-un sitting with his finger on the big red button, It’s easy to understand why some folks are getting a little tetchy about the coming end. But fear not, If movies have taught us anything It’s that a handful of humans will not only survive the apocalypse but maybe even have a little fun in the empty malls left behind. To clarify you won’t find your more infamous zombie flicks in here (aka the Romero movies) as you could fill a list with post-apocalyptic zombie movies alone. That’s for another day. So, here’s Deadly Movies favourite (non zombie) Post-Apocyalpse movies:

The Quiet Earth (1985): A real odd New Zealand treat this. No hideous post-fallout monsters or zombies. Just a seamlessly empty world inhabited by one man.., one man who’s eventually joined first by a young lady, and second by another competing alpha-male. It’s more of a character study of what the human mind might go though in such a scenario than most other movies of Its type. The reason behind the end of the world is a neat one, and so is the visually splendid ending.

When Worlds Collide (1951): I love this movie. It gets to the point nice and early. A huge planet is going to crash into the earth and destroy it. Fact. End of. No amount of Bruce Willis space missions can do shit about it. So on with the movie which essentially is about building a rocket to get a handful of humans (only 40!) off the planet on an escape-craft. The science is insane in places (the planet mankind will repopulate is a moon belonging to the planet that will destroy Earth.., a planet spinning out of control though space??) but the human interplay is great and the finality from the beginning particularly unique. OK you have to wait to the end for this to be strictly ‘post-apocalyptic’ but that end scene is hilariously entertaining, with the human survivors taking their first steps onto their new home.., a Disney-esque watercolour painting worthy of Uncle Remus.

The Last Man on Earth (1964): There’s nothing better than watching Vincent Price run around the streets of post-apocalpse Rome steaking mutant vampires to death in the first movie adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel I Am Legend. Yep Price is battier than a bucket of turds as he shuffles about the place narrating to himself. A great late night watch.

Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981): The quintessential modern post-apocalyptic movie. Most movies since have taken their visual cue from George Miller’s followup to his 1979 ‘Mad Max’. Plus this was a time when it wasn’t just ok, but actually cool to like Mel Gibson, a truly apocalyptic thought. If you think of the post apocalyptic world as long desert roads and one-eyed biker pillagers then this is where it all comes from.

The Road (2009): Depressing as hell (in a good way) vision of a bleak, terrifying future where one man and his son simply have to survive the hardships of a ruined earth and the ruined remains of mankind and its social rules. Like ‘The Quiet Earth’ there’s no mutants or monsters here, but there’s also no malls or nice apartment buildings to romp around in looking for PS3′s or fashion montages. Unrelentingly oppressive.

On The Beach (1959): A very different approach to the post apocalyptic world where all survivors of a nuclear holocaust live in Australia, including Gregory Peck, Anthony Perkins, Fred Astaire, and Ava Gardner.., now that sounds like a future worth saving. This is more melodrama than it is mutant horror, highway adventure, or brooding depression. Though the threat of Australia suffering the inevitable same fate of the rest of the planet constantly hangs over the movie.

Also see: ‘The World, The Flesh, and The Devil‘ (1959), ’Panic In Year Zero‘ (1962), ‘La Jetee‘ (1962), ‘The Omega Man‘ (1971), ‘A Boy and His Dog‘ (1975), ‘Delicatessen‘ (1991), ‘12 Monkeys‘ (1995).

Click for more info

Directed by Michael Haneke

Time of the Wolf (2007) is a an end of the world movie set in the French countryside. Not really in the apocalyptic genre as there is no big event which set off the downfall of civilization. They don’t exactly say what happened, something with the drinking water but whatever happened has driven large of amount of refugees out of the cities where they congregate at only means of transportation that still functions, France’s train system. It’s here where the characters try and survive while waiting for the next train that may or may not come.

Yosomono says:

The problem with French movies is that besides crime, or police drama’s they don’t follow the normal movie conventions i.e. a story or any type of resolution by the time the movie finishes. If you’ve seen any of Haneke’s films before you know that its usually a couple scenes of brutality and gore followed by … nothing. Sometimes this works, in Funny Games – USA (Which is actually a remake of German language film called Funny Games) which a pair of serial killers slowly kill off a family one by one (Tim Roth and Naomi Watts play the parents) the large amount of dialogue and the how the killers play with the family makes the movie work. But in his other movie Cache nothing happens except the infamous knife suicide scene. In Time of the Wolf the movie starts off with a bang but then slowly drifts along, following the characters who mostly drift along in scenes that I imagine Haneke was trying to imprint with some kind of symbolism but left me with … nothing

Gaijinass says:

This film….god….why?

French films are such an enigma to me.  Occasionally something will come around, so under the radar and without a real plot of anykind yet WAM, it works so well and hits so hard you are left wishing the director had doubled up on the condoms.  Other times, you are left with “Time of the Wolf”.

A good example of something unexpected and devoid of any conventional movie constructs, like a PLOT or a POINT, is the film
Trouble Every Day. Vincent Gallo and Claire Denis really bring to life a piece of cinema that for all intents and purposes should lie dead and inanimate at the bottom of a basket full of chewed up vagina’s. Somehow though, it works and works well. It captures the imagination. It shocks. It Awes.
Time of the Wolf DOES NOT.

Rating

YOSOMONO-3 out of 5 – If you’re a fan of end of the world movies then this is a must see otherwise you’ll probably fall asleep.

GAIJINASS-1 out of 5 – If you like crap masquerading as meaningful and heavy “Art”, by all means….

With my favorite movie of 2009 coming out on DVD this week (The Road), I thought I’d celebrate by listing my favorite films in my favorite genre…the apocalypse. There is a long line of films that have explored the idea of the end of days, but only a few actually pull it off. “The Road” is one of the grittiest of the bunch and should look great on DVD! Here’s my Top 10 Favorite “End Of The World” movies…

1. 28 Days Later (2002)
Quite possibly one of the most under-rated films of all-time? I think because it came across as a typical “zombie” movie, this remarkable film directed by Danny Boyle didn’t get the audience it deserved. Then Boyle won an Oscar for “Slumdog Millionaire” in what was an obvious make-good by the Academy for THIS movie (just kidding. “Slumdog” WAS a pretty good flick). Cillian Murphy is awesome as the confused Jim, who wakes from a coma to find everyone (or almost everyone) gone or dead. Scary premise that turns into a morality tale at the end.

2. The Road (2009)
This adaptation of a novel by Cormac McCarthy is true to it’s roots. Although a few things are added (Charlize Theron’s role was enhanced to give her some deserved screen time), the overall bleakness of the film and the amazing job by Viggo Mortenson make this a must see for ANY film buff.

3. Night of the Comet (1984)
My camp classic of this genre! Zombies + cheesy soundtrack + chicks in cheerleading outfits = 80′s goodness!  Who said the apocalypse had to be boring?

4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Although more of a horror film, it still touches on the premise that the end of the world could be near! It paved the way for so many other films in this genre that it HAS to be included!

5. Dawn Of The Dead (2004)
A remake that I feel is better than the original. Set mostly in a local mall, the only living people left in a small town are forced to take a look at themselves and decide what they should do to conserve their species…and not get eaten in the process. Lots of great scares in this one!

6. The Last Man On Earth (1964)
Vincent Price carries this film as the lone scientist left to face a world filled only with vampires. Based on the novel “I Am Legend” by Richard Matheson, this movie is 100 times better than Will Smith’s version done a few years ago.

7. Children Of Men (2006)
What if women couldn’t conceive? What would happen? Interesting premise and Clive Owen in his most memorable role.

8. Last Night (1998)
What would you do if you KNEW that the end of the world was near? This little film explores that concept and does so with remarkable accuracy. A film that never really delves into the end of the world, but just focuses on human nature.

9. Independence Day (1996)
Will Smith and his buddies (including Harry Connick Jr in a great role as his best friend) take on the nasty aliens who are set to take over the world. And who doesn’t remember the vision of the White House getting blown to smithereens by the alien laser? One of the greatest teasers of all time!

10. War Of The Worlds (2005)
It’s a crying shame that the ending of this movie sucked so much because otherwise I was completely entertained. Spielberg does a great job of setting it all up and the scene where the aliens rise out of the ground might be one of the coolest moments in ANY of his movies. But the ending DOES suck…big time.

Some other flicks you might enjoy that I really liked that involve…THE END OF  THE WORLD!!!!
The Quiet Earth (1985)
Dawn Of The Dead (1978)
Resident Evil (2002)
28 Weeks Later (2007)
2012 (2010)
Mad Max (1979)
Zombieland (2009)
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Deep Impact (1998)
Pontypool (2009)
9 (2009)
Wall-E (2008)
Shaun Of The Dead (2004)
Ever Since the World Ended (2001)

Okay, so I checked this weeks box office receipts and apparently the rest of the world does not feel the same way since 2012 made twenty gazillion dollars this past weekend. Perhaps I underestimated the appeal of John Cusack in peril? Now I have to shell out twenty dollars to find out what all the hoopla is about.

Rachel Muenz Writes About End of the World Movies - Photo Courtesy of Stockexpert.com

By Rachel Muenz

If you’ve thought there have been a lot of movies about the end of the world coming out lately, you’d be right. Based on data from About.com, September has the highest number of films dealing with apocalyptic themes out of all 2009.

Just last week, two movies dealing with the destruction of human life as we know it were released.

Those movies are Pandorum, about a space mission that could jeopardize humankind’s survival if it fails, and Surrogates, set in a future where everyone is stuck in their houses living life through robots. Both hit theatres Sept. 25.

That brings September’s total of human-annihilation-related movies to four, beating out the eleven other months of 2009. The two other films released earlier this month that deal with the same themes are computer-animated film, 9, and Gamer.

However, the summer, spring and winter months of 2009 were not good for movies about mankind’s demise.

There were no end-of-the-world movies to be seen in January or February and only two in March – Knowing and Race to Witch Mountain. Also, as of right now, you won’t be able to see the planet wiped out on theatre screens this December either.

Spring also didn’t show movie-goers much human destruction with no such releases in April and only animated movie, Battle for Terra, and Terminator: Salvation in May.

But, the summer of 2009 had the fewest apocalyptic movies of the year. Zero from June to August, unless you count the first couple weeks of September which had one – 9.

There aren’t many more devastation-focused movies coming out this fall but those eager for world destruction can catch a funnier movie about our doom on Oct. 2 with Zombieland. The horror-comedy deals with a world taken over by zombies and the struggles of the few survivors.

November will likely satisfy those who’d rather be depressed.

On Nov. 13, Roland Emmerich’s 2012 will show humanity’s response to cataclysmic events on Dec. 12, 2012, the date the Mayan calendar says the world will end. You can also see The Road, based on Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer-winning novel, Nov. 25. That film follows the voyage of a father and son, two of the only humans left after earth has been ravaged by a mystery disaster.

- with files from about.com and imdb.com