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Why do we love apocalyptic movies so much?
Is it because of the action, the suspense and terrifying special effects often used to portray the end of the world as we know it? Is it because we enjoy speculating what we ourselves would do in order to survive if society began to collapse around us? Maybe it’s due to the fact that the real-life Doomsday Clock currently shows two minutes to midnight, the closest we’ve ever been to total annihilation?
Whatever motivates your love for end of the world films, we’re sure you’ll agree with every movie featured on our Top 10 List.
10. WALL-E
WALL-E (2008)
Starring: Who better to bring to deep space than Sigourney Weaver, who voices ‘Axiom’. WALL-E is voiced by Ben Burtt, and although that name may not ring any bells at first, sound designer and voice actor Burtt is a giant in his field. He’s been the voice of R2D2, and Darth Vaders’ heavy breathing? That’s Burtt too!
Plot: It’s the 29th century, and due to humanity’s greed and disregard for the environment, Earth is nothing but a garbage dump. Human are no where to be found, having all been evacuated onto giant space ships. The last remaining robotic trash collector on Earth is WALL-E, a Waste Allocation Load Lifter (Earth Class). WALL_E spends his days collecting human items he finds intriguing and longing for some company. WALL-E’s routine gets a serious shake up when EVE, an Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator, arrives on a mission to scan the Earth for any signs of life. The two robots start to develop feelings for each other, but when WALL-E shows EVE a seedling he has found, she automatically shuts down and a probe returns to collect her and the seed. WALL-E manages to cling onto the probe, and he returns to the mothership with EVE – with complex results!
Why is it a must-see?: Although WALL-E doesn’t contain much conventional dialogue, this end of the earth movie manages to say so much about consumerism, the environment and our relationship with technology. Unlike other end of the world movies that may be too violent or frightening for children, WALL-E is a Disney-Pixar film that is loved by adults and children alike. WALL-E has won 90 awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Picture of The Year and a Golden Globe for Best Animated Film, and has been nominated for a further 90 awards.
Reviews: In 2008, The American Film Institute named WALL-E one of the year’s best films, saying:
“WALL-E proves to this generation and beyond that the film medium’s only true boundaries are the human imagination. Writer/director Andrew Stanton and his team have created a classic screen character from a metal trash compactor who rides to the rescue of a planet buried in the debris that embodies the broken promise of American life. Not since Chaplin’s “Little Tramp” has so much story — so much emotion — been conveyed without words. When hope arrives in the form of a seedling, the film blossoms into one of the great screen romances as two robots remind audiences of the beating heart in all of us that yearns for humanity — and love — in the darkest of landscapes.”
9. This Is The End
This Is The End (2013)
Starring: James Franco, Jonah Hill, Jay Baruchel, Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson, Danny McBride, Channing Tatum, Mindy Kaling, Emma Watson, The Backstreet Boys – this is an all-star cast if ever there was one!
Plot: When you first read the plot, you could be forgiven for thinking this film has all the makings of a straight-to-DVD car crash. All the actors play themselves during the apocalypse, as predicted in the Book of Revelations. While many other people are sucked up into Heaven by beams of blue light, Seth, Jay and the rest of the Hollywood actors are left on the rapidly deteriorating planet. They theorise that this is because they have been selfish people, and set about working out how to atone for their sins before they get killed by demons, fire, cannibals or Satan himself.
Why is it a must-see?: It’s just so funny! Whether it’s Danny McBride being unaware of the apocalypse and accidentally eating all the food, or Emma Watson armed with an axe stealing the remaining water ( “We just got robbed by Hermione”) this black-comedy will have you in stitches from start to finish.
Reviews: Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly gave This Is The End an ‘A’ rating and said:
“You could sit through a year’s worth of Hollywood comedies and still not see anything that’s genuinely knock-your-socks-off audacious. But This Is the End . . truly is. It’s the wildest screen comedy in a long time and also the smartest, the most fearlessly inspired and the snort-out-loud funniest.”
Brian D. Johnson of Maclean’s wrote:
“There could be worse ways to experience the apocalypse than with a party of stoned celebrities at James Franco’s house. For one thing, his epic art collection can be used to board up the cracking walls against demons and zombies. That’s the screwball scenario of This Is the End…The film unfolds as a profanely funny showbiz parody. But with perfect timing, it also sends up a genre that has recently gone viral at the multiplex: the apoca-blockbuster.”
8. I Am Legend
I Am Legend (2007)
Starring: Phenomenal actor Will Smith is the leading man in this box-office smash hit.
Plot: In 2009, a genetically engineered strain of the measles virus is created in the hope that it will cure cancer. Unfortunately, the strain turns lethal. It kills 90% of the world’s population, turns 9.8% of survivors into vampiric mutants who then kill most of the remaining 0.2% of immune individuals under the cover of darkness. Robert Neville (Will Smith) is a surviving US Army virologist who has lived in the desolate ruins of Manhattan for three years with only his dog Sam for company. By day, Robert hunts for food, works on creating a vaccine and tries to establish contact with other survivors. By night, he barricades himself in his home to avoid the mutant population.
Why is it a must-see?: The film is based on Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel of the same name, and Will Smith’s performance as Robert is up to his usual high standards. I Am Legend won 9 awards, with Will picking up an MTV Movie Award for Best Male Actor. Best of all, I Am Legend is available to watch on Netflix!
Reviews: Sukhdev Sandhu, film critic for The Telegraph, said:
“The first hour of the film, by far its strongest, plays like a cross between an urban version of Robinson Crusoe and One Man and His Dog. Smith, in a performance of stamina and subtlety that recalls that of Tom Hanks in Cast Away (2000), wanders around an island that has become a wilderness…There’s something childlike, albeit in a very different way, in the way that he re-populates the city in his imagination, decking out his local video store with mannequins whom he hails and chats to as if they were old buddies and nothing had happened recently.”
7. Shaun of The Dead
Shaun of The Dead (2004)
Starring: Real life BFFs Simon Pegg and Nick Frost star in this satirical zombie flick, directed by King of the Quick Cut, Edgar Wright.
Plot: Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a directionless slacker who works at an electronic store. He clashes with his colleagues, his step-father, and after he fails to secure dinner reservations for his girlfriend Liz and suggests they simply go to their usual pub instead, Shaun gets dumped. He heads out to drown his sorrows with his housemate and best buddy Ed (Nick Frost). Little do they know that London is about to face a zombie apocalypse!
Why is it a must-see?: A play on words that refers to the 1978 classic ‘The Dawn of the Dead’, Edgar Wright’s horror comedy won 13 awards and received 13 further nominations. It’s great to watch an end of days movie that’s come direct from the UK, when so many big budget post-apocalyptic movies are American. If you love British humour, you have to check it out.
Reviews: Nev Pierce of the BBC called Shaun of the Dead a “side-splitting, head-smashing, gloriously gory horror comedy” that will “amuse casual viewers and delight genre fans. Empire Magazine also placed the film sixth in its top 100 British Film list.
6. The Day After Tomorrow
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
Starring: A-listers Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum and Dennis Quaid
Plot: Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is a paleoclimatologist. At a UN conference, he tries in vain to warn the US Vice President about the impending threat of global warning, but his arguments fall on deaf ears. As several hurricanes, snow storms and tidal waves erupt on every continent, Jack must risk everything to reach New York City to save his son (Jake Gyllenhaal) before the Earth is plunged into a second Ice Age.
Why is it a must-see?: With 6 awards and 12 further nominations under its belt, The Day After Tomorrow confronts its viewers with the reality of climate change. Although the super-storms depicted in the film are highly exaggerated, members of environmental and political advocacy groups took the opportunity to raise awareness about the potential long-term effects of global warming.
Reviews: The critics said that scientific inaccuracy of the super-storms was a bit of a stumbling block, but they praised the CGI and special effects (which were cutting edge in 2004)
5. 28 Days Later
28 Days Later (2002)
Starring: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Christopher Eccleston
Plot: Before he was the leader of the Peaky Blinders, Cillian Murphy played courier Jim, who wakes up from a coma, totally alone, to the complete societal collapse of the United Kingdom. Just when he thinks it can’t get any worse, he encounters several infected humans that will stop at nothing to kill the healthy.
Why is it a must-see?: Forget the conventional infected undead that drag their feet and drool – these zombies are wicked fast and incredible deadly, making 28 Days Later one hell of a scary flick. Fun fact: the film’s most expensive shots are those that show London’s most bustling areas (Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus, Oxford Street etc) entirely deserted. To film these, director Danny Boyle had just 45 minute window before dawn on Sundays to cram his scenes in.
Reviews: Critics largely loved it. The New York Times said:
“Danny Boyle’s arresting and terrifying new movie, ”28 Days Later,” seems to make it official: microbial plagues have displaced nuclear winter in the public’s mind as the way the world will end”
4. Children of Men
Children of Men (2006)
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianna Moore, Micheal Caine and Claire-Hope Ashitey
Plot: The year is 2027, and humanity is facing extinction. Infertility has become a global condition, and with the prospect of no more children the world is self-destructing. By some miracle, a young refugee named Kee falls pregnant, and it is up to Theo (Clive Owen) to get her and her unborn child to safety.
Why is it a must-see?: Children of Men is based on the 1992 P.D James novel of the same name. The film won 48 awards and received a further 80 nominations. With the present political focus on border control and immigration, Children of Men has become more relevant than ever.
Reviews: Entertainment Weekly ranked the film seventh on its end of the decade top 10 films list, saying:
“Alfonso Cuarón’s dystopian 2006 film reminded us that adrenaline-juicing action sequences can work best when the future looks just as grimy as today”
Manohla Dargis of The New York Times called Children of Men a “superbly directed political thriller”, saying “It’s apocalypse right here, right now”
3. World War Z
World War Z (2013)
Starring: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and Peter Capaldi.
Plot: One of the best modern apocalyptic movies of all time, World War Z was responsible for the realistic revival of the zombie genre. Former UN employee Gerry (Brad Pitt) agrees to help locate the source of a viral outbreak in exchange for his family’s continued safety.
Why is it a must-see?: World War Z won 3 awards and received a further 24 nominations, and it’s basically 2 hours of non-stop action.
Reviews: Critics generally looked on the film favourably.
Peter Travers from Rolling Stone awarded the film 3 out of 4 stars saying that “the suspense is killer”. Henry Barnes from The Guardian felt World War Z was a “punchy, if conventional action thriller.” Scott Foundas at Variety described the film as a “surprisingly smart, gripping and imaginative addition to the zombie-movie canon”
2. The Road
The Road (2009)
Starring: Viggo Mortenson, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce and Robert Duvall
Plot: After global catastrophe that triggers worldwide extinction, a man and his young son struggle to survive in what’s left of the world. Starvation, the elements and roaming gangs of cannibals conspire against this father-son duo.
Why is it a must-see?: Based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, The Road won 5 awards and received 32 further nominations for its brutal portrayal of societal collapse and just how far the human spirit will stoop to survive.
Reviews: Magazine Esquire called The Road “the most important movie of the year” and “a brilliantly directed adaptation of a beloved novel, a delicate and anachronistically loving look at the immodest and brutish end of us all. You want them to get there, you want them to get there, you want them to get there—and yet you do not want it, any of it, to end.”
1. Mad Max: Fury Road
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Starring: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley and Australia’s own Megan Gale and Abby Lee.
Plot: The latest instalment in the Mad Max franchise shows us a world that has become a total wasteland following a global energy crisis. Gasoline and ammunition are precious. Water is hoarded by tyrant Immortan Joe. Women who are lucky enough to not be riddled with genetic mutations are either farmed for their breast milk or forced into sexual slavery and Mad Max himself (Tom Hardy) has been captured and used as an unwilling blood donor. Once Immortan Joe’s lieutenant Furiosa (Charlize Theron) helps his five captured ‘wives’ escape, he will stop at nothing to get them back.
Why is it a must-see?: Max Mad: Fury Road is an adrenaline fuelled, 120 minute car chase through a nightmare landscape. The women of this barren wasteland don’t just want to survive, they want you to know “We Are Not Things!”
Reviews: Mad Max: Fury Road was the recipient of widespread critical acclaim. Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a 97% approval rating and an average audience score of 85%. The film won 238 awards and received a further 219 nominations – and that’s why it ranks highest on our list! If those accolades don’t convince you to watch it, nothing will!
