Plague, nuclear war, global warming, sterility, yes, all these things can end the human race. Here is my top 10 list of end of the world post apocolyptic films.
1. Road Warrior/Mad Max 2 - Quite simply the best car chase scenes ever captured on film. Max, a former MFP police officer, wanders the wasteland before running into a nasty gang of bikers led by the Lord Hummongus. While scavenging for fuel, Max finds a small honest commune protecting an oil refinery. After a change of heart, Max helps the group find a big truck big enough to get them out of the wasteland. Epic chase scenes commence, and Max is left right where he started.
2. The Road- An epic tale of survival in an ash and dust covered post apocalyptic world. Viggo Mortenson plays "the father" and Kodi Smit-McPhee plays "the boy" in their journey to a warmer southern coast. The pair scavenge for food while trying to avoid gangs of cannibals with only two bullets left for their pistol. With tense and gripping realism, this movie delivers on all levels.
3. The Omega Man- After a worldwide plague has wiped out most of the human race, scientist Robert Neville emerges as one of the only survivors. Neville, played by Charleton Heston, lives amongst a group of nasty mutants, "The Family." The mutants are very sensitive to light and believe that technology was the cause of the war. Neville joins a small group of survivors and shares his antidote to the plague caused by biological weapons. Neville eventually meets his demise while clashing with the mutants, aiding the surviving humans.
4. Dawn of the Dead- A George Romero classic in which survivors find themselves attempt to survive the zombie filled world by locking down a mall. The group decides to stay in the mall, and they barricade themselves in a small room while periodically going downstairs to get essential that they need, while defending themselves against the zombies and a biker gang.
5. Children of Men- In 2027, the world has not had a child for 18 years and poor refugees are migrating towards the United Kingdom. In a climate of violence, a London peace activist turns to a bureaucrat, Theo, played by Clive Owen, joins forces with his revolutionary ex-wife Julian, played by Julianne Moore, in order to save mankind by protecting a woman who has mysteriously became pregnant.
6. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome- The third Mad Max movie takes us to Bartertown, a post-apocolyptic city run by Antie, played superbly by Tina Turner. Bartertown has a problem in Masterblaster, who oversees the city's power source, methane gas produced by pigs. Max is hired to bring down the rival head of the city in a perfectly lawful challenge, a no holds barred fight to the death in Thunderdome. All heck breaks loose, Max gets exiled, finds a young group of survivors, and comes back with a vengence.
7. Planet of the Apes- An astromaut crew, led by Colonel George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston, crash lands on a foreign desert planet only to find the inhabitants to be highly developed talking apes. Humans are enslaved, lacking the ability to speak. The story unravels as ape scientists begin to learn from Taylor. The movie concludes with one of the greatest surprise endings in film history.
8. A Boy and His Dog- Vic, played by Don Johnson, and his pooch "Blood" scour the post apocolyptic wasteland for food and women. The special relationship is accentuated with Vic's ability to communicate telepathically with his dog. Soon, Vic is seduced by Quilla, played by Susanne Benton, and led to a secret underground city who want a cleaned up Vic to impregnate some of their women. Bizarre scenes follow and the young lady soon meets her demise.
9. Waterworld- The Mariner, played by Kevin Costner, stars as a mutant human who has gills to help him navigate the water based Earth in his suped up sailboat. With the polar ice caps completely melted, Earth is reduced to a giant ball of water. The Mariner runs into a floating city to trade, but instead nearly ends up being turned into fresh soil. After a run-in with the "Smokers" led by Dennis Hopper, Costner makes it free with the girl whose tattoo leads to the last remaining dry land. Numerous battles with the Smokers commence in an interestingly imperfect film.
10. 2019: After the Fall of New York- America, now a desolate wasteland from nuclear warfare that left mankind infertile, has two warring factions. The villains, the Eurac corporation, experiment on test subjects hoping to find the answer to birthing a new nation on their own corrupt terms. This movie delivers loads of exhilarating action scenes, wild sets and a wide range of of fascinating characters despite a low budget.
This is an awesome list. The original Omega Man is a really exceptional sci-fi movie. I am Legend with Will Smith sucked, horrible rip-off.
ReplyDeleteRoad Warrior kicks ass
ReplyDeleteWater World is a horrible movie and has nothing to do in this list. how about Le dernier combat, luc besson's first movie. that would be great. The Day After and Threads are scary and great too. anyway, a great list! :)
ReplyDeletechildren of men is one of the worst movies ever
ReplyDeleteI'd actually put Children of Men at number 3. Waterworld sucks.
ReplyDeleteApocalypse with bugs
ReplyDeleteInfestation 2009 worth to watch
Blue Gender (manga) worth to watch
Children of Men has a war scene i havent seen in any movie the camera was rolling very long bullets cannons its was a real war scene awsome
Where's "The Book Of Eli"?
ReplyDelete