As all of the toilet paper vanishes from store shelves and
the news fills with panic inducing tales, it seems like a great time to look
back at some of the best cinematic apocalypses from the past. Apocalyptic stories have been popular movie
fare since at least the 1950s and the theme shows no signs of going away. AQuiet Place part 2 was set to be released later this month, but it has also
been effected by the Covid-19 pandemic that seems to be grinding the entire
world to a halt.
Anyway, in no particular order, here are some of This Couch
Thing’s favorite apocalypse movies:
Children of Men (2006) -
Director Alfonso Curon transformed P.D. James’ didactic, and slightly
dumb anti-abortion novel into a remarkable, nuanced tale about government failure,
the dangers of religious extremism,
fascism, and racism. He does this in the frame of an exciting, fast-paced
action tale built upon the Hero’s Journey. It stars Clive Owen in a career best
performance with great supporting roles provided by Julianne Moore, Michael Caine
and Chiwetel Ejiofor.
The Road (2009)- Cormac McCarthy’s most desolate, depressing
novel is turned into a desolate and depressing film by director John Hilcoat. A
man and his son travel cross country fighting for survival in a ruined world
following an unnamed apocalypse (the novel strongly hints that this was a
nuclear war, but it is never specified).
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love
the Bomb (1964)- Who knew that the end of the world would be so damned funny.
Stanley Kubrick and his co-writes Terry Southern and Peter George mined the
culture for every absurdity and focused their rage like a laser. Peter Sellers
fills three roles, George C. Scott does a half-turn on his Patton, and Sterling
Hayden embodies the sociopathy inherent ion the system.
Dawn of the Dead (1978) – George A. Romero’s best ‘Of the
Dead’ movie is an anti-consumerist screed, as well as a reminder that even when
flesh eating zombies rule the earth, the real danger is always other people.
Day of the Dead (1985)- Romero’s follow up to Dawn of the
Dead has a lot to say about the dangers of the military-industrial complex, as
well as how fascist regimes can rise in times of crises.
In the Mouth of madness (1994)- John Carpenter had dealt
with possible apocalypses before (The
Thing, Prince of Darkness), but this one actually happens. In this Lovecraftian
tale a horror novelist has tapped into the old gods and anyone who reads his
books is driven mad. These new acolytes then work to spread his gospel of
madness. Sam Neill stars as an insurance
investigator trying to track down the missing novelist. Via strange clues he
tracks him to a very strange New England village that (as expected) seems to be
pulled directly from the works of Lovecraft.
He movie also has some strong connections to The King in Yellow (if you
haven’t read Robert W. Chambers’ classic short story collection, then go do
that today).
The Day After Tomorrow (2004)- Most of this list is made up
of high quality, intelligent, artfully made movies. It felt like we needed one
stupid, action oriented, fun movie. The Day After Tomorrow is that. Roland Emmerich made a movie that he thought
was a smart take on climate change, but really it’s just a big pile of
ridiculous. Maybe the best quote from the movie is: “The storm is rotating so
quickly that super-cooled air is being pulled down from the troposphere causing
the ambient temperature to drop at a rate of ten degrees per second!”. How can you not love that?
WALL-E (2008)- Pixar’s lovely tale of a lonely robot still
cleaning up trash long after the humans responsible for all the mess are long
dead. This sweet little movie is smart in all the ways that The Day After
Tomorrow isn’t.
Bird Box (2018)- Susanne Bier turned Josh Malerman’s weird
little Lovecraftian monster story into something quite lovely. This tale of
motherhood after the end of the world is much better than it gets credit for
being. Sandra Bullock plays a woman trying to adapt after an invasion by
creatures that drive people to suicidal madness with their very appearance. The
monsters themselves remain quite vague and that lets the movie focus on the
character’s journey.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)- What is there to say about the
best film of the 2010s that hasn’t already been said at length? Mad max: Fury
Road is a remarkably timely film. George Miller reimagined his postapocalyptic
wasteland in a way that somehow presaged our current moment. This is a tale
about the struggle for freedom from an authoritarian rule.
Resident Evil movies?
ReplyDeleteLove all but the weird soggy vegas one. They don't quite reach the level of the films on this list (other than The Day After Tomorrow) though.
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