The 10 Best Apocalyptic Movies

With some manager Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland returning the the infected fold, continuing the 28 Days Later franchise they started implicit 20 years agone with 28 Years Later, we're diving into the champion apocalypse movies of each time.

Or post-apocalypse movies. Or, you know, conscionable movies wherever civilization is either connected the verge of collapsing, really collapsing, oregon has already collapsed. Whatever signifier of apocalypse you're after, we've got you covered.

The lone existent regularisation present is that the satellite has to really extremity successful immoderate meaningful, impactful way. None of that "the Empire State Building got blown up!" oregon "an asteroid fragment conscionable took retired France!" wide destruction. We're talking quality batting last. Humanity is, for each intents and purposes, wiped out. No adjacent calls here. So atrocious to ID4, Armageddon, and others of that catastrophe movie ilk. Be better. And by that we mean beryllium much cataclysmic.

You'll find astir each spirit of world-ending peril here: from zombies to plagues to Lovecraftian demons to the tried-and-true atomic wipe-out. Let directors similar John Carpenter, Stanley Kubrick, George Miller, Alfonso Cuarón, and much instrumentality you done our worst nightmares. You know, for fun!

10. Melancholia (2011)

Part of auteur Lars von Trier's (apropos) Depression Trilogy, Melancholia is insightful, existential, and emotionally raw. Sure, it involves Earth's impending interaction with a rogue planet, but alternatively of being a elephantine enactment spectacle, it's a beautiful, honest, difficult-to-watch communicative astir 2 sisters -- played by Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg -- who are affected dramatically otherwise by the world's oncoming end. It's a devastating movie that besides vibrates with sensitivity and tranquility.

9. In the Mouth of Madness (1994)

Part of what fearfulness maestro John Carpenter refers to arsenic his Apocalypse Trilogy (preceded by The Thing and Prince of Darkness), In the Mouth of Madness stars Sam Neill arsenic an security fraud researcher who's sent to find a missing best-selling fearfulness writer (think this world's Stephen King). What helium unravels alternatively is simply a Lovecraftian New England municipality wherever a existent madman has ushered successful the End of Days acknowledgment to his pact with the Old Gods. It's a meta exploration of the effects of fearfulness connected readers and consumers (that aged popular culture-causes-violence chestnut) with a premix of paranoia, insanity, and a stubborn skeptic getting his unholy comeuppance.

8. Miracle Mile (1988)

Imagine you get a heads-up astir atomic armageddon. A 70-minute caput commencement to get the eff retired of dodge. The fortunate stars align and idiosyncratic successful the radical you're with has a clear, casual exit plan. The lone hitch? You conscionable recovered the emotion of your beingness and can't permission them behind.

That's the premise of the underrated white-knuckle '80's gem Miracle Mile, successful which Anthony Edwards' quality has to take, what helium hopes is, a flimsy detour to rescue his caller gal, played by Mare Winningham. Will helium marque it to her successful time? And, if so, volition the 2 of them marque it retired of LA without being disintegrated? You deliberation Los Angeles postulation is atrocious now? Yeeesh.

7. 12 Monkeys (1995)

Is Bruce Willis a frazzled convict who time-travels backmost from a grim post-apocalyptic aboriginal to halt the mysterious Army of the Twelve Monkeys from unleashing a slayer man-made microorganism that wipes retired astir of the world?

Or is helium conscionable insane?

Remaking French abbreviated "La Jetee," manager Terry Gilliam coaxes a heartbreaking show retired of Willis -- 1 of the finest of his vocation -- arsenic helium stumbles betwixt institutionalized anarchist Brad Pitt and sympathetic doc Madeleine Stowe. Complex, affectional and rewarding, this dystopian enigma demands to beryllium watched connected repeat.

6. Dawn of the Dead (1978)

It was hard to drawback conscionable 1 zombie flick for the list, and portion 2004's Dawn of the Dead remake is simply a vicious, terrifying journey, we're heading backmost to the '70s for George Romero's original.

What Romero began successful 1968's Night of the Living Dead expanded into horrific proportions with Dawn of the Dead, arsenic the zombie outbreak that seemed to past lone 1 nighttime successful the archetypal present transformed into an unending zompocalypse with nary reprieve successful sight. During the hellacious hysteria of decease and carnage, survivors barricade themselves wrong a mall, hoping for the calamity to stroke over. With landmark constitution effects, societal commentary astir materialistic modern society, and an unrelenting brutality, Dawn of the Dead is wherever it's at.

5. Threads (1984)

In the aboriginal to mid '80s determination were a fistful of movies that dealt with the horrors of atomic warfare and radiation fallout successful ways that shocked the satellite -- similar Special Bulletin, Testament, One Night Stand, When the Wind Blows, and more.

More effective, simply due to the fact that of however galore radical TV was capable to scope backmost then, were 2 TV movies. America had The Day After, which was bone-chilling, portion England (and Australia) had Threads. Threads is simply a scary, rattling reminder of however casual it would beryllium for a fewer radical to hitch retired everything we cognize and love. It's a visceral cautionary communicative of what it mightiness beryllium similar if the bombs fall, ushering successful misery and decease to all. Quite virtually Hell connected Earth. This is not for the faint of heart.

4. Children of Men (2006)

Exploring a antithetic avenue than astir apocalyptic dystopias is Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, wherever world-wide infertility has fundamentally doomed the quality contention to dice retired wrong the adjacent 60 to 70 years. Because nine indispensable present dilatory ticker its numbers dwindle, arsenic everyone spirals toward inevitable extinction, civilization is successful chaos and the world's go a morose, fading empire.

Children of Men is simply a pivotal drama, a method marvel, a convulsive thriller, and a blase look astatine a satellite ending successful a whimper. Clive Owen plays a erstwhile activistic tasked with transporting a precise peculiar bundle (the archetypal large pistillate successful 18 years), starring to a imaginable glimmer of anticipation for humanity. But is this 1 occurrence capable to clasp backmost the tide of doom?

3. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

Stanley Kubrick's Cold War slapstick masterwork, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is besides 1 of the astir original, daring and champion apocalypse movies ever made.

Paranoid loony General Jack D. Ripper initiates a program to nuke the Soviet Union. General Buck Turgidson, US President Merkin Muffley, and Soviet ambassador Alexei de Sadeski bicker successful the War Room. The drunken Russian president threatens to unleash a Doomsday Machine instrumentality that volition automatically destruct beingness connected Earth. The movie is comic ("Gentleman! You can't combat successful the War Room!"), absurd (Slim Pickens rodeo-riding his mode to wide destruction) and chilling (Vera Lynn's end-credit opus implicit the mushroom clouds). Sometimes laughing done the End Times (This Is the End, Shaun of the Dead, etc.) is the lone mode to go.

We'll conscionable again, my friend.

2. The Road Warrior (1981)

Though determination person been immoderate jokes implicit the years astir whether oregon not the economical and biology location of cards illness that creates the Mad Max Wasteland whitethorn only really beryllium successful Australia, nary different movies person influenced, and changed the people of, post-apocalyptic movies similar the Max movies.

What began arsenic a demolition derby Ozploitation sensation with George Miller's Mad Max evolved into a whacked-out, carnage-filled every-man-for-himself decease thrust successful the sequel, The Road Warrior.

Decades later, aft the archetypal Mad Max Trilogy, George Miller adjacent returned to the Wasteland, going bigger, bolder, and bronzer with Mad Max: Fury Road and Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. It was betwixt Fury Road and Road Warrior for this spot connected the database and portion Fury Road is simply a modern enactment masterpiece that builds retired the satellite of Max similar ne'er before, we're gonna beryllium beauteous present with Road Warrior fixed however overmuch it changed the full '80s movie landscape.

1. The Road (2009)

Based connected the acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel, The Road is an unyielding, haunting look astatine the remnants of humanity carrying on... conscionable to support carrying on. It's ne'er explained however the satellite ends, though it's wide immoderate biology cataclysm has occurred (one that's observable successful a flashback from a window) that's coated the globe successful death. Everything is either dormant oregon dying off, radical person turned to execution and/or cannibalism, and it volition lone beryllium a procreation oregon 2 earlier humans gasp their last breath.

A begetter and son, played by Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee, question down the Eastern coast, hoping to find better, warmer surviving successful Florida. The Road is arsenic apocalyptic arsenic you tin get. Just a dire, bleak trek done exponential decay, wherever 1 clings to anticipation conscionable for the involvement of sanity.

Well, that was grim! How are y'all feeling? What's your idiosyncratic favourite apocalypse movie? Vote supra and fto america cognize below...