Apocalyptic, Post-Apocalyptic and Dystopian Movies

• A perpetual sense of impending doom throughout the film. No matter how much destruction has already taken place, there needs to be a feeling that at any time, it can get twenty times worse. Don't blow all your effects budget in the first twenty minutes.


• Down to earth characters that the audience can really relate to. Sure, this can be said for any sort of film, but it especially needs to be true for apocalyptic films. We need to feel like we're losing our home and we do that through watching them.


• Something utterly symbolic that suggests that things will never be the same. The destruction of a widely recognized landmark. The breakdown of all communication.


• Speaking of communication, we need to see the loss of everything we would depend on. We need to see the moment when it's suddenly clear that phones are obsolete. Or when our medical knowledge will no longer do us any good.


• Above all, we need to go from a feeling of connectivity to a feeling of desolation and loneliness.

• Desolation. With an apocalyptic film (vs. a post-apocalyptic film), we start out with an average society and move toward desolation. With a post-apocalyptic film, we begin at the end. There needs to be a feeling of loneliness and helplessness from the beginning.


• Show us how the world has changed. Really, really. If we're in the middle of a nuclear winter, show us how the world has decayed around our main characters. Show the dinosaurs of the now dead society. The boneyards that were once fast food joints and government buildings and supermarkets.


• We also need to see how the people in this civilization are moving toward creating a new one, no matter how bare bones it is.

• Give us a good comparison of how this totalitarian state is different from our own. Show people being beat down by their government. Make us gasp at their antics.


• Show us two different sorts of people: those who want change and those who are complacent. Let us see how those are complacent are convincing themselves that they can live with their current conditions.


• Make sure you take something away from your characters that the audience would take take for granted. Give us that opportunity to say, "Wow. I've never thought how life would be without THAT. That sucks!

It's ridiculously cheesy, but a lot of fun. Some of the visuals are fantastic and the aliens are pretty cool looking, too.

It might be full of crazy kind of plotholes, but with Will Smith, Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum in one film, I'm not going to complain. Not to mention, I really love those first scenes with the ships hovering over the major cities.

It might be a bit of a stretch to consider this an apocalyptic film, but it has one of the greatest nuclear fall out scenes in any film.

T2 isn't so much an apocalyptic film as it is about the prevention of such an occurrence, but it's still pretty sweet. The futuristic scenes give a pretty good glimpse of a post-apocalyptic future as well making it a double whammy as far as getting your apocalyptic money's worth.

It seems like every generation has its prevailing fear. In the 60s, it was the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the 70s, it was the Energy Crisis. With the 80s came the arms race with the Soviet Union.

Today, it's Global Warming and The Day After Tomorrow plugs into the issue with several key scenes of the destruction enacted upon human kind by Mother Nature. While the destruction scenes are worth viewing, the film ultimately falls flat following those specific scenes. Still, if you've ever wanted to see New York destroyed by a tidal wave or L.A. obliterated by a flurry of tornadoes, this is your film.

When it comes to Stephen King, I'm pretty well read and The Stand is no exception. An exceptional and frightening novel, the first half of the ABC miniseries held a lot of potential. However, as the second half began, all hope for a well rounded, good film was lost.

However, that first half has some fantastic scenes as Captain Tripps takes hold of society and kills millions. Scenes of dead drivers clogging up the Lincoln Tunnel, people who died while shopping at the supermarket - those scenes make it worth watching. They're unsettling scenes and it's unfortunate that the rest of the movie couldn't live up to the first half.

Terry Gilliam's view of the world following a virus that has nearly wiped out humanity is a creative one. In order to survive, the remaining survivors have to live underground. Through the advent of time travel, it's now up to James Cole to find those responsible for releasing the virus.

12 Monkeys is different from the normal post-apocalyptic fare in that Cole is able to travel back and forth between the pre-apocalyptic earth and the post-apocalyptic one.

Many consider this film to be a zombie flick and, to some degree, I guess they're right. Where 28 Days Later really exceeds is in creating characters who we easily become attached to. It's this that makes the film both gutwrenching and oddly believable.

28 Days Later is also filled with visuals that are eerie and heartbreaking. It's both visually and emotionally a post-apocalyptic masterpiece.

On the Beach doesn't have any amazing special effects. It doesn't have any tense action sequences. What it does have is human drama. There's no happy ending here. The story, of the remaining survivors of a nuclear fallout, find themselves watching time pass as a nuclear cloud inches closer and closer to them over time. Knowing that they have little time left, they must find ways to reconcile their last days and make use of what little time they have.

An original concept, apocalypse brought on by dragon infestation, the first half of the film works while the second half falls flat. An all too familiar circumstance in the world of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic films.

The dragons are magnificent and the depictions of post-apocalypse London somewhat gratifying, but ultimately the story falls flat. However, there is one scene worth noting. In lieu of film and television, children must be entertained by old fashioned storytelling. The story that they are entertained with by two of the lead characters is that of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. This scene stuck out to me because I had always thought that this was something that many post-apocalyptic films miss. Film and television are things that we very much take for granted and here, in this film, are a group of children who will never see Star Wars. Perhaps it resonated with me more because of my love for both film and Star Wars, but I still think it's worthy of recognition.

The Day After was a television "event" in 1983. Surrounding the lives of nuclear fallout victims in Kansas City, Missouri, the airing of the movie prompted the network, ABC, to open up a counseling hotline for distraught viewers.

Whether the events of the film would seem as disturbing today as they did then (the nuclear fallout was the result of nuclear fire exchange between the U.S. and the former Soviet Union), there are still a good number of scenes worth viewing.

Originally, the cool thing about The Planet of the Apes was that you weren't supposed to realize that the planet introduced to the audience was actually a future earth.

However, the iconic ending being parodied and featured on numerous "best ending" lists has pretty much shot any chance of being unspoiled for the ending.

Still, conceptually, it's a great plot and once again plays upon the idea of man's arrogance being civilization's downfall.

Set in the apocalyptic wasteland of the Australian desert, The Road Warrior is more about the madness that follows the destruction of civilization more than it is about adapting to post-apocalyptic conditions.

Filled with tight action and chase scenes, The Road Warrior comes across more as an action film than anything else, but it's definitely worth a watch.

Waterworld might have been trying to replicate The Road Warrior by replacing sand with water, but ultimately fails in that respect.

Probably best known as one of the most expensive films in moviemaking history, there are some interesting scenes nonetheless with one of the most memorable being Costner's character diving below the water to find the remains of civilization.

1984 has become part of the pop culture lexicon. Anytime you want to suggest wrong doings of the government by way of keeping tabs on its citizens, most of us usually think, "Big Brother is watching."

For those too lazy to read George Orwell's masterpiece on thoughtcrime and a totalitarian society, there are two film versions, the most recent starring John Hurt who ironically appears as the totalitarian government leader, Adam Sutler, in V For Vendetta.

Based on the novel by Margaret Atwood (which I'd recommend reading first, personally), A Handmaid's Tale is the story of a totalitarian society where women's rights are removed and all is dependent upon their reproductive function.

A chilling tale, the film doesn't quite capture the book's disturbing themes as well, but you'll get a good idea, at least.

I'd be surprised if there's anyone alive who doesn't know the story behind Soylent Green.

But, in the slight chance you don't, I won't give it away here.

Based on Stephen King's novel of the same name and though it was produced way before series like Survivor and Fear Factor, it gives us a chilling view of what entertainment could become if life was no longer sacred and death was simply a form of entertainment.

I'm actually quite fond of "V For Vendetta" despite Alan Moore's hatred for the flick. Hugo Weaving as the man who is both victim and vigilante is mesmerizing.

V works on an emotional level because there is a thread of hope that runs through the film. It shows both those who are complacent and those who resist. It works because those who are complacent are prompted, through dire circumstances, toward change.

Here's a new movie I'm excited about called "Right At Your Door." Watch the trailer below and see if it doesn't look like it's going to be worth a watch.