WARNING: spoilers. A Post-apocalyptic film is a sub-genre of science fiction, and is set in a world or civilization after nuclear war, plague, or some other general disaster. This list looks at ten of the ultimate films in this genre and it hopefully differs from the usual films found on these lists by introducing a few films that are less well known these days.
The Quiet Earth (based on the novel of the same name) explores how a person can go mad when he realizes he’s the only one left on Earth following a terrible catastrophe that he helped cause. The portrayals of Hobson’s madness and how he pulls back from the brink are both satisfying—especially because the latter happens before Hobson realizes that he’s really not alone. The Quiet Earth ends on an uncertain note (a real WTF?!? moment) that makes you think long after the movie ends.
The second film in the Mad Max trilogy begins with a classic prologue back-story; a narrator informs us that the world has “crumbled and…The cities have exploded;” and that the world had gone to (Nuclear) war. The survivors roam the countryside in feral biker gangs with oil the main commodity, the film’s comic-book post-apocalyptic/punk style has been copied endlessly. Max (Mel Gibson) is an ex police man with a suped up sports car and sawn off shotgun who defends a band of settlers working an oil refinery against the crazed gang.
This was the second film of George A Romero’s Living Dead series and shows, in larger scale, a zombie epidemic. In the film the dead have risen and prey on human flesh. The film follows a group of survivors of the outbreak who barricade themselves inside a shopping mall. As time passes the undead try to get in to the mall as the outside society has collapsed. The novelty of their situation begins to wear and one of the women becomes heavily pregnant. By this time, all emergency broadcast transmissions from the outside world have stopped which gives a real sense of claustrophobia and isolation. Their end comes as a gang of bikers break into the mall and, in the process, let in the zombies.
This story is centered on a microcosm of a post-apocalyptic society where food is so rare it’s extremely valuable and used as currency. The story centers on an apartment building with a delicatessen on the ground floor. The owner of the eatery also owns the apartment building and he is in need of a new maintenance man since the original “mysteriously” disappeared. A former clown applies for the job and the butcher’s intent is to have him work for a little while and then serve him to quirky tenants who pay the butcher in grain. The clown and butcher’s daughter fall in love and she tries to foil her father’s plans by contacting the “troglodytes”, a grain eating sub-group of society who live entirely underground. The “trogs” are possibly the most sensible of the lot, as they see food as food and not money. This movie reflects a type of science fiction called la Nouvelle Vague.
In the aftermath of an atomic war, much of humanity has been destroyed. Only Australia remains, but time is short as the winds will inevitably spread nuclear fallout and everyone knows they have only a few months to live. Among those coming to terms with the inevitable is a U.S. navy officer, Cmdr. Dwight Towers, whose submarine and crew were at sea when the holocaust occurred; Moira Davidson, a free-spirit who develops a close attachment to Towers; Julian Osborne, whose dream is to win the Australian Grand Prix automobile race; and Lt. Cmdr. Peter Holmes, who is as concerned about his wife and newborn child’s future as his own.
In a devastated Paris in the aftermath of WWIII, The few surviving humans begin researching time travel, hoping to send someone back to the pre-war world for food, supplies and maybe a solution to their dire position. One man is haunted by a vague childhood memory that will prove fateful. This is the film that stands here in place of 12 monkeys, which borrows heavily from it. Everyone has seen 12 monkeys, not everyone has seen La jetée – but they should.
This was one of the great 70’s sci fi classics before the before the big FX of Star Wars and Close Encounters made it cheesy by comparison. After a Nuclear war, people live in a domed city of the future where everyone dies (“Renewed”) at age 30. Anyone who disagrees and tries to escape the city is tracked down by Sandmen and murdered. Logan, a Sandman is forced to search for “Sanctuary” – a place to which people have apparently escaped. Classic ’70s stuff that also spawned a TV show.
Day of the Triffids is a 1962 British film unusual at the time for being in colour. It has had a huge influence on future classics like 28 days later and many Zombie films. Triffids are giant plants with the ability to kill with a poisonous sting; a man wakes up in hospital with his eyes bandaged and has missed an unusual meteor shower that has blinded most people on Earth. He finds the population struggling to stay alive with this sudden affliction, some cooperating, and some fighting: after just a few days society is collapsing with the Triffids preying on the survivors. This is a classic must-see film.
Made in 1971 based on the novel I Am Legend and ten times better than the recent Will Smith remake despite some cheesy make up and effects, the Omega man is the classic last man on Earth story. A Biological war has killed most of the world’s human population. Army Colonel Robert Neville (Charlton Heston) is immune and rules Los Angeles by day trying to track down and kill the other survivors who have joined together as “The Family” – a cult of night dwelling mutants infected with a plague from the fallout of the war. At night he is a prisoner in his own fortified home as the Family seeks to destroy him.
A sci fi legend, Planet of the Apes won many awards in its day and was one of the first sci-fi franchises with 4 sequels and a TV show. 3 Astronauts Led by Taylor (Charlton Heston) crash-land on an unknown planet in the year 3978 A.D. after a 2006-year voyage (during which the crew ages only 18 months). The three set off through a desert and find an oasis. They decide to go swimming and then the fun begins: they are captured by Gorillas on horseback. The gorillas take Taylor to “Ape City,” where he discovers that the apes, who can talk, are in control and humans, who cannot talk, are hunted and enslaved. Taylor manages to escape the Ape City to “The Forbidden Zone” where he discovers the apes’ world was, at one time, controlled by humans, but at some point in history, apes developed and the roles reversed. The ending is one of the great twists of cinema:
As chuck rides on the beach with his new mate a familiar object comes into view and Heston sinks to his knees bellowing “they finally did it & god dam you all to hell!” the picture zooms out to reveal the remains of the Statue of Liberty, half buried in the shoreline – showing that all along, they were actually in Earth’s future.
Notable Mentions: The Day After, 28 Days Later, The Postman, Waterworld, A Boy and his Dog
ok, I've read the list now. You have mentioned The Quiet Earth on a couple of other lists too. It sounds great but I have been unable to track down a copy. A new Day of the Triffids is coming out soon too, I loved the old one as a kid, it freaked me out!
I just watched Quiet earth tonight, well half of it. I`ve seen it mentioned on several lists and frankly it sucks. To me it`s unbelievable and has horrible acting and effects. Logans Run was way better and The Postman deserves to be higher up on these lists. I found Quiet Earth on iso hunt, if you feel the need to do that to yourself.
The new remake of Day of the Triffids was beyond bad. The makers forgot everything that made the original great, and tried to turn it into some sci-fi channel soap opera action flick. Weak acting, criminal directing, over reliance on bad f/x. They even managed to waste the one star they had, Eddie Izzard.
Wow, The Road didnt even make an honorable mention. I guess the book was better,
It was.
I just wrote down the names without reading the list(due to the spoilers)..thanks for suggesting a good collection!
Day of the Triffids:
Book – great
Film – good
Recent BBC mini-series – Abysmal.
You aren’t kidding. Almost every one involved in the new remake should never get a film job again.
Does this mean I’m going to die?
Re On the Beach – Ava Gardner was reported to have said that Melbourne was the perfect place to make a movie about the end of the world. There is a suggestion that the quotation was actually invented by a Sydney journalist.
I was expecting 9 too (even if its animated). I loved it.
I feel like an idiot cause I didn’t know I am legend was basically a remake.
I am legend is the second remake I believe.. The original was Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price
*****mission (Poland 1984)
@devonsfridge:
Of course you will
Great list! I’ve owned Delicatessen for a while now and tonight I will make myself get around to watching it
Gotta say though, the book of Day of the Triffids was soooo much better in my opinion – no amount of FX will ever make a plant creepy, you’re always aware it’s either a puppet or some guy in a plant suit lol
Interesting film choices…but Lazri, use your spell-checker and proofread! The writing is poor; it’s not even up to high school freshman standards.
Never heard of “Day of the Triffids”, gonna have a look see… Most interesting list!
What about “2012″? I know it’s only recent but I thought it was awesome.
@*****stain:
“2012″ may not fall under the post-apocalypse catergory; it’s mostly like the apocalypse process, itself!
Loved the list!
My favorites are Logan’s Run and Omega Man (which I thought was much better than I am Legend). Haven’t seen Day of the Triffids, but it looks neat. Looks similar to Invasion of the Body Snatchers.
Best LIST EVER!!!! I havent seen most of these but its a topic i like..
I am curious, Is mad max 2 the best rated, since it was mentioned its a trilogy, are the other 2 worth watching. Also is the first one necessary to understand the first one?
Thanks
@*****stain:
**cough**…**choke**
‘It(2012) was awesome’
I thought it was one of the worst disaster movies ever made..
Yeah, way overdone, it would`ve been a better movie if they spent less on it.
Is the movie “Logan’s Run” the source of the surge of parents naming their kid “Logan”? A while ago it was a very popular name around here. Was it that the people who watched it as kids grew up and remembered that movie and tv show and decided “Logan” would be a good name? I had never even heard of that as a name before that time period where it became popular.
It’s like when the name “Madison” wasn’t a name until it was used in the movie “Splash”, then suddenly there was an explosion of little girls given that name.
“and I really got hot when I saw Janet Scott fight a trifid that spits poison and kills.” Hello Rocky Horror fans!
Cool list.
My favorite good/BAD movie in this genre is ‘Damnation Alley’ with Jan-Michael Vincent. Love the vehicle.
In the US, ‘Mad Max 2′ was just known as ‘The Road Warrior’. Awesome movie!
When I was a LITTLE kid, I had nightmares of ‘Logan’s Run’ (I think a babysitter let me watch), since my parents were over 30!
Okay…. to begin with, we’ve had very similar lists before… lists on nuclear war films, on dystopias, and post-apocalyptic novels if I recall correctly. Not precisely the same–but it’s a tad repetitive nonetheless.
Well, perhaps that’s neither here nor there. At any rate, the list writer, in trying to come up with some offbeat choices, has hit a bullseye in a couple instances, and missed the mark on a few others.
SO let’s see…
First, it was kind of nice to see “The Quiet Earth” here, which was a very minor, but decent enough film. I remember when it came out when I was in college, in the 80s, and I was intrigued by the poster for it, but it played for only a week and then was gone, so I had to wait some fifteen years to finally see it on video. It had some small points in common with “The World, The Flesh and the Devil,” a post-apocalypse film that was heavier on message but also a tad bit more arch for that reason.
Let me pause a moment, then, to mention another post-atomic film that should have appeared here: Arch Oboler’s “Five.” I’d bet a fat paycheck that very few–if any–of the people here have seen it, or heard of it, but it’s the greatest, I think, of all the fifties and sixties nuclear warning films. Or at least it deserves to be near the top.
Others which were missed here include “Panic in the Year Zero” – a tense little melodrama; “Gassss” – a Roger Corman quickie about the release of a gas which kills everyone over 30; and “The Day the World Ended” – another post-atomic b-movie that has a few chills.
But really, “On the Beach,” while a big-name, A-list picture at the time, is a gigantic yawn. Of all post-atomic films to choose from, I would not have picked that one. I’d be willing to bet, in fact, that it shows up on these lists so often only because the twenty-and thirty-somethings who write such lists have never seen it, but figure they must have a token “classic” or two, and after one quick Google search, “On the Beach” pops up, so they hastily add it. Just goes to show you why films lists should NOT be written by people who are not film buffs or who haven’t studied film.
“On the Beach” has a few neat moments, but for the most part it’s tedious and plodding, and the drama essentially boils down to Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner looking stern and glum while the world dies around them.
“Five” would have been a MUCH better choice here, or for that matter “Panic in the Year Zero” or EVEN “The World, the Flesh, and the Devil.”
“Dawn of the Dead”? Really? Again, I’ve seen lists similar to this online elsewhere (in fact, it appears that the author of the list merely lifted it from other sources and changed a few choices around a bit–but I’m not leveling that as an actual accusation of plagiarism) and it’s on the dumber ones that “Dawn of the Dead” shows up repeatedly. And while it DOES have a black humor to it and makes some statements about consumer culture and whatnot, it’s hardly a truly quality film. I LIKE George Romero, and he’s got great taste in movies (we share a love of Michael Powell’s excellent “Tales of Hoffmann” for instance) and his original “Night of the Living Dead” is deservedly a classic–but come on. “Dawn of the Dead” is a minor, but decent enough sequel—but again, of ALL the films to choose from, I would never call it one of the “top” “ultimate” post-apocalyptic films. Please.
Same goes, of course, for the Mad Max pictures. “Delicatessen,” maybe.
But again—”Logan’s Run?” A bleh 70s hype picture. It’s worth one look, and that’s it. Trust me.
“Day of the Triffids” is a great story that deserves to be remade, because sadly the original suffers from poor effects (the plants just don’t seem terribly threatening from a distance–indeed, they appear to hardly move at all) and from somewhat jarring pacing. A much better “end of the world” type film of around the same time is “The Day the Earth Caught Fire.” There’s even “The Earth Dies Screaming” and “The Day Mars Invaded Earth,” “Crack in the World,” or even a lower-level piece of junk like “Target Earth,” but then none of these are really POST-apocalyptic.
But I can’t fathom why anyone would choose “The Omega Man” over “The Last Man on Earth”—the FIRST and frankly truest version of Richard Matheson’s “I Am Legend.” Where Heston’s film is overly earnest and full of early 70s faux-psychedelic mishmash and cheap symbolism, “The Last Man on Earth” is quiet, tense, quick, and dark, and it has Vincent Price, a more fun actor to watch. Again, seems to me that the kid who wrote this list was grasping at straws—and grasped too quickly.
Nothing can be said about “Planet of the Apes” except that it deserves to be here, as does “La Jetee,” and I was frankly gladdened to at least see that one appear. It’s a beautiful little film, but usually only film buffs have seen it. It’s superior to “12 Monkeys” in every way, (not that the latter is a bad movie–it isn’t) and somehow the still images find a way of “moving” in ways that an ordinary filmed feature do not.
So a few good choices, but more bad ones than good. And one I would have included myself—one I’ve mentioned before: 1968′s “The Bedsitting Room”—a dark British comedy about a post-atomic England. Again, it’s a better movie than half the choices made here.
There are a few others that could have been here—”Wizards,” “Zardoz,” even “Where Have All the People Gone?”—an early 70s TV movie with Peter Graves which was actually kind of chilling and creepy. But these are to taste; I found “Zardoz” and “Wizards” kind of silly, but as I’ve pointed out, there were lots of others to choose from. “A Boy and His Dog,” for instance, would have been a better choice here than “Mad Max.”
Well Randall, that`s some long winded opinions. I would advise anyone who just enjoys a film for what it is, to take the opposite of what is written here.
@maximuz04:
Not really. My personal opinion of that trilogy was that the second was the best of them. Mad Max was okay, Road Warrior (the second) was very good, while the third Beyond Thunderdome felt like a waste of a perfectly good two hours of my life. I think they were banking on Tina Turner to make it a good sell. Anyway, Road Warrior gives you enough of a back story at the beginning that you really don’t have to see the first to follow the second but it wouldn’t hurt to see it.
After watching Mad Max I don’t think I ever want to see the second one.
#6 On The Beach is one of the worst, most boring movies, I have ever seen. I now detest the song “Waltzing Matilda” because they only played it about a hundred times during the film. You never see any dead bodies. The streets are abandoned, with nothing, not even a speck of garbage. Fred Astaire, as a race car driver is a joke. There’s no chemistry in the love scenes. I only finished watching it just so that I can say with certainty that YES!! I actually saw this moivie and it sucks!! Did you?
it is cerebral, that means you need to think about what is going on in your brain. The movie itself has many smaller story plot which all are intriguing.
hey there. I was going to write that I found the list a tad disappointing too – and then I saw Randall’s comment so it saves me the bother. While these lists are nearly always a treasure trove of ‘must see’ gems of the big screen, I personally found lists like “Top 10 Dystopian Films You Haven’t Seen” to be far more eye opening. I suspect it boils down to the old “you can’t write about what you don’t know (or haven’t seen yet)” thing again.
Having said THAT! Even though we’ve seen This Quiet Earth on five seperate lists now I certainly wouldn’t poke a stick at it, or any of the others you mention. They are certainly good movies.
Ok, just in case anyone wants to see some really hard-boiled post apocalyptic movies – I mean really nitty-gritty!! – I’d recommend Peter Watkins’ “The War Game” (1965)[banned from television broadcast], and “Threads” (1984) [banned for 20 years]. Both are now available to buy.
Oh yeah, and the U.S. TV movie “The Day After” (1983) also deserves a mention; which was released on DVD in 2004.
@kennypo65: Thank you for that! I recognized most of the movies from that song, but couldn’t for the life of me place that line. I guess it’s time to take that step to the right and watch RHPS again.
Anybody ever seen the TV movie “Testament” (1983) – “The film tells the story of how one small suburban town near the San Francisco Bay Area slowly falls apart after a nuclear war destroys outside civilization.” That also looks interesting enough to track down.
Ok, I’ll stop searching the IMDB now. I wouldn’t want this list to be taken down or else my choices will go out along with it.
@kennypo65: (last post today, promise!!) I think you may have gotten confused with the Rick Moranis movie Little Shop Of Horrors??
@Lifeschool:
Yeah, I saw Testament years ago. I hesitate to say “good movie,” because it was horribly depressing. But it was well done.
On The Beach is a so-so movie, but I think the reason it turns up so often on lists like this is because it is an A picture with big stars in it! Ava Gardner doing SF?! Amazing! SF fans and critics look at it and see one of those rare times when the mainstream recognizes us.
I would like to point out that the photo from Day Of The Triffids is NOT from the 1962 movie, but the 1981 BBC production. I am sure of this because I just saw it two days ago! The BBC’s is closer to the book, but suffers from the low production standards of the BBC in the 1980s. A good remake with CGI Triffids would be great. On the other hand, 28 Days Later is almost the exact same story.
good choices for this list.
I really loved Planet of the Apes, the old ones of Course, but even the new one, with Mark Wahlberg, i thought it was a great movie.. Supposedly they were planning on making a sequel but the movie wasn’t exactly ‘popular’ and so no sequel! I think i’m one of the few who would LOVE a sequel! Let’s see, who else on here enjoyed the new planet of the Apes?
@ Entry #8:
“One of the women becomes heavily pregnant”? There was only ONE woman in Dawn of the Dead. The group of survivors that boards up in the mall was 3 men and 1 woman. Did the writer of this list even watch most of these movies before he started writing it?
Some good choices in this list.
I wouldn’t say The Omega Man is 10 times better than I am Legend. Both good but flawed films.
However, I totally agree with Randall – The Last Man on Earth is the version of the story that should have made this list. Its better on nearly every level. It’s also quite an obvious influence on Romero’s Night of the Living Dead. Well worth checking out.
I’m not sure Delicatessen is post-apocalyptic – certainly dystopian. The Road should get at least a mention and I’d put Mad Max II higher up.
@Lifeschool:
I saw Testament too. I thought it was really well done but like Randall said it is very depressing.
I made my wife watch it and she is still mad at me. (15 years later) I also agree with Randall & rosco81 about The Last Man on Earth. Even with the really low budget it was still great. I just picked up a copy for just $3.00 at one of those bargain bins.
@maximuz04: I am curious, Is mad max 2 the best rated, since it was mentioned its a trilogy, are the other 2 worth watching. Also is the first one necessary to understand the first one?
As someone else already mentioned, you don’t really need to see the first Mad Max to get the next two. Actually (I’m speaking from a U.S. perspective here, and my own recollection), the “Mad Max 2” (aka Road Warrior) film was the first exposure to the story for most of us, whereas the first film was more of a low budget made-in-Australia release starring the then-unknown Mel Gibson, and was without all the bells & whistles. It barely registered with U.S. audiences, if it did at all. It was only after Road Warrior (also made in Australia, but much larger budget) was a commercial success internationally that the original Mad Max was re-released to wider audiences in the U.S. (and elsewhere?). In that context, it was viewed as an interesting prequel to the storyline. Gibson was still pretty much unknown outside of Australia when Road Warrior came out, but that’s the one that made him into an international megastar.
My guilty pleasure as fas as this genre goes would be “Night of the Comet”.
The world didn’t really end due to a nuclear explosion but ends because of a comet & two of the few survivors are a couple of “Valley Girls”.
I loved it!
amazing, i was looking for the name of this movie. It's about x10 the film of I am legend which is a blatant rip from some British movie…
@evilk8:
“I didn’t know I am legend was basically a remake. (of The Omega Man)”
Both, ‘The Omega Man’ and ‘I am Legend’ are remakes of the Vincent Price version – ‘The Last Man on Earth’.
Never saw The Omega Man but I thought the Price version was very good.
this is not the list I put forward
numbers 10,7,6,5 were not on the list I submitted! and the changed the order not sure why……..
@lazri: The items I removed are in the notables – you had included 12 monkeys while its precursor was better, hence the change. I also added other films that I thought were of a higher quality that the ones you included. I do this on many lists so don’t be offended
Being an Aussie, I can understand why you all don’t quite get (?) the original “Mad Max” movie – when it hit the cinemas in Australia it was huge. A few years later, I couldn’t work out why people were carrying on about “Road Warrior” when “Mad Max 2″ was not released under that title in Australia lol. Watching the first movie will give you a bit more understanding of Max’s anger and disillusion with other people – his wife and son were run down by the feral biker gang and his partner was incinerated by the same in the first movie. All because he was doing his job as a cop – that’s why he went feral himself.
And I agree with the poster who said that “Beyond Thunderdome” was not so good – the best thing in the movie was the title song!!
I saw “Omega Man” years ago as a late movie and it scared me silly – I think I was about 12 at the time. The people with the white eyes gave me nightmares for weeks. The part that really got to me was the end where the main character is basically crucified in the fountain. I remember thinking “All that just to die??” I haven’t seen “I Am Legend” yet but I think I will now after reading the comments to see how it measures up. I’ll also see if I can find the Vincent Price film too.
Thanks for the list, I enjoyed it.
Long time reader, first time poster
There is a post-apocalyptic movie site called QUIET EARTH that reviews all of your list and more.
Here is a link:
http://www.quietearth.us/
Here is their list of 215 titles
http://www.quietearth.us/postapoc.htm
There is also PAM
Post Apocalyptic Media
http://www.pamedia.com/movies/
It includes TV Shows
Here are a few upcoming movies:
# The Wall
# Straw Man
# Anti-Human
# Atom and Eve
# Experiment 7
# Devil’s Playground
# Omega Rose
# Freedom Deep FDV
# Wynter Dark
# The Strawman
# 16th Street (short)
# The Horde: Desolation (short)
# The Third Garden (short)
# Quietus
# Z3D5
# Humanity’s End
# Desolation
# Road Raiders
# Scars of Youth
# The Dead Outside
# 2
# Dust
# The Sky Has Fallen
# White Wall
# Blood Pigs
# Daybreakers
# A Dying Breed
# Lost City Raiders
# Bled White
# Autumn
# The Men in the Moon
# Chrysalis
# Solos
# Resiklo
# The Last Warrior
# The Wait
# Walking Among The Dead
# Deadland
# Shaturanga
# The Last Man
# Atrocity
# Superhuman
# 9/Tenths
# Awakening: Zombie Night 2
# Linko Killer
# Redemption of the Undead
# From Inside
# Last of the Living
# Wasteland
# Infestation
# The men who fell
# The Baron against the Demons
# Ark
# Beyond the Grave
# Edges of Darkness
# Mutant Chronicles
# Ezra Crane
I almost never comment unless I have something positive to say. This time though I think some serious omissions have been made. Logan’s Run over The Road?
Planet of the Apes? sure it’s fun to watch but really one of the best? Where is 12 monkeys or one of my favourites Eraserhead? Okay I’ll admit that last one may not be for all tastes.
An interesting list. However Jamie given the number of replacements perhaps a dual credit should be at the top. Thank you for removing both the Costner turkeys. However given that much effort it is a pity you did not pick up the writing errors in MM and Logan’s Run.
Final general note, I know the list is spoiler warninged but was it really necessary to give away the endings of DOTD and especially ‘one of the great twists of cinema’? I know that the movie is old enough that most of the readers have seen it so know the ending, in which case they don’t need to be told, whilst you have just ruined it for any that may not have seen the movie.
Re MM2. Yes it is the best. As pointed out the first was a good very small budget Aussie movie while MM3:BT may have had megastar Mel and Tina it lacked the second (some say first) biggest star of the first two ‘the last of the V8 Interceptors’ ah to have such a car in a world where oil is so scarce! The producers have recognized the shortfall of BT and have made sure The Interceptor is in the upcoming MM4.
Randall. While you make some excellent points especially re QE and OTB I wonder how many of your alternatives were any more widely known at the time of release than QE or Jetée? And if such is the case then, given that most are presumably of US origin (unlike QE and J) then is such obscurity deserved?
@jakeryder: Perhaps you could try reading the comments? I mean there are only 43 of them and the answer to your 12 monkeys question is among them.
Cheers
Lee
The Omega Man, I am Legend, and The Last Man on Earth were all sequels to some cool movies – ‘The One Iota,’ ‘I am an Obscure Person Now, But Wait Until the Zombies Show Up,’ and ‘The Last Two Guys Left on Earth Then One Guy Eats the Other.’
I don’t remember Vincent Price being in any of them.
I wanted to mention that the still image for Day of The Triffids is from the wonderful 1980 BBC miniseries of the same name and not the terrible 1962 film with Howard Keel. The 1980s 6-part miniseries is the only film adaptation so far to do John Wyndham’s novel justice, even down to accurate dialog from the book. Yes, it has very low production values but everything else about it is first rate. It is available on DVD and well worth renting/owning. Don’t bother with the 1962 film and the recent BBC redux version; aside from having the word “Triffids” in their titles, they have very little to do with the original story.
Just saw “Carriers” with Chris Pine and I thought was good. That should have at least got an honarable mention.
I can’t believe no one has mentioned Soylent Green
The poster describes post-apocalyptic as a world set in a time after a war, plague, or other natural disaster.
Soylent Green was set in 2022 in which there is wide spread starvation and one of the basis of the situation is that the green house effect was in full bloom.
One of my favorite movies and coincidentally enough it also starred Charlton Heston who also appears on a couple of other movies on this list – Omega Man and Planet of the Apes
Randall- As someone who has seen the “I Am Legend” adaptations (I’m guessing you may also have seen the recent will smith version as well…), would you say that any of them are very true to the book? (Have you read the book?) I have seen only the newest version, and it was…alright… A good summer movie, the kind of movie you go see cuz the theater has A/C. I really enjoyed the book, and was incredibly disappointed by the ending in this most recent movie.
For the record, my understanding is that the recent I Am Legend movie was loosely based on the concept of Omega Man, which was loosely based on the concept of Last Man on Earth, which was, you guessed it, loosely based on the original Matheson story.
Finally, a list that I can claim that I have seen most of the films on it!!! (La` Jetee is the only exception but then I have seen 12 Monkeys). Thanks for the list, I enjoy the Post Apocalypic theme in films and books and it always makes me doubt my own ability to survive. Keep `em coming….
@Lifeschool: (26):
the day after definately deserves a mention, if for no other reason, for the sheer volume of consternation it caused…..parents and teachers were at odds, some wanting to force kids to watch it, some refusing to let kids watch. both the anticipation and the fallout caused viewer guides to be passed out, and hotlines to be manned, respectively. people played the ‘what if’ game for weeks, and months regarding the subject matter, and it was widely talked about at water coolers and *****. even if you only sorta liked it, the impact it had could be enough to bump one of the *****ty movies (on the beach was so inferior to nevil shute’s book, it was semi-embarrassing)..mad max,….meh…..@General Tits Von Chodehoffen: (23) got it right..,..and a few people mentioned omega man & logan’s run–they werent any good either..
check out @Randall: (21), he covered many ommissions rather well.
if you were inclined to consider ‘children of men’ as post-apocalyptic, which is kind of a strech, then it wasnt too bad.
@General Tits Von Chodehoffen: (23) and @chrissye: (42):
–oh yeah..almost forgo…a few of us here concur that the mad max franchise is getting cheesier and less watchable as it painfully goes on, especially in part 3 with tina turner (i couldnt even finish that one) …sooo. what the hell are they making another one for…and 25 years later, at that? fury road looks like its gonna be *****ty *****ty *****ty am i the only one who thinks that this is an ultra-bonehead move?
@Lifeschool:
Uh, no, he’s quoting from the opening song of the Rocky Horror Picture show.
Nice list lazri! I think Akira and may be A Boy and His Dog need a mention here. I am glad that you did not include Twelve Monkeys, which I definitely like but cannot at all be compared with Chris Marker’s masterpiece.
@k1w1taxi:
The Quiet Earth was not as “obscure” as La Jetee. La Jetee is a short (i.e., not feature-length) shot almost entirely with still photographs. It’s an art house film. The Quiet Earth was by comparison almost mainstream.
Anyway… as to your other point–obscurity does not equal bad, just as popular does not equal good. The films I cited are from a time when there was no such thing as market-dominating blockbusters, and so many more films competed on more or less equal footing, within categories of budget and quality. Really, without exception, almost ANY of these films–any I suggested or that appear on this list–are NOT A-list films… they were or are B pictures. Not TECHNICALLY, because technically we don’t have A and B pictures anymore, because studios only make at most five films a year, if that. But the nomenclature is preserved to mean films that are of first rank, and those that are clearly not.
Anyway, “Five” and “A Boy and His Dog” are both very good, but neither is well known. Same goes for “The Bed Sitting Room,” which I also recommend. Many of the others I mentioned are schlocky (really, A Boy and His Dog is very schlocky too) but what can we expect of this genre? It’s either ultra-serious and nearly a kind of cinema verite like “Testament” or it’s science fictiony and weird like… most of the films people can mention.
@Dk:
I HAVE read Richard Matheson’s “I Am Legend,” but I have not seen the Will Smith version. My 16 year old daughter did, though, and she had previously commandeered my copy of Matheson’s book and read that, and she reports that much was changed from Matheson’s original story, particularly the ending. And of course the very nature of the “creatures” that the protagonist has to fight.
So none of the three film versions of the book are really totally faithful to it—but of the three, I’d still say that “Last Man on Earth” get closest. CERTAINLY much closer than “The Omega Man.” Maybe I shouldn’t say that, though, until I see the Will Smith version. But that’s not likely for some time… I’m just not interested in seeing it. If somebody sits me down and makes me watch it, I will. But until then, it’s not high on my priority list.
The quote from the Planet of the Apes finale is actually:
“We finally really did it. You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell! “
Those of you complaining that the Road wasn`t on here need to wake up and watch some good movies. The book was awful, as is most of Cormac Mcarthy`s work, and the movie was even worse. Even Viggo couldn`t save it. Great list here. SOOO glad the new I am legend wasn`t here. I would have put Apes earlier in the list, but I have never really been a fan of it.
@blogball:
Can you tell me about the movie “Testament”? What year and who starred in it? I wanna see it…