And by apocalypse we mean that some very bad stuff is happening to everyone in this film and a lot of people are probably going to die. And it’s all because of silly aliens/zombies/mother nature/diseased monkeys/diseased monkey alien zombies. With the release of Oblivion this week, we decided to have a look at some of the best out there.
By Eoghan Doherty
5. War of the Worlds (2005) – Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg team up to completely destroy most of the planet, something they could proabably do in real life if they really wanted to. Based on the H.G. novel of the same name, this tells the tale of the star of Oblivion himself as he tries to save his family from an apocalyptic tripod alien invasion. And from a creepy Tim Robbins.
4. Shaun of the Dead (2004) – you see, apocalyptic scenarios can be funny too right? Well, they are when in the genius comedy hands of Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. The first film in the Three Flavour Cornetto Trilogy sees Pegg play Shaun, a regular guy trying to put up with his girlfriend, parents and friends. Oh, and the apocalyptic uprising of zombies that’s happening at the same time.
3. The Matrix (1999) – we need guns, lots of guns. And leather. And more guns. And amazing special effects. And some more guns. And just a little bit more leather. The Wachowski siblings create a futuristic apocalyptic world where only Keanu Reeves can save the human race. Scary I know.
2. 28 days later (2002)– Ever since George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead, zombies have had a lot to answer for when it comes to “who-are-we-going-to-blame-for-this-particular-apocalypse?” Check out Danny Boyle’s very scary modern-day masterpiece with a star turn from our very own Cillian Murphy.
1.Independence Day (1996) – Will Smith punching an alien pilot right in the face, the White House getting blown to smithereens and Jeff Goldblum fighting off an alien invasion with a Windows ’95 laptop. What more do you want? Roland Emmerich’s special-effects blockbuster still looks as great as it ever did and makes us all proud to be American. Or something.
Some films we wisely decided against including: Nicholas Cage’s terribly bad Knowing (2009) and the awful Planet of the Apes (2001) reboot made by Tim Burton. He needs a re-boot up the arse for attempting to remake the 1968 original.
And the award for the funniest apocalyptic scenes – The absolutely awful 2012 starring John Cusack for its unique shot of a chinook helicopter carrying a fully grown elephant through the air. Now that’s what cinema, and chinooks, were really made for.
Now go and watch these films before all of humanity is DOOOOOOOOMED, DOOMED, doomed…
