With THE ROAD finally dropping this past weekend, and THE BOOK OF ELI on the way, it seems like the joys of a post-apocalyptic wasteland are getting some due again. And why not? You usually get something akin to a Western, but with all sorts of options for dystopic sci-fi baddies instead of just plain ole desperados and such. Pretty damn good combo.
I have to say I was surprised at how difficult it was to narrow this list down. Just a few of the early possibilities that didn’t make the list are TANK GIRL, THE OMEGA MAN, SILENT RUNNING, A BOY AND HIS DOG and HARDWARE. But hell, it’s been fun wrestling this down to ten.
Hope you enjoy this look back at some of our bleakest futures, and if your fav doesn’t make it then don’t go nuclear, just spit bullets below.
WARNING – THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT BELOW! 10. I AM LEGEND My genre loving heart was pretty psyched to see a major summer release, starring the King of Nice Will Smith no less, that was so dark. I just wish they had made a whole great movie instead of 2/3’s of a good movie. Still, always fun to see the aftermath of a viral apocalypse, even if the studio did f*ck up and go with the wrong ending.
9. NIGHT OF THE COMET
I distinctly remember thinking this would be funnier when I saw it. Instead we get an inexplicable decimation of most of the world’s population followed by small dose hijinx before a bunch of mutated bastards start taking things down, right down to Chinatown. It’s an uneven film, but great for
what if discussions and features a nicely unexpected ending.
8. CYBORG Back when JCVD was blowing up the silver screen he dropped this intense and bleak vision of misery in a wasteland on us. A nice flip in the story here is that the villain actually prefers the opportunities and environment post-apocalypse. So for once we have someone actively working against the idea of a widespread cure. Also, since Van Damme has never been what you’d call a critics darling, this film gave him a chance to trade in his metaphorical crucifixtions for a real one. Very subtle.
7. LAND OF THE DEAD Not all apocalypses (apocalypsi?) have to be viral or nuclear. A good ‘ole zombie end of days is cool too. And nobody’s gotten more mileage out of that concept than the great George Romero. While LOTD isn’t his best film, it is a ton of fun, and does a great job of exploring a world where people have come to terms with their new reality and made a home in it. It’s bleak sure, but life does go on and you gotta find a way to adjust. I like how LOTD explores that.
6. EQUILIBRIUM
All great sci-fi, where we get most of these deadly future visions from, asks hard questions. In the case of the criminally underrated EQUILIBRIUM, the question posed is whether saving humanity is worth losing what makes us human. After WWIII nearly destroyed the world, the entire populace has their emotions drugged right out of them. Heady stuff. Oh, and there’s lots of kung-fu gun fighting too. If you haven’t seen this, you need to.
STAY TUNED FOR PART 2!