Apocalyptic movies, as the name suggests, depict a climacteric end-of-the-world event that affects everyone on the planet. It is characterised by depictions of a massive catastrophe – from a worldwide virus infection to a natural disaster or an alien invasion – which throws society into absolute confusion, chaos and disorder.
All apocalyptic movies are an exploration of the human condition in a situation where the social and moral meanings of ‘humanity’ have been replaced with the necessary concept of survival by any means, even senseless brutality. In such a situation, the lines between good and evil are blurred. Morality either ceases to exist or is in tatters. Most post-apocalyptic movies explore this overbearing and constant struggle for morality.
Some horror and sci-fi movies also fall in the apocalyptic genre due to the nature of the story they tell, irrespective of whether they are about the apocalyptic event or the aftermath of it, as absolute destruction is the focal point of end-of-the-world movies. Yet irrespective of sub-genres, they present the resilience of the human spirit within the wider context of the collapse of civilisation.
But how do we define end-of-the-world movies, and how do we distinguish between apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies?
Understanding apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies
Simply put, any movie that is about global destruction is an apocalyptic film. The key is that the trigger should be an extinction-level event. Imagine a comet wiping out all life forms on Earth, like the one that wiped out the dinosaurs. It could also be a zombie epidemic, a pandemic, an alien invasion, a nuclear war or a global natural disaster. Any of these events result in untold devastation to life on the planet, throwing society into disarray and turning people against each other purely for the sake of survival.
Apocalyptic movies can be of two types: one centred on the end-of-the-world event while it is happening and the other centred on the aftermath years after the event has occurred. All post-apocalyptic movies are examples of the latter.
When it comes to apocalyptic movies depicting the apocalypse itself, German filmmaker Roland Emmerich is perhaps the best executor. Popularly known as the “master of disaster,” his movies showcase humanity’s fight against extinction-level threats — be it natural or extraterrestrial. His alien invasion movie Independence Day (1996) took the disaster genre to its greatest height. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) and 2012 (2009), both of which centre on geological imbalances affecting all life forms on Earth, are the finest examples of natural disaster movies. All three neatly fit the apocalyptic concept in cinema, where the focus is on the human race battling for survival and hoping to one-up the threat itself.
Post-apocalyptic movies, on the other hand, show the adaptation of the human race following their failure to contain an extinction-level event. In other words, survivors, of which there are only a few, live in a dystopian world. In all such movies, most of humanity is lost. Those who survive must forget morality and do everything possible to live another day, as is seen through the actions of the characters in Mad Max 2 (1981), I Am Legend (2007) and The Book of Eli (2010). Class differences may also arise in a post-apocalyptic scenario, as is best depicted in Bong Joon-ho’s debut English-language movie, Snowpiercer (2013).
It is important to note that post-apocalyptic movies are those that are set in a time almost within a few decades of the trigger event that resulted in the devastation of the world. Thus, humanity in these movies is yet to settle down or strike a balance with their destroyed world. This is what differentiates it from, say, the world of Interstellar (2014). Though the events in the Christopher Nolan movie are triggered by a global famine – an apocalyptic event – society seems to have adapted to it by the time when the story begins. Moreover, they are seen preparing for a worldwide rescue of humanity which spans a century within the story. Thus, movies like Interstellar are set in a time far beyond the post-apocalyptic phase and are, therefore, not apocalyptic.
Similarly, even though entire franchises such as Mad Max, Terminator and Planet of the Apes are often counted among apocalyptic movies, they are not so. For instance, of the six Terminator movies, only Terminator Salvation (2009) is post-apocalyptic as it shows the actual devastation caused by Skynet. The rest are set before the destruction itself. The same is true for Mad Max (1979).
As for Planet of the Apes, only Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) and War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) can be called post-apocalyptic given that both are set years after the start of the pandemic seen in the climax scene of Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011).
Best apocalyptic movies rated 7 or above on IMDb
Jump To / Table of Contents
- World War Z (2013)
- Independence Day (1996)
- Snowpiercer (2013)
- Day of the Dead (1985)
- The Road (2009)
- I Am Legend (2007)
- A Quiet Place Part II (2020)
- Dawn of the Dead (1978)
- War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)
- A Quiet Place (2018)
- 28 Days Later (2002)
- Mad Max 2 (1981)
- Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
- Train to Busan (2016)
- Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
1 /15
Directed by: Marc Forster
Cast: Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz
Runtime: 1 hr 56 mins
IMDb rating: 7.0
Synopsis: Gerry Lane (Pitt) is a former UN employee who must prevent a pandemic which has turned humans into fast-moving feral zombies, completely destroying humanity.
2 /15
Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Cast: Will Smith, Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman, Judd Hirsch, Margaret Colin, Randy Quaid, Robert Loggia, Vivica A. Fox
Runtime: 2 hr 25 mins
IMDb rating: 7.0
Synopsis: US Marine Captain Steven Hiller (Smith) teams up with technician David Levinson (Goldblum) on a dangerous mission to destroy an alien mothership in space after extraterrestrials invade Earth.
3 /15
Directed by: Bong Joon-ho
Cast: Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, Go Ah-sung, Tilda Swinton, Jamie Bell, Octavia Spencer, John Hurt, Ed Harris
Runtime: 2 hr 6 mins
IMDb rating: 7.1
Synopsis: A catastrophic event has ushered in a new Ice Age and killed all humans except those on an unstoppable train known as Snowpiercer, which traverses the globe. But when a class system emerges, a group of passengers at the back of the train are led by Curtis Everett (Evans) to seize control from the elites at the front. Curtis is supported by Namgoong Minsoo (Song), who designed the train’s security features.
4 /15
Directed by: George A. Romero
Cast: Lori Cardille, Terry Alexander, Joseph Pilato, Jarlath Conroy, Richard Liberty
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
IMDb rating: 7.1
Synopsis: The whole world has been overrun by zombies and society has collapsed. A group of scientists in an underground missile bunker in the Everglades, Florida, are trying to find a solution. But tensions arise as the group of soldiers protecting them become frustrated with the slow progress.
5 /15
Directed by: John Hillcoat
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Runtime: 1 hr 51 mins
IMDb rating: 7.2
Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world, an unnamed man (Mortensen) and his young son (Smit-McPhee) travel towards the sea, avoiding cannibalistic gangs and relying on whatever they can scavenge.
6 /15
Directed by: Francis Lawrence
Cast: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
IMDb rating: 7.2
Synopsis: US Army virologist Robert Neville (Smith) is the only human survivor in New York City following a worldwide plague that has killed almost everyone and turned others into monsters. With only his dog as a companion, Robert tries to find survivors and a cure for the disease.
Directed by: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe, John Krasinski, Cillian Murphy, Djimon Hounsou
Runtime: 1 hr 37 mins
IMDb rating: 7.2
Synopsis: The Abbott family, comprising Evelyn Abbott (Blunt) and her children, Regan (Simmonds) and Marcus (Jupe), are forced to leave their refuge and venture into the unknown where alien creatures have killed almost anything that makes noise. With the help of Emmett (Murphy), a friend of her deceased husband Lee (Krasinski), Evelyn decides to find the source of a radio signal that might help them survive.
8 /15
Directed by: George A. Romero
Cast: David Emge, Ken Foree, Scott Reiniger, Gaylen Ross
Runtime: 1 hr 41 mins
IMDb rating: 7.8
Synopsis: Roger and Pete, two renegade SWAT members, take refuge in a shopping centre in Pennsylvania with a radio station employee named Stephen (Emge) and his girlfriend, Francine (Ross), after a zombie epidemic breaks out across the US.
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Cast: Andy Serkis, Woody Harrelson, Karin Konoval, Toby Kebbell, Steve Zahn, Amiah Miller
Runtime: 2 hr 20 mins
IMDb rating: 7.4
Synopsis: Around 12 years after an outbreak killed off most humans and made apes highly intelligent, Caesar (Serkis) leads the simians against a ruthless colonel (Harrelson) whose actions put apes and other surviving humans in peril.
10 /15
Directed by: John Krasinski
Cast: Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds, Noah Jupe
Runtime: 1 hr 30 mins
IMDb rating: 7.5
Synopsis: Following an alien invasion, blind but noise-sensitive creatures have killed most humans. In a now post-apocalyptic world, Evelyn (Blunt) and Lee (Krasinski) try to survive with their two children by communicating in sign language.
11 /15
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Cast: Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Christopher Eccleston, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
IMDb rating: 7.5
Synopsis: Jim (Murphy), a bicycle courier, awakens from a coma 28 days after a virus has turned people in the UK into mindless killers. With the help of a woman named Selena (Harris), Jim must do all he can to survive.
12 /15
Directed by: George Miller
Cast: Mel Gibson, Joanne Samuel, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Steve Bisley
Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins
IMDb rating: 7.6
Synopsis: In post-apocalyptic Australia, oil has become short in supply. When former cop Max (Gibson) comes across a peaceful, oil-rich group, he decides to defend it from Humungus (Kjell Nilsson) and his ruthless marauders.
Directed by: Matt Reeves
Cast: Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee
Runtime: 2 hr 10 mins
IMDb rating: 7.6
Synopsis: Ten years after the outbreak of the simian flu, highly intelligent apes under Caesar (Serkis) thrive in Muir Woods National Monument near San Francisco. On the other hand, humanity is teetering on the brink of collapse. The tenuous peace between the two species soon turns into war following a mistrust involving a small group of well-meaning humans.
14 /15
Directed by: Yeon Sang-ho
Cast: Gong Yoo, Kim Su-an, Jung Yu-mi, Ma Dong-seok, Choi Woo-shik, Sohee, Kim Eui-sung
Runtime: 1 hr 58 mins
IMDb rating: 7.6
Synopsis: Su-an (Kim) boards a train from Seoul to Busan with her fund manager father Seok-woo (Gong) to meet her mother. But Seok-woo is soon forced to protect his daughter as a rapidly spreading zombie epidemic in South Korea infects some passengers on the train.
15 /15
Directed by: Doug Liman
Cast: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson
Runtime: 1 hr 53 mins
IMDb rating: 7.9
Synopsis: Humanity has come together to fight a global war against an invading alien army. Major William Cage, a cowardly officer (Cruise), is forced to fight a battle against the aliens. He dies during the battle and is trapped in a time loop, which makes him relive the day of the battle over and over again. As his fighting skills improve, Cage comes across a heroic officer Sergeant Rita Vrataski (Blunt) who appears to know his secret and perhaps has a way to end the alien invasion once and for all.
(Hero and Featured images: IMDb)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
– Which is the highest-rated post-apocalyptic movie?
The highest-rated post-apocalyptic movie on IMDb is Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014). It has a 7.6 rating.
– Which is the best end-of-the-world movie to watch?
Technically, the most perfect examples of end-of-the-world movies are Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow (2004), and 2012 (2009). However, there are several movies with much higher ratings than the two, including Snowpiercer (2013), I Am Legend (2007), 28 Days Later (2002), and Edge of Tomorrow (2014).
Manas Sen Gupta writes at the intersection of tech, entertainment and history. His works have appeared in publications such as The Statesman, Myanmar Matters, Hindustan Times and News18/ETV. In his spare time, Manas loves studying interactive charts and topographic maps. When not doing either, he prefers reading detective fiction. Spring is his favourite season and he can happily eat a bowl of noodles any time of the day.
