10 Great Movies Where the World Literally Ends
Perhaps the only thing Melancholia, The Hitchhiker's Guide and Dr. Strangelove have in common.
The end of the world is not to be taken lightly, and yet with humanity's wanton disregard for mother nature and the consumer-capitalist dreams of eternal growth, it seems like that's the only way we take it. Thankfully there are a whole big pile of films to show us what we're missing - and what we might well be on track for.
These flicks feature disasters on an unprecedented scale, and while they offer plenty to root for and hope for, they snatch this away from us before the credits roll, leaving our big blue ball permanently kaput.
Whether it's no longer liveable or capable of supporting life because of nuclear holocaust, ravaged by global warming or, you know, completely obliterated by Vorgons and asteroids, one way or another all of these films see either Earth, humanity or both go to their graves.
And with Twisters having just spun into view (at the time of writing), whetting everyone's appetite for the oft-overlooked disaster movie, there can be no better time to look at a few movies where the disaster is really about as all-encompassing as it gets.
10. A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence was originally conceived of as a Stanley Kubrick project, but was taken up by Steven Spielberg after Kubrick's death.
Rather than inject it with the kind of family-friendly movie magic he has come to be known for, Spielberg remained in many ways true to the original vision for the film, using it as a vehicle to highlight humanity's penchant for wastefulness and thoughtless cruelty.
Set in the 22nd century where global warming has had a significant and sustained effect on the human population, A.I. follows David (Haley Joel Osment), a humanoid robot child whose capacity for love is betrayed by a family who neither understands nor wants him. Thus, he is thrust out into a world of terror, where his kind are treated like scrap and his only guiding light is the fairy tales his adoptive mother used to tell him.
David makes a heartbreaking journey to a submerged New York City, in search of an unattainable humanity, but becomes trapped underwater for thousands of years. He emerges again far beyond the end of humankind and our world as we know it, where all that is left are robots and ruin.