A comet or a world war. The Rapture or climate change. Zombies or locusts. People have all kind of philosophies about how they think the world is going to end. It’s a morbid thought, yet Hollywood has lived off of the box office success of apocalyptic, end-of-the-world films.
With that said, Roland Emmerich’s Moonfall, a film about the moon’s orbit being knocked out of order and threatening the existence of planet Earth, is about to take centerstage at theaters on Feb. 4, and it’s making all the tin-head conspiracy theorists and doomsday preppers overly excited. In celebration of Moonfall’s official trailer being released, we present a very abbreviated list of disaster, apocalyptic, and post-apocalyptic films that could prepare you for the end of the world as we know it.
Watch the Official Trailer for ‘Moonfall’
Don’t Look Up
Director: Adam McKay
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Lawrence, Meryl Streep, Jonah Hill, Tyler Perry
Synopsis: Astronomers feel like they’re in the Twilight Zone when no one takes their assessment of a giant comet hurling its way toward Earth seriously.
Release Date: Dec. 24, 2021
Soylent Green
Director: Richard Fleischer
Starring: Charlton Heston, Edward G. Robinson, Leigh Taylor-Young
Synopsis: The world depleted of natural resources is set in anarchy in 2022 as a big corporation controls the overpopulated masses with soylent green.
Release Date: May 9, 1973
The Quake
Director: John Andreas Andersen
Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Edith Haagenrud-Sande
Synopsis: Kristian, a geologist, suspects that Oslo, Norway may be hit by the biggest earthquake since 1904.
Release Date: Dec. 14, 2018
I Am Legend
Director: Francis Lawrence
Starring: Will Smith, Alice Braga, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Charlie Tahan, Willow Smith
Synopsis: Doctor Robert Neville becomes last surviving man on Earth after man-made virus affects humans.
Release Date: Dec. 14, 2007
Armageddon
Director: Michael Bay
Starring: Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Billy Bob Thorton, Owen Wilson, Michael Clarke Duncan
Synopsis: A team of drillers is enlisted to save the planet from a doomsday asteroid the size of Texas.
Release Date: July 1, 1998
The Quiet Earth
Director: Geoff Murphy
Starring: Bruno Lawrence, Alison Routledge, Pete Smith
Synopsis: A government research project goes awry and Zac Hobson finds out that there’s no one left in the world, except two others who have their own agenda.
Release Date: Oct. 18, 1985
The Day After Tomorrow
Director: Roland Emmerich
Starring: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward
Synopsis: A drastic climate change that incites a new ice age threatens the world population.
Release Date: May 28, 2004
AWAKE
Director: Mark Raso
Starring: Gina Rodriguez, Ariana Greenblatt, Lucius Hoyos, Shamier Anderson, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Synopsis: A global phenomenon wipes out all electronics, preventing humans from sleeping and causing a worldwide disorientation that turns violent.
Release Date: June 9, 2021
The Wave
Director: Roar Uthaug
Starring: Kristoffer Joner, Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Hoff Oftebro
Synopsis: The natural collapse of the Norwegian fjord Geiranger causes an 85-meter tsunami.
Release Date: Aug. 28, 2015
The Stand (1994)
Director: Mick Garris
Starring: Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, Jamey Sheridan, Ruby Dee, Ossie Davis, Rob Lowe
Synopsis: Based on the post-apocalyptic novel by Stephen King, The Stand centers on a pandemic caused by a strain of influenza that kills off the world population and causes anarchy of biblical proportions.
Release Date: May 8, 1994
The 5th Wave
Director: J Blakeson
Starring: Chloe Grace Moretz, Gabriela Lopez, Matthew Zuk
Synopsis: A young girl named Cassie fights to survive after a series of deadly attacks that range from natural disasters to pandemic-like effects threaten to end Earth.
Release Date: Jan. 22, 2016
Left Behind: The Movie
Director: Vic Sarin
Starring: Kirk Cameron, Brad Johnson, Clarence Gilyard Jr.
Synopsis: The biblical prophesy of the world as we know it coming to an end via the Rapture occurs when people start disappearing.
Release Date: Feb. 2, 2001
There’s plenty more that could’ve made this list. In fact, disaster, apocalyptic films have been all the rage since the inception of Hollywood, producing well over 100 films to consider. Honorable mentions would definitely consist of the alien thriller A Quiet Place, mysterious Bird Box, explosive Supervolcano, or 2012, another Roland Emmerich pic. It would literally take all of 2022 to include every single film about the end of the world, so we’ll stop here. Enjoy!
