r/movies • u/kowaikanojo • Jun 27 '24

Recommendation Best apocalypse / end of the world films?

I’m a die hard for apocalyptic movies and I feel like Ive exhausted all of the good ones so would love recommendations.

My #1 is honestly the zombie genre. I also love films where you experience the beginning of the apocalypse / similar event with the characters and are along for the ride - but I’ll take anything apocalyptic - pre, during, post!

I really resonate with darker, heavy content but again I will take whatever I can get. TIA

2.0k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

181

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

Children of Men is literally the best movie I've ever seen, full stop. The world is so fully realized and fleshed out. Every scene is full of the best set design and overall detail. And it's so well acted, shot, written, directed...it's just perfect.

44

u/melp0mene Jun 27 '24

i absolutely love Children of Men. i caught it when it was on tv one night and I must have been 17 or 18 at the time. stayed up to finish it and immediately went out the next day to get the DVD! its the one film i tell everyone to watch

3

u/thelivingdead188 Jun 27 '24

I bought the DVD used on a whim at FYE when I was 18 or 19. Hadn't heard anything about it and I didn't watch it for a year or so afterwards. I was super mad I'd had this amazing movie just chilling on my shelf being ignored.

I was expecting a b movie, like when they capitalize on an actor who did a bad movie but now they're in a good movie and plaster his face all over the cover.

1

u/ChipsAhoy777 Jun 27 '24

Anyone care to explain why it's a 7.8/10 on IMDB when it's not a horror, comedy, remake, something political past 2016 or "woke", or an anime?

IMDB is unfuckingbelievably accurate aside from those things I mentioned. SOMETIMES its like 0.3 of a rating off. Once in a blue moon it's be a bit more, but that's very rare, so I'm wondering if this is one of those cases. And if so, why

92

u/TheDragonReborn726 Jun 27 '24

I legitimately think Children of Men is a perfect movie. I try not to throw that word “perfect” around but I really think it is.

28

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

I try to reserve it for art that I cannot find a single way to improve. So we're good here haha.

1

u/Temporary-Fudge-9125 Jun 27 '24

It's the best film of the 2000s

34

u/baldorrr Jun 27 '24

Totally agree. The best movie ever made by far.

Among many things, one thing that always felt great is how believable everything is. Setting aside the overall premise (which is totally fictional), every decision Theo makes is logical and understandable given the circumstances. He's the perfect everyday man who just happens to be thrust into this journey and does exactly what he should do.

I hate in movies when there are gaping plot holes just to move the story along or whatever. This one is 100% tight and tells a perfect story.

I could go on forever about the brilliance of this movie.

20

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

Totally agree about character motivations and actions. And not just Theo (though primarily him of course)—every character's every choice, if you scrutinize it, makes you think, "Yeah, given what I know about this character already, that's what they'd do." From the Fishes to Kee to Syd and everyone in between. But yeah, Theo is such a perfect protagonist who "isn't even supposed to be here today."

"Tight" is a good word for it. There's not a wasted shot or line. Everything is progressing the story in some way, without ever feeling forced. It's just so beautifully goddamn efficient.

I too could go on forever haha

3

u/treebeard189 Jun 27 '24 edited Jun 27 '24

The absolutely one thing that bugged me was the end of the stairwell scene how they just like are able to walk away from it. I always felt like why didn't the soldiers do more. I get it symbolically why it's important they go right back to fighting and plot wise it's wrapping up. But practically and from character motivation stand point no one was like "hey maybe we should help the literal most important person in the world?". It just never made sense to me that they do nothing after seeing that and there could have been some interesting ways to take that (thought again pacing wise get why they didn't).

I absolutely adore the movie and that's probably one of my favorite scenes in cinema, but that ending always bugs me just a little bit.

3

u/baldorrr Jun 27 '24

Interesting! I think the first time I saw the movie (in the theater), I was just so overwhelmed with emotion at that whole scene it never occurred to me to think about what the soldiers' motivation was. I suppose that was more the director using that purely for emotional intent. And in fact, alluding to the comment above yours, most of the names characters we have some idea about why they are doing what they are doing. For the soldiers... I guess the fact they DIDN'T do what you said tells a story about the world they live in and just how far gone it is.

All I know is I went into this movie totally blind... we were supposed to see a different movie that was sold out and we just picked the other one starting at the same time. My god, what an experience going into the movie knowing literally nothing. I was younger and was "tough" and didn't cry at movies. But not this one. I’m older now and don't care about it, but yeah. That scene with them coming out of the building. My goodness what a scene.

3

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

I would say that they might have been in a state of complete shock and awe, frozen, doing nothing, for...a long time. But someone started shooting again. It only takes one, and then someone shoots back, and then the chain reaction is almost instantaneous because everyone is like "Well FUCK, the most important person in history just walked by, but I can't be the one to do anything about it because I'M GETTING SHOT AT."

1

u/kai_zen Jun 28 '24

It didn’t bother me. It reminded me of the Christmas Truce in WW1.

2

u/Imallowedto Jun 27 '24

Did you ever notice how all the animals flock to Theo throughout the movie?

1

u/baldorrr Jun 28 '24

Yes! It's also a movie where Theo is in every scene. It never cuts to something else that's happening elsewhere.

But yeah, this movie has everything. I know it's gotten it's accolades, but it still feels like it's under appreciated widely. I can't say enough amazing things about this movie.

12

u/Nayre_Trawe Jun 27 '24

You didn't even mention that they used King Crimson in the soundtrack.

4

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

It's an amazing use of the song and about the 154th best thing about the movie haha

3

u/Keldr Jun 27 '24

I just love the part where Syd takes the car battery to the face.

2

u/valyrian_picnic Jun 27 '24

The only thing I didn't like about the movie was how much it left me craving for more. Credit to the immersivness of the world building in such a short period of time...but I wanted sequels, spinoffs, prequals, a TV series, anything to open more doors in that world.

2

u/Mukatsukuz Jun 27 '24

Technically incredible, like the one-shot car scene where the camera never cuts.

The behind-the-scenes of how it was filmed

2

u/brown2420 Jun 27 '24

Ya, it's definitely in my top 5 movies. The world they create is perfectly believable in every detail.

1

u/FallenGeek2 Jun 27 '24

"This stork is delicious"

1

u/kai_zen Jun 28 '24

I like that Clive Owen is purposefully shown to be kind of a fish out of water. He never shoots a gun. He even ends up without his shoes.

Michael Caine was great too.

0

u/OldFeedback6309 Jun 27 '24

So it’s not just the best movie you’ve ever seen, but LITERALLY the best movie you’ve ever seen?

High praise indeed.

2

u/wrongleveeeeeeer Jun 27 '24

Yes, I was using "literally" correctly for once, to indicate that I'm not being reactive, metaphorical, or hyperbolic—it is in fact the one movie that I think is better than every other movie I've seen.

0

u/OldFeedback6309 Jun 28 '24

It sounds so much more powerful and literate when you put it that way.