Best portrayal of an apocalypse in any media.

[Slenn]

What do you think was your favorite depiction of a cataclysm or destruction of a world? It can be Earth or any other place.

For me it's gotta be the ending to Riven. Seeing something like that when I was 10 years old, to put it politely, blew my flippin' mind.

So what was it for you? I can kinda already know that some of the responses are gonna be for the movie '2012'. But it's a fair answer.

 

[Rose and Thorn]

I always really liked "28 Days Later". Now I know it wasn't really an apocolypse or end of the world, as the infection only spread through what seemed like most of the UK or perhapes just England, but the rest of the world was fine.

What was interesting is you didn't know that through the movie and more important, THEY didn't know that. They thought the world was fucked and they were some of the only survivors. I loved the way that movie was filmed and I felt it was very true to how an end of days might seem for a lonely survivor. The reasons weren't very absurd and the characters felt real. It seemed like a likely scenario that could possibly happen.

"The Day After" is another great one. I saw this for the first time when I was pretty young and it scared the living shit out of me. It is about a nuclear attack and how a small town and a few farms in Kansas USA deal with the after math of it all. It was very gritty as you watched many of them die of radiation poison, starvation and thirst. Still not really a "End of the world" movie, it showed a very real situation that we as humans could find ourselves in.

Then there is probably one of the scarriest movies I have ever seen, "Outbreak". This movie gave me nightmares as a child when I first saw this. It is about a viral outbreak of a disease much like ebola. A monkey is host to a disease as he is illegally brought into america, when the monkey scratches the man he gets infected. Then he infects his girlfriend and a petstore owner that he tries to sell the monkey too. So one by one an outbreak happens. This is a very real scenario and great film. Not to mention how the government/military respond to containing this disease. -SPOILER-, The virus is dealt with by the end of the movie and the world does not perish, so like the other two, this isn't really a end of the world movie.

I suppose movies like Omega Man/I am Legend, The Day After Tomorrow, Children of Men and The Road are good movies and everything, some even great movies, but they don't feel like they could happen as likely as one of the others I mentioned. And don't even get me started on that crap "2012" movie.

I always found dying of some Infection/Disease was the worse way to go, as it attacks and effects YOU as a being, instead of just a quick and climatic death. It prolongs your death and makes you suffer. Whether it's Radiation posion like in The Day After, Eboli type virus in Outbreak, or a Rabies type virus in 28 Days Later.

28 Days Later - 2002
The Day After - 1983
Outbreak - 1995

 

[Corax_1990]

I like anything that portrays the apocalypse from a Christian perspective, y'know, rapture, Hells armies rise up and fight Heavens armies using Earth as a battle ground. Not because im Christian or anything, just think it makes for a great story.
See Darksiders for example.

 

[burningdragoon]

My bias is showing a bit, but Final Fantasy VI. Starts of as cool psuedo-steampunk, medieval fantasy adventure. Band of heros trucking along then HOLY SHIT APOCALYPSE. Aftwards you pick yourself up, regather your friends and finish the damn adventure.

 

[gaiusimperator]

Metro 2033. It is so bleak and depressing, but beautiful and exotic at the same time.

There are ghosts and mutants, bandits and a toxic atmosphere.

You HAVE to wear a gas-mask to SURVIVE on the surface.

It also manages to make you feel like you aren't a total badass, but just a guy trying to save the people he loves.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

Xenogears, my answer to everything good.

Spoiler: Spoilers for Xenogears Disk 2

90% of Earth's population transforms into hideous, but still self-aware blood-craving monsters. Some of those monsters then begin joining together into giant murderous angels who use MORE of the mutated population to create a giant "god" monster that plans to destroy the universe. They also track down and kill any non-mutated survivors.

 

[bean burrito]

The road is did a great job (both the movie and the book) of portraying the human realities of an apocalyptic situation. Children of Men as well, but I liked the movie much better.

 

[Kestrel-6]

Farsczape: PK wars. Both the Sebaceans and the Scarrans wanted John's Wormhole Weapons, and when he showed them the truth of it, by destroying TWO fleets, and a whole planet from an unarmed ship, they both see the truth.

 

[Vault101]

I always really liked "28 Days Later". Now I know it wasn't really an apocolypse or end of the world, as the infection only spread through what seemed like most of the UK or perhapes just England, but the rest of the world was fine.

I think the seaquel was too Americansied..too depressing, the first one felt uplifting at the end

personally I havnt seen much from the genre, but I quite like "I am ledgend" you know, with the actual intended ending

favorite is definetly Fallout for its retro-future element and dark humour

 

[octafish]

When I was 11 I saw Threads [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MCbTvoNrAg]. Nothing has ever had the same impact.

 

[ArbiterX13]

I don't watch a lot of apocalypse movies, so I can't really have an opinion there. However, in games...
In terms of sheer realism value, probably Metro: 2033. If nothing else, that tells me how well I would do if I survived the end of the world (which is to say, I would've just been better off dying in the proper apocalypse).
In terms of general interest and fun (what every apocalypse should be, of course), Fallout. Specifically in that one desert in the western U.S. Specifically the area of that desert surrounding a certain city that was only partially destroyed by the end of the world. And specifically in the year 2281.

 

[Riddle78]

Titan A.E had the utter annihilation of Earth as the opening scene. Apocalypse by alien invasion. Humanity was scattered,and nearly driven into extinction,as well as being treated as second class citizens...At best. I liked it a lot.

 

[theparsonski]

When I was 11 I saw Threads [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MCbTvoNrAg]. Nothing has ever had the same impact.

Holy hell, me too. Agree with you there mate.

To anyone saying Children of Men, it isn't an Apocalypse film, it's a Dystopian film. Still a great film, but the two genres are quite different.

I love the Road, and the fact that you aren't told what the world-ending disaster is. It's so, so bleak, but at the same time it's so, so moving. The ending almost made me shed a tear (I don't cry easily).

So yeah, Threads and The Road.

 

[piinyouri]

Got to be the book The Road for me.

The hopelessness and darkness of it all is suffocating.

 

[Belaam]

Lucifer's Hammer by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The earth hit by a meteor. Good science to it. Great build up to it (i.e. militias, survivalists, religious cults, governments, random people on the street types). Great world after impact.

In fact, now I'm going to have to track it down and reread it again.

They also wrote "Footfall", which essentially used the same research on impacts but this time had aliens intentionally throwing the rock on us for military/ecological reasons. Just as good, and one of the few portrayals of an invading alien race that gives a rationale for why we might have a chance of beating said aliens.

Loved The Road, but didn't see the movie. Figured either they'd mess it up, or it would be so insanely depressing I'd be in a funk for days.

 

[Sacman]

Metro 2033. It is so bleak and depressing, but beautiful and exotic at the same time.

There are ghosts and mutants, bandits and a toxic atmosphere.

You HAVE to wear a gas-mask to SURVIVE on the surface.

It also manages to make you feel like you aren't a total badass, but just a guy trying to save the people he loves.

Heh... should Play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. if you haven't already... it does most of that better... it's just not as stylish as far as combat and stuff goes... but the harsh unforgiving open world where you can die at any moment does a lot to give the player a feeling of vulnerability... more so than any other game that I've played before...<.<

OT: Adventure Time... half of the world is destroyed by nuclear war, and the rest of the world is covered in radiation that caused the extinction of the human race and the down fall of human civilization... but after that it turns the world into a magical wonderland full of adventure...<.<

 

[OctoH]

Well, the Mass Effect series was pretty good about the entire "aliens are coming to ruin everyone's day" thing. Say what you want about the ending of Mass Effect 3, but the universe and depth of the lore is quite amazing to me.

 

[marcooos]

28 Days Later is definitely one of them just for that moment when he first wakes up and sets out into the streets of London.
Metro 2033 is also a great example it just feels like the world has well and truly been destroyed, the cracked sky, constant snow, hostile life and that humanity lives underground in a finite amount of space.

 

[ToastiestZombie]

Metro 2033. It is so bleak and depressing, but beautiful and exotic at the same time.

There are ghosts and mutants, bandits and a toxic atmosphere.

You HAVE to wear a gas-mask to SURVIVE on the surface.

It also manages to make you feel like you aren't a total badass, but just a guy trying to save the people he loves.

Heh... should Play S.T.A.L.K.E.R. if you haven't already... it does most of that better... it's just not as stylish as far as combat and stuff goes... but the harsh unforgiving open world where you can die at any moment does a lot to give the player a feeling of vulnerability... more so than any other game that I've played before...<.<

OT: Adventure Time... half of the world is destroyed by nuclear war, and the rest of the world is covered in radiation that caused the extinction of the human race and the down fall of human civilization... but after that it turns the world into a magical wonderland full of adventure...<.<

Wait, Adventure Time's backstory is actually that... if it's mentioned in the show to be it then that's awesome and I might get back to watching a few more episodes. If it's just fanon then MLP counts, seeing as a LOT of theories about the show are about Equestria being earth after the apocolypse, backed up by the presence of old tires buried in the ground and such. Now, let's stop overthinking children's shows.

 

[TheIronRuler]

I like anything that portrays the apocalypse from a Christian perspective, y'know, rapture, Hells armies rise up and fight Heavens armies using Earth as a battle ground. Not because im Christian or anything, just think it makes for a great story.
See Darksiders for example.

Then you will love Rec and Rec 2 in Spanish.