The end of the world is all the rage. Just look at what has dominated TV ratings over the past couple of years: The Last of Us was all we talked about in the beginning of 2023, and in April, everyone and their now glowingly radioactive nans caught Fallout fever.
This month we return to the wasted post-nuclear outback of George Miller's Mad Max franchise for Fury Road prequel Furiosa, in which Charlize Theron will sub out for Anya Taylor-Joy as the titular one-armed bodyguard. She'll ward off no end of wasteland raiders and bandits in what promises to be two-plus hours of high-throttle action, and we're getting more revved up for it by the day; until then, join us in surveying the cinematic post-apocalypse with these nuclear-grade bangers.
10. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
The first sequel in the modern Planet of the Apes reboot picks up ten years after James Franco tries to invent an Alzheimer's cure and inadvertently dooms humankind to monkey subservience (see the events of Rise of the Planet of the Apes). There's an air of The Last of Us to Dawn's cities-consumed-by-nature aesthetic, with trees and shrubs reclaiming concrete and rebar — an apt metaphor for a human world overrun by sentient simians. Some of the humans take up arms against their monkey overlords, others wonder why they can't all just get along, and soon it's primate versus primate, despite the best attempts for peace by Caesar (Andy Serkis) and Malcolm (Jason Clarke). You can watch Dawn of the Planet of the Apes on Disney+.
9. I Am Legend (2007)
The third (and loosest) film adaptation of Richard Matheson's novel of the same name stars Will Smith as a lonely scientist, Robert Neville, who wanders the Big Apple after a world-ending pandemic. Loneliness aside, this vision of the apocalypse ain't so bad: while not trying to find a cure for a strain of the virus that has turned a handful of humans into crotchety bald vampires, he tests out his golf drive on the deck of a rusty warship, and zips around the streets of Manhattan in a sports car. But wish-fulfilment can only get you so far. Almost entirely consumed by his isolation, two survivors arrive outta nowhere to offer him renewed purpose. Part suspenseful horror, part character study of the most persistent dude ever. You can watch I Am Legend on Prime Video.
8. Six-String Samurai (1998)
The apocalypse doesn't necessarily have to be a drag, as you'll be all too aware if you've recently watched Prime Video's Fallout. So as to illustrate how refreshingly unserious it is, here is Six-String Samurai's early premise: America has been nuked by the Soviets, and nothing remains aside from an enclave of semi-civilisation, Lost Vegas, which is ruled over by King Elvis. Yes — the King becomes The King. After he dies, a handful of plucky musicians descend on the Strip to become the new leader, ie. the King of Rock n' Roll, including Jeffrey Falcon's Buddy. On the way, he encounters thinly veiled parodies of Slash and Ritchie Valens. An amp-blasting romp with licks of rock, metal, and Hong Kong martial arts flicks.
7. A Boy and His Dog (1975)
A major inspiration for Fallout was this genre-defying 1975 acid trip in which a feral teenager, years in the wake of a nuclear war, tours the wastes joined by his telepathic dog with the intent of, erm, forcefully repopulating the world. All the teen, portrayed by a young Don Johnson, is concerned with is survival and sex. So darkly funny as A Boy and His Dog is, it's also bitterly cynical: humankind, here, is curdled to its core, regressing to animalistic barbarism once civilisation has fallen away. It's totally fucked up — the kid's solitary M.O. is literally to rape women — but one suspects that's the point of a movie about moral and ethical decay in the post-apocalypse. You can watch A Boy and His Dog on Prime Video.
6. The Omega Man (1971)
Three years after Charlton Heston fell to his knees in the shadow of the Statue of Liberty — realising, of course, that it was Earth all along — he returned for a second go at the post-apocalypse. This one did not have any clever space chimps, but it did have a devastating world-ending virus; in fact, The Omega Man was the second film adaptation of Richard Matheson's book I Am Legend. In it Heston, who believes himself to be the last man on earth, is hunted by mutants in the ruins of L.A., all while he tries to synthesise a vaccine out of his own inoculated blood. You can watch The Omega Man on Prime Video.
5. Akira (1988)
More towards the dystopian end of the genre spectrum comes Akira, a breakneck anime set some decades after a global conflagration destroys Tokyo. A cyberpunk dystopia aptly named New Tokyo sits in its place, ruled over by marauding motorbike gangs who war with one another as sport. Film critic Roger Ebert aptly compared it to Mad Max with its frenetic pace, gory visuals and air of nihilistic rebellion — such was the mood of the '80s, with the ever-present Cold War and all. It's an astonishing visual treat, beautifully drawn and loudly coloured. Think of it like a pipe bomb made out of a kaleidoscope. You can watch Akira on Prime Video.
4. Children of Men (2006)
Picture the scene: the UK has been rendered a hellish police state ruled over by a deeply unpopular authoritarian government which maintains a tenuous hold on both reality and power. But enough about real life! Children of Men projects a dystopian vision of pre-post-apocalyptic London: owing to a flatlined birthrate, the population has nosedived, and no new children have been born in almost two decades. But Clive Owen stumbles upon hope in the form of a pregnant woman whose baby, in one gobsmacking scene, sees the city's warring factions lay down their arms in awe. A masterclass in action and suspense with one of the best single-shot scenes you'll ever watch. You can watch Children of Men on Prime Video.
3. Threads (1984)
Do not watch 1984's Threads after-hours, when it's dark outside, if you're feeling especially sensitive to the horrors of nuclear war apropos of Ukraine and that, or you don't want to risk a weeks-long bout of depression afterwards. It is one of the most frightening — and politically effective — movies ever made. It splits into two halves, basically: the pre-apocalyptic bit hypothesises the lead up to a war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, seen from the perspective of simple folk in Sheffield. Then the bombs fall, people quite literally piss themselves, and England is blown to bits by 20 megatons of nuclear weapons. The second half of the movie takes in the sobering aftermath, during which skeletal survivors scrap over rat dinners in the bones of the dead world. Enjoy! You can watch Threads on Prime Video.
2. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
The action of T-2 follows a future war between humanity and AI after the robots blow us up with our own nukes. Skynet, the malevolent AI in question, sends a liquid metal robo-cop (Robert Patrick) into the past to kill one of the leaders of the human resistance, John Connor (Edward Furlong as an adult) before he can become the consequential militia leader he grows up to be. But the humans have their own ace up their sleeve: they send back a reprogrammed Arnold Schwarzenegger, baby, who promised he'd be back, and goddamn it, he is! Oh yeah, and Linda Hamilton's nuke vision is still fucking terrifying. You can watch Terminator 2: Judgement Day on Prime Video.
1. Mad Max: The Road Warrior (1981)
You could probably just slot the Mad Max franchise in at number one all together — Fury Road is definitely up here, too, and Beyond Thunderdome deserves more apologists. Nevertheless, none lay a glove on George Miller's magnum opus, unequivocally the greatest post-apocalyptic action film ever made. After all, the dunes and wastes of The Road Warrior is where so many of the tropes and images we now associate with the genre got their start: the leather-heavy BDSM gear as armour. The lonely survivor reckoning with morality, and mortality, against a desolate backdrop. Marauding raiders use the apocalypse as an opportunity to get their hedonistic kicks, such as by murdering and eating people. Like a souped-up muscle car, it rockets past at 96 minutes. And as soon as it rolls to a stop, you'll want to get behind the wheel again. You can watch Mad Max: The Road Warrior on Prime Video.