 |
| Mimi Rogers has a difficult decision to make as the world ends in "The Rapture." |
Steven Carrell hooks up with Keira Knightly in the doomsday
comedy “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World,” which opened at area
theaters last week.
Carrell joins a host of actors and actresses who have had to
deal with Hollywood’s take on the impending end of the world.
Bruce Willis leads a raggedy team of astronaut/miners in an
attempt to blow up an asteroid the size of Texas threatening global extinction in
the action-packed “Armageddon.”
Will Smith tries to find an antidote to a worldwide plague
that has wiped out most of the population and turned the rest of humanity into
some kind of zombie/vampires in the most recent version of “I am Legend.”
John Cusack stars as a worried dad trying to save his kids
and ex-wife when Mayan predictions of the world’s end start to come true in “2012.”
Aaron Eckhart has a plan to jump-start the Earth’s core and
save the planet with a series of nuclear explosions in “The Core.”
Gregory Peck captains an American submarine stationed in
Australia in the aftermath of World War III as mankind waits for a radioactive
cloud to finish off the species in “On the Beach.” Armand Assante has Peck’s
role in a made-for-TV remake.
Jane Alexander is a suburban San Francisco housewife doing
her best to make her family’s last days as peaceful as possible in the aftermath
of a nuclear attack that has cut off their town from the rest of the world in “Testament.”
This was originally made-for-TV but was released as a feature film.
Demi Moore is a pregnant woman who rents her garage apartment
to a man she thinks is Jesus Christ bent on destroying mankind in “The Seventh
Sign.”
James Arness and James Whitmore must stop giant ants from
taking over the world in the sci-fi classic “Them!” Arness’ real-life brother
Peter Graves has to stop giant locusts from doing the same thing in “The
Beginning of the End,” which features the bugs munching their way from central
Illinois to Chicago.
Gene Barry is a scientist who must figure out a way to stop
invading Martians from wiping us out in less than a week in another sci-fi
classic “War of the Worlds.” Tom Cruise stars in the remake that doesn’t
compare to the original.
There are dozens more movies that portray life after some
kind of calamity has taken place. Some are about rebuilding the Earth, such as “The
Book of Eli.” Some are about hope in the future, such as “The Postman.”
Others
are very dark and doubt man will make it, such as “The Road.”
I’ve excluded zombie movies because they are mostly about
the end of the world as we know it rather than the end of the world.
If you take doomsday seriously, check out these six movies
available on video, DVD, on-demand and through streaming services. Hurry
though, according to the Mayan calendar, our time is up in December.
“The Rapture”
(1991) – Mimi Rogers stars as a bored and amoral telephone operator who quits
her whoring ways and becomes born again with new husband David Duchovny. A
series of events shake her belief right before the End of Days and she must
decide what to do. This one makes you think. Also stars Patrick Bauchau and
Will Patton.
“Miracle Mile”
(1988) – Anthony Edwards answers a wrong number and learns he has about an hour
before missiles will turn Los Angeles into a nuclear wasteland. He spends the
time trying to track down a girl (Mare Winningham) he just met and get out of
town. Also stars John Agar, Mykelti Williamson and Denise Crosby as a
mysterious woman who seems to have an idea of what to do to escape the
holocaust.
“When Worlds Collide”
(1951) – A group of scientists and industrialists defy ridicule as they rush to
build a space ship they hope will transport them as a kind of Noah’s ark to a
new planet after a rogue star crashes into the Earth into this sci-fi classic. Stars
include Richard Derr, Barabara Rush, John Hoyt and the late Frank Cady. I’d
like to see this one remade using modern special effects.
“Last Night”
(1998) – Canadian filmmaker Don McKellar stars in this film about some
unexplained disaster that will end the world at midnight and looks at how different
characters prepare for the end. Other stars include Sandra Oh, Sarah Polley,
David Cronenberg and Genevieve Bujold.
“Believers”
(2007) – Two paramedics answering a call are captured by a scientific cult that
has calculated the world will end soon in a shower of fire and are planning a
mass, ritualistic suicide in advance of the apocalypse. Stars include Johnny
Messner, Daniel Benzali and Jon Huertas as a paramedic who sees the light and joins
the cult.
“Twelve Monkeys”
(1995) – Bruce Willis is a convict from the future sent back in time to gather
research on a man-made virus that has mankind on the verge of extinction. The
only problem is he’s six years too soon and the authorities jail him for being
crazy. Other stars include Madeline Stowe as the analyst who starts to believe
his story, Brad Pitt and David Morse.
