100 Apocalypse Films
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Description
100 Apocalypse Films explores one of cinema's most enduring and revealing narrative genres through 100 key movies from around the world.
From killer viruses and alien invasions to zombie plagues, nuclear war, and even mutant plants, apocalypse films imagine the end of the world in terrifying and spectacular ways. David Christopher explores how these depictions have changed in response to shifting global concerns. Alongside cult classics like Godzilla (Japan, 1954), Dawn of the Dead (USA, 1978), and 28 Days Later (UK, 2002), the book also highlights lesser-known films such as Go Goa Gone (India, 2008), Crumbs (Ethiopia, 2015), and The Unthinkable (Sweden, 2018), offering a rich, global perspective on a genre often dominated by Hollywood.
In his introduction, Christopher traces the genre's history, explaining why it is particularly relevant to our contemporary moment - an era increasingly shaped by anxieties around war, climate change, global pandemics, and evolving technologies. He provides clear, engaging commentaries on each film's narrative and aesthetic strategies, while tracing their evolution across decades and cultures. In doing so, he shows how end-of-the-world narratives have become one of cinema's most adaptable and revealing forms.
Table of Contents
1. The End of the World (August Blom, 1916, Denmark)
2. End of the World (Abel Gance, 1931, France)
3. Deluge (Felix E. Feist, 1933, USA)
4. Things to Come (William Cameron Menzies, 1936, UK)
5. Five (Arch Oboler, 1951, USA)
6. When Worlds Collide (Rudolph Maté, 1951, USA)
7. Godzilla (Ishiro Honda, 1954, Japan)
8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (Don Siegel, 1956, USA)
9. On the Beach (Stanley Kramer, 1959, USA)
10. The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (Ranald MacDougall, 1959, USA)
11. Last Woman on Earth (Roger Corman, 1960, USA)
12. Day of the Triffids (Steve Sekely, 1963, UK)
13. Dr Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964, UK/USA)
14. Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (Gordon Flemyng, 1966, UK)
15. The Andromeda Strain (Robert Wise, 1971, USA)
16. Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (J. Lee Thompson, 1972, USA)
17. End of the World (John Hayes, 1977, USA)
18. Rabid (David Cronenberg, 1977, Canada)
19. Dawn of the Dead (George A. Romero, 1978, USA/Italy)
20. Meteor (Ronald Neame, 1979, USA/Hong Kong)
21. Moonraker (Lewis Gilbert, 1979, UK/USA/France)
22. Heavy Metal (Gerald Potterton, 1981, Canada)
23. The Beyond (Lucio Fulci, 1981, Italy)
24. Barefoot Gen (Mori Masaki, 1983, Japan)
25. The Day After (Nicholas Meyer, 1983, USA)
26. Countdown to Looking Glass (Fred Barzyk, 1984, Canada)
27. Threads (Mick Jackson, 1984, UK)
28. Lifeforce (Tobe Hooper, 1985, UK)
29. The Quiet Earth (Geoff Murphy, 1985, New Zealand)
30. The Sacrifice (Andrei Tarkovsky, 1986, Sweden/UK/France)
31. Miracle Mile (Steve De Jarnatt, 1988, USA)
32. The Seventh Sign (Carl Schultz, 1988, USA)
33. They Live (John Carpenter, 1988, USA)
34. 12 Monkeys (Terry Gilliam, 1995, USA)
35. Outbreak (Wolfgang Petersen, 1995, USA)
36. Independence Day (Roland Emmerich, 1996, USA)
37. Mars Attacks! (Tim Burton, 1996, USA)
38. Star Trek: First Contact (Jonathan Frakes, 1996, USA)
39. Armageddon (Michael Bay, 1998, USA)
40. Deep Impact (Mimi Leder, 1998, USA)
41. Last Night (Don McKellar, 1998, Canada)
42. Dogma (Kevin Smith, 1999, USA)
43. End of Days (Peter Hyams, 1999, USA)
44. The Matrix (The Wachowskis, 1999, USA/Australia)
45. 28 Days Later (Danny Boyle, 2002, UK)
46. Resident Evil (Paul W. S. Anderson, 2002, Germany/UK/USA/France)
47. The Time Machine (Simon Wells, 2002, USA)
48. Signs (M. Night Shyamalan, 2002, USA)
49. Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (Jonathan Mostow, 2003, USA/Germany/UK)
50. Shaun of the Dead (Edgar Wright, 2004, UK/France/USA)
51. Post-Impact (Christoph Schrewe, 2004, Germany/USA)
52. Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (Garth Jennings, 2005, UK/USA)
53. War of the Worlds (Steven Spielberg, 2005, USA)
54. An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, Al Gore, 2006, USA)
55. Blindness (Fernando Meirelles, 2008, USA)
56. The Day the Earth Stood Still (Scott Derrickson, 2008, USA)
57. The Happening (M. Night Shyamalan, 2008, USA/India)
58. 9 (Shane Acker, 2009, USA/Luxembourg)
59. 2012 (Roland Emmerich, 2009, USA)
60. Knowing (Alex Proyas, 2009, USA/UK)
61. Legion (Scott Stewart, 2010, USA)
62. Juan of the Dead (Alejandro Brugués, 2010, Spain/Cuba)
63. Contagion (Steven Soderbergh, 2011, USA)
64. Hell (Tim Fehlbaum, 2011, Germany/Switzerland)
65. Melancholia (Lars von Trier, 2011, Denmark/Sweden/France/Germany)
66. Surviving Progress (Mathieu Roy, Harold Crooks, 2011, Canada)
67. Take Shelter (Jeff Nichols, 2011, USA)
68. Cloud Atlas (Tom Tykwer, The Wachowskis, 2012, USA/UK/Germany)
69. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (Lorene Scafaria, 2012, USA)
70. Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, 2013, USA)
71. This Is the End (Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, 2013, USA)
72. World War Z (Marc Forster, 2013, USA)
73. The Zero Theorem (Terry Gilliam, 2013, UK/Romania/France)
74. The Last Days (David and Alex Pastor, 2013, Spain)
75. Go Goa Gone (Raj and D.K., 2013, India)
76. Interstellar (Christopher Nolan, 2014, UK/USA)
77. Noah (Darren Aronofsky, 2014, USA)
78. Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse (W.D. Hogan, 2014, Canada)
79. Bugarach (Sergi Cameron, Ventura Durall, Salvador Sunyol, 2014, Spain/Germany/UK/USA/France)
80. Into the Forest (Patricia Rozema, 2015, Canada)
81. Crumbs (Miguel Llansó, 2015, Ethiopia)
82. 10 Cloverfield Lane (Dan Trachtenberg, 2016, USA)
83. Train to Busan (Yeon Sang-ho, 2016, South Korea)
84. X-Men: Apocalypse (Bryan Singer, 2016, USA)
85. The Girl with All the Gifts (Colm McCarthy, 2016, UK)
86. Rakka – Oats Studios (Neill Blomkamp, 2017, USA/Canada)
87. Advertising at the Edge of Apocalypse (Sut Jhally, 2017, USA)
88. Avengers: Infinity War (Anthony Russo, Joe Russo, 2018, USA)
89. Extinction (Ben Young, 2018, USA)
90. The Unthinkable (Crazy Pictures, 2018, Sweden)
91. Just a Breath Away (Daniel Roby, 2018, Canada/France)
92. The Night Eats the World (Dominique Rocher, 2018, France)
93. Ad Astra (James Gray, 2019, USA/Brazil)
94. The Wandering Earth (Frant Gwo, 2019, China)
95. Blood Quantum (Jeff Barnaby, 2019, Canada – First Nations Mi'kmaq)
96. African Apocalypse (Rob Lemkin, 2020, Niger/UK)
97. Aztech (Fernando Campos, Demetrio Ulises Guzmán, Jaime Jasso, 2020, Mexico)
98. Don't Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021, USA)
99. Neptune Frost (Saul Williams, Anisia Uzeyman, 2021, Rwanda)
100. Leave the World Behind (Sam Esmail, 2023, USA)
Conclusion
Endnotes
Product details
| Published | Apr 15 2027 |
|---|---|
| Format | Paperback |
| Edition | 1st |
| Pages | 232 |
| ISBN | 9781805750628 |
| Imprint | British Film Institute |
| Illustrations | 100 colour illus |
| Dimensions | 8 x 8 inches |
| Series | BFI Screen Guides |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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