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The world ends again in ‘2012,’ as in 5 other apocalyptothrillers

By STEVEN SNYDER - TimeOut Film Critic

November 13, 2009
 
Feeling down about the Great Recession? Hollywood has your answer: An all-out apocalypse.

Call this a sobering dose of things-could-be-a-whole-lotworse, but November will feature not one but two Hollywood apocalypse thrillers: "2012," a chronicling of how Earth will implode to match the end of the Mayan calendar, and "The Road," the bigscreen adaptation of the hit Cormac McCarthy novel, about a father and son navigating a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Below is my list of the five greatest visions of the world’s final days:

    "Deep Impact"
    There have been plenty of mankind-saved-from-rogueasteroid thrillers, but "Deep Impact" proved it was willing to think a little darker about the prospect of a chunk of space dust exploding on the Earth’s surface. A rogue comet, large enough to kill all of humanity, is confronted by a spaceship, which detonates it into two equally-deadly fragments. Memorable is the massive, skyscraper-high tsunami unleashed when one of the two fragments slams into the Atlantic Ocean. We see that wave in closeup from the shore, as characters stand tall and look into the brink, embracing their death.
    "Planet of the Apes"
    For the majority of "Planet of the Apes," astronaut George Taylor has no idea that anything’s happened to the human race. In fact, he assumes he’s been confined to an alien world, fighting to break free of an ape kingdom so he can return back home to Earth. But with the discovery of a half submerged Statue of Liberty on the ocean shoreline, he’s given proof that this apish hellscape used to be Earth. "You maniacs!" Taylor screams, "You blew it up!"
    "28 Days Later"
    A man awakens in London to discover he’s the only man in the city – wandering streets and bridges that have been abandoned without a clue in sight. It turns out a ferocious virus is turning humans into zombies, leaving cities abandoned by the few survivors who have managed to escape the quarantines in their bid to avoid the bloodthirsty hordes. The many abandoned downtown London locales – ghostly images not created through computer effects but filmed during the early morning hours when crews were able to rope off such prominent locations as Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street. The silence is deafening.
    "I Am Legend"
    "I Am Legend" did for New York City what "28 Days Later" did for London, presenting an apocalyptic fantasy based around an abandoned metropolis. Will Smith explores an utterly deserted Manhattan, learning how to navigate the empty streets while hunting the wildlife that’s moved back to reclaim the Big Apple. The apocalypse here came thanks to a botched cancer vaccine. A doctor claimed to have created a foolproof cancer shot by altering the measles virus – but as the mutated vaccine goes airborne and kills 90 percent of the species, the last healthy Manhattan resident is Smith, an army virologist.
    "The Day After Tomorrow"
    Before "2012," Roland Emmerich gave us "The Day After Tomorrow." The theme was clear: Global warming’s gonna getcha. Not long after two scientists witness a major iceberg break off from Antarctica, the Earth’s weather goes all screwy. Hail storms, tornadoes and terrifying turbulence at 30,000 feet Turns out when it rains it does indeed pour. Severe and violent swings in Earth’s climate turn deadly, teetering between the extremes that threaten to kill every last member of the species. And in the most glorious scene, an ice-cold superstorm blasts New York City, including an ice ray of minus 150-degree air that whips through the city streets, chasing characters like a freezing laser beam.
E-mail: SnyderReviews@hotmail.com