{"id":1102,"date":"2014-02-28T16:10:53","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T22:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/?p=1102"},"modified":"2016-10-31T22:56:43","modified_gmt":"2016-11-01T04:56:43","slug":"best-post-apocalyptic-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/?p=1102","title":{"rendered":"Best Post-Apocalyptic films"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"http:\/\/blurdotblog.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/08\/postapocalypse_l.jpg\"<\/a>
by Blur Dot Blog<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before I get into the list, I think a distinction between dystopian and post-apocalyptic films is necessary.\u00a0<\/span>Both classifications have been run together too often in recent years to the point that they\u2019re nearly indistinguishable. However, a good understanding of cinema requires clear and distinct earmarks of each genre, and that will lead to a rich & robust discourse.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dystopian<\/a> genre is distinguished by a lack of a specific global catastrophe that dramatically impacted society, for it is more about a possible future our society could bring about, while an Apocalyptic or Post-Apocalyptic<\/a> one is about the fallout, how human beings cope in the aftermath.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/a>The Dystopian genre is clearly a sociological critique that sometimes includes humanist elements in which the main character discovers a fatal flaw within his\/her so-called utopia. Society has reached some social perfection or transcendence at the expense of something important – be it a class, loss of individual freedom or abdication of human nature.\u00a0<\/span>The post-apocalyptic genre leans closer to the ecological critique in which the environment has become the antagonist, an inhospitable place, because civilization no longer offers a safe haven for the self-interested activities of man.<\/span><\/p>\n

As I made the list, I was shocked to discover how many great dystopian films there were, and how few good post-apocalyptic ones existed. The built-in advantage of cinema to portray a possible world should not matter to either genre. Then again, dystopian films are often deeper on a philosophical level than the post-apocalyptic, thematically.\u00a0<\/span>The best dystopian films are listed here.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Best Post-Apocalyptic films\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

WALL-E<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/static2.wikia.nocookie.net\/__cb20090615011461\/pixar\/images\/c\/ce\/Wall-E_Cubecolors.jpg\"<\/p>\n

Long after mankind has abandoned a trash-filled Earth for luxurious lifestyle aboard spaceships, a Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth Class cleans up the mess. WALL-E eventually develops a personality, collects trinkets, and eventually encounters others. The first 45 minutes is easily the finest I’ve ever seen on film. A fantastic critique of consumer culture that is also secretly a nostalgia for things. Beneath the environmental destruction is a fondness for consumer goods, complicating the overt critique of consumerism. <\/span><\/p>\n

Road Warrior<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/neverenoughfilms.files.wordpress.com\/2012\/06\/600full-the-road-warrior-poster.jpg\"
by Fantastic Fest<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The gold standard that determined the post-apocalyptic world in the 80s as post-nuclear Australian world, filled with leather and spikes and belts, the slap-dash vehicles and that razor boomerang. The film is basically an allegory of human life without oil where a vicious marauding gang attacks a group because they operate the only oil refinery for miles in a depopulated world. The best of the Mad Max trilogy<\/em><\/a>, it combined the classic western archetype of the wandering stranger who walks in town and helps out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Akira <\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"2189685-akira_wp_1\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A classic anime masterpiece based on a great manga that chronicles the competition between rival biker gangs as they speed through a post-nuclear version of neo-Tokyo. However, the cyberpunk gang members are interrupted by children with psychic abilities and they awaken a dormant super-human force that goes out of control. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Matrix<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/www.impassionedcinema.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/09\/the-matrix-neo.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Indeed a post-apocalyptic film, since the true reality consists of a wasteland filled with dominant machines that employs human beings as batteries. A computer hacker discovers the true nature of the Matrix, and finds his destiny as the One and joins an underground resistance society against the machines. <\/span><\/p>\n

28 Days Later…<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/www.ruthlessreviews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2006\/03\/28-days-later-empty-street-small.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

A violent post-apocalyptic world filled with people infected with a virus that drove them to a murderous rage. A terrific homage to zombie and invasion films like Dawn of the Dead<\/em><\/a> and Omega Man<\/em><\/a>, 28 Days Later…<\/em> is a relentless thrill-ride that does not let up until the final frame. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Road<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/1.fwcdn.pl\/ph\/90\/50\/419050\/163459.1.jpg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the most bleak and depressing films of all time where a survivor and his son travel south for less inhospitable climate in order to find solace from a world ravaged by an unspecified nature. With starvation and cannibalism right around the corner, The Road<\/em> is an endurance test for anyone. <\/span><\/p>\n

Planet of the Apes<\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

\"http:\/\/www.siue.edu\/babel\/Planet-of-the-Apes.jpeg\"<\/span><\/p>\n

An early dystopian film that succeeded at the box office, it included a terrific social commentary where a group of astronauts land on a world populated by civilized apes. The ape world is totalitarian and has a caste system, and they treat the humans as inferior species. Upon escape, the lone survivor flees to a forbidden zone and realizes he landed on [SPOILER]<\/strong> an post-apocalyptic Earth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Honorable mentions<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

12 Monkeys <\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

The only reason this does not qualify on either list is because it spends more time in the modern day than it does in its post-apocalyptic future of a depopulated world. <\/span><\/p>\n

Waterworld <\/span><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

An exceedingly ambitious scifi action film where the oceans swallow the world, and a certain individual holds the key to the future of the human species.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Before I get into the list, I think a distinction between dystopian and post-apocalyptic films is necessary.\u00a0Both classifications have been run together too often in recent years to the point that they\u2019re nearly indistinguishable. However, a good understanding of cinema requires clear and distinct earmarks of each genre, and that will lead to a rich … Continue reading Best Post-Apocalyptic films<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[1],"tags":[306,303,307,312],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1Af2X-hM","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1102"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1307,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1102\/revisions\/1307"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1102"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1102"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.hyperboreans.com\/heterodoxia\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1102"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}