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Post by fear death by water on May 7, 2010 7:47:06 GMT -5
Must see? The only MUST see in my book is 'The Quiet Earth'. It's the first taste of PA in movie form I got back whan I was much younger. The Quiet Earth plus The STand and Swan Song are the reason I read PA today.
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Post by MegaDude on May 7, 2010 12:31:24 GMT -5
I've only seen The Quiet Earth once, but I didn't really love it. I'll have to try it again I think.
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Post by fear death by water on May 7, 2010 18:47:54 GMT -5
Much like PA aficionados who have never read The Stand ... I would wonder about one who's not totaly in love with The Quiet Earth. Hell I screamed liek a school girl when I saw it was being released on DVD and I could stop watching my old VHS copy. That my friend was indeed a totaly sweet day. Give it another go ... you owe it to yourself.
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Post by ftballfan on May 7, 2010 19:30:45 GMT -5
The Day After Tomorrow (earth freezes--great special effects) Independence Day (some of the best destruction scenes in any movie IMO). The Day the Earth Stood Still (both old and remake). Remake got terrible reviews--but again destruction scenes with big budget behind them IMO were worth the entire movie... and I liked the storyline/acting personally. Knowing (good story up until the end when it takes turn WAAAAAAYYY out into left field.. which I'd have no problem with but it kept 'presenting' itself like a normal movie.). But--redeaming quality is scenes of distruction at end of movie... Blindness Carriers Threads (already mentioned--great movie) The Day After (again mentioned--US version of Threads). Babylon AD Children of Men City of Embers (stop laughing--it was a kids book/movie--but great PA/Dysantopian setting). Not so big budget but good: Testament Right At Your Door 20 years after NOOOOOOOO not 20 years after. I think it sucked soooo much. gaaah. The guy with the dolls and the fireballs coming from his hands. Everything in that movie are SO silly and stupid. and the bombs that are catched sunlight >_< I don't remember fireballs from anyone's hands.... there was one 'crazy' guy.. did he have dolls... ? Maybe a different movie? The one I mean is "20 years after (aka like moles, like rats)"? (see hyperlink to video) Low budget yes--but it makes no 'asiprations' to be a big budget flick... IMO it does a good job of being PA 'cheaply'.. Independence Day wasn't ruined by the virus IMO--it was by the stupid "fly my jet right up into the spaceship death ray and make it blow up" scene. HOWEVER--I watch it and fast forward through that drivel... and replay the scenes of destruction over and over. Even the scenes of the missles blowing up on the space ship are sweet. Oh yeah--I forgot one. War of the Worlds (Both versions---but I like the Tom Cruise version best... SWEET destruction and battle scenes). Blindness was annoying as far as the story goes (you'll see why--I was 'fed up')... BUT don't stop watching--the scenes of the city where everyone is blind and struggling to get food are sweet.
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Post by lordyo on May 10, 2010 12:53:04 GMT -5
Having just seen it, I would add The Road as well.
btw, Threads was great, thanks for the recommendation.
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Post by bonniedee on May 16, 2010 16:31:28 GMT -5
Glad for these recs. I've never heard of The Quiet Earth or Threads. Will find be sure to check out both.
I'll always have a fondness for The Stand (yes, the TV miniseries too) because it was my "first." And the TV movie wasn't all bad. I loved Gary Sinise. The only really bad actor was Molly Ringwald. Who knew she could be so horrible?
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Post by fear death by water on May 16, 2010 17:57:33 GMT -5
I'll always have a fondness for The Stand (yes, the TV miniseries too) because it was my "first." And the TV movie wasn't all bad. I loved Gary Sinise. The only really bad actor was Molly Ringwald. Who knew she could be so horrible? Completely agree with you there Bonnie. I also think Jamey Sheridan made a fantastic Flagg and Matt Frewer was terrific as Trash and Adam Storke was great as Larry. The rest of the cast was pretty terrible. That's what made the movie so bad for me ... Great acting felled by poor choices. Molly Ringwald = Worst. Fran. Ever.
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talenos
Scavenger
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Posts: 160
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Post by talenos on May 21, 2010 13:29:16 GMT -5
Pretty much agree with everything listed so far. Here is my list of must sees. A Boy and His Dog Mad Max The Road Warrior Dawn of the Dead 12 Monkeys Escape from New York Planet of the Apes 28 Days Later The Last Man on Earth/Omega Man/I am Legend (all tell the story in interesting ways) The Road (best recent PA film I can think of)
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Post by bonniedee on May 21, 2010 17:01:10 GMT -5
Downloaded Threads but I'm waiting to be in the right mood for watching it. I know it's going to be a much more serious and realistic movie than I feel like seeing right now. Sometimes you're just in the mood for something cheesy like Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome--"Two men enter, one man leaves" and who doesn't love the crazy kids tribe and their patois. Too much fun.
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Denny
Survivor
For Future Reference [F4:DennyHaze]
Posts: 45
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Post by Denny on May 28, 2010 14:39:05 GMT -5
Seeing as not all the films listed are exactly post apocalyptic, but otherwise dystopian I'd like to add the 1988 anime "Akira," a true masterpiece to this genre.
-Equilibrium -End of Evangelion (Some would say it's an essential, I say nay. Nevertheless, I feel it should be mentioned) -Idiocracy (As comedic as it is it's a great watch) -Johnny Mnemonic -Ghost in the Shell (The first feature length anime. The other two I found a bit too political, and somewhat confusing) -Origin: Spirits of the Past
Many others I find watchworthy, but not all of them fit in the "must see" list. Akira is definitely on mine.
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Post by phoenixfallen on Jun 13, 2010 4:54:10 GMT -5
I think I would watch Threads during the day if possible - it is NOT a movie to go to sleep right after! Also, you should try to find it's 'predecessor' (also British and also a pseudo-documentary) - 1965's "The War Game" - NOT to be confused with "War Games" with Matthew Broderick <?> and Ally Sheedy.
"The War Game" 'documents' events leading up to and a few months after a nuclear strike, with voice over narration and 'interviews'. It's in black and white, so it's a bit less graphic than "Threads".
"Threads" makes "The Day After" look like a kiddie movie.
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Post by coloneill on Jul 5, 2010 17:21:42 GMT -5
i just saw The Road, and i liked it for the most part, but i did not like the fairy tale-ish ending.
i wont go into detail about it but those that have seen it know what i mean
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King of the Wastes
Wasteland King
GTFO MY PORCH [F4:PA_Earth][F4:KingoftheWaste]
Posts: 1,910
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Post by King of the Wastes on Jul 7, 2010 13:18:05 GMT -5
The Day After Tomorrow (earth freezes--great special effects) Independence Day (some of the best destruction scenes in any movie IMO). The Day the Earth Stood Still (both old and remake). Remake got terrible reviews--but again destruction scenes with big budget behind them IMO were worth the entire movie... and I liked the storyline/acting personally. Knowing (good story up until the end when it takes turn WAAAAAAYYY out into left field.. which I'd have no problem with but it kept 'presenting' itself like a normal movie.). But--redeaming quality is scenes of distruction at end of movie... Blindness Carriers Threads (already mentioned--great movie) The Day After (again mentioned--US version of Threads). Babylon AD Children of Men City of Embers (stop laughing--it was a kids book/movie--but great PA/Dysantopian setting). Not so big budget but good: Testament Right At Your Door 20 years after I just realized your from PAM aren't you!!?!?!? Ya have to be,same name.
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Post by schluh on Feb 17, 2011 17:56:32 GMT -5
Not sure if this counts since it is set in "normal" time and PA time...but I have always love The Terminator. How scary that the computers have grown smarter than the man who created them. The other installments were fun but they don't have the fear of the PA world like the first one.
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Post by KevinTheCynic on Feb 17, 2011 22:34:11 GMT -5
I didn't answer when I first saw this thread because I spent far too long trying to decide what I thought were important movies for a PA fan to see. I think I have my list sorted now and it's way longer than it probably should be, but I think all of these movies should be seen (I've left out movies I haven't seen). As much as it's based on movies I personally liked, it's also based on what has been influential and on the different approaches taken by the movies themselves to tell their stories.
Post-Apocalyptic: - Threads (as mentioned, a harsh, uncompromising view of the aftermath of total nuclear war - made to scare the 'nuclear war good feelings' out of people) Mad Max + Mad Max 2 (should be seen together to make a 2 part story even though Mad Max is apocalyptic while Mad Max 2 is post-apocalyptic) The Quiet Earth (what would you do if you were the last person alive and you thought it was all your fault?) Damnation Alley (yeah it was a cheesy take on the novel but still it is kinda cool... well, almost...) Delicatessen (a French black comedy about a butcher who runs an apartment block and tries to keep his tenants alive) A Boy And His Dog (a young man and a dog search the wastes for food and sex - a trippy movie in places, I'm sure the underground society was the basis for the RPG Paranoia) Hardware AKA Mark 13 (I love this movie, it was like a cross between The Terminator and the 2000AD comics - it was inspired by a 2000AD story so that's no surprise) The Last Man On Earth (a somewhat dated movie treatment of the novel I Am Legend but better than The Omega Man and vastly superior to the action movie shtick that Will Smith applied to the story) Le Dernier Combat AKA The Last Battle (another French movie, set in a desert wasteland where people have stopped talking and do what you might, nothing really changes, only your place in them does - I also picked this one because it's very different to most of the movies on my list) On The Beach (the crew of a US sub finds very temporary shelter in Australia after a nuclear war, examines the thoughts of people as they confront the end of humanity) Tank Girl (it's a bit of fun to counterbalance the usual doom & gloom of the PA world, plus it has evil corporations controlling the stuff of life itself) Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within (CGI movie, alien 'phantoms' have devastated the Earth, a military officer wants to end the threat but it means destroying the planet) Silent Running (all the plant life on Earth has been made extinct, only a fleet of spaceships keeps any plantlife alive, until the order is given to discard the greenhouse domes from the ships) Logan's Run (society is maintained in domed cities to prevent the overuse of allegedly scant natural resources, to do this, every citizen must die upon reaching 30 years of age, some refuse to accept their fate) Gunhed (a Japanese live-action mecha film wherein a rogue AI is happily plotting the destruction of humanity, a group of scavengers and a Texas Air Ranger are all that stand in it's way) THX 1138 (I include this because although it's dystopian and it isn't specifically stated, it appears that humanity has been driven into underground cities by some cataclysm on the surface of the planet)
Apocalyptic: - Day The World Ended (yeah this is a really bad Roger Corman flick but it's based on the fears and lack of knowledge about nuclear war that the public had in the 1950s - sort of a "see this because this is what they thought back then" thing). The Road (what would you do to save your child when the world around you is starving to death?) This Is Not A Test (another US 1950s-60s movie dealing with the fears of the public towards nuclear war, not a great movie but still interesting - a group get stranded on a stretch of highway when war is declared and they must all come to terms with not just the war, but what they're willing to do to survive) Dr Strangelove: or How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb (another black comedy, this time a satire on the nuclear arms race, there's a number of great scenes and dialogue such as one of my personal favs "You can't fight in here, this is the war room!") Children Of Men (another look at how we would handle the end of our species) Babylon AD (in a world plagued by economic collapse and rampant warfare, a cynical mercenary has to deliver a potential messiah to a religious group that's more corporate than pious) When Worlds Collide (a 1950s movie about a planetary impact event that will doom all life on Earth, a lifeboat is available but fights ensue over who will be saved) Invasion of the Body Snatchers - 1978 version (an alien world is doomed, to survive the aliens subvert humans so that they can live on Earth - something of a commentary on the 1970s obsession with the wants of the individual over the needs of society) Voyage To the Bottom Of the Sea (1960s movie about a research sub that is the only thing able to prevent the Van Allen radiation belt, now on fire, from overheating the Earth and destroying life on the planet) The Terminator franchise up to number 3 (probably did more to put the fear or robots into people than any other movie but still leaves them feeling they might get out of their self-inflicted predicament... or will they...) Them! (another 1950s 'fear the mad scientists and the atomic bomb' movie, this one featuring giant ants but it's kinda cool for the suspense - you don't even see the ants until about halfway into the movie - and to see 1950s Los Angeles including going into the storm drain system)
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