Movies

On The Beach - The rest of the world is dead. Australia and the crew of the American submarine Swordfish are waiting for the nuclear devastation to hit them. Hardly a war film, this frightening look at a very possible last days' scenario lets the viewer appreciate the futility of escaping from the impending doom. The human race will die.

Panic in the Year Zero - A family escapes a nuclear blast and quickly finds that any amenity of civilization is gone as other survivors are only concerned about their own existence.

Planet of the Apes - A ultra-futuristic Earth civilization is developed by apes after humans manage to destroy themselves. Several sequels are more concerned about humans and apes than about the resulting disaster.

Silent Running - The salvation of Earth's flora is placed under the protection of Bruce Dern, an ecologist who defies orders to abort his solo mission and with two R2D2 precursors heads out of the solar system with his earthen cargo.


Most movies follow the stereotype of personal existence at the cost of anyone else. The rule of the gun, the strong, the king of the hill make life in the potentially optimistic scenario after a nuclear holocaust little more than anarchy without possibility of any movement back to civilization.

Mad Max and sequels and spinoffs - These and the remainder portray the baseness of humanity. Excess, violence, viciousness, ugliness, criminal behavior are expected; civilized behavior, while not forbidden, is taken advantage of. Most of the following list revel in the violence, gratuitious nudity, and "adult" themes that allow Hollywood to squeeze money from its customers. Some offer the alternative of women assuming the dominant role in civilization; however, their characteristics are as violent and inhumane as the men's.

The Aftermath (TV-1980)
2020 Texas Gladiators (R-1985)
Miracle Mile (R-1989)
Red Alert (1977)
Rocket Attack, USA (1958)
America 3000 (PG-1986)
Interzone (1988)
The Killing Edge (1986)
Land of Doom (1985)
The Late Great Planet Earth (1977)
The Lawless Land (R-1988)

These movies, however, depict the general conditions on planet Earth that Walter Miller, Jr., expects his readers to understand are present.


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