Classic "End of the World" movies

[Pauspy]

Does anyone have any favorite classic "end of the world" themed movies? A couple of my favorites are "The Day The Earth Caught Fire" and "When Worlds Collide". Even though these two take a different visual approach to the subject matter (W.W.C. going for the big special effects shots, T.D.T.E.C.F. going for a more literate and personal approach), they both evoke that feeling of creepiness and dread suitable for the subject matter.

Anyone have their own personal favorites?

[Haunted hearse]

I wonder if "A crack in the World" counts.  Th world doesn't end, but a new moon is formed.

[Mike Scott]

I wonder if "A crack in the World" counts.  The world doesn't end, but a new moon is formed.

CRACK seems more of a disaster (a BIG one) movie. On the other hand, WWC is probably the only "end of the world" movie where the world actually ends. Most are more "end of people/civilization" movies.

I partial to the '50s - early '60s ones, like FIVE, DAY THE WORLD ENDED, THE WORLD, THE FLESH AND THE DEVIL and THE DAY THE EARTH CAUGHT FIRE.

[Flower]

I like "No Blade of Grass"  1970 as well as "The Day of the Triffids" 1963  .. 

*Oops .. I almost forgot "On the Beach" 1959

[mjaycox]

I love all the titles mentioned so far, as well as:

1) The Day After (TV movie about nuclear holocaust )
2) Melancholia (a sublime, if occasionally silly art house movie by Lars Von Trier about a planet on a collision course with earth, and the parallels with the main character's depression)

[Mord]

 I don't know if it counts, but I always liked "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price.

[Jim Bertges]

If you think about it, Beneath the Planet of the Apes is an "end of the world" movie because at the end Charlton blows the whole place up.

I am personally partial to Five.

[Flower]

I don't know if it counts, but I always liked "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price.

I was thinking of that flick as well as the 2007  "I am Legend" which are both adapted from the same book. 

[Mord]

I was thinking of that flick as well as the 2007  "I am Legend" which are both adapted from the same book.

...not to mention "The Omega Man" from 1971.

[geezer butler]

I don't know if it counts, but I always liked "The Last Man on Earth" with Vincent Price.

Yeah I like this film a lot. I think "Last Man" inspired George Romero.

[Mord]

Yeah I like this film a lot. I think "Last Man" inspired George Romero.

I always felt that way, too.

[Dr.Cyclops]

"When Worlds Collide"

[Haunted hearse]

On the beach(1959) seems to end with all life gone.

[Pauspy]

On the beach(1959) seems to end with all life gone.

I believe so. This is one movie that has taken me some time to learn to like. It's much more of an exploration on how different people approach their inevitable demise, which is tends to be the main "human" theme of these movies (the other theme being how the disaster plays out visually). It's taken me a while and a few attempted viewings before I felt I could really become engaged in the stories of the characters. Having done so, however, I find it a very interesting and watchable movie, just not something to watch on a cold and dreary day!

I guess this is what might define "end of the world" movies, whether the world "ends" or is ultimately saved (or replaced by a new/changed world). How do a group of people personally react to the end of their existence? Do they try to fight it? Resign themselves to it? Try to go out with a bang? Mourn? It's a universal theme that we all have to deal with one way or another at some point, which I guess explains the on-going attraction of these movies.

With that in mind, I think I'll add 'Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea" in this category of personal favorites, as the "burning Van Allen Belt" was certainly a threat that might have ended the world.

[Hepcat]

...as well as "The Day of the Triffids" 1963  .. 

Oh yeah! The Day of the Triffids for me as well, plus When Worlds Collide.