Best Apocalypse Films

Apocalypse Films have mesmerized film audiences for decades with thrilling end of times calamities. Various forms of the Apocalypse have included religious Armageddon to a Zombie Apocalypse to Nuclear Warfare to meteors from outer space crashing into earth and ending life as we know it. What are the Best Apocalypse Films? Read on as we look at some of the most popular Apocalypse films from the last 50 years including a few rare and lesser-known Apocalypse films you won’t want to miss!

This is our third “Best Of” subgenre list where we will rank the Top 20 films of the Apocalypse Film subgenre. This subgenre shares many similarities with the Disaster Film subgenre and Post-Apocalypse Film subgenre but we are going to stay focused on films that are specifically about an impending Apocalyptic event.

For this list, we had to use some simple criteria in what defines an “Apocalypse” film. First, the film needs to show the events leading up to or taking place during an apocalyptic event. This will rule out a majority of Post-Apocalypse Films which tend to focus on life or events after an apocalyptic event. An example here would be Mad Max (1979) and The Road Warrior (1981). Mad Max focuses on the last days of an Apocalyptic event (collapse of the global economy) which slowly breaks down civilization as we know it. Whereas The Road Warrior, focuses on life after civilization has broken down in a Post-Apocalyptic world.

Second, the film needs to show how the Apocalyptic event will end civilization. This will rule out most Disaster films as those subgenre films tend to focus on a quick resolution to the disaster.

Third, we’re going to pick and choose a few films from each type of Apocalyptic event. So, our list will have a few religious Apocalypse films, a few films about Nuclear War and a few films about the classic ‘meteor heading towards earth, prepare to die’ theme of the subgenre. For Zombies, we have a few films on this list but will also likely have a separate list for Zombie Apocalypse films as every Zombie film is technically an Apocalypse film and/or Post-Apocalypse film.

And fourth, we had to follow our rule for all of KBZ’s film listings where we only list films that have a 4.0/10 or higher rating. We’ll also be focusing on films from 1970 to the present (though we have one honorable mention film prior to 1970 that we felt the need to make you aware of).

Our complete list of Apocalypse Films features over 151+ films from 1959 – 2023. We also have another article outlining some of the Top Apocalypse Films You Haven’t Seen that lists some rare and lesser-known Apocalypse Films. Some of those films have even made it on to our “Best Of” list here. And finally, if you don’t see a favorite Apocalypse films of yours on our “Best Of” list, you can likely find it in our Post-Apocalypse Films and Disaster Films subgenre lists.

The Best Apocalypse Films

Honorable Mentions: Fail Safe (1964), Escape from New York (1981), The Thing (1982), On the Beach (2002), The Core (2003), Legion (2010), Geostorm (2017), Bird Box (2018), #Alive (2020), Don’t Look Up (2021). Note: While Escape from New York and The Thing are two of our Top 10 films of all time, they both aren’t technically Apocalypse Films. Both films tend to hint at an impending Apocalypse but don’t fall within the criteria we’re using in making this list.