Six-String Samurai (1998)
Post-Holocaust Rock'n'Roll Samurai
Gonzo comedy set in alternate world where a samurai-sword wielding Buddy Holly wanders through a post-apocalyptic present
After the Holocaust
After the Holocaust, Post-Holocaust or Post-Apocalyptic Films refer to works that depict survival in the aftermath of the collapse of civilisation.
This is most commonly seen as being caused by worldwide nuclear war. Other works are set in the aftermath of pandemics, while more recent years have popularised the zombie holocaust and global warming/environmentally devastation scenarios, while many other works take place after an unspecified apocalypse.
The genre began as long ago as the silent era but was popularised in the 1950s. The 1980s and the success of Mad Max 2 (1981) brought a large outpouring of action films that took place in the post-holocaust venue. The 2000s saw the move away from action towards a focus on harsh survivalism.
This refers to films that take place in the aftermath of social collapse. For works that depict the collapse and its immediate aftermath see Nuclear War, Plague and Pandemic and Catastrophe.
Slipstream (1989)
Post-Holocaust Adventure
The only film that Steven Lisberger made after Tron. Though impressively cast and with a decent budget, it is an oddly unconvincing effort that tells the story of an android’s quest across a post-apocalyptic world
Snowpiercer (2013)
Train Containing the Last Survivors of Humanity
One of the most original science-fiction films of recent years. Set aboard a train where the last survivors of humanity circle a frozen globe, this is less an action film than something like Runaway Train turned into a unique conceptual breakthrough story, all rent through with a fierce parable about social revolution
Solarbabies (1986)
Post-Holocaust Teen Sports Team
Embarrassingly bad Mel Brooks produced film that seems to have been conceived in terms of conducting a juvenile Mad Max film on rollerskates and throwing SF cliches about without any coherent script
Space Battleship Yamato (2010)
Anime TV Series in Live-Action/Space Opera
A live-action remake of the 1970s anime series Space Cruiser Yamato made with stupendous effects, although now much of the plot has been rendered familiar by assorted Star Wars copies
Space Cruiser Yamato (1977)
Anime Space Opera
Anime film spun off from a popular Japanese tv series. Despite crude animation, this has a colourful vigour and taps the same space opera vein as Star Wars, which came only three months earlier
Space Pirate Captain Harlock (2013)
Anime/Space Opera
The brooding space pirate Captain Harlock is one of the famous anti-heroes in manga and anime. Harlock gets a big screen revamp here from Shinji (Appleseed) Aramaki, one of the most amazing of modern anime directors, who delivers a series of epic space battles with a breathtaking beauty
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (1987)
Post-Apocalyptic Film
The first film from Alex Proyas who once seemed a director of great promise with The Crow and Dark City, this seems to be trying to create a Mad Max post-apocalyptic film as a student art film
Stake Land (2010)
Post-Apocalyptic World of Vampires
Strong and highly original film that takes place in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by vampires. This has more the feel of a zombie film or an existential Western but does some highly original things with its ideas
Stake Land II (2016)
Post-Apocalyptic World of Vampires
Stake Land, set in a beautifully wintry post-holocaust world where vampires had taken over, one of the best films from Glass Eye Pix. This is a sequel that reunites most of the same elements from the original but fails to ignite them as memorably as the first film did
The Stand (1994)
Showdown Between the Forces of Good and Evil After the Collapse of Civilisation/Stephen King Adaptation
The Stand is regarded as Stephen King’s best novel, an epic that depicts the final showdown between good and evil in the aftermath of civilisation. The mini-series adaptation was alas placed into the ham fists of one of King’s worst adapters. Mick Garris
The Stand (2020-2021)
Showdown Between the Forces of Good and Evil After the Collapse of Civilisation/Stephen King Adaptation
The Stand is in my opinion Stephen King’s greatest book. The question is whether this new mini-series version will improve on the laughably failed 1994 version
Star Trek: First Contact (1996)
Time Travel/Cyborg Gestalt
The second of the Star Trek: The Next Generation films where series regular Jonathan Frakes takes the director’s chair and delivers an exciting adventure, showing an excellent hand with the special effects. Far more satisfying than the previous film
Stasis (2017)
Time-Travelling Rebels/Disembodied Teen
A low-budget film that mixes the rebels from the future premise of The Terminator with the story of a disembodied soul trying to get back to their own body. Too low-budget to make the idea work.
Station Eleven (2021-2022)
Post-Apocalyptic World
A beautifully-made post-apocalyptic story told as a mandala of threads and surprise connections that stretch over twenty years
Steel Dawn (1987)
Post-Holocaust Action
Patrick Swayze vehicle that uncreditedly relocates the Western Shane into a post-holocaust setting
Strange New World (1975)
Cryogenic Sleepers Awake in a Post-Apocalyptic World
The third of the films based around Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry’s Genesis II concept where a cryogenic sleeper awakes in a post-apocalyptic world
Stryker (1983)
Post-Apocalyptic Action
A vigorous copy of the Mad Max post-apocalyptic action film made by the underrated Cirio H. Santiago
Supergrid (2018)
Socially Collapsed Future Action
Lowell Dean, director of WolfCop, makes what feels like a revival of the low-budget Mad Max film – an action film set in a socially collapsed future
Superstarlet A.D. (2000)
Gonzo Post-Holocaust
Gonzo comedy that looks like a film about post-holocaust mutants that has been directed by Russ Meyer
Surf Nazis Must Die (1987)
Post-Holocaust Surfer Gangs/Troma Film
A classic Troma title that is actually more interesting than the actual film, which concerns wars between surf gangs in a collapsed future. The film does eventually achieve a bizarre over-the-top lunacy
The Survivalist (2015)
Grim Post-Holocaust Survival
An Irish-shot post-apocalyptic drama that could not be further than the demolition derbies of Mad Max et al. This remains contained within a small cabin in the woods and with a cast of three, a man and two women, and emerges with a riveting and emotionally raw grimness
Tank Girl (1995)
Post-Holocaust Punkette/Comic Book Adaptation
This is poorly regarded by fans of the original cult comic-book, nevertheless has a zany, anarchic energy and surreal sense of humour that is hard to dislike
Teenage Caveman (1958)
Post-Holocaust Cavemen
Roger Corman film that sets out to exploit the teenage themed fad of the late 1950s, offering up a caveman drama that comes with a surprise SF twist
Teenage Caveman (2001)
Post-Holocaust Teens/Genetically Engineered Superhumans
Larry Clark remakes the old Roger Corman film and makes a beeline for his usual proclivities about teenagers having sex in a fairly outrageous post-apocalyptic work
The Terminator (1984)
Time-Travelling Killer Android
One of the 2-3 most influential SF films since 1980. James Cameron creates a barrelling powerhouse of a film, all lorded over by Arnold Schwarzenegger as the relentless killer machine in the role that defined his career
Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Time-Travelling Killer Androids
The sixth Terminator film that boasts the return of both James Cameron and Linda Hamilton to the franchise. After the troughs of Terminator: Genisys, this makes one forget about the last three sequels
Terminator Genisys (2015)
Time-Travelling Killer Androids
A hodgepodge of competing elements – an aging Arnold Schwarzenegger, a soft reboot, alternate timelines, reintroduction of the familiar, twists to the familiar – that make no sense on a narrative level, least of all come anywhere near what James Cameron delivered back in the first two films
Terminator Salvation (2009)
War Against the Machines
The fourth Terminator film is slightly better than you would expect of something directed by the empty-headed McG. There are some undeniably spectacular action sequences, although the film still stands too much in the shadow of what has gone before
Terminus (1987)
Future Truck Race
Very strange French SF film about a futuristic truck race
The Terror Within (1989)
Mutant Monster
Roger Corman produces a blatant copy of Alien with a group of people being pursued around a desert laboratory by a rubbery mutant creature
The Time Machine (1960)
Time Travel/H.G. Wells Adaptation
This adaptation of H.G. Wells’ classic novel was one of the best films from 1950s SF producer/director George Pal. The time travel is depicted with considerable wondrousness and standout effects for the era
The Time Machine (1978)
Time Travel/H.G. Wells Adaptation
Largely forgotten adaptation of the H.G. Wells novel made for tv. While other versions place the story in Victorian England, this has been Americanised – where the time traveller is a weapons designer and journeys back to the Wild West. What kills the film is a painful cheapness
The Time Machine (2002)
Time Travel/H.G. Wells Adaptation
Remake of the classic H.G. Wells novel that comes with the novelty of being directed by Wells’s great-grandson. More disappointingly it prefers to merely remake the 1960 film rather than return to the book
The Time Travelers (1964)
Time Travel/Post-Holocaust Future
Modest B-budget SF film with scientists opening a time portal and becoming caught up in a future war between humanity and mutants
Time Under Fire (1997)
Time Travel/Action
Unimaginative time travel/action film that plays out like
Tooth and Nail (2007)
Post-Holocaust Survival
Modest post-holocaust film that tries to do something different to the usual action derbies of Mad Max 2 et al, focusing on the survival efforts of a group of young people
A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998)
Post-Holocaust Racism
Adaptation of an old Rod Serling script about racial prejudice and lynch mobs. The original was a non-genre work that took place in a Western setting but this has transplanted the milieu to an alien planet.
The Tripods [Season 1] (1984)
Earth After an Alien Invasion
Classic tv mini-series about rebellion in a future where Earth is controlled by giant alien tripod machines, this still holds up as something great today
Turbo Kid (2015)
Retro 80s Parody of Post-Holocaust Films
There is a fantastically witty idea here – a low-tech parody of the 1980s post-holocaust film – but one that seems in search of an accompanying film. The film overspills with retro ephemera and stylistic jokes but I wish there had been more to it beyond the hook of the initial joke
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Time Paradox
Terry Gilliam remakes the classic short film La Jetee as one of the most impressive of modern time travel films with an exceptional plot that is built around a sophisticated time paradox
28 Days Later (2002)
The Downfall of Civilisation/Infected Zombies
Danny Boyle’s sleeper hit presaged a big return for the zombie film during the 2000s/2010s. Not a bad film even if Boyle is conducting major borrowings from other works like The Day of the Triffids and Day of the Dead
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Post-Holocaust/Zombie Outbreak
I was cautious about hailing 28 Days Later as a modern classic; this sequel is in fact a much better film. Newcomer director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo draws it out into a series of superbly sustained suspense sequences
28 Years Later … The Bone Temple (2026)
Post-Holocaust/The Zombie Apocalypse
A follow-up to 28 Years Later …, made even before the first film was released. This gives a deeper exploration of the character of Dr Kelson and proves a surprisingly good complement to its predecessor
28 Years Later … (2025)
Post-Holocaust/The Zombie Apocalypse
28 Days Later was the work that started the modern zombie film revival. Twenty-three years later, Danny Boyle and Alex Garland return to make a third film and still wring some creativity out of the set-up
2020: Texas Gladiators (1983)
Post-Holocaust Action
One of the numerous Mad Max imitators made in Italy. Directed by notorious adult director Joe D’Amato who pushes the material further than the other entries do
Two of Us (2020)
Zombie Film
Thai-made film that gives off some initial vibes of The Quiet Earth as two girls enjoy a private paradise in a holiday resort following the collapse of civilisation, before becoming a zombie film
2019: After the Fall of New York (1983)
Post-Holocaust Action
One of the more cheesily entertaining among the Italian-made ripoffs of Mad Max 2 during the 1980s (as well as more than a few dashes of Escape from New York). The film works up a moderate head of steam
The Ultimate Warrior (1975)
Post-Holocaust
An early example of the post-apocalyptic action film with Yul Brynner as a lone fighter hired to defend a peaceful community
Vampire Hunter D (1985)
Anime/Post-Holocaust Vampire Hunter
Cult anime about a monosyllabic vampire hunter moving across a hallucinatory post-apocalyptic dispatching mutants and vampires
Vesper (2022)
Environmentally Devastated Future
Visually extraordinary film set in an environmentally devastated future, this place enormous creativity into depicting a strange, very alien world
The Visitor from the Future (2022)
Time Travel Comedy
A French film about a time traveller come to prevent the catastrophic explosion of a nuclear power plant. A low expectation film that turns out to be a comedy that sparkles with wit and inventivity
Wall-E (2008)
Pixar Animation/Lonely Robot
A near-dialogueless story of a lonely robot clearing up junk in the aftermath of civilisation. This is surely Pixar’s most endearing film to date where they are operating at the peak of their creativity
War of the Planet of the Apes (2017)
Planet of the Apes Sequel
The third film in the rebooted Planet of the Apes series. The motion capture effects are at an absolute peak of the art and the motion capture performances astonishing. The whole film almost seems to consist of heart-tugging moments to make you go “aww”
Warlord 3000 (1993)
Post-Holocaust
Shabbily made copy of Mad Max 2 that plays out with minimal action
Warlords (1988)
Post-Holocaust
B-budget director offers up a copy of Mad Max 2 and peppers it with plentiful tongue-in-cheek exploitation elements stirred with undeniable vigour
Waterworld (1995)
Post-Holocaust Drowned Earth
The most expensive film ever made at the time, a Kevin Costner epic in which he is a lone mariner in a drowned world where survivors cling to shantytowns floating on the surface. Essentially a Mad Max film located on water.
The Well (2014)
Drought-Ridden Post-Holocaust Future
Modest variant on the post-holocaust film with the novel variant being that this is set in a drought-ridden future. The usual action movie emphasis of the genre has been toned down and an emphasis placed on the fight for survival in this world
We’ve Forgotten More Than We Ever Knew (2016)
Enigmatic Journey Across a Wasteland
Cryptic film about a couple wandering a post-apocalyptic terrain who discover an untouched and still working apartment tower. Less a work of SF than one of baffling surrealism
Wizards (1977)
Post-Holocaust Sword and Sorcery/Animation
Ralph Bakshi left behind counter-culture animation to embark on this original fantasy film that comes with a trippily surreal quality, mixing fantasy tropes with a science-fictional rationalisation
Worldbreaker (2025)
World Overrun by Monsters
The greatly underrated Brad Anderson makes a film about a father and daughter trying to survive in a world overrun by monsters. A film that reaches for something epic but lets it fall through its hands
Wyrmwood: Apocalypse (2021)
Zombie Apocalypse
Sequel to the cult Australian zombie film, this refines the first film and exists as even more of a visual comic-book – all that seems missing is dialogue that comes in comic balloons
Year 10 (2024)
Post-Apocalyptic Survival
Film set in the aftermath of civilisation where people have lost the capacity for speech
Yor, The Hunter from the Future (1983)
Barbarian in a Post-Holocaust World
Italian cheapie that has become regarded as a bad movie classic. This starts out as a Conan the Barbarian ripoff before, in a twist lifted from Teenage Caveman, we learn we are in a post-apocalyptic future
Z for Zachariah (2015)
Post-Holocaust Love Triangle
This starts promisingly but it soon becomes apparent the classic story, which only takes place between two people, has been rewritten for the Young Adult audience with the addition of a third character and the focus on a love triangle, while abandoning most of the book’s themes
Zombie Hunter (2013)
Zombie Film
Post-apocalyptic zombie action played with a tongue-in-cheek comic-book tone. Plus Danny Trejo as a badass zombie-hunting priest