A genre about surviving after the shit hits the fan.

Z for Zachariah (2015)

Ignore the poster, it is far different from what is being sold there.
Watched this last night and beyond the story itself. I was impressed by the acting ability of Chris Pine.
We are to assume this is the aftermath of a nuclear war. Most people that were not killed in the initial explosions, have slowly succumbed to radiation poisoning. And we follow the one woman, then 1 man, then 2nd man still alive in this happy protected valley.
This film assumes to some extent that the audience is familiar with many of the survival tropes, and goes on to tell the internal struggle and dynamics of life in this state.
Very thoughtful film, very well done, nihilistic as fuck, and will leave you feeling a bit empty but thinking.


P.S. Apparently this was based on a book from the 70's, but about half way through completely veers off on its own direction to create a completely different story.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

On Netflix?

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Pender will beat off to anything....

It is on Netflix, yes. Also Amazon Prime.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Cool. Thanks for the tip.

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"Watch my stuff." - Monterey Jack

One of my favorite post-apocalyptic films is still A Boy And His Dog (1975).

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

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Pender will beat off to anything....

It was all the rape, wasn't it?


Real question. Do you think the dog could really communicate, or was Crockett just nutz?

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

I don't recall if it's brought up in the movie (I haven't seen it in 20+ years), but in the book Blood was genetically engineered, giving him telepathic powers. I would actually prefer if it had been more ambiguous, considering the reality in which the two characters exist.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

Agreed, I don't remember myself. Its been a while since I watched it too.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

I THINK it's mentioned, but I don't remember for sure. As Chris says it was explained in the book. There's a great graphic novel of it as well, with awesome Rich Corben art.

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I'm going to wait until you're sitting next to Ericubus and then I'll ask how you're feeling. - caryc

I haven't read the book, but it was written by Robert C. O'Brien, who also wrote the book that The Secret Of NIMH was based on.

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We'll pray. For the last time, we'll pray...

You should check out Stretch (also on Netflix). He's literally out of his mind in that.

Dude's turning out to be another Brad Pitt.

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"You know the best thing about necrophilia? You don't have to bring flowers. They're usually already there." -- George Carlin

Awesome. One of my absolute favorite subgenres in just about ANY medium, so I'll be checking this out.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

I will probably watch this later tonight, but the plot sounds somewhat similar to How I Live Now, which is also on Netflix. A must-see if you like this genre.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

I just checked, and this is not on Netflix or Prime, and the Blu-Ray doesn't come out for 11 more days. It is, however, on every torrent site.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

Amazon Video

Netflix release date 10/20, so my bad on that one.

But, ya, torrentz

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

For rent?

Yeah, no. I'll wait 'till it's on Prime streaming.

Or Netflix.

Thumbs.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

So, Mr. Shoe, I eagerly await your review.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Currently watching the Mad Max series again, but thanks for reminding me about this one. Will probably watch it this weekend now that it's on Netflix.

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"Hitler had a pretty good idea there." - Eric

Well this shit went about the way it was supposed to.

It was your basic visit to the hole where the hole swallowed my shit the way it was supposed to swallow.

The wife was not as impressed, but I wasn't really watching it for her enjoyment - so there you go.

It seemed good, except one thing, if he had fallen or been pushed - wouldn't he have broken the wood down below? I mean it seemed like he would have.

The acting and story were good and interesting, but ended up being about that: Interesting.

Definitely not horrible, but also not mind-blowing or anything. This will do what it should.

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Pender will beat off to anything....

So, through the wonderful world of piracy, I'm finding dozens of 1980s Mad Maxish films out there. Any chance of there being good ones? Most seem to fall along the lines of "A women, kept as a slave, escapes. But now, on her trusty motorcycle in a desolate land, must exact her revenge!" or some shit like that.

They are all terrible, but that doesn't mean they aren't worth your time.

Start here: Solarbabies. TurboKid used a lot of it for inspiration. Turbokid is the better film, but...Jami Gertz...

The Italian entries were the most ridiculous/fun Road Warrior rip-offs, with 1990: The Bronx Warriors probably the best (again, highly subjective). 2019 - After The Fall Of New York is about the same (but my personal favourite). Exterminators of the Year 3000 has an identical plot, and if you watched all three of them at the same time, you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. None of these Italian Road Warrior movies make any sense, and you need to watch them with a MST3K mindset.

Battletruck and Megaforce tie for the absolute silliest Road Warrior rip-offs. Just bananas.

Spacehunter: Adventures In The Forbidden Zone was a failed big budget attempt (by Ivan Reitman) to capture the magic of Mad Max 2. It failed spectacularly, but it has its moments (especially the opening sequence). Lot of famous people in this one.

Survivor is a forgotten Australian movie, which takes the plot of Defcon 4, and mixes it up with Mad Max III. More dramatic than the Italian and US ripoffs. I liked it in 1987, but I haven't seen it since, and the collective internet doesn't seem to appreciate it these days.

Late 80s worthy mentions: Hell Comes To Frogtown, and Cherry 2000. Cherry 2000 is a million times better, but Frogtown has Roddy Piper. If you end up enjoying these, track down an early 90s film called Circuitry Man, which has a very similar vibe.

Cyborg and Cyborg 2 have their moments, but they are more like Terminator meets Escape From New York meets Mad Max 2.

Not sure if it fits the criteria, but The Quiet Earth is a classic. It's more like the first Mad Max/28 Days Later - certainly nothing like Mad Max 2, and very serious.

Whenever I read an article about 80s Road Warrior ripoffs, they always mention Metalstorm and Steel Dawn. Trust me - they are unwatchable. Skip them.

There's also a batshit insane Mad Max 2 movie out there, where the plot revolves around arm wrestling. I can't remember the name of it, but I remember watching it, and wondering why anyone made it. It wasn't Over The Top, but imagine that movie in a post-apocalyptic world, and no budget.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

As always, a great post with very good references and information, and as always, when it comes to the opinion portion, assume the exact opposite position.


Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn is mind numbingly awesome and horrible at the same time.




And Steel Dawn had the continuation of one of the oddest things in mainstream cinema which was the idea that Patrick Swayze was a badass fighter, also I think The Matrix pulled some scenes for the Zion dance video from it.




Are you thinking of Hands of Steel (1986)?

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Also, Solarbabies, as Chris mentioned, is a guilty pleasure of mine, and maybe one of the only films that almost successfully blended young adult fantasy with post-apocalyptic dystopia. Truly a magical film.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Yes! I'm sure it has aged horribly, but John Saxon generally elevates any scene he's in.

BTW, taking the opposite opinion of my post would infer that all of these movies are great, and you shouldn't watch any of them.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

One other one to look out for is America 3000, which is the feminist nightmare/fantasy that is all kinds of awesome.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Sorry, Sir, opinion on individual films, and the caveat should really be about half opposite, because Battletruck is silly and fun which makes it awesome. They fully embraced the 12 year old boy inside themselves and let the kickass roll.

John Saxon has his own soundtrack, and it is a less expensive 80's TV version of an awesome song. That dude was born to live in a mountain fortress guarded by large men driving pick-ups holding rifles.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

I'm not sure you get the gist of my original post. I enjoy every single film I bolded, despite the fact that they are objectively terrible (yes, even The Quiet Earth has aged poorly). If I had not grown up watching these films, I wouldn't ever want to watch them as an adult. Brian is a masochist, so I'm willing to help him out.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

No, I did, I was being a little facetious, but I do think Metalstorm is worth his time too (mostly for the over-the-top kills), along with maybe Steel Dawn, just to see Swayze and the oddness of it. I haven't watched that one in a long time though.


Another post-apocalyptic film, but pre-Mad Max and not in that style either, that is also bad and good at the same time is, of course, Damnation Alley. I still think of the bones picked clean by cockroaches scene every once in a while.

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-These are the demands and sayings of Ericubus.

In the future it will become even easier for old negatives to become lost and be "replaced" by new altered negatives. This would be a great loss to our society. Our cultural history must not be allowed to be rewritten. - George Lucas 1988

Damnation Alley and Battletruck are a good double-bill.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

This one I have.

I am missing a bunch from Video's list. I will have to check them out. Thank you Eric and Chris! (Damn Chris, that's an epic post!)

I'm trudging through 70s and 80s Sci-fi and horror. This can break it up a bit. My movie collection is starting to resemble a 1980s video rental store. Which is awesome.

Netflix just released a movie called How It Ends. Some event takes place, and knocks out communications, electricity, etc. Nobody knows what's going on, and boyfriend has to go with dad-in-law to find pregnant girl on the other side of the country.

It's garbage. Not even so bad it's good. Stupidest ending ever. I'll take The Core over this anyday.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

We invested up to about the last 40 minutes before heading to bed with the idea we would watch the remainder tonight.

This is sad news.

I will not share with Mrs. Pender and maybe she might enjoy.

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Pender will beat off to anything....

These Final Hours is a vastly superior film, and - basically - the same plot.

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In space, nobody can hear you ride breakfast goat

Chris Knight, does it end with everyone looking up at the sky and it fades to black or some other non-end ending?

That is all I need to know.

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Pender will beat off to anything....