Why not have a little fun over the next few nights and turn off the news for a few days? Movies are entertaining and some can help teach the essential preparedness lessons of adapting to developing situations, vital rules needed to follow to stay alive, the importance of staying away from large crowds, and having a way to protect yourself.
If you’re tired of watching the news and hearing how bad things are, you should consider a movie instead. Not only can a movie improve your mood and alleviate boredom, but some can teach us lessons we might need to learn about what it means to survive. Apocalyptic movies are pretty popular right now but let’s take the time to use them as a way to improve ourselves and our personal preparedness.
A tip when watching: really try to figure out if a certain move or prep would really help. Look for things that can be applied to your own life and try to figure out how to emulate it.
10 of the Greatest Apocalypse Survival Movies of All Time
- World War Z – A former United Nations employee Gerry Lane traverses the world in a race against time to stop a zombie pandemic that is toppling armies and governments and threatens to destroy humanity itself. Starring Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos, and Daniella Kertesz.
- Book of Eli – A personal favorite of mine! A post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind. Starring Denzel Washington, Mila Kunis, and Ray Stevenson.
- The Edge – An intellectual billionaire and two lesser men struggle to band together and survive after getting stranded in the Alaskan wilderness with a blood-thirsty Kodiak Bear hunting them down. Starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin, and Elle Macpherson.
- The Day After Tomorrow – Jack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek from Washington, D.C. to New York City to reach his son, trapped in the cross-hairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age. Starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Emmy Rossum.
- Zombieland – A shy student trying to reach his family in Ohio, a gun-toting tough guy trying to find the last Twinkie, and a pair of sisters trying to get to an amusement park join forces to travel across a zombie-filled America. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone, and Woody Harrelson.
- I am Legend – Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure in this post-apocalyptic action thriller. Starring Will Smith, Alice Braga, Charlie Tahan.
- Armageddon – After discovering that an asteroid the size of Texas is going to impact Earth in less than a month, NASA recruits a misfit team of deep-core drillers to save the planet. Starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, and Billy Bob Thornton.
- The Postman – A nameless drifter dons a postman’s uniform and a bag of mail as he begins a quest to inspire hope to the survivors living in post-apocalyptic America. Starring Kevin Costner, Will Patton, and Larenz Tate.
- The Stand – After a deadly plague kills most of the world’s population, the remaining survivors split into two groups – one led by a benevolent elder and the other by a maleficent being – to face each other in a final battle between good and evil. Starring Gary Sinise, Molly Ringwald, and Jamey Sheridan.
- 28 Days Later – Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary. Starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Christopher Eccleston.
All descriptions of the above movies were provided by IMDb.
Why not have a family movie and make a goal to take at least one lesson from whichever movie you choose to watch? It can be fun to toss ideas around with the kids (if they are old enough to watch the movie) and your spouse.
Share your favorite “survivalist” movies with us, and let Ready Nutrition Readers know what lesson, if any, you’ve learned from them!
EMP 333 Days is a decent apaco movie to watch. The acting is not fantastic but does a decent enough job to get the point across. The main character (an 11 year old girl) has been “prepped” by her father for just such an event and what she should do to survive. There’s more than a couple good tactical things that can be learned from this movie…including how to ration and make your food supply last with a schedule.
There’s enough drama and close-calls for the girl to keep your attention.
I would say that this movie is good enough to watch at least once, but not good enough to put in a top 10 list.
The Postman gives me this lesson. Though faced with impossible odds if you are fixed with a purpose then the drive to accomplish that purpose can also become a positive vision for others, making the impossible possible.
My favorite is actually a series…. How the West Was Won, with James Arness as Zeb Macahan.
The Edge is not an apocalypse movie. It’s a great movie but doesn’t fit in. How about the Terminator series, 2012, Mad Max or if you want a “lighter” apocalypse movie how about Night of the Comet?
I love that you included Zombieland!! I was so going to mention it if it wasn’t on here, haha! It’s not a “pandemic” movie, but a good alien thriller is The Invasion with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig. Being the owner of a couple pretty smart dogs, it reminded me to pay attention to changes in their behaviors…
A decent film is “This Is How it Ends” it does offer some fair prepper advice and casts a serious light on the fancy-office worker downtown younger guys & gals will totally be distracted — the highway 90 west scenes and the road ambushes are worth seeing–take away–don’t expect your main squeeze to stay put or loyal?