Movies To Watch While You Wait For The Rapture

According to Harold Camping the end of the world will happen at 6 PM today (I don't remember if that was east coast or west coast time). When it happens the faithful will be lifted up bodily to heaven and those left behind will endure five months of horror until the world ends in October.

The end of the world as we know it is nothing new in Hollywood. Filmmakers have envisioned our end through many means. While you are waiting for the 6 O'clock hour to roll around and the rapture to begin take the opportunity to settle down with some popcorn and one last movie. Here are some doom and destruction recommendations.

 From director Michael Tolkin this 1991 film starring David Duchovny and Mimi Rogers deals directly with the subject of those who believe in The Rapture.

Without directly mentioning The Rapture this 2009 thriller starring Nicholas Cage deals with predictions that may reveal horrific events to come. 

The third film in The Omen trilogy this one deals directly with the rise of the anti-christ and the second coming of Christ.

Not all doomsday movies are based in spiritual destruction. Last year's 2012 dealt with the massive destruction of the earth due to shifts in the earth's crust causing massive earthquakes and tsunami's that wipe out civilization.

In 2004's The Day After Tomorrow it was global warming that cause a massive melt of the polar ice caps, which in turn cause hurricane force winter storms that freeze everyone to death.

Destruction by melting ice caps was also the cause of the world's destruction in the dreadful Waterworld from 1995.

Doom from outer space has been depicted by Hollywood for many years. The first cause of our destruction is the stray flying object such as a meteor, asteroid or comet that crashes into the earth and brings about the end of civilization. Here are some of the best.

From 1951 comes one of the earliest sci-fi disaster films When Worlds Collide.

In 1979 we had the all-star disaster film Meteor. It was a disaster in every sense of the word.

And in 1998 Hollywood offered up dueling meteor films. Armageddon was an action packed thriller starring Bruce Willis

And Deep Impact was an intellectual melodrama with an all star cast. The Winner at the box office was Armageddon.

The other form of doom coming from space is the alien invasion. This has been depicted in countless films but three of the best are:

George Pal's 1953 adaptation of H.G. Wells War of the Worlds

Independence Day from 1994, featuring a worldwide attack of giant alien ships and humanity's attempt to survive.

And from 2005 Steven Spielberg revisited H.G. Wells sci-fi classic with a new interpretation starring Tom Cruise.

The aliens may not come in giant ships to destroy us all. Instead they may come as something else, something sinister that takes over our minds and bodies and destroys our souls. jack Finney envisioned this in his classic sci-fi thriller Invasion of the Body Snatchers which has been adapted into multiple films.

1956

1978

1993

2007

The end of the world may not come from aliens or asteroids from outer space. Instead it may come from within. From man's own mind and the creation of biological or mechanical terrors that doom us all.

Richard Matheson's sci-fi thriller I Am Legend has been adapted by Hollywood three times. 

1964's US/Italian production of The Last Man on Earth starring Vincent Price

The Omega Man starring Charlton Heston from 1971

I Am Legend starring Will Smith from 2009. 

If a rare virus does not get us then it will be the terror of our own inventions that doom us all.

The Terminator series, beginning in 1984 and ending in 2009, depict the doom of man by machines of his own creation.

The Matrix also depicts a world where the machines have taken over and humans are now a never ending, renewable power source to keep them going.

And just in case The Rapture is late in coming you can entertain yourself with the ultimate battle of good and evil by watching  Stephen King's The Stand. Produced in 1994 this 6 hour mini-series features a post apocalyptic world where 96% of the population has been wiped out by a man made virus and those left behind must choose sides in the final stand between good and evil.