In honor of Burlap
HOLA!
Hello all,
First of all, lets hear it for the short work week. Hurrah! Secondly, in honor of the release of the movie “9” this week (which looks mind-bogglingly awesome), today’s list is going to be my top 10 post-apocalyptic stories. This list spans any media I can think of, from books to comics, video games to movies. Everyone loves the idea of a future more torn up than Mickey Rourke’s face, so the hardest part of this list was narrowing it down to just ten choices.
The first rule of a zombie apocalypse: Bring your own lunch.
1) 28 DAYS LATER– One of the most commonly used doomsday scenarios is that of the zombie apocalypse. It affords people the opportunity to play with both horror and action (and sometimes even Sci-Fi). 28 days later does a great job of scaring the hell out you, not only with crazy zombie-like beings, but showing that human survivors can be just as scary.
Machines like this make me want to punch my computer in the screen.
2) THE MATRIX– Another common doomsday idea is that robots will rise up and take control. The matrix showed just how scary this idea could be. Humans driven underground, damn, dirty, machines using humans as energy. At least in this dystopia, anyone and everyone could learn Kung-fu.
The beast is in charge of naked goblin production, and he loves his job.
3) AGE OF APOCALYPSE– This makes the list for mostly sentimental reasons. Growing up, this was the coolest idea I had ever heard of. Take the whole X-universe and see what would happen if they lived in an even more messed up world. How would our favorite heroes and villains respond? Would cyclops become a bad guy? Could Magneto lead the X-men? Could Gambit finally find an outfit that didn’t look like he was going to LARPing event? The answers by the way are yes, yes and no. So what would happen if mutants were in charge of the world? As humans, we would all have to move to Europe. Europe!
“We hate sunlight! And Will Smith!”
4) RICHARD MATHESON’S I AM LEGEND– Please note, I am referring here only to the book. ONLY THE BOOK. I refer not to any movie that has tried and failed to capture the terror of this story. While the many movies based on this story have been good in their own way, Matheson’s book captured the terror and loneliness that comes with being the last human (but not the last thing) alive on the planet.
“Ain’t no swine-flu gonna get me!”
5) FALLOUT– Another popular fubar future is the post-atomic warfare landscape. In the video game FALLOUT, you get to navigate such a world. The game is great, but the story is even better, exploring many sides of what such a future would hold. What makes this landscape so exciting is the mixture of futuristic and retro aspects, from MAD MAX references to vacuum tubes and transistors of the 1950’s.
In the future we all get monkey implants.
6) 12 MONKEYS– Just like in FALLOUT, 12 MONKEYS sees people once again forced underground. But what makes this situation so enthralling is seeing the possible ramifications of genetic testing, as well as the inherent confusion that is time-travel. It doesn’t hurt that there were some insane Terry Gilliam visuals either.
Yorick knew that he would be burried here as well if his supply of Midol ran out.
7) Y THE LAST MAN– On first thought, a world where you are the only man left sounds spectacular. Women fighting over you. Lingerie pillow fights. Wet T-shirt breakfasts. A pet monkey. Then reality kicks in, and things aren’t as great as initially thought they would be. Women might not want you around. You might have to hide for fear of death, dissection, or being sold into slavery. And one week out of every month, the world becomes a very, very inhospitable place. Yeah, being the last man on Earth would actually kinda suck.
Breakin 3: Metallic Boogaloo
GEARS OF WAR– There are a lot of different types of apocalypse. What is so great about GEARS OF WAR is that it is not limited to just one crappy situation, but many. Monsters, corporate greed, geomorphic upheaval, this baby’s got it all. This story examines how survivors of this plethora of tragic circumstances deal with their situation. It is also a game where you get to cut monsters in half with your chainsaw gun and use their corpses as a meat shield.
Could New York get even dirtier? DMZ says “Yes.”
9) DMZ– What would happen if America had another revolution? That’s the main idea behind this comic, where New York has become a demilitarized zone. The focus on what the various characters do to survive is what makes this story really resonate with me.
When God bowls drunk…
10) AKIRA– World War III, terrorists, government corruption, cyber-punk gangs, genetic manipulation. This movie (the manga was great as well, but here I am referencing the movie) shows that cartoons can be just as messed up as anything else.
While these are my favorites, I left out plenty. Which ones would you add? Which would you take out? Let me know. See you all on Friday, oh, and go check out “9”!