Apocalypse Cinema (Quick Takes: Movies and Popular Culture)

Vivid images of the apocalypse proliferate throughout contemporary cinema, which pictures the death of civilization in wildly different ways. Some films imagine a future where humanity is wiped out entirely, while others envision humans as an endangered species, enslaved by alien invaders or hunted by zombie hordes. This book provides a lively overview of apocalypse cinema, including alien invasions, nuclear annihilation, asteroid collisions, climate change, and terrifying plagues. Covering pivotal films from the silent era to the present day, including __Metropolis__, __Invasion of the Body Snatchers__, __Dr. Strangelove__, __Contagion__, and __Avengers: Endgame__, Stephen Prince explores how these dark visions are rooted in religious and prophetic traditions, and he considers how our love for apocalypse cinema is tied to fundamental existential questions and anxieties that never go out of fashion. "Movie audiences know exactly how the world will end because popular cinema has never stopped rehearsing the apocalypse. In this clear, concise account, Stephen Prince illuminates the appeal of apocalypse cinema, its roots in literary and religious tradition, its presence throughout cinema history, and the existential fears and anxieties that motivate it. In four elegant chapters, Prince examines the key threats to human existence that bring about world's end - collisions with giant asteroids, invasions by planet-devouring aliens, nuclear war, global warming and deadly pandemics. Touching on films ranging from The End of the World (1916), The Rapture (1991), Signs (2002), Armageddon (1998), Deep Impact (1998), Melancholia (2011), These Final Hours (2015), The War of the Worlds (1953), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), Independence Day (1996), Annihilation (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), Avengers: Endgame (2019) and many more, Apocalypse Cinema shows how apocalypse movies explore fundamental questions of existence that never go out of fashion"-- Provided by publisher "Vivid images of the apocalypse proliferate throughout contemporary cinema, which pictures the death of civilization in wildly different ways. Some films imagine a future where humanity is wiped out entirely, while others envision humans as an endangered species, enslaved by alien invaders or hunted by zombie hordes. This book provides a lively overview of apocalypse cinema, including alien invasions, nuclear annihilation, asteroid collisions, climate change, and terrifying plagues. Covering pivotal films from the silent era to the present day, including Metropolis, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Dr. Strangelove, Contagion, and Avengers: Endgame, Stephen Prince explores how these dark visions are rooted in religious and prophetic traditions, and he considers how our love for apocalypse cinema is tied to fundamental existential questions and anxieties that never go out of fashion."-- Provided by publisher Stephen Prince. Includes Bibliographical References And Index. Sources And Traditions In Apocalyptic Cinema -- Astrophobia -- I'm Not Saying We Wouldn't Get Our Hair Mussed -- The Revenge Of Nature. Electronic Reproduction. Ann Arbor, Mi Available Via World Wide Web.