Summary

• Apocalypse movies on Prime Video explore the collapse of modern society, offering unique perspectives on survival and human drama.
• These films push the boundaries of storytelling, unraveling social realities amidst chaos, with tender, inspiring moments amidst hopelessness.
• From zombie apocalypses to alien invasions, apocalyptic movies offer a compelling look at the resilience of humanity in the face of disaster.

The best apocalypse movies on Prime Video have one thing in common: they imagine the collapse of modern society and hold a broken mirror up to the unlucky survivors. In movies, the end of the world can be caused by a virus, zombies, nuclear war, a giant meteor, a water or food crisis, or some other natural or unnatural disaster. Either way, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic movies are about those who somehow survive the worst-case scenario for the planet.

This template affords filmmakers the perfect backdrop for pushing the boundaries of human drama. Amid impending doom for everything and everyone, social realities and the inherent politics of mundane things like survival are unraveled. Glimpses of tender, hilarious, and inspiring moments shine like beacons in the thick, nuclear clouds of hopelessness. In the wasteland, strangers signify hope and instant death. From the 80s to the 2010s, there are great apocalyptic films available to stream on Prime Video.

25 The Book Of Eli (2010)

A Man Protects A Book In The Apocalypse

The Hughes Brothers brought the world the post-apocalyptic neo-Western The Book of Eli in 2010. The movie stars Denzel Washington as a wandering nomad named Eli, whose sole goal is to protect a specific book. He has incredible fighting and survival skills, which is even more impressive thanks to the late-movie twist. However, when he finds a warlord named Carnegie (Gary Oldman) who will do anything to get the book to control society, Eli finds himself fighting for his life and the fate of humanity.

A prequel television series was put into development in 2024.

The movie didn’t receive great reviews when released, but it remains a highly underrated apocalyptic thriller. Washington is masterful in his role as Eli, and the Hughes Brothers direct the fight scenes with a great sense of flair. The film was a minor success when released in theaters, although it had the misfortune of competing with Avatar. While the movie received polarizing reviews, it deserves a look for the great acting and unique twists.

24 The Girl With All The Gifts (2017)

A Zombie Apocalypse Movie From The Children’s POV

The Girl With All The Gifts is a unique zombie apocalypse movie. What makes it stand out is the fact that it is from the point of view of a zombie. It is not just any zombie either, but the story follows a child zombie named Melanie, who has a level of intelligence and the ability to overcome her hunger.

While the military wants to dissect her to study why this is happening, she has a teacher who wants to save her. Meanwhile, resurgents are fighting outside the gates against the zombies and military forces.

Based on the Mike Carey novel (which was a first-person story from Melanie’s point of view), the movie is rare in that it shows that while many zombies are now mindless killers, there are some who could not only help find a cure but be repurposed back into society with proper training. However, as with many zombie movies, the humans are the real evil villains here and only seek to weaponize the zombies for further destruction. The film sits at 85% on Rotten Tomatoes.

23 This Is The End (2013)

A Biblical Apocalypse In “Real” Hollywood

Not all apocalyptic movies are serious or dour affairs. In the case of This is the End, the apocalypse might not have ever been funnier. In this movie, real-life actors play sensationalized versions of themselves during a Biblical apocalypse. Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel are the key characters here as they reunite for a fun weekend after Jay had moved away from Hollywood, which he finds disgusting.

However, during a party at James Franco’s house, the apocalypse starts and these actors all start dying in hilarious ways. Highlights of the movie include a very raunchy Michael Cera, a paranoid and defensive Emma Watson, and a very deranged Danny McBride, who uses the apocalypse as a chance to start his own cult, with Channing Tatum as his own personal gimp.

The movie received widespread positive reviews, sitting at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics praised the cast’s willingness to deliver self-deprecating performances in what ended up as a modern-day cult classic.

22 The Road (2009)

A Dark Apocalyptic Road Trip Drama

One of the darkest and most depressing apocalyptic horror movies came from this Cormac McCarthy adaptation. The movie stars a man and his young son (both unnamed) who struggle to survive after an extinction event that killed most of the life on the planet. They have to survive not only the new devastating planetary conditions but also the rest of the survivors, many of whom have turned into bloodthirsty cannibals that wander the countryside. The story sees the man trying to get his boy to a safe zone.

Cormac McCarthy’s
The Road
novel won the Pulitzer Prize.

Viggo Mortensen carries his role here as Man, the driving force behind the action, and his self-sacrificing dedication to getting Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee) to safety makes this a harrowing movie that delivers a tense storyline. Though the movie only received a 74% approval score based on Rotten Tomatoes, it also received several critics’ award nominations and still connects as a dark and deadly apocalyptic tale.

21 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

The Oscar-Worthy Mad Max Sequel

Mad Max: Fury Road is one of the best apocalyptic action movies of the century so far, and it is available on Prime Video for subscribers. The movie follows Max Rockatansky (with Tom Hardy replacing Mel Gibson) in a sequel to the original Mad Max trilogy. Max, haunted by the memories of those he failed to protect, now teams up with Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron) against cult leader Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne).

A prequel,
Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga
hit theaters in 2024

The movie, shot with a large amount of practical effects, was a huge cult hit. It brought in $380.4 million worldwide and sits at a huge 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes. It also picked up 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and Best Director. It won six Oscars, all for the technical and production design aspects of the movie. On top of that, it picked up a sequel in 2024 called Furiosa that showed the origin of Furiosa (played by Anya Taylor-Joy).

20 Mortal Engines (2018)

Post-Apocalyptic Steampunk Movie

Based on the novel by Philip Reeve, Mortal Engines is a post-apocalyptic steampunk movie produced by Peter Jackson and directed by Christian Rivers. It takes place in a future where the Sixty-Minute War destroyed much of the world and major cities have become mobile on devices called Traction Cities. Larger predator cities hunt down and absorb smaller cities and a rebellion has risen to try to bring down the powerful people who have taken control.

Jackson handpicked Rivers to direct the movie. The two had worked together since Jackson’s early movies and Rivers won an Oscar for his visual effects work on King Kong. The movie ended up as a major box office bomb, making only $83 million on a $100-$150 million budget (via Box Office Mojo). However, the novel’s author praised the movie despite its changes and it won an award from the Visual Effects Society for its design.

19 The Flash (2023)

Superhero Movie To Prevent Apocalyptic Future

The Flash is a time travel movie based on one of the most famous DC Comics stories in history, Flashpoint. That original comic showed Flash changing history to save his mother, only to create a dystopian future where everything was bad, and he had to work with Thomas Wayne’s murderous Batman to revert the world. This created the DC New 52. In the movies, it was slightly different but kept the main concept of a world that would soon lead to an apocalypse thanks to General Zod’s arrival on Earth.

Flash saw the world was going to fall thanks to his actions, ensuring Superman never showed up on Earth and Batman was a very different person. He then fought to revert the world to a semblance of its original state, while dealing with the fact that his actions also created a villain who wanted things to stay the same. It was a box office failure but was nowhere near as bad as some critics and fans made it out to be.

18 The Forever Purge (2021)

Apocalyptic Dystopian Horror Movie

The first Purge film was a solid home invasion horror movie that took place in a future where – for one night of the year – all crime, including murder, is legal. The government set this up to curb the crimes committed throughout the rest of the year. However, it was when the franchise developed and told the story of the history of Purge Night that the movie really took on a new meaning and slowly improved in quality as the series wore on. The Forever Purge plays into the apocalyptic nature of the event.

This takes place in 2048, which is eight years after a new President banned the Purge. Sadly, things haven’t changed, and a new regime has taken over and restarted the Purge, leading the country to fall further into chaos. Instead of just one night, a group called the Purge Purification Force sets out to kill anyone they feel is un-American, and do so at any time – now known as the Forever Purge. The movie didn’t do well at the box office since it was released in 2021, but it did receive mixed reviews.

17 Turbo Kid (2015)

A Post-Apocalyptic Superhero Movie

The apocalypse movie genre can sometimes be overall grim, so it is nice to see a movie that allows itself to have some fun with the genre while also paying homage to some of the greats. As a sign that Turbo Kid doesn’t take itself too seriously, the post-apocalyptic adventure is set in the Wasteland of 1997 where a young comic book lover turned superhero teams with a band of colorful heroes to take down a warlord.

With plenty of love shown to George Miller and John Carpenter, Turbo Kid feels like a nostalgic trip with some great humor and gory fun to make for a hugely entertaining and underseen experience. The cast is mostly unknowns, but it does feature an appearance by Michael Ironside as the main villain of the movie, Zeus. The movie even spawned a video game adaptation that came out nine years after the movie’s release.

16 Cell (2016)

Sci-Fi Horror Infection Movie

Stephen King’s novel Cell was not one of his more beloved horror stories, but it was successful enough to warrant a movie. Directed by Tod Williams (Paranormal Activity 2), th movie shows the world breaking down to an apocalyptic infection that turns people using mobile devices into rage-fueled killers. It is similar to the story told in 28 Days Later but with more of a technological basis.

John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson lead the cast in the movie as two men who lead a group of survivors in an attempt to survive the world as it collapses. While the movie received mostly poor reviews, the performances of both Cusack and Jackson help the movie rise above its story and make it a fun watch when it comes to end-of-day movies. It isn’t high-level Stephen King, but offers some interesting concepts when it comes to what caused the apocalypse.

15 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016)

Apocalyptic Action Horror Movie

Resident Evil is a horror movie based on a video game of the same name, and it was a fairly scary and gory film. However, as the movie franchise moved on, it changed and morphed into something very different. By the time the last entry in the series arrived in 2016, it had became a post-apocalyptic action horror movie, with Milla Jovovish’s Alice fighting to save the United States from the mutated monsters Umbrella Corporation created over the years.

The movie received mixed reviews, which is not surprising considering the genre and franchise in general. However, it lives and dies by its ridiculous premise and is never embarrassed by what it is meant to be. This is a movie with the heroes doing things that are physically impossible to kill some of the most deranged monsters imaginable. The movie was ridiculous in many ways, but that was part of its charm.

14 Maggie (2015)

A Zombie Apocalypse Movie

The idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger starring in a zombie apocalypse movie may cause fans to picture some sort of bloody action-horror movie, but Maggie is certainly not that. Featuring Schwarzenegger’s most reserved performance to date, he stars as a father who, living in seclusion with his daughter during a zombie outbreak, must come to terms with losing her after she is bitten.

The movie takes a human look at the kind of zombie story audiences have seen so many times, and though it is a little slow at times, the performances from Schwarzenegger and Abigail Breslin as his daughter elevate the whole thing. This movie was like nothing Schwarzenegger fans could have expected. This is not about him killing zombies but about protecting his daughter and holding onto her for as long as he can. As a meditative apocalyptic movie, Arnold was a wonder in the story.

13 The Tomorrow War (2021)

An Alien Invasion Movie

After launching into space as Star-Lord, Chris Pratt found himself in a few sci-fi blockbusters with The Tomorrow War bringing him into this human versus alien story. Pratt plays a family man in the present day who is drafted along with many other citizens to come to the future and fight against alien invaders who are eradicating the planet.

The premise is an exciting one that makes great use of the “time travel to save the world” gimmick. While the action and CGI alien enemies are nothing unique, it is a fun story with some interesting twists and a fun cast. The movie was mostly dismissed by critics, but it was a hit with many fans who discovered it on Prime Video. It was a Chris Pratt movie with people protecting Earth from dangerous aliens in an all-out war. In that manner, it delivered what any fan of the genre could have wanted.

12 The Last Man On Earth (1964)

An End Of The World Horror Movie

The Last Man on Earth is the first attempt to adapt the book of I Am Legend by Richard Matheson. Vincent Price stars as a man who finds himself the last living person in the world when a virus turns the rest of humanity into the living dead. As he becomes a hunter of these deadly new enemies, he fights against the odds to survive.

Like the rest of the adaptations, The Last Man on Earth loses some of the most interesting concepts of Mathson’s novel. However, it still maintains a creepy and dark tone for its era with a wonderfully compelling performance from Price in the lead role. It isn’t as well known as the later adaptation by Will Smith, but it is a great cult classic thanks to Vincent Price, and offers a creepy tongue-in-cheek horror movie from an era that specialized in that type of entertainment. If anything, it is a throwback to a forgotten era.

11 The Dead Zone (1983)

A Horror Movie Threatening Nuclear Apocalypse

The adaptation of a Stephen King story, The Dead Zone begins with a brilliant premise that turns into an intense story about preventing the end of the world. Christopher Walken stars as Johnny Smith, a man who develops the ability to see a person’s future simply by touching their hand. The third act of the movie deals with Walken touching the hand of a politician named Greg Stilson (Martin Sheen), who he sees will ignite a nuclear war that destroys the planet.

This leaves Johnny with the decision of whether to kill him and save the planet. His solution for saving the day is a brilliant twist. This was one of the best early Stephen King movies, thanks in large part to the direction of David Cronenberg. Unlike many Cronenberg movies, this one holds back on the violence and gore and simply tells a frightening story. Walken is perfect as Smith, even if he is not who fans of the book might see in the role. There was also a later TV show, but the movie is a minor masterpiece.

10 The World’s End (2013)

An Alien Invasion Movie

The third movie collaboration between Edgar Wright, Nick Frost, and Simon Pegg, The World’s End is generally regarded as a great but overlooked entry in the Three Cornettos Trilogy. However, fans who might have dismissed it the first time around should revisit it and see if their opinion doesn’t improve. Pegg stars as a man desperately trying to recapture his glory days who convinces his friends to return to their hometown for a pub crawl only to find it’s been taken over by aliens.

Wright’s energetic direction, sharp humor, and a more emotional character arc than the other two movies make The World’s End a fun ride from beginning to end. There are also a ton of fun Easter eggs and callbacks to both Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz, and fans of those movies will find a lot to love in this one. It is just different enough from the others to make it well worth the watch for fans of Edgar Wright and sci-fi movies.

9 War Of The Worlds (1953)

An Alien Invasion Movie

H.G. Wells wrote War of the Worlds in 1898 and told the story of an alien invasion and the people of Earth who had to survive the onslaught. This turned into one of the most infamous radio shows ever made, as Orson Welles produced the broadcast of a Martian invasion in 1938, and thanks to the novelty of storytelling on the radio, incited a national panic from people who believed there really was an alien invasion going on at that time. The rest is history.

War of the Worlds deals with the invasion of the alien army with their deadly tripod weapons making quick work of the defending humans. This movie was released in 1953 with Gene Barry and Ann Robinson starring in the story of the humans fighting to survbie the alien attacks. The story doesn’t break new ground but rather helped guide several popular alien invasion movies that followed. While Steven Spielberg used his talent to remake it, many call the 1953 version of War of the Worlds the better of the two takes.

8 I Think We’re Alone Now (2018)

Post-Apocalyptic Romance Drama

I Think We’re Alone Now takes the idea of a post-apocalyptic landscape and turns it into a small and twisted love story. A sudden apocalyptic event killed people instantly, often where they sat at the moment it struck. The movie picks up after the event, with a survivor named Del (Peter Dinklage) living alone in a small town. He spends his time in a library reading books and the rest of his time, clearing out the houses in town and burying the dead. While he is alone, he is happy.

The movie won the Special Jury Award at Sundance.

This all changes when a woman shows up in town (Elle Fanning) and the two eventually become close, working together to clean out the houses and eventually find companionship with each other. This ends up compromised when more people show up in town and want to bring both the survivors into their camp, where people are reconditioned to forget their pasts. The movie won the Special Jury Award at Sundance and received mostly positive reviews.

7 Before The Fire (2020)

Infection-Based Apocalyptic Movie

Before the Fire is a little different from other post-apocalyptic movies because it takes place during an apocalyptic event, but in an area away from most of the devastation. With a mostly unknown cast, the movie focuses on a woman named Ava, an actress who leaves Los Angeles for her hometown in South Dakota when a deadly flu pandemic starts to kill people across the world. When she arrives home, the townspeople are not all that welcome and dismiss her for leaving to start with.

However, the movie then veers into more of a dramatic territory as the town ends up barricaded and blocked off from the world. This causes the people there to become slightly territorial and controlling and Ava realizes she has more to fear in this small town than the flu that threatens to eventually seep in. The movie was a festival movie that ended up shut down thanks to COVID-19 and the all-too-real pandemic which made the fictional version in the movie a little too uncomfortable at that time.

6 Death Race 2000 (1975)

Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Action Movie

When it comes to post-apocalyptic movies, Death Race 2000 remains one of the most beloved cult classics in the genre. The movie tells the story of a dystopian America where a murderous race called the Transcontinental Road Race is the biggest form of entertainment for society. It takes place in the future year of 2000 when the world economy and governments crashed in 1979 and now a totalitarian regime exists with martial law and people forced to kill each other for entertainment.

On top of the wild car action and violence, the movie was also full of names who became familiar faces in the future. David Carradine stars in the movie as “Frankenstein,” one of the greatest racers on the planet. Also appearing in the movie is a very young Sylvester Stallone, just one year before his breakout role in Rocky. The movie received poor reviews when released but has since become a cult classic and even got a remake years later with 2007’s Death Race.