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.

26 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.

25 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.

24 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.

23 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-Mhee) 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.

22 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).

21 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.

20 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.

19 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.

18 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.

17 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.