Post Apocalyptic Genre

I seem to recall seeing some movie in a post-apocalypse world that was desert and there were these huge bugs à la Starship Troopers but bigger and they were trying to outrun them. I just have this single image and for the life of me cannot remember anything else except it was sometime in the early 90's or so.

Anybody know what movie this may have been? Or was it on TV?
 
Are you thinking of either Tremors or Eight-Legged-Freaks?

Tremors was good. The other, not so much.
 
The first one that springs to my mind is the Night Land by William Hope Hodgson (you can find stuff about it on Amazon or wikipedia). I read it quite a few years ago and it made a really strong impression.

It is set far in the distant future. The "Night Land" of the title is the Earth after the Sun has died, where the descendants of humanity linger on within a vast, sealed pyramid.

It was written early in the 20th century so the language is a bit archaic and "Poe-esque". It's not what you might call an easy read, but I found it quite haunting and bits of it stayed with me for a long time - particularly the allusions to the giant and terrible watchers...
 
Z for Zachariah is a good book

no mutants or anything daft like that , no real action to speak of
Just a story about a girl living alone in a valley untouched by the nuclear devastation , when a male survivor in a biological suit discovers her safe haven
 
TK-421 thanks for mentioning War Games. That movie and Red Dawn were very, shall we say, influential. To me, at least. They pose the simple question, "What would you do if..."?
 
I also love this genre. I particular like tales that deal with exploration and mutants.

My collection of books includes:

Hiero's Journey and The Unsung Hiero by Sterling E. Lanier
One-Eye, Two-Eyes, and Three-Eyes by Stuart Gordon
A Canticle for Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller Jr.
Redbeard by Michael Resnick
Star Man's Son (or Daybreak 2250 AD) by Andre Norton
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
A Secret History of Time To Come by Robie Macauley
 
I like some post-apocolytic stuff. But sometimes the particualar mix of suviving hitech and low tech makes no sense. Perhaps a better storyline would help me to overlook it? Personally, I perfer fantasy with the apocolyse based on the fall of the old kingdom (based on the fall of Rome?) than post-nuke stories. Of course some mutant Americans would survive to restore civilization and thwart any surviving Commies. Still depressing, and changing the Russians to terrorists with bioweapons doesn't help. But a fresh, well done story as opposed to Hollywood cliche might interest me.
 
In my book the post-apocalyptic scenario is based on an erupting supervolcano and the embryo space colonization concept. Can human embryos travel to the stars? Well, we'd need reliable androids who are able to raise children...
 
I must admit it's one of my favourite sub-genres, along with "nihilistic near future" if there is such a thing (like 1984 etc). Having recently re-read A Canticle for Leibowitz I was never before struck at just how downright scary the thought of this post-nuclear future is. It may be because I first read it when I was 11, and it went over my head :p

On a related note, is anyone lookig forward to the upcoming Hollywood take (again) on I Am Legend? I'm trying so hard to give it a chance, but my inner SF snob won't let me.
 
Listen to your inner SF snob ;) All fans of that book should be scared considering hollywood record with classic SF.

Ever seen Starship Troopers for example yuck.....
 
Born of the Sun by Jack Williamson
The Stand by Stephen King
Swansong by Robert McCammon
EarthWreck by Thomas Scortia
The Sword of Shannara by Terry Brooks
Limbo by Bernard Wolfe
Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny
The Stars Must Wait by Keith Laumer
The Killing Star by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski
 
I love the Apocalypse Genre and i think that atomic annihilation is probably my favourite. (It seems to have fallen out of favour a little over recent times.) I've recently developed a soft spot for the Zombie Genre, which i think can be considered the end of the world.

Personal favourites are probably Stephen King's The Stand and Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song. I have A Canticle for Leibowitz which i want to read some time this year. (Was Babylon 5's "Deconstruction for Falling Stars" based on this book?)

I read I Am Legend a couple of years ago, which i enjoyed immensely. I also really really enjoyed The Omega Man and I Am Legend movies.

I've not read McCormac's The Road, or seen the movie. I suspect it might be a little too bleak for me.

Stake Land and The Day were a couple of decent post apocalyse movies that were pretty interesting.

I think the end of the world is a wonderful game theme, too. Half-Life II had a pretty decent post apocalytic theme. Apparently, we were supposed to see the Combine taking resources such as water, but it was removed from the game for some reason. I started Fallout, but didn't get too far. I should try it again, really as i love the tone and the design in it. I loved Days Gone, which had an apocalyptic theme to it. (Not quite zombie, but close enough.)
 
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Rodders said:
I love the Apocalypse Genre and i think that atomic annihilation is probably my favourite. (It seems to have fallen out of favour a little over recent times.) I've recently developed a soft spot for the Zombie Genre, which i think can be considered the end of the world.

Personal favourites are probably Stephen King's The Stand and Robert R. McCammon's Swan Song. I have A Canticle for Leibowitz which i want to read some time this year. (Was Babylon 5's "Deconstruction for Falling Stars" based on this book?)

I read I Am Legend a couple of years ago, which i enjoyed immensely. I also really really enjoyed The Omega Man and I Am Legend movies.

I've not read McCormac's The Road, or seen the movie. I suspect it might be a little too bleak for me.

Stake Land and The Day were a couple of decent post apocalyse movies that were pretty interesting.

I think the end of the world is a wonderful game theme, too. Half-Life II had a pretty decent post apocalytic theme. Apparently, we were supposed to see the Combine taking resources such as water, but it was removed from the game for some reason. I started Fallout, but didn't get too far. I should try it again, really as i love the tone and the design in it. I loved Days Gone, which had an apocalyptic theme to it. (Not quite zombie, but close enough.)
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I watched The Road some time ago, which is a pretty bleak novel. I recently read the book which is even bleaker. I wouldn't recommend either, as they are just an exercise in misery from start to end.
 
paranoid marvin said:
I watched The Road some time ago, which is a pretty bleak novel. I recently read the book which is even bleaker. I wouldn't recommend either, as they are just an exercise in misery from start to end.
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Have you ever read Earth Abides by George R Stewart ? It's great stuff. :cool:
 
The Chrysalids long after
The Death of Grass though it is technically an apocalypse novel.
Brown Girl in the Ring mixes some voodoo into the situation
Children of Men I've only seen the movie, so can't say about the book
 
The Survivors

Is a book based on the original tv series. A bit hard to find now, but (unlike the series) has a 'proper' ending.
 
Wasn't The Surviviors a Terry Nation series? I want to watch it after watching Blake's Seven for the first time, a couple of years ago.

The Death of Grass is another that i'd like to read.

Our very own Jo Zebedee's "Into A Blood Red Sky" is kind of apocalyptic, but the apocalypse plays second fiddle to the story. Well worth reading, though.

Anyone remember watching Threads in the 80's? What a terrifying movie that was.
 
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