This week’s Flyby Five is tying into our Monday post that focused on Cli-Fi for World Environment Day, this is a list of 5 Cli-Fi movies that don’t suck completely.
Welcome to Flyby Five, where we abandon all sense of seriousness and do silly lists about whatever pops into our heads. This segment will be posted every Wednesday we feel like posting it. This is not a serious list, nor is it a “Top 5” list. And there is every possible chance that some of these lists or the language in these lists may not be PG-13 friendly. You have been warned. -L&G
5 Cli-Fi Movies That Don’t Suck Completely
Day After Tomorrow Synopsis: Jack Hall, paleoclimatologist, must make a daring trek across America to reach his son, trapped in the cross-hairs of a sudden international storm which plunges the planet into a new Ice Age.
Released in 2004, this is probably my most favorite cli-fi movie, and I can’t really say why. Nothing about it is particularly exceptional. But it’s got a premise that feels believable, solid acting, and it makes great background noise after you’ve watched it one or two times.
The Thaw Synopsis: A research expedition to the Arctic discovers that a melting polar ice cap has released a deadly prehistoric parasite.
While it’s not exactly, uhm, top-ranking movie-making, The Thaw is still good for when you’re wanting to watch a half-decent horror movie and veg out.
Mad Max Synopsis: In a self-destructing world, a vengeful Australian policeman sets out to stop a violent motorcycle gang.
According to my mother, and pretty much everyone who has seen this movie, Mad Max is a good cli-fi movie. It qualifies as cli-fi because idiots + nuclear bombs = everything gets screwed for everyone.
Category 6: Day of Destruction Synopsis: Three tornadoes converge to wreak havoc on Chicago, disrupting the power grid and creating the worst super-storm in history: a category 6 twister.
Okay, so this is a made-for-TV movie with a small budget and crappy CGI, but… all-in-all it really isn’t a bad movie at all. It’s one that I’ve actually seen several times. There’s just something about movies that don’t try to be awesome that make them rewatchable sometimes, I think.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence Synopsis: A highly advanced robotic boy longs to become “real” so that he can regain the love of his human mother.
Okay, this one could have easily went into our upcoming “5 Times the Robot/AI Wasn’t Evil” but it also fits pretty well in here. With first the population being decimated by rising sea levels, and then the circumstances surrounding the end, while it’s definitely a robot movie, it’s also one of the cli-fi movies too.
I would like to point out that I said they didn’t suck. I did not say they were great! But the not-suckage part would be why obvious choices such as Waterworld are not on the list.
I guess it probably doesn’t fit here, but I love Wall-E.
Wall-E is a great movie.
Mad Max most certainly does not suck, so you picked a good one there *thumbs up*
I need to watch the Mad Max movies.