Armageddon films FAQ : all that's left to know about zombies, contagions, aliens, and the end of the world as we know it / Dale Sherman.

Includes bibliographical references (page 429) and index.

Ten famous apocalyptic novels never turned into major films: The pitch meetings -- When film was young, the Earth was doomed: Early examples of armageddon -- Congrats! You've slept through armageddon: Movies where the protagonist missed the end of the world -- Five years left to cry in: Movies where the end is a foregone conclusion -- Oh, yeah, Babylon: Movies featuring apocalyptic events we forgot happened -- Apocalyptic or dystopian? Futuristic societies that may or may not be due to the apocalypse -- A man, a woman, a nuclear bomb: Nuclear dramas -- I am Legend ... but mostly to readers: The classic Richard Matheson novel and its various adaptations -- Contagion movies: Wiping us out, one person at a time -- We have become them: How zombies slowly took over the world -- The supernatural: When the undead just aren't enough -- Onword, Christian soldiers: the end-time flicks -- War of the Worlds: A look back at our many first encounters with the martians -- Body snatching: Invasions over the years -- Aliens are jerks: While the pods and martians were busy -- Slammin': The movies that define how the Earth is getting smashed! -- Let me tell you about The Birds and The Bees: Ecological diasters and their films -- Exterminate! Eradicate! Et Cetera!: Movies where technology takes control -- The earth is dead, but where's my car? Ten postapocalyptic/ Prehistoric/ Present-day car flicks -- Armageddon, coming this fall: Television apocalypses -- I want my armageddon! The top ten music videos in early apocalyptic rotation -- Go out smiling: Movies that show the "Funny side" of armageddon -- Survival and armageddon films: in the end, what does it all mean?

Since the dawn of time, mankind has been predicting its own demise through various means, from fables and religious scriptures to hard-core scientific studies. And if there is one thing Hollywood knows how to exploit, it is the fear of things to come. Armageddon Films FAQ is an engrossing look at the countless ways we have destroyed ourselves onscreen over the years for our own enjoyment: zombies, rogue computers, uptight aliens, plunging space objects, crazed animals, Satan, God, epidemics, and the ever-popular atomic bomb, and sometimes even a combination of these in the same movie. A vast collection of films is featured here, from early silents to recent (literally) earth-shattering epics, with scenarios ranging from tragic to comic, from supernatural to scientific, and from worryingly plausible to laugh-out-loud ludicrous. This book also explores other forms of world-ending entertainment, such as TV shows, music videos, and iconic but unfilmable novels. It even gives tips on how to survive the apocalypse - at least, if you're in a movie. (Hint: don't get cocky.) So sit back, grab some popcorn, and curl up with Armageddon Films FAQ, your definitive guide to the end of life as we know it. And relax - what could possibly go wrong? -- from back cover