I’m sitting here watching the 50’s sci-fi classic, When Worlds Collide. The book and its sequel, After Worlds Collide are among my favorites. In it, or course, the Earth is completely destroyed by a rogue planet.
There’s been plenty of films where life on Earth is wiped out and/or decimated, but I can’t seem to come up with a long list where the planet itself is destroyed.
I got:
Dr. Strangelove is the first one I thought of when I saw this thread.
Dr. Strangelove doesn’t count, because the world isn’t destroyed, just all life on its surface. I think the OP wants movies where the entire planet is reduced to space rubble, ala Alderaan.
The only other movie like that I can think of is Titan A.E.
I was going to say Titan A.E., but Miller beat me to it.
One movie that is open-ended about this (the Earth is destroyed if you’re a pessimist, it’s saved if you’re an optimist) is The day the Earth Caught Fire.
Wasn’t Earth destroyed at the end of Beneath the Planet of the Apes?
The Twilight Zone classic “It’s a Good Life”. The kid makes the rest of the world go away. It’s ambiguous as to whether it’s destroyed or not.
“It’s Still A Good Life” spoiler:
It’s not because in “It’s Still A Good Life” the whole world was brought back by Anthony Freemont’s daughter.
Zev Steinhardt
I saw that. New Twilight Zone is not canon. Nor is it any good.
Finagle: Yeah, yeah, I know it’s not an “official” continuation of the story, (nor does the earth get totally destroyed either…), but I just brought it up as a “point of fact.”
Zev Steinhardt
I was going to say “Beneath the planet of the Apes” too. Other than that, I’m stomped, as well.
The Rapture.
In the Babylon 5 episode, The Deconstruction of Falling Stars, the sun goes nova. I’d say that’s a superset of the Earth being destroyed.