# So how many times has the earth been destroyed? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 18, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046 "2001-11-18T07:08:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/1 "2001-11-18T07:08:22Z")
…in movies, that is. I was thinking about **Dr. Strangelove** and tried to think of other movies that ended in a similar manner. Would **12 Monkeys** fit the bill? I saw it once and don’t remember much of it, but it seems to me the ending implied that, well, a chain of events was set in motion that would wipe out the earth. Now, I’m not talking about post-apocalyptic or sci-fi movies where the “earth was destroyed” and we’re picking up the pieces; but real honest-to-God, no-happy-ending, the-world-is-toast, so-_don’t_-have-a-nice-day movie. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 7:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/2 "2001-11-18T07:40:31Z")
\<\\> Well, I don’t know if this counts, but **slight spoiler space** …In “Beneath the Planet of the Apes”, the already post simian-apocalypse Earth gets blown up, or at least char-broiled. I mean, talk about your bad luck… Nick Gaston ---
**Author:** ![More\_Cowbell](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@More\_Cowbell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/More_Cowbell)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 7:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/3 "2001-11-18T07:50:27Z")
Does the Orson Wells narrated movie “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” count? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 8:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/4 "2001-11-18T08:08:09Z")
Kim Newman did an entire book on _Armageddon Movies_. ---
**Author:** ![Fern\_Forest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/71c47a/32.png) [@Fern\_Forest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fern_Forest)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/5 "2001-11-18T08:51:46Z")
**Last Night** The world ends. Maybe the entire universe, it’s never explained. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/6 "2001-11-18T10:01:10Z")
Let’s not forget the infernally bad _Titan A.E._ where the earth got blown up in the first 15 minutes or so. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [November 18, 2001, 11:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/7 "2001-11-18T11:45:27Z")
Not a film, but a series made for TV from the book, **Hithchikers Guide to the Galaxy** ---
**Author:** ![Revedge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecae2f/32.png) [@Revedge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revedge)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/8 "2001-11-19T01:05:34Z")
“Miracle Mile” “On the Beach” ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/9 "2001-11-19T01:40:17Z")
Both _Titan, AE_ and _Hitchhikers_ deal with the aftermath of the end of the world, not the end of the world itself. I think what the OP wants here are movies with the ultimate bummer ending. You know, everyone dies, and I mean _everyone_. _Terminator_ might count, since the movie ends with the main character preparing for an inevitable nuclear holocaust. Of course, in the sequel, she totally evits WWIII, which might disqualify the first film. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/10 "2001-11-19T02:17:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by casdave \* > **Not a film, but a series made for TV from the book, Hithchikers Guide to the Galaxy** Several times, in fact! 😃 _Spoiler_ ```auto * * **** ****** ******** ********** ******** ****** **** * * ``` But only once did the cast die 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![arara123](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/41988e/32.png) [@arara123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/arara123)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/11 "2001-11-19T02:42:00Z")
Has anyone seen _ **Dead or Alive** _ by **Takashi Miike**. FANTASTIC film. In the end Spoiler… everyone/everything in the universe gets blown up. ---
**Author:** ![bafaa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e480ec/32.png) [@bafaa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bafaa)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/12 "2001-11-19T03:14:49Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by divemaster \* > \*\*…in movies, that is. I was thinking about **Dr. Strangelove** and tried to think of other movies that ended in a similar manner. > > Would **12 Monkeys** fit the bill? I saw it once and don’t remember much of it, but it seems to me the ending implied that, well, a chain of events was set in motion that would wipe out the earth. > > Now, I’m not talking about post-apocalyptic or sci-fi movies where the “earth was destroyed” and we’re picking up the pieces; but real honest-to-God, no-happy-ending, the-world-is-toast, so-_don’t_-have-a-nice-day movie. \*\* I don’t think **12 Monkeys** fits the bill. It is about scientists from the future sending Bruce Willis back in time to our present to try to get a sample of the virus that killed off most of the population so they can create a cure to protect what’s left of mankind. The end seems to imply (to me anyway) that they got that sample and will therefore be able to create a cure and save the future (their present). Hell, some people might even say it’s a happy ending since they did get the sample. Of course that is open to interpretation but at the very least you have to admit that since Bruce Willis was sent back in time that the world didn’t actually end or there wouldn’t be anyone to send him back in the first place. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/13 "2001-11-19T03:43:35Z")
**When Worlds Collide** , of course. ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/14 "2001-11-19T03:43:45Z")
Yeah, that whole 12 Monkeys thing is faint in my mind. I just recall an impression that whatever the mission was to “save” the earth from the virus failed. I had forgotton about **On the Beach**. That certainly fits the bill. I read the book, but didn’t even think about it as a movie. ---
**Author:** ![detop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bcef8e/32.png) [@detop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/detop)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/15 "2001-11-19T04:26:38Z")
_The Day the Earth Caught Fire_, depending on the viewers mood regarding the ending (didn’t want to put spoilers :)). ---
**Author:** ![Bossk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@Bossk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bossk)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/16 "2001-11-19T06:09:55Z")
Does it have to be Earth? Basketball was a peaceful planet. They had no weapons. ---
**Author:** ![Gozu\_Tashoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Gozu\_Tashoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gozu_Tashoya)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/17 "2001-11-19T08:06:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > **Both _Titan, AE_ and _Hitchhikers_ deal with the aftermath of the end of the world, not the end of the world itself. I think what the OP wants here are movies with the ultimate bummer ending. You know, everyone dies, and I mean _everyone_.** Ah, my apologies. In place of Titan A.E. I submit the original (alternate?) ending to _Army of Darkness_ and the rather obscure Japanese mafia vs. zombie movie _Versus_. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/18 "2001-11-19T15:46:44Z")
The Day After… (Scared the hell out of me when it was first broadcast) You knew no one was going to survive. ---
**Author:** ![kingpengvin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kingpengvin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kingpengvin)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/19 "2001-11-19T15:54:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bafaa \* > I don’t think **12 Monkeys** fits the bill. It is about scientists from the future sending Bruce Willis back in time to our present to try to get a sample of the virus that killed off most of the population so they can create a cure to protect what’s left of mankind. The end seems to imply (to me anyway) that they got that sample and will therefore be able to create a cure and save the future (their present). Hell, some people might even say it’s a happy ending since they did get the sample. Of course that is open to interpretation but at the very least you have to admit that since Bruce Willis was sent back in time that the world didn’t actually end or there wouldn’t be anyone to send him back in the first place. Makes perfect sense doesn’t it? 🙂 \*\* Sorry but had to come back to this… That is not what I saw in the ending. The scientists never intended to find a cure. They made sure everything happened the way it was supposed to. That is why she claims her job was in “Insurance”. As in ensuring that everything carries on as they should. Don’t forget as Scientists they run the world so they wanted to maintain power. I saw the ending as Bleak. They knew what was to happen to Cole (Bruce Willis) and let it. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 19, 2001, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046/20 "2001-11-19T16:55:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Basketball was a peaceful planet. They had no weapons. Haven’t heard that in awhile. Not since I kissed three bucks goodbye. 😉 **kingpengvin** , I agree. There was never any reason to believe the scientists were good guys (and plenty of signs that they were corrupt). The happy interpretation is the triumph of pure optimism over what actually appeared on the screen. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-how-many-times-has-the-earth-been-destroyed/94046.md?page=2)