25 Best Post-Apocalyptic Movies of All Time

By Vlad Zakh · July 9, 2026

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Post-apocalyptic movies get to picture the end of the world in wildly different registers, a lonely trash robot, a father and son walking an ashen highway, an entire war fought by talking apes, and this list runs the full spectrum.

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017) 01

War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

IMDb ★ 7.4

Caesar leads his people in a final, brutal war against the humans hunting them to extinction.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014) 02

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)

IMDb ★ 7.6

An uneasy truce between surviving humans and a growing ape civilization starts to collapse.

Planet of the Apes (1968) 03

Planet of the Apes (1968)

IMDb ★ 8.0

Astronauts crash on a world where apes rule and humans are treated as animals.

The Road (2009) 04

The Road (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.3

A father and son walk a devastated America searching for the coast and any reason to keep going.

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985) 05

Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome (1985)

IMDb ★ 6.1

A drifter is exiled into the desert and stumbles onto a hidden community of lost children.

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) 06

Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)

IMDb ★ 8.1

A near-wordless desert chase across a franchise reboot that somehow tops the originals.

The Road Warrior (1981) 07

The Road Warrior (1981)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A lone drifter defends a fuel-rich outpost from a marauding gang in the wasteland.

Mad Max (1979) 08

Mad Max (1979)

IMDb ★ 6.7

A vengeful highway cop's pursuit of a biker gang unfolds in a society already sliding into collapse.

World War Z (2013) 09

World War Z (2013)

IMDb ★ 7.0

A former UN investigator races the globe to find the origin of a fast-spreading zombie pandemic.

A Quiet Place Part II (2020) 10

A Quiet Place Part II (2020)

IMDb ★ 7.3

The family ventures beyond their farmhouse for the first time since the creatures arrived.

A Quiet Place (2018) 11

A Quiet Place (2018)

IMDb ★ 7.5

A family survives near-total silence to avoid alerting creatures that hunt by sound.

Children of Men (2006) 12

Children of Men (2006)

IMDb ★ 7.9

Humanity has been infertile for eighteen years, and one miracle pregnancy changes everything.

Snowpiercer (2013) 13

Snowpiercer (2013)

IMDb ★ 7.0

A class revolt aboard a perpetually moving train, the last shelter after an ice age.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004) 14

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

IMDb ★ 6.4

A sudden climate shift plunges the world into an instant, catastrophic ice age.

28 Days Later (2002) 15

28 Days Later (2002)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A man wakes from a coma to find Britain emptied out by a rage-fueled virus.

Zombieland (2009) 16

Zombieland (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.6

A germaphobic survivor's rules for staying alive in a zombie-overrun America.

Wall-E (2008) 17

Wall-E (2008)

IMDb ★ 8.4

A lonely trash-compacting robot falls for a sleek scout sent to check on a dead Earth.

9 (2009) 18

9 (2009)

IMDb ★ 7.0

Small sentient rag dolls are all that's left to stop a machine that wiped out humanity.

A Boy and His Dog (1975) 19

A Boy and His Dog (1975)

IMDb ★ 6.6

A young man and his telepathic dog scavenge a post-nuclear wasteland together.

Oblivion (2013) 20

Oblivion (2013)

IMDb ★ 7.0

A drone repairman on a nearly abandoned Earth starts questioning the mission he's been told is true.

I Am Legend (2007) 21

I Am Legend (2007)

IMDb ★ 7.2

A scientist believes he's the last uninfected man in a New York overrun by mutated survivors.

The Book of Eli (2010) 22

The Book of Eli (2010)

IMDb ★ 6.9

A lone wanderer protects the last copy of a book that could either save or doom what's left of society.

Reign of Fire (2002) 23

Reign of Fire (2002)

IMDb ★ 5.9

Dragons have reawakened and scorched civilization, leaving small pockets of humans to survive.

The Postman (1997) 24

The Postman (1997)

IMDb ★ 6.0

A drifter's stolen mail-carrier uniform accidentally sparks a movement to rebuild civil society.

Waterworld (1995) 25

Waterworld (1995)

IMDb ★ 6.1

Melted polar ice caps force humanity to survive entirely at sea, hunting for the last remaining dry land.

Vlad Zakh

Vlad Zakh

Founder, Movieix

Founder of Movieix, built to fix a specific annoyance: most recommendation sites are just algorithm-driven noise. Our lists are researched and organized by who's in a film, where it's from, and the mood you're actually in tonight.