Apocalypse Now

Whether it's alien forces striking the planet, nuclear annihilation, or a runaway asteroid careening wildly toward earth, disaster movies have always played an essential role at the box office. And while mainstream movie critics seldom explore film's psychosocial impacts, in Hollywood Destroys the World, John Jurgensen and Jamin Brophy-Warren dissected a pile of post-apocalyptic films. As past examples, they mention The Road Warrior (1982) and The Terminator (1984), two doomsday smashes released as a new wave of Reagan-era Cold War fears shattered the once-calm American consciousness.

These days, with two wars waging overseas, as Iran and North Korea threaten nuclear development, and following a severe economic catastrophe, another batch of forthcoming films offer the same survivalist catharsis. Based on ancient Mayan prophecies, the coming November release 2012, starring John Cusack and Woody Harrelson, concerns a global cataclysm and Americans struggling to survive a perilous future. Similarly, Denzel Washington stars in January's The Book of Eli. An apocalypse survivor, Eli (Obama anyone?) traverses America, protecting the sacred book that will save humanity. Meanwhile, the sinister Gary Oldman attempts to destroy him and steal the only keys to salvation.

Film has always served as a kind of social therapy, an effective nine-buck salve for visual self-medicators. Take the blockbusters Seabiscuit (2003) and Cinderella Man (2005) for example. Seabiscuit, grossing $148 million worldwide, examined the true story of an unlikely champion racehorse who against all odds became a symbol of hope during the Great Depression. Likewise, Ron Howard's Cinderella Man, grossing $108 million worldwide, was about underdog Depression-era boxer Jimmy Braddock who, broken in spirit and with little chance of winning, rose to the top as another American symbol of the times. Both films were released shortly after 9/11 and amidst the desperation of the dot-com crash of 2000 to 2003, reigniting the hopes and aspirations of Americans during heady, hopeless times.

Like the cyclical boom-bust economy, film genres come and go at the box office, but the thread that runs through them is simple. Faced with hard times of uncertainty and defeatism, Americans pull together and pull through the victors. Whether this is life imitating art, or whether these films merely provide a feel-good escape valve is another question, but there's no denying the tingling sensation electrifying the arms of moviegoers when the good guy kicks the bad guy's ass.

Photos: Top John Cusack in 2012, courtesy of Sony Pictures. Bottom Denzel Washington stars in The Book of Eli, courtesy of Alcon Entertainment.