It's the end of the world as we know it

‘Waterworld’
The planet’s polar ice caps have completely melted and covered the Earth under water. Dry land is a myth and the remnants of humanity cling to ramshackle settlements and rusted boats. Kevin Coster stars as “the Mariner,” a solitary sailor who has evolved gills and webbed appendages to cope with the planet’s now wetter state. With deadly pirates roaming the world-spanning ocean, the sea drifter soon becomes the protector of a mysterious child with a map tattooed on her back – a map that could lead the dregs of mankind back to one of the few remaining islands. The mega-budgeted box office flop also had an apocalyptic effect on Costner’s subsequent career, unofficially marking the end of his tenure as an A-list leading man.

How does the world end?
Rising sea levels caused by climate change-induced polar ice cap melt.

‘Armageddon’
Nobody can destroy a planet quite like explosion maestro Michael Bay. And nobody can destroy a massive asteroid quite like Harry Stamper (Bruce Willis) and his rag-tag team of deep ocean oil drillers turned astronauts! With a near-Earth asteroid set for an extinction level impact, it’s up to Stamper and his team to travel to the space rock, drill into it, plant nuclear bombs, and blow it up. Though the world doesn’t technically end in “Armageddon,” the U.S. eastern seaboard, Scandinavia, France, and China are all spectacularly devastated by meteor impacts.

How does the world end?
It doesn’t, thanks to Bruce Willis! But if it had, it would have been due to an asteroid the size of Texas on a collision course with Earth.

‘The Road’
Based on author Cormac McCarthy’s soul-crushing novel of the same name, “The Road” follows a man (Viggo Mortensen) and his son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they trek across the desolate remains of the United States in search of something... anything, really. A harrowing struggle for survival, the unnamed man and his son must survive the elements, starvation, and roaming bands of murderous cannibals. Whenever life gets you down, just think of “The Road” and remember that things could be much, much worse.

How does the world end?
Volcanic winter.

‘Mad Max’ series
If there’s one thing that the “Mad Max” movies have taught us, it’s that Australia and its famous outback are not where you’d want to spend the post-apocalypse. Society as we know it has collapsed and roving gangs of bandits with an affinity for hot rods and leather chaps have turned travelling on the once peaceful back roads into a death sentence. Former police officer Max Rockatansky (Mel Gibson) wanders the desolate outback, helping people when he can, but mostly just trying to survive the elements, both natural and criminal. Actor Tom Hardy is set to play Max in the upcoming “Mad Max: Fury Road,” a prequel directed by franchise creator George Miller.

How does the world end?
Peak oil-induced societal collapse.

‘Melancholia’
Leave it to an art house filmmaker like Lars von Trier (“Antichrist”) to destroy the world in one of the most visually stunning and disturbing ways possible: by having another planet annihilate our own. With the pressures of work, family, and life mounting, bride-to-be Justine (Kirsten Dunst) descends into a severe depression on the day of her wedding. Her new husband gone, Justine stays with her sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law (Kiefer Sutherland) at their country estate on the eve of an expected “fly-by” by the newly discovered rogue planet Melancholia. However, at the last minute it turns out that the planet’s “fly-by” is actually going to be more of a collision. Inspired by its director’s own battles with depression, “Melancholia” is anything but the feel-good movie of the year, but the film’s incredible visuals make the heavy subject matter and bleak ending worth enduring.

How does the world end?
A huge rogue planet collides with Earth.

‘Last Night’
Leave it to us Canadians to go out with comparative dignity and composure. Actor and filmmaker Don McKellar’s “Last Night” depicts the end of the world as experienced by the residents of Toronto. Faced with the impending apocalypse, the characters in “Last Night” deal with their final day on Earth in various ways. Some remain at their posts so that others can enjoy their last hours with services like electricity; while others choose to live out lifelong fantasies, spend time with their families, or party like it’s the end of the world. However, a select few -- like Patrick (McKellar) and Sandra (Sandra Oh) -– are at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Deciding how to spend your last hours alive is hard!

How does the world end?
Earth is incinerated by the Sun.

‘Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb’
Stanley Kubrick’s satirical Cold War black comedy might have been funnier if it weren’t so plausible. That said, it’s still extremely funny. After a rogue American Air Force General Jack D. Ripper (Sterling Hayden) launches an unprovoked nuclear first strike against the Soviet Union, the U.S. president and his military advisors must find away to avert World War III. The film follows Ripper’s delusional last stand at Burpelson Air Force Base, the dithering war room debates in Washington D.C., and the crew of one of the B-52 bombers sent to carry out its world-ending mission. Legendary British comic actor Peter Sellers (“The Pink Panther,” “The Party”) plays multiple roles in the film, including English exchange officer Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, spineless President Merkin Muffley, and the titular former Nazi scientist.

How does the world end?
Global Thermonuclear War.

‘Children of Men’
Alfonso Cuarón’s brilliant 2006 sci-fi film is set in the not-too-distant future in which women can no longer have babies, dooming humanity to a slow extinction by aging. With no new children being born and seemingly no future for the species, much of the world descends into chaos. Britain soldiers on as one of the few countries with a functioning government, but has become a dystopian police state that is extremely unfriendly to its own citizens and the influx of refugees from around the world. Enter Theo Faron (Clive Owen), a former activist turned pencil pusher who is tasked with escorting a young refugee named Kee (Clare-Hope Ashitey). What’s so important about Kee? She’s miraculously pregnant and literally carries the future of humanity.

How does the world end?
Two decades of human infertility.

‘2012’
No 2012 end of the world movie list would be complete without mentioning Roland Emmerich’s disaster porn epic “2012.” This 2010 film posits that the Maya’s apocalyptic predictions were correct and shows our normally calm planet literally tear itself apart. Thankfully the governments of the world knew disaster was upon humanity (thanks to that handy Mesoamerican calendar), and they constructed giant floating arks to preserve a select group of survivors. Sporting all-star cast led by John Cusack and Danny Glover, “2012” is the disaster movie to end all disaster movies, making every other film in the genre - past, present, and future - irrelevant through sheer and unbridled cinematic destruction.

How does the world end?
A solar flare heats up the Earth’s core causing a series of powerful global earthquakes and megatsunamis.