ApocalypseMany stories have been written about the apocalypse or the end of human civilization. They often focus on man's struggle to avoid annihilation. “War of the Worlds,” by HG Wells, and “Independence Day,” directed by Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich, are examples of the unique qualities of films about the end of human civilization. Such apocalyptic films offer a unique perspective on human character in an extreme environment. Apocalyptic stories are unique because there is no historical event to use as a reference. There have been events where a small group faced annihilation, but humanity as a species has never faced certain destruction. During the 1963 Cuban Missile Crisis, it was believed that any use of force could trigger a nuclear holocaust. However, few people knew how close the United States and the Soviet Union were to nuclear war. There are no examples of the entire human species facing annihilation. Doomsday stories are common in smaller-scale literature. Movies like "Remember the Alamo," "Gettysburg" and "Saving Private Ryan" have characters who face death or destruction, but face it with courage and honor. The public respects and admires such behavior when facing death. Apocalyptic stories are an expanded form of this type of writing. They are stories where humanity as a whole can be admired for its positive attributes beyond courage or focus on a hero or heroine. It's not often that one characterizes the entire human race. We usually divide ourselves into cultural or political units and then evaluate them as a group. We can be organized or divided by religion, social class, political affiliation, cultural beliefs and physical appearance. For example, Ja...... middle of the paper...... hero or protagonist, are assigned to multiple characters or sometimes to the whole man. The distribution of qualities among more than one character can often be deeper than a typical story. Combined with the threat of total annihilation of humanity and its culture, apocalyptic films and the situations they pose are truly unique. Works Cited Independence Day. Dir. Dean Devlin, Roland Emmerich. 20th Century Fox, 1997. War of the Worlds. Dir. Byron Haskin. Perf. Gene Barry. Paramount Pictures, 1952. Mullen, R. D. "The Ultimate War of the Worlds." Science fiction studies. v. 20, November 1993, p. 440-3.Seed, David. "A critical edition of the War of the Worlds; the scientific novel of H.G. Wells". Critical essays. v. 44, July 1994, p. 258-64.Strozier, Charles B. Apocalypse: On the Psychology of Fundamentalism in America. Boston: Beacon Press, 1994.