Five things: Paul Kane on post apocalyptic movies

Flaming Arrow is out in the wild, silently stalking down readers right now. To celebrate the latest addition to the Afterblight Chronicles, author Paul Kane talks us through his top post apocalyptic movies…

I’ve talked quite a bit in the past about post-apocalyptic fiction that influenced the Hooded Man stories, the major one being Robert Swindells’ excellent Brother in the Land – which we studied in English classes at school. So when I was asked to do a Top Five for the Abaddon blog, I thought it might make a change to talk about my current favourite post-apocalyptic films instead. And here they are, in no particular order:

1. Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior

One of the most perfect post-apocalyptic movies of all time, this just got everything right as far as I’m concerned. I’ve always considered the first Mad Max – as good as it is – to be a kind of prelude to this one. By now we’re well into post-apocalyptic territory, with crazed gangs and communities of survivors. You can definitely see the influence of this one in the action scene at the start of Arrowland. At the time of writing, I still haven’t seen Fury Road though, so this one may change…

2. 28 Days Later

A faultless vision of a post-apocalyptic Britain, especially with those establishing shots of Cillian Murphy wandering around a deserted capital. I absolutely love zombie movies, which is probably why I write so much about them myself, and adore the faster, more vicious kind depicted here. Zombies as virus, I can really get behind!

3. The Road

I’m a massive fan of the Cormac McCarthy novel, and I think the 2009 adaptation did a cracking job of showing the harshness of this world, but balancing it out with the relationship between a boy and his father. And it’s those kinds of relationships under duress I’ve found so interesting in the Hooded Man stories.

4. I Am Legend

Again, I’m a huge fan of Richard Matheson’s original book (anyone who’s read my stories ‘Alone’ or ‘He is Legend’ will know that). For my money, and this might be a controversial view, the Will Smith film did the best job of trying to adapt this for the screen. The loneliness of a sole survivor, the danger of the vampires – again, as virus – and being pushed to the limits by both, all pretty much spot on. It’s something I hope the forthcoming film adaptation of my novel Lunar will pull off too.

5. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

A new addition to my list (and bubbling under are films like Stakeland, Reign of Fire, A Boy and His Dog and Terminator Salvation). I grew up on the PoTA films and TV series, and after Tim Burton’s stab at a remake it’s nice to see the franchise in safe hands again. A superb movie, which deals with power struggles, not only amongst the surviving humans, but within the ape camp as well. Highly recommended!

Find out more about Paul Kane here at Abaddon, and don’t forget to follow Paul on Twitter and check out the official Paul Kane website.

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