Earth 1, Man: 0

Earth Day puts the focus on what we can do to help the environment, but what happens when the Earth fights back? Facets Features looks at a variety of films—from far-out fictions to frighteningly real truths and speculations—that answer that question.

The Last Days of Pompeii (Mario Caserini, 1913) - This influential Italian epic is representative of the lavish style that Italy became known for in the early years of feature filmmaking, and it set the stage for the masterful Cabiria a year later. In romantically tragic fashion, the film depicts the final hours of the ill-fated souls living in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, as portrayed in Edward Bulwer's novel. This is considered one of the last important "tableaux films," a theatrical style in which scenes are played out mainly in single, wide shots, as if the audience were watching a stage play. Digitally mastered from a fine 35mm print and color tinted according to original specifications, with newly translated intertitles. Piano score by Beatrice Jona Affron.

Deluge (Felix E. Feist, 1933) - The original Hollywood disaster epic. Forty years before Earthquake and sixty-five years before Deep Impact and Armageddon, this film depicted a natural apocalypse in which a massive earthquake destroys the entire west coast, triggering all manner of catastrophes, including a tidal wave that crushes New York City. The fall of the Big Apple is depicted with special effects that are quite impressive for the era. Deluge was considered lost until 1981 when fantasy film historian Forrest Ackerman discovered a dubbed Italian print in an archive in Rome. It is thought to be the only existing print.

San Francisco (W.S. Van Dyke, 1936) - Clark Gable plays the owner of the saloon, Spencer Tracy is the priest, and Jeanette MacDonald the belle of San Francisco in this lavish production set against the climax of the San Francisco earthquake.

In Old Chicago (Henry King, 1938) - This quasi-historical melodrama is centered on one of the most enduring urban legends, the cow that kicked over the lamp and started the great Chicago fire over 100 years ago. Alice Brady is Mrs. O'Leary, with Don Ameche as the good son and Tyrone Power as his villainous brother. It's a good thing Tyrone is so bad. We get a chance to follow this cad to all the dives that made old Chicago so interesting.

The Rains Came (Clarence Brown, 1939) - Tyrone Power stars as a powerful man in India who falls for the alluring Myrna Loy in this costume melodrama based on the Louis Bromfield novel. It charts the sweeping events that overpower their attraction for one another, and won an Academy Award for special effects recreating an earthquake.

The Day the Earth Caught Fire (Val Guest, 1961) - Simultaneous nuclear detonations by the U.S. and the Soviet Union knock Earth off its axis and send it hurtling toward the sun. Far more than the familiar sci-fi fare you might imagine, the film features some fabulous, fast and funny dialogue, terrific performances and great direction from Val Guest, who also co-wrote the film. Even the film's limitations become virtues: the stock disaster footage used in place of special effects emphasizes the real threat of the post-Atomic age. The inner workings of a daily newspaper (where the film's hero works) have also rarely been more authentically portrayed.

Krakatoa: East of Java (Bernard L. Kowalski, 1968) - A group sets sail in search of a treasure believed to be located in a sunken ship off the island coast of Java. Waiting for them is the legendary volcano Krakatoa, and to their surprise, the largest tidal wave ever witnessed on film. With Maximillian Schell, Brian Keith, Diane Baker, Sal Mineo and J.D. Cannon.

Earthquake (Mark Robson, 1974) - A disaster film contemporary of The Poseidon Adventure and The Towering Inferno, starring Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Walter Matthau, Lorne Greene, and Airport survivor George Kennedy. A mammoth earthquake hits Los Angeles, and the lives of the characters are thrown into turmoil as the city crumbles around them. Nominated for Oscars for Best Art Direction, Cinematography, Visual Effects, Film Editing, and a winner for Best Sound, thanks in large part to the invention of "Sensurround," which fueled urban legends of theater ceilings and walls falling apart with all the heavy bass. Co-written by Mario Puzo.

Waterworld (Kevin Reynolds, 1995) - Kevin Costner and Dennis Hopper star in this $90-million extravaganza about the doomed planet Earth. The polar ice caps have melted, turning the entire planet into a vast oceanic expanse. One little girl could hold the key to saving mankind from a precarious existence on artificial atolls where the threat of pirates is ever present. With Tina Majorino and Jeanne Tripplehorn.

Twister (Jan De Bont, 1996) - Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton star as scientists in search of answers. They hope to plant a special device in a twister. Together they must face not only the terrific force of these weather systems, but also competing scientists funded by corporate money. The awesome special effects are reason enough to see this film.

The Perfect Storm (Wolfgang Petersen, 2000) - Sebastian Junger's best-selling book about a real-life tragedy at sea was brought to the screen in exciting fashion by Wolfgang Petersen (Das Boot, In the Line of Fire). George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, William Fichtner and John C. Reilly play the fishermen of the Andrea Gail, who were at sea when climactic conditions unexpectedly developed into one of the worst storms in recorded history. Also starring Diane Lane and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio.

Ever Since the World Ended (Calum Grant/Joshua Atesh Litle, 2001) - Pseudo-documentary and wasteland sci-fi meet in this imaginative indie picture from first time directors Calum Grant and Joshua Atesh Litle. More than a decade after a plague devastates the world's population, two filmmakers from San Francisco (pop. 186) set out to document the human loss and interview fellow survivors about their terrifying ordeals. "Clever...fascinating...thought-provoking" (New York Times).

The Core (Jon Amiel, 2003) - After a geophysicist discovers that the Earth's inner core has stopped rotating, an elite team of scientists has one last chance to save the world--by journeying to the center of the Earth. With Hilary Swank (Boys Don't Cry), Aaron Eckhart, Delroy Lindo, Alfre Woodard, and Stanley Tucci.

The Day After Tomorrow (Roland Emmerich, 2004) - A big-budget disaster film from the director of Independence Day that raised a surprisingly large stink from the Bush White House for its very harsh stance towards the deteriorating global environment and those who choose to ignore the problem. Global-warming causes a massive glacial mass to sink into the ocean, triggering mass global catastrophes, including epic violent hurricanes, tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves, massive floods and worse. At the center is the story of a paleoclimatologist (Dennis Quaid) who sets out to find his son (Jake Gyllenhaal), who is trapped in a snowdrift encased New York City.

An Inconvenient Truth (Davis Guggenheim, 2006) - This startling documentary combines a well-researched, uncharacteristically riveting speech by longtime environmentalist Al Gore with overwhelming visuals in order to help explain the existence and impact of global warming. Director David Guggenheim (TV's Deadwood, 24) and Gore present this material not to haunt viewers, but to act as a rallying cry for change on a human and governmental level. To energy industry lobbyists and the Bush administration, Gore shrewdly quotes Upton Sinclair: "You can't make somebody understand something if their salary depends upon them not understanding it." An Official Entry at the Sundance Film Festival.

The 11th Hour (Nadia Conners/Leila Conners Petersen, 2007) - After An Inconvenient Truth, this environmental documentary probably had the greatest impact on the public's opinion of global warming, and at a crucial moment in American (and world) history. The urgent message and solutions presented in The 11th Hour were made all the more alluring thanks to star producer and narrator Leonardo DiCaprio. "Essential viewing...an unnerving, surprisingly affective documentary" (Manohla Dargis, New York Times).


- Phil Morehart