They Tried to Warn Us: 20 Facts About Movies Predicting Climate Change

Here’s something to think about: the Wikipedia page for “climate change movies.” If you check it out, the first thing you’ll notice is that there aren’t many. Weird, uh? By comparison, here’s the page for women in prison movies. Okay, now that we think about it way too intensely like the pervs we are, that long list makes total sense. But back to climate change movies: what’s weird is that there are a million movies about any other disaster. Meteors? Aerosmith starts playing in our minds. Volcanos? God, Anne Heche was cool. Earthquakes? We’re disappointed that The Rock didn’t fight an earthquake with his bare fists in San Andreas, total missed opportunity there. The disaster genre is full of movies for every single disaster — and yet, climate change movies are scarce. You know, like water. In the climate-collapse future. That is already here. Hence, our theory is simple: climate change movies are scarce because the topic is way too real.

Of course, volcanoes or earthquakes are also disasters that kill people, duh, but they kill other people. Climate change, however, will sooner or later affect every single one of us – and so, yeah, it is too real to even contemplate, let alone actually acknowledge politically. And now you’ll say, “whatever, Cracked, how about The Day After Tomorrow? That’s an iconic climate change movie right there.” Yeah, sure, but that is the point: it could only say what it had to say by turning the slowly creeping process into a blockbuster disaster — and then it was criticized for it. Don’t Look Up? Yeah, another good example, but again, its real-life reaction mirrored its very plot. The Mad Max movies? Well, they’re set after the crisis. You can never really win with this concept, which is why the most appropriate movies about the topic are ultimately documentaries. So maybe watch them too, let’s all get our act together, and in the meantime, enjoy these 20 facts about these movies, because hey, it’s not like they haven’t tried to warn us.

20 Don't Look Up

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES DON'T LOOK UP LEONARDO DICAPRIO WENT FULL DICAPRIO. First, he's a climate activist, so the role fit. Second, he agreed to have his character uglified, with big glasses and a big wig. Finally, he even studied orbital dynamics for six months, to really sell his lines. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

19 Don't Look Up

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES DON'T L LOOK UP MERYL STREEP BEING EATEN BY A BRONTEROC WAS A LAST-MINUTE THING. While shooting a scene, Streep and Mark Rylance started improvising, she asked how she would die, and after riffing on several names, the Bronteroc stuck. Director Adam McKay concluded: We should end with her getting eaten by a Bronteroc! CRACKED.COM — *Variety*

18 WALL-E

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES WALL-E THE IDEA FOR THE MOVIE HAS BEEN AROUND SINCE 1994. As Toy Story was nearing completion, Pixar had a now legendary lunch to discuss future projects (including the basics for A Bug's Life, Monsters, Inc., and Finding Nemo), and Andrew Stanton asked: What if mankind had to leave Earth and somebody forgot to turn off the last robot? WAL CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

17 WALL-E

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES WALL-E WALLE THE PIXAR TEAM BECAME PRETTY MUCH KEATON AND CHAPLIN EXPERTS. Director Andrew Stanton wanted to get in the mindset of slapstick comedy from the silent era, so he and his team would watch Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin comedies every day after lunch. A year and a half later, they had seen everything the two icons ever did. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

16 The Day the Earth Stood Still

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL KEANU REEVES HAD BEEN CONSIDERED FOR A REMAKE SINCE 1994. Just after Speed came out, producer Erwin Stoff saw a poster for The Day the Earth Stood Still and the picture of Keanu playing Klaatu came to his head. Years later, Tom Rothman, former CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment, pushed for the project to be made. CRACKED.COM — ComingSoon.net

15 Soylent Green

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES SOYLENT GREEN IT WAS ONE OF THE FIRST FILMS TO BRING CLIMATE CHANGE TO PUBLIC AWARENESS. Even more specifically, it was among the first to mention the greenhouse effect as a cause for worry. CRACKED.COM — Den of Geek, IMDb

14 Soylent Green

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES SOYLENT GREEN THE SHOCKING NATURE OF SOYLENT GREEN WASN'T IN THE ORIGINAL BOOK. The movie is based on Harry Harrison's novel Make Room! Make Room! about overpopulation, widespread poverty, and wealth hoarding by a handful of people. However, the movie did add an essential element: the origins of Soylent Green (spoiler: it's people). CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

13 Snowpiercer

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES FORD IN SNOWPIERCER JOHN HURT'S CHARACTER IS NAMED GILLIAM AFTER TERRY GILLIAM. This was Bong Joon-ho's tribute to the filmmaker, but also his way of putting Snowpiercer in the lineage of dystopian classics like Brazil or 12 Monkeys. CRACKED.COM — IMDb, Screen Rant

12 Snowpiercer

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES SNOWPIERCER HARVEY WEINSTEIN DIDN'T WANT T THE FISH GUTTING SCENE. Director Bong Joon-ho told him that the scene was dear to him, because his father was a fisherman. Weinstein backed off (for once), but years later Bong said, laughing: It was a f-cking lie. My father was not a fisherman. CRACKED.COM — Vulture

11 Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES NAUSICAÄ OF THE VALLEY OF THE WIND AN AMERICAN EDIT REMOVED THE ENVIRONMENTALIST THEMES. An American studio got the rights and ended up trimming 23 minutes - creating a whole new, non- environmentalist movie. This entity was called Warriors of the Wind (lame), and it missed the nuanced reflection on our place within nature. CRACKED.COM — When American Editors Butchered A Hayao Miyazaki Classic

10 Princess Mononoke

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES PRINCESS MONONOKE THE MOVIE CRITICIZES INDUSTRIALIZATION AND CELEBRATES SHINTO. This traditional religion where gods represent nature was a major influence for Hayao Miyazaki, who tried to convey the seemingly insoluble conflict between the natural world and modern industrial civilization. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant, Wikipedia

9 Princess Mononoke

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES PRINCESS MONONOKE HARVEY WEINSTEIN WANTED TO EDIT THE MOVIE FOR AMERICAN AUDIENCES. Miyazaki was horrified, and his producer sent a katana to Weinstein with the not-at-all-terrifying instruction, no cuts. Asked about the incident sometime later, Miyazaki simply said he had defeated Weinstein. CRACKED.COM — When American Editors Butchered A Hayao Miyazaki Classic

8 Mad Max 2

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES MAD MAX 2 THE DOG WAS SCHEDULED TO BE EUTHANIZED WHEN НЕ WAS PICKED FOR THE MOVIE. The crew member tasked with finding a shelter dog found him spunky and playful, and thought he'd do adorably on camera. After shooting was done, the little guy was adopted by a camera operator. CRACKED COM — Screen Rant

7 Mad Max 2

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES MAD MAX 2 A STUNTMAN ALMOST DIED. In a movie full of dangerous stunts, the gang member that spins out of a crash is truly legendary. But the stuntman wasn't really meant to hit his legs like that. Не actually broke one, and was almost killed. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant

6 Mad Max: Fury Road

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES MAD MAX: FURY ROAD THE MOVIE WAS PRE- PRODUCTION HELL. First, filming was ready to go in Namibia, but 9/11's economic effect slashed the budget and the customized cars already built had to be destroyed. Later, in 2010, filming in Australia was ruined by a surprise rainstorm that turned the dystopian landscape into a lovely prairie, so back to Namibia it was. CRACKED.COM — 4 Ways ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Seemed Destined To Fail

5 Mad Max: Fury Road

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES MAD MAX: FURY ROAD THE MOVIE ALMOST HAD NO SCENES IN THE CITADEL. With the production over budget and behind schedule, the studio gave the crew a tight deadline despite the initial and final scenes not being shot yet. Editing showed the movie to be incomprehensible, so a year after filming wrapped, the studio ponied up the money for the Citadel scenes. CRACKED.COM — 4 Ways ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ Seemed Destined To Fail

4 FernGully: The Last Rainforest

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST THE MOVIE WAS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE LITTLE MERMAID. Diana Young had written FernGully stories for years, and she and her husband, producer Wayne Young, had always wanted to turn them into a movie. However, that was only possible when the Disney Renaissance made animated movies popular again. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

3 FernGully: The Last Rainforest

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES FERNGULLY: THE LAST RAINFOREST BATTY KODA WAS CREATED FOR ROBIN WILLIAMS. Batty was supposed to have around eight minutes of screen time, but Williams provided 14 hours of improv, so it was tripled. Williams also stood his ground when Disney tried to force him out of the movie and only do Aladdin. CRACKED.COM — Wikipedia

2 The Day After Tomorrow

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW THE SCRIPT WAS SOLD IN A FLASH AUCTION. Studios had only 24 hours to decide if they bought it, and they had to guarantee that the movie would get made, no buts. Most studios replied with buts, with only Fox saying yes. CRACKED.COM — *Wired*

1 The Day After Tomorrow

CLIMATE CHANGE MOVIES THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW ROLAND EMMERICH DECIDED NOT TO DESTROY ICONIC BUILDINGS BECAUSE OF 9/11. You can even see the Statue of Liberty standing tall after the wave hits New York City. Не was still criticized for showing such destruction so soon after 2001, but he defended the movie by saying audiences needed to see unity and cooperation. CRACKED.COM — Screen Rant, Wikipedia

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