El fin del mundo

END OF THE WORLD is your usual bog-standard SyFy Channel disaster movie that perhaps feels even more generic than all the others put together. It's directed by the prolific Steven R. Monroe and written by Jason Bourque, who also directed his fair share of other numerous similar low-budget disaster movies.

The one thing END OF THE WORLD does differently is to self-reference other movies in the genre, sometimes from the same studio and sometimes better-known efforts. Brad Dourif plays the crazy old-timer who might just have the knowledge to tackle what's going on, and there's a rather ingenious clip from ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST utilised at one point, which was rather neatly done.

Otherwise it's business as usual, with a bunch of stock characters, failing actors, and unfunny humour. The CGI effects of the solar flare attacks are as non-impressive as ever, and the various disaster scenes lack the kind of oomph you'd expect. It turns out that the END OF THE WORLD finishes with a fizzle rather than a bang.

A Syfy Channel original TV movie starring Greg Grunberg who apparently was in the once-popular TV series Heroes. He's kinda funny, trying to make a joke for everything in this disaster of a disaster movie. He and his buddy reference tons of real movies, particularly disaster flicks which they know backwards and forwards. Everything they know about surviving disasters they've gotten from those movies which has even turned them into end of the world preppers ready for any end of the world scenario. And of course that saves the world here. Oh no, is that a spoiler? Who cares, it's a crap movie that really does nothing but suck.

3.6 / 10 stars

--Zoooma, a Kat Pirate Screener

Another 'end of the world as we know it' movie with a very predictable outcome. Sure enough, but still these movies are so campy and cheesy that they are actually fun to watch, and thumbs up to SyFy Channel for keep spewing them out.

The story in "End of the World" is about, well, the end of the world. A strange outer space phenomena takes place and showers the Earth with blasts of forces of energy that are lethal to both electrical devices and living beings alike. A group of young people who have devoted their lives to the disaster movie genre, who works, owns and hangs around a local video store devoted to these types of movies, figure out a solution to save the Earth and race against time to save our beloved planet.

And that is the storyline for you right there. Doesn't get more simple than that. In fact, it doesn't get any more generic and stereotypical for these SyFy Channel disaster movies either. Have you seen one of their movies, then you have essentially seen all. But still, we come back for more because they are so campy and cheesy.

"End of the World" wasn't particularly enjoyable or extraordinary in any way, because there was nothing new to the genre at all here. This was essentially just a re-molding of previously made movies about the very same topic. The only worth mentionable thing was the references to other SyFy movies, Sci-Fi movies and disaster movies in general that was thrown carelessly about all throughout the movie.

Were there plot holes? Indeed there were. And they are so obvious and painstakingly just grabbing the movie by the ankles and weighing it down. But hey, aren't these plot holes an expected thing from this particular type of movies from SyFy Channel?

As for the acting in the movie. Well, people were doing fair enough jobs, but truth be told, then they hadn't much of a script to work with, so it wasn't particularly impressive. Nor was it overly convincing, as you never for one second bought into that the entire world was in any overwhelming danger from outer space.

So, is "End of the World" worth watching? Well, if you are a hardcore fan of SyFy Channel productions and the disaster movie genre in general, then yes. Otherwise, no, hardly so.

Accidentally watched this instead of worlds end, took a while to realize but carried on cos it was kinda fun. It's a bit generic and predictable, but that didn't stop it being entertaining.

While I understand the low ratings of this movie, I think if you watch it in the spirit in which it appears to have been made, it's really a fun movie. End of the World is a tongue-in-cheek homage to pop culture, sci-fi and (of course) disaster movies. The pop culture references alone were fantastic, and the actors are clearly in on the joke, not taking themselves or the cheesy script too seriously. Greg Grunberg is adorable as always. I expected this movie to suck wind, and was pleasantly surprised. If you're a fan of disaster movies and looking for lighthearted escapist fluff, watch this movie & enjoy a few chuckles.