10 best doomsday movie moments

The apocalypse, now coming to a theater near you

By S. James Snyder, Special to Metromix

If you’re feeling down about the Great Recession, Hollywood’s ready to give you something worse to worry about: All-out apocalypse.

Call it escapist fun, or a sobering dose of “things could be a whole lot worse,” but November brings not one but two apocalypse thrillers: “2012,” which suggests the Earth will implode to match the end of the Mayan calendar, and “The Road,” a big-screen adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s acclaimed novel about a father and son navigating a post-apocalyptic wasteland.

Of course, there are certain rules that must be followed when it comes to molding a story about the end of days, and not every scenario taps exactly the right nerve of anxiety and terror. So in a bid to provide you with only the best doomsday moments, here’s our list of the 10 greatest visions of the world’s final days.