ersinkdotcom I don't know why, but for some reason I've been going through a disaster movie phase this past month. It started out with "Airport '77" and escalated quickly through the 1970s to the 1990s and beyond. I hit as many of the sub-genres along the way as I could by watching "The Towering Inferno," "Meteor," "Daylight," "Sharknado" and more. Needless to say, it wasn't hard for me to get into the zone when I received Anchor Bay Entertainment and SyFy Channel's "End of the World."A video store owner (Greg Grunberg) and his film geek buddy (Neil Graston) find they're the key to saving the world when an electrically- fueled storm of dust and lightning bursts pound the Earth. The two unlikely heroes use their previously useless knowledge of disaster film scenarios to discover a way to save the planet from certain doom. At the same time, they must lead a group of friends to safety while fighting their way through gangs of survivors trying to steal their van and supplies for themselves.The back of the DVD cover has a quote stating, "The best film that I've ever seen on SyFy!" I would have to side with Through the Shattered Lens' Lisa Bowman that "End of the World" is one of the better straight- to-cable movies my eyes have gazed upon. The story really isn't anything new, but is made tolerable through characters that are both likable and easy to hate depending on what their specific role in the movie demands of them.The casting director for "End of the World" kept their end of the bargain by packing the movie full of familiar genre faces for various audiences to grab on to. Greg Grunberg ("Heroes") and Neil Grayston ("Eureka") play the leads. They trade sci-fi banter and film quotes that make hardcore geeks feel like they're in on a joke not every viewer will get. Brad Dourif ("The Lord of the Rings," "The Exorcist III," and every independent horror or sci-fi project he has time to be in) plays the crazy doctor who holds the answer to how to stop Armageddon from happening. Too bad he's only in the movie long enough to act nuts for five or ten minutes and then die.The special effects are as good as you can expect from low-budget fare like "End of the World." The CGI team does what they can with the money they've been given. The way the unfortunate folks who get hit by the electrical pulsing meteorites explode more than make up for how animated the effects might look."End of the World" is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and some disturbing images. There are some scenes where people explode in a splash of digital gore, but nothing out of the ordinary for these types of movies. I recall some bad language spread throughout as well."End of the World" is an adequate entry into the sci-fi and disaster film genres. It will suffice for those who have burned through all the other movies of its type and are looking for something new to watch. It's further made tolerable through the wink-wink-nudge dialogue traded between its two nerdy lead characters. If you're looking for something to pass the time on a Saturday night, I would recommend this for folks who enjoy a good grade-C flick.

Paul Magne Haakonsen 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.

scifimadman What can I say about this outstanding piece of cinema history? For the longest time, I have been one of science fictions greatest fans. I have liked to say to my friends that I have seen every great science fiction movie of the last 50 years.In the course of my movie enjoyment, I have seen many 'End-of-the-World' films of varying strengths, but I would have to say (and be happy to go on record as saying) that this film is the most perfect science fiction movie of all time! The performances by the cast are outstanding. With Greg in the lead in an incredibly convincing role as a disaster freak, Owen, with a gorgeous GF, Selena (aka Caroline), who doesn't believe his hooey about the end of the world, and Neil as his outstanding co-lead (?) as Steve, this film is the absolute expression of everything I have ever wanted...a disaster movie made by disaster movie freaks ABOUT disaster movie freaks surviving in a real life disaster!!! I cannot rate this movie highly enough beyond saying "I am going to Armageddon in Melbourne this October and if ANY of the cast wanted to come, I would happily pay the $500AU to have the highest access possible just so I could meet them and share my joy of this movie." 10/10 (Easily) (PS: The inclusion of Brad as Walter Brown and nearly ALL of his references to other films was a special treat! One in particular made me face palm when I realized!)

Theo Robertson One can understand the thinking behind SyFy producing this film . The meta-fictional black comedy THIS IS THE END and the action blockbuster WORLD WAR Z would be in the cinemas during the Summer and no doubt the company wanted to broadcast a comical end of the world sci-fi thriller featuring a couple of geeky DVD store workers battling an alien invasion , a sort of CLERKS meets WAR OF THE WORLDS . The unfortunate thing is that in the haste to get it produced someone - or rather everyone - forgot to develop it properly There's two vague ideas are play here . A comedy and an alien invasion movie but the whole tone feels entirely off centre . Characters discuss other movies as the invasion takes place you never get convinced that there's a post modernist aspect to any of this . Indeed you never believe the characters themselves are anything more than characters from a mediocre film . For example someone's relative gets killed but there's no emotional pay off or follow up to this scene which reminds you that you're merely watching a film . The other thing is that the alien invasion itself is composed of balls of CGI light falling from the sky . For a film about an alien threat the threat isn't very threatening and seems to jar with the rest of the film With a bit of work in developing the screenplay and with a bigger budget and some well known faces END OF THE WORLD could have been a big box office hit at the cinema , but then you realise it's all ready in effect a big box office hit called THIS IS THE END and this SyFy production seems merely created to cash in on it . I will be honest and say END OF THE WORLD isn't as bad as some SyFy productions but that is not saying much