Apocalypse Where? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Chicago

The "Divergent" series (2014-16), based on the novels of Suzanne Collins, is set in a largely desolate Chicago, in which individuals have been divided into five different factions. A young woman named Beatrice Prior from the Abnegation faction decides to switch to Dauntless, the community's law enforcers. The book eventually reveals that she is genetically perfect. The film series has a happier ending than the novels.

"Divergent" uses its Chicago background well, especially the use of the Elevated train system, which the Dauntless use to travel around the city. The film opens with a long shot of the Chicago skyline, including several landmark buildings in notable disrepair, and there is a tagline of Chicago during the credits.

"The Matrix" series (1999-2003) uses Chicago as a template for the computer generated world. There are frequent mentions of Chicago streets.

Answer: New York City

"I Am Legend" is the Will Smith version of the 1954 Richard Matheson novel. Smith plays Doctor Robert Neville, a virologist who is trapped on Manhattan with an army of vampire mutants. He is able to roam the streets of a vacant New York with his dog.

Early scenes of "I Am Legend" pan over a desolated Manhattan, and include iconic locations such as the United Nations Building, Pan Am Building and Union Square.

In "I am Legend" Smith captures mutants and seeks to cure them of the virus. In the end he succeeds in coming up with a cure, but at the cost of his own life.

New York City also forms the backdrop for "Planet of the Apes" (1968), with Taylor (Charlton Heston) discovering the Statue of Liberty at the end of the film. Much more of post-nuclear New York can be seen in "Beneath the Planet of the Apes" (1970).

Answer: Los Angeles

"Omega Man" (1971) is the Charlton Heston version of the Richard Matheson novel "I Am Legend." In this version, a virus from a biological warfare lab has wiped out most of humanity, and Heston fights off the mutant survivors. Heston's Robert Neville is able to come up a vaccine based on his immune blood, but is killed by one of the mutant survivors.

The opening credits feature Heston driving through the streets of a deserted Los Angeles, including several landmark buildings.

Los Angeles has been the background for a variety of apocalypse/dystopian films, including "Night of the Comet", "Blade Runner" and "Strange Days".

Answer: Washington DC

"Logan's Run" is set in a future in which citizens commit ritual suicide at the age of 30. Logan (Michael York) is a "runner", a law enforcement officer who chases those who seek to avoid the mandatory death sentence. He manages to escape from the city with a young woman named Jessica (Jenny Agutter). The film is set in the year 2274, roughly two centuries after a global catastrophe.

Logan and Jessica eventually discover a post-apocalyptic Washington DC, whose lone survivor is an elderly man (Peter Ustinov) living in the remains of the US Capitol. Notable landmarks include the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, both in a state of serious disrepair.

They take the old man back to the domed city, where Logan destroys the computer that runs the city, ostensibly freeing the people to live longer.

"Minority Report" is a semi-dystopian film set in the Washington DC area. Using psychics to predict crimes, the police have eliminated homicides in the DC area. The film follows a police officer (Tom Cruise) who is framed for murder when he gets too close to a previous homicide case, which ultimately involves the chief of police.

Answer: Philadelphia

"12 Monkeys" is a retelling of the French art film "La Jette". Bruce Willis travels back in time in hopes of stopping a pandemic which kills most of humanity. The apocalyptic parts of the film take place in downtown Philadelphia. Willis is able to travel in time because he witnesses his own death as a young boy, creating a powerful psychic link.

Most of "12 Monkeys" was shot in Philadelphia and Baltimore. Key locations in Philadelphia include City Hall and Eastern State Penitentiary.

The film begins in 2035, 40 years after a pandemic wiped out 99 percent of the world's population. Most of the action takes place primarily in 1990 and 1996. It was directed by Terry Gilliam, who also created the dystopian masterpiece "Brazil" (1985).


"World War Z" also has several major scenes take place in Philadelphia.

Answer: Detroit

While Detroit is still standing in "Robocop" it is an even grimier and more disastrous version of the current city. The city is overrun by violent crime and run by evil corporations (in that respect, not so fictional). A tagline at the start of the film establishes Detroit as the film's location.

"Robocop" tells the story of Murphy (Peter Weller), a police officer who is gunned down and turned into a cyborg by corporate executives. Murphy manages to track down the gang that shot him and dispatch them in a gruesome manner, before bringing justice to the corporate wrong-doers behind the whole scheme.

Answer: San Francisco

"Dawn of the Planet of the Apes" (2014) is set in a future in which a simian virus has wiped out most of humanity and in which apes have advanced intelligence. The film deals with the tense relationship between the apes and the few surviving humans.

One of the key scenes in the film is set on the Golden Gate Bridge and other scenes are set in the Muir Woods, just north of San Francisco. The film was actually shot in Vancouver and Los Angeles.

"On the Beach" (1959) deals with a future in which much of humanity has been killed by radioactive fallout, Several scenes take place in a vacant San Francisco.

Answer: London

"28 Days Later" is Danny Boyle's take on zombie films. It is inspired by the work of George Romero and "The Day of the Triffids" (1951). It features Cillian Murphy as a bike messenger who awakes from a coma to discover a world where most of the population has been turned into zombies by a virus.

One of the film's most iconic shots features Murphy walking on Westminster Bridge with Parliament in the background, Other notable London locations include the Bank of England and Piccadilly Circus. Most of the film was shot in the early morning and on closed off streets.

Answer: Las Vegas

"The Stand" is based on the sprawling novel by Steven King, in which a virus released from a biological weapons laboratory wipes out most of humanity. Most of the book covers the travels of the remaining survivors, and leads to an epic confrontation between good and evil which culminates in Las Vegas being destroyed.

Las Vegas plays a key role in the story as the base of operations of Randall Flagg, the Satan-like character in the film. Trashcan Man (Matt Frewer) destroys Las Vegas in a nuclear explosion, which he calls "the big fire".

"The Stand" was first produced as a miniseries in 1994, starring Jamey Sheridan, Gary Sinise and Rob Lowe. The 2020 miniseries starred Alexander Skarsgard, James Marsden and Whoopi Goldberg.

Answer: Milwaukee

The 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead" stars Sarah Polley as a young woman who fights off zombies at a shopping mall in Milwaukee. The film is notable as the debut of director Zack Snyder, who went on to become a major player in the DC film universe.

As Polley flees her neighborhood filled with zombies, the radio alerts mention Milwaukee multiple times. There is also a bus that is identified as a Milwaukee County Transit vehicle, although its color scheme is wrong.

Polley is joined by Ving Rhames as a police officer (a long way from Marcellus Wallace), Mekhi Pfieffer, Ty Burrell (Modern Family) and Lindy Booth (The Librarians) in trying to survive the zombie apocalypse.