Readers reply: with governments asking us to stockpile, can we learn anything from disaster films?

As I was building pyramids of loo roll and tinned beans in response to the government’s Be Ready campaign, launched this week, I got to thinking about what other aspects of modern life might help us to get through an emergency. Specifically, our extensive back catalogue of disaster movies, TV series and the like. We’ve imagined catastrophes hitting the human race in so many ways, with so many different outcomes. Are there any useful tips we can take from our library of entertaining, effects-laden disaster films?

Which particular shows or movies should we watch in the name of preparedness? Or are they all pure fantasy, and when the planet overheats or the comet strikes, we’ll be wishing we’d spent our evenings watching dry informational programmes about water purification instead? Annabel, Sheffield

Send new questions to nq@theguardian.com.

Readers reply

In the event of a disaster, just stay with the dog. (The dog always survives.) alanfdow

We know that post apocalypse or disaster, only really good-looking people survive. There’s really no hope for me and the millions of average-looking people; we get buried under the volcanic ash, drowned by the tsunami, or otherwise suitably obliterated. My advice: roll with it until the inevitable sorting-according-to-looks happens. slobberfest

A bonus for us now that earlier generations of survivors (Triffids, The Stand) didn’t have is abundant bottled water. In an “I alone survived” scenario, I recommend spending the first week or two driving lorries away from supermarkets, alternating between water and long-lasting food. adamcgf

That’s pretty much what one of the protagonists in Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel does when he realises there’s a deadly pandemic starting. TobermoryNightlife

Raid the pharmacy first. DukeApricot

Apparently, we will have to spend at least an hour trying to save an unappealing American child who may perhaps say “I love you, Daddy” at some point. Perhaps, to save time and effort, these kids could be grouped together in convenient locations around the country for convenient collection at the first sign of comet, spaceship or giant wave? sparklesthewonderhen

It’s easier to teach blue-collar workers to do astronauting than to teach astronauts how to drill, apparently. And make sure you learn all your science from that near-documentary The Core. unclestinky

Don’t go swimming at a beach at a popular New England resort in summer. PeteTheBeat

There is a T-shirt with the slogan: Every Disaster Movie Starts With Somebody Ignoring a Scientist. This is, however, not entirely true. Some disaster movies starts with somebody allowing a scientist to do something. Clearly, the important thing is to be able to find out what kind of scientist you’ve got, and then encourage or suppress them as appropriate. SpoilheapSurfer

Which particular shows or movies should we watch, in the name of preparedness? Children of Men, but to ensure the UK doesn’t end up that way. dfic1999

WarGames. LorLala

Take the million-to-one chance – it always works out. serapis

Only nine times out of 10. And it has to be exactly a million to one. A million and one to one – don’t bother. FormerlyPrawn

Exposing invaders to British bacteria has been known to work, especially if the aliens are precariously balanced on three legs. jno50

The Walking Dead shows us what terrible decisions made by desperate people look like. The Handmaid’s Tale reminds us what the enemy looks like. And The West Wing is a blueprint for what we’ve lost in an uncivilised world. Dorkalicious

Common sense would suggest not living in New York, which gets very chilly (The Day After Tomorrow), or California, which is very shaky (Earthquake). But about one American in six does so. At least the short film Duck and Cover explains what to do when a nuclear holocaust is looming – basically, hide under a desk. jno50

Thank you for posting this question. I’ve been “preparing” since the non-event of Y2K (1999). Movies: The Day After (1983), Threads (1984), The Postman (1997), The Road (2009), The Book of Eli (2010). Terri H, Toronto, via email

As a self-confessed prepper, I think I might just have been captured by the 1975 BBC drama series Survivors. Probably saw it at an impressionable age, but it has stuck with me, along with some old second world war and air crash survival films. Resourcefulness is the key takeaway; when the shops are shuttered permanently, you have to grow it, make it, or trade for it – and protect what you do have in a lawless dystopian world! Phil Harmer, Llanidloes Powys, via email

There was an infamous film in the UK called Threads, made in the 80s. Your Duck and Cover reminded me of it. We watched one called Protect and Survive.

It advised that on hearing the three-minute warning siren, one should do the following: fill the bath with water, take a door off its hinges and prop it lengthways along an internal wall, and cover said door with a mattress. The family should then shelter under the door until the all-clear is sounded. Even as a child I thought it ambitious to accomplish in three minutes, but the family in the film managed it.

Problem was, they were there for a couple of weeks and their elderly granny died with no means of preserving the body, so they had to find alternative accommodation. On leaving the house they discovered the entire city was laid waste and society as they had known it was ended. To top it off, the young woman in the family was pregnant when the bomb dropped, with predictable radioactive effects on the foetus.

People still talk about this film – it pulled no punches and showed no matter what governments do to protect citizens in a nuclear war, it won’t work. Give me zombies every time – I can deal with them. rumblestrips

My dad used to practise taking the door off and making a shelter. My mom used to say she’d rather die in the blast. Oh the joys of the 1980s. DrMomPA

In the film The Survivalist, the protagonist gains entry to a safe place – a fenced and armed camp of fellow survivors – by paying an entry fee in the form of vegetable seeds. I think this would approximate the reality of societal breakdown, where food is of primary importance and the alternative is eating other people, plenty of which occurs in the film. Incidentally, The Survivalist is probably the most realistic, hence pessimistic, films about the end of society as we know it.

28 Days Later is a good film, but hordes of ravening zombies chasing people down the street is frankly ridiculous and quite entertaining. The Survivalist is neither – it’s like The Road, too close to the bone (if you’ll excuse the expression) to be fun. curiouspants

The beginning of The Road, where he tells his wife they need to fill the bath, is the only tip I remember. alexito

Never ever, ever extrapolate any information or “advice” from films. They’re actors, people who dress up and play pretend. All actors do is learn their lines and avoid the furniture, at least according to Spencer Tracy. bricklayersoption

The best disaster movie has to be Threads. And from it we can learn that there’s literally nothing anyone can do. You don’t even want to survive, as afterwards things get even worse. Have a lovely Sunday, everyone! Alex42