The World's End (2013)

Five friends who reunite in an attempt to top their epic pub crawl from twenty years earlier unwittingly become humanity's only hope for survival.

Director:

Edgar Wright

Writers:

Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright

Stars:

Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Martin Freeman

5 wins & 22 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Thomas Law	...	Young Gary
Zachary Bailess	...	Young Andy
Jasper Levine	...	Young Steven
James Tarpey	...	Young Peter
Luke Bromley	...	Young Oliver
Sophie Evans	...	Becky Salt
Samantha White	...	Erika Leekes
Rose Reynolds	...	Tracy Benson
Richard Hadfield	...	Young Shane
Flora Slorach	...	Young Sam
Francesca Reidie	...	Teenage Twins
Charlotte Reidie	...	Teenage Twins
Pierce Brosnan	...	Guy Shepherd
David Bradley	...	Basil
Michael Smiley	...	Reverend Green

Storyline

20 years after attempting an epic pub crawl, five childhood friends reunite when one of them becomes hell bent on trying the drinking marathon again. They are convinced to stage an encore by mate Gary King, a 40-year old man trapped at the cigarette end of his teens, who drags his reluctant pals to their home town and once again attempts to reach the fabled pub, The World's End. As they attempt to reconcile the past and present, they realize the real struggle is for the future, not just theirs but humankind's. Reaching The World's End is the least of their worries.

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Plot Keywords:

paranoia | twin actresses for twin sisters | doppelganger | group therapy | alcoholic | 

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Taglines:

Good food. Fine ales. Total Annihilation.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Sci-Fi

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for pervasive language including sexual references.

Did You Know?

Trivia

Gary refers to himself as "the once and future King", the title of a book by T.H. White about the life of King Arthur.

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Goofs

When Gary gives the police officer his name and address as Peter Page, the postcode he tells him is invalid - in the UK, the second half of a postcode always begins with a number.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Gary King: Ever have one of those nights that starts out like any other, but ends up being the *best* night of your life?

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Crazy Credits

The Sisters of Mercy's "This Corrosion" is used over the end credits. If this track sounds very familiar to you, it might be because other's have described Hans Zimmer's "Las Vegas" music from Rain Man (1988) as being a "dead-on swipe" of this Sister's track.

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Connections

Referenced in Kill Me Three Times Q&A (2015)

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Soundtracks

Old Red Eyes Is Back
(Paul Heaton, Dave Rotheray (as David Rotheray))
Performed by The Beautiful South
Courtesy of Mercury Records Ltd
Under license from Universal Music Operations Ltd

User Reviews

Danger on the edge of town

Five pre-middle-aged male friends are drawn to Newton Haven, the site of their failed dozen-pub crawl as students in 1990. They're led by Gary King (Simon Pegg). He's the one who couldn't move on from that night; couldn't get a job like them, or get married like them. Reluctant revelry and bad-tempered banter ensues, before the gang discovers that the residents of the town have changed. That is, they have BEEN changed...

The World's End is considerably better than the ostensibly similar This Is The End, a super-indulgent American comedy which mistook f-bombs for humour and name-dropping for satire. Edgar Wright's film is indulgent also, but at the service of audience enjoyment, as opposed to the enjoyment of the players. The script is surprisingly dense and intricate, many of its jokes arriving bittersweet. In an era when so many comedies are heavily (and lazily) improvised, it's refreshing to watch a tightly woven story unfold for once.

The action scenes are given equal attention, lovingly choreographed like some kind of slapstick dance. Chief pugilist is Andrew, our sort-of-hero, played by Nick Frost with remarkable agility. This instalment is far less bloodthirsty than its predecessors - more Scott Pilgrim than Shaun.

The rest of the group is made up of Paddy Considine, Eddie Marsan, and Martin Freeman. The performances are all top-drawer, although it takes time for their individual personalities to emerge. But then, the fact that they are now practically indistinguishable may be the point - for all their disapproval of Gary, they are the ones playing it safe.

What's most impressive about The World's End is the fact that it's actually about something. Nostalgia is easy to indulge but difficult to deconstruct, but this film genuinely aspires to explore the idea of selective memory - as with a bad hangover, our memories tends to return in subjective spasms, and the truth is only accessible by gathering multiple witnesses. And the truth isn't always what it cracked up to be.

The World's End is, for me, the best of the "Cornetto Trilogy". Highly recommended.

Details

Official Sites:

Focus Features [United States] Official Facebook

Country:

UK USA Japan

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 August 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

The World's End

Filming Locations:

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Box Office

Budget:

$20,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$8,811,790, 25 August 2013

Gross USA:

$26,004,851

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$46,089,287

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Datasat Dolby Digital Dolby Surround 7.1 SDDS (uncredited) DTS (DTS: X)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1