![]() Justified in that abandoned cars with at least partially full gas tanks are everywhere. Notably, the main cast still doesn't bother using any of them. Lampshaded in Zombieland, when the main character remarks on the useful attributes of a bike during a zombie apocalypse.To make it even weirder, there is group of cannibals using a semi-trailer truck with a home-made gasifier attached to it - they had materials and skills to build one, but something as basic as bikes is missing. The main character at least has the partial excuse of having a cart filled with all of his supplies to push around. One fellow has a pedalled tricycle to pull his cart of (radioactive) water. Max still won't abandon his Cool Car, however, and is using pack animals to pull it like an extremely heavy wagon. Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome: Most people seem to have run out of gasoline.In Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior: After the end, everyone seems to be driving around in muscle cars, and gasoline is the most precious resource.One wonders why a father who stocks many other emergency supplies would give away all the family's bikes when he lives a three-day walk from town. When asked if they have bicycles, the sisters say their father gave theirs away to some needy kids shortly before the Big Blackout. Into the Forest: The family's only two options for getting to town are driving or walking for three days. ![]() The only justified instance is with the father and his sick daughter because he needs to get her to medical attention ASAP. What makes their eventual murder for fuel so messed up is that they are almost at their destination and could easily just even walk there without much problems. The idea of getting gas from other cars or finding bikes never comes up. The four main characters in Carriers are perfectly willing to shoot innocent people for their gas, even though the world is almost entirely intact.It doesn't explain why nobody else has them, though. The Book of Eli could potentially have this be a Justified Trope, since the main character is blind, even if he also has a Disability Superpower.However, given the pace at which the infected run (and never seem to tire), this is at least partially justified. Particularly strange in that, as the title of the film says, the movie takes place only a month after. Ironic, since Jim's character was a bicycle courier before the accident that got him into a coma in the first place. Often involves Gasoline Lasts Forever, where people still use cars instead of bikes years after the fuel should have become unusable. Contrast Ragnarök Proofing, for those rare cases where bicycles (among other objects) are still around and in working order, even though bearings and chains should have long since rusted solid and rubber tires decayed into uselessness. And all of this is to say nothing of the opportunities for auto Product Placement.Ĭompare Schizo Tech and Scavenger World. Driving and scavenging for fuel provide opportunities for dialogue and characterization moments that would be more difficult if our characters were bicycling, and there are also opportunities for mechanical breakdowns, unexpected fuel shortages and Jammed Seatbelts to add some surprise drama. It's generally more interesting if our heroes find a Cool Car or Big Badass Rig. It might undercut the drama of a bleak post-apocalyptic thriller if our grizzled hero is pedaling around on a BMX bike. A great deal of the world's fiction is written in the United States, where bicycles are seen as uncool transportation devices for children, recreation and tree-hugging hippies. ![]() On the other hand, the reasons might have less to do with what makes sense for the characters and more with what makes a better story. Whatever the reason, some survivors really do need a car. Maybe they need to haul cargo that is too heavy for someone on a bicycle to manage. Maybe the characters need to travel a long distance more quickly than on a bicycle. Perhaps the end has only happened recently, so there are plenty of fueled-up cars to take advantage of. It seems like a gross oversight for wasteland wanderers to not only ignore the benefits of bikes, but seem to pretend that they don't exist at all. ![]() They're also just about everywhere, so even if one breaks down beyond repair, you can easily scavenge another one. One would think that bicycles provide many advantages to the resident of a Scavenger World: they require no fuel, are easy to maintain, relatively lightweight and virtually silent. For some reason, they almost always choose to Walk the Earth on foot, rely on animal power or scavenge for automobiles, never minding that refined gasoline expires after a few years at best. Cracked, "6 Technologies Conspicuously Absent From Sci-Fi Movies"Īfter the End, when the nukes have dropped or the zombies have taken over, survivors are often left with a limited means to travel to the local Safe Zone Hope Spot.
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