7 times Malaysia got DESTROYED in movies & TV

THIS SUMMER.

MALAYSIA.

WILL KENA.

BOOMS.

Heh. So lucky la Americans… every few months they get to see their country attacked by aliens, ravaged by a killer virus, or destroyed by giant monsters. In fact.. there’s a wikipedia entry dedicated to the number of times NYC has been destroyed (69 if you’re curious). But Malaysia leh? Well aside from bad Sean Connery movies, Kuala Lumpur has been largely spared from misfortune.

Until now…

In case you missed it, the money shot is at 2:15… when KLCC is seen dropping onto… London bridge!?

For those who didn’t read about it here or here… Independence Day: Resurgence is the sequel to one of our favourite alien invasion movies ever…  starring Jeff Goldblum, Bill Pullman and Liam Hemsworth! In the original 1996 movie Independence Day, earth gets attacked by a bunch of aliens, destroying most of the world’s cities (although KL was thankfully not one of them). This causes the countries of the world to unite, and kick their arses back to the stone age.

The new movie, Resurgence, is set 20 years later, when the world has incorporated the alien technology to better protect the planet and guess what… the aliens are baaaaaaack!

The film is going to be released this month on the 23rd of June 2016! So in honour of this momentous destruction, we’ve watched hundreds of movies and TV series to come up with this list of shows where Malaysia was hit by disaster – and it’s been hit quite a few times…

 

1. When Kuala Lumpur was ravaged by war and chaos like the rest of the world

When it happens: Children of Men (2006),

Timestamp: 3:50

Children of Men was directed by the same guy that did Gravity (which our editor famously watched 4 times in iMAX). For reasons unknown, in the near-future, the human race has lost the ability to bear children. So the whole world goes hopeless, and chaos and war ensues. In one blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scene, TV propaganda shows how London is still standing strong despite other capitals around the world going to poop. And after Paris, Washington and Moscow, the last lingering shot is on KUALA LUMPUR!

There’s no further mention, but looking at the brief shot, you can see KLCC clearly on fire, and a very old-looking (even older than Proton Saga) cab in the foreground.

IMDB rating: 7.9/10

Should you watch it?: It was quite exciting when we saw ourselves included, since they actually took some budget to photoshop us even 🙂 But that shouldn’t detract from this multiple-award winning movie. If you’ve ever wondered why Gravity never cuts the camera, here’s where director Alfonso Cuaron mastered it first. There are unbelievably long action scenes that look like they were taken in one-cut. It’s quite gory and depressing tho, but strangely there are scenes here that will give you hope in the human race.

Hit us in the comments if you know which one we’re talking about 😉

 

2. When Aliens invaded Malaysia while Superman wasn’t around

When it happens: Justice League Season 1, Episode 1: Secret Origins.

Timestamp: 16:25

White Martians have invaded the world, and in a pivotal battle with them, Superman seems to get mind-invaded by one of the aliens, and subsequently disappears (Hmmm… he seems to do that pretty often actually). Anyways, while he’s gone, news channels wasted no time (barely seconds) in announcing “As the devastation continues, the question on everyone’s lips is… where is Superman?”. In the meantime, they announce the chaos of Aliens attacking everywhere else in the world… including, of course… the jungles of Malaysia (no wonder we got deforestation issues)!

IMDB rating: 8.0/10

Should you watch it?: IGN once named it as their 20th best animated series of all time. Two people in the CILISOS office have claimed that the series is very poignant, and lotsa flashy fighting scenes (they’re both fans). But as far as we can tell, Malaysia doesn’t get anymore mentions after this one. You can watch the whole episode for free here.

 

3. When rival gangs took over a post-apocalyptic KL

When it happens: Apokalips X (2014)

Timestamp: Er… 2047?

We were actually surprised, but there’s been an apocalyptic movie written, shot, and acted by Malaysians! The story seems almost like an homage to Mad Max, in the rival gangs that have taken over KL after an unspecified nuclear war in 2047. The premise is quite cool tho, with the aftermath of nuclear holocaust releasing particles in the air that kill people more than 30-years old – thus giving the perfect setup for a battle royale among attractive, young goth Malaysians – among them, Peter Davis and Jehan Miskin.

“The majority of the kids are decked out in variations of school uniforms (becauseJapan Asia), though there are 3 outlying groups – the Sugi-Oh (Baseball Furies in hockey masks), the Pencak Silat (who dress like samurai on Casual Friday) and the Chi-Kanoz (yep, Asians dressed like Chicano gang-bangers whose dialogue consists almost entirely of shouting “LOCO!”. Blart)” – From the tombofanubis

While the director, Mamat Khalid, is known for comedies, he also seems fixated with bringing apocalypse to KL, with two zombie movies (Zombi Kampung Pisang and Zombie Kilang Biskut) also in his name.

IMDB rating: 4.9/10

Should you watch it?: Sadly, we couldn’t seem to get our hands on a copy. However, judging by the IMDB score, that’s probably not a bad thing. A few reviews praise the promising premise, but dunk the execution. The best review we could find was a 3/5 star from a blog stating “Tidak mengecewakan, walaupun CGI agak 10 tahun ke belakang.”

 

4. When a cyborg was blown up outside of KLCC

When it happens: Totally Spies, Season 1, Episode 24: Man or Machine?

Timestamp: 3:30 + 15:02-16:40

So a disgruntled scientist kidnapped the world’s leaders to manipulate them to build rides out of each country’s landmark… in this case, KLCC’s lift – to speed up and down!. To prevent people from finding out his plan, he replaced these world leaders with evil cyborgs.

So in Malaysia, one of the cyborgs came in the form of er… a Malaysian politician, giving a speech outside KLCC. Sure enough, the girls find a way to thwart the cyborg, by blowing it up…with a tazer just outside the mall.

5. When the US president was told Zouk might be off-limits

When it happens: West Wing Season 4, Episode 20.

Timestamp: 7:10

In case you haven’t heard, West Wing is a drama series written by the guy who wrote the Facebook movie, starring Martin Sheen as the US President. In this particular episode, the whole White House is on lockdown because someone fired a gun at it. As Martin is getting a briefing on a new crisis, his Chief of Staff also casually mentions that there’s also been a bombing in KL (!) and another attempted bombing in Berlin.

IMDB rating: 8.2/10

Should you watch it?: Well, not for the Malaysia reference. TV series where can watch only one episode wan… somemore such a passing reference. But as a series, it won a record 9 Emmys in its first season, and presents very optimistic view of American politicians. So… up to you lo…

 

6. When the whole Malaysia kena virus, but they only mentioned Singapore

When it happens: Contagion (2011)

Timestamp: 1.09:00

Yes yes, this is really quite debatable as a mention… they show us on a map, but only Singapore is labeled (*gasp*)! AAAAanyways… the reason we put this here is because the real villain of this Steve Soderbergh movie, the MEV-1 virus, was scarily BASED on Malaysia’s own Nipah virus outbreak in the late 1990s.

“MEV-1 is based on a real pathogen, called Nipah virus, which causes respiratory symptoms, encephalitis, seizures, and kills 45 to 90 percent of its victims. Nipah has a reservoir in bats and has sickened hundreds of people in Malaysia and Bangladesh.” – The Scientist.com

In the movie, a chance encounter infects Gwyneth Paltrow with a new virus that then proceeds to kill millions of people around the world. The virus origin (revealed at the end of the movie), is VERY very similar to Nipah’s… which eventually resulted in 105 Malaysian deaths, and a mass culling of 1 million pigs.

IMDB rating: 6.6/10

Should you watch it?: It’s not a movie with alot of action. It’s more of an awakening of the very real horror if something like this were to happen in real life. There’s no real mention of Malaysia specifically, but since the inspiration for the virus came from our country, it might not hurt to watch this to figure out how to react if it actually happens…

Oh if you want a virus show with some action, then you can try the next one instead…

 

7. When Jay Chou almost made Malaysia go viral

When it happens: The Viral Factor (2014)

Timestamp: 14:53 onwards

70 miles north of Kota Bharu, an oil tanker is found with all its 14 crew members dead from what appears to be small pox… and the virus is headed for Kuala Lumpur in the hands of a rogue intelligence officer. OMG who can save Malaysia!?

The movie focuses on Jay Chou as a special forces agent whose brother has become an escaped convict in Malaysia. Coincidentally, one of his fellow special forces members has betrayed the team and stolen a rare virus that he plans to sell as a biological weapon… in Malaysia also. Wah.

IMDB rating: 6/10

Should you watch it?: It’s not exactly an Oscar nominee, but this one’s quite cool cos more than half the movie was shot in Malaysia. The disaster in Malaysia didn’t end with the virus either… You get to see an Alphard fall into the Klang river, a prison escape out of the Sultan Abdul Samad building, three helicopters playing hide-n-seek around KLCC and even a car-chase scene through Pavillion KL!

 

Hmmm… Seems Malaysia is quite safe from disaster?

Honestly, next to New York being destroyed 69 times, it was really really hard searching for Malaysia disaster references. That’s why CILISOS is honestly quite thrilled at another 6 seconds of fame here in the upcoming Independence Day: Resurgence movie in all its HD CGI glory this 23rd June! Here’s that scene again to whet your appetite!

Oh and if you know of any other instances where Malaysia got boomboompowed, let us know in the comments below… and we might have some preview passes to give away 😉 In the meantime, maybe this YouTube video is what KLCC should be doing #mebetoosoon?