Solar Eclipse: 7 Films And Shows That Have Brilliantly Depicted This Natural Phenomenon Of The Moon Shadowing The Sun

While North America prepares for a complete solar eclipse today, the first that they would witness since August 2017, people have been reflecting on what an eclipse means. In the actual world, it just means that the moon passes in front of the sun for a few minutes, which is really wonderful to see, but in the realm of film and television, it may indicate a variety of things. It might indicate the birth of a new demon or the transplantation of a murderer. It might signify that your gods have spared you from sacrifice or that you’ve embraced your legendary status. Or it might just indicate that you are an obstinate man-child who cannot stop himself from pursuing things that would harm him and people around him.

With the eclipse approaching, we’ve compiled a list of our greatest eclipses on television and in movies, ranging from dramatic and violent to terribly silly:

Frank Oz is much more than simply an attractive face. He directed ‘Little Shop Of Horrors’ (1986), one of the finest musical comedies and marvels of puppetry ever committed to film. The entire narrative is put in action when rare plant aficionado Seymour Krelborn (Rick Moranis at his most nebbish and charming self) watches a “to-tal-e-clipse-of-the-sun”, as Greek chorus girls Crystal, Ronette, and Chiffon sing in a song named “Da-Doo”. Because this is a sci-fi B-grade movie, the eclipse summons a green zap of extraterrestrial intelligent plant-life to earth, nestled amid the zinnias. It was baby Audrey II and baby Rick Moranis’ meet-cute, set to doo-wop music, which takes the cake. This epic genesis tale for a renowned movie monster is one of the most significant cinematic eclipses ever.

The solar eclipse in ‘Marge vs. the Monorail’ is excellent since it is so unimportant to the plot. The majority of this list consists of eclipses of immense significance, whether magical or helpful for vampires. They’re something, but this is nothing. A throwaway gag in an episode filled with them. It’s also fantastic since it lasts roughly the same amount of time as a true eclipse, although most plot-supporting eclipses in fiction linger. Not in this eclipse. He gets in and exits. Leonard Nimoy’s flowery narration is the cherry on top of an already incredibly dumb cake.

A new member of the demon council, the God Hand, is born during an eclipse that occurs once every 216 years in the ‘Berserk’ universe. This program, based on Kentaro Miura’s manga, is one of the darkest fantasies ever conceived, with the episode ‘Eclipse’ setting the stage for an all-time downer, cliffhanger conclusion. We don’t need to delve into all the gory and twisted stuff that goes on. It suffices to state that Berserk takes use of this natural phenomena to unleash excruciating otherworldly evil. ‘Eclipse’ does more than merely darken the skies; it takes the antihero Guts to a realm governed by evil powers and seduction. There, he loses practically everything he values while witnessing his friends and new family suffer and die. Guts survives, embarks on a road of revenge, and then the program abruptly ends, leaving us with a thousand questions, hopes, and concerns. The manga continues his tale by depicting the lengthy journey Guts and his beloved, Casca, undergo to heal and move on after being defiled and traumatized by the incident. But the gloom is never distant from their thoughts.

It’s a complete solar eclipse in Kenya’s imaginary Tembo Valley, and Eliza of the titular Thornberrys is racing against time, an adversary, and a herd of stampeding elephants to keep them from being chased into an electric wire set up by poachers. She has lost her hidden talent to communicate with animals, so she must rely only on her heart and wit, which she fortunately possesses in plenty. After foiling the poachers’ plan (and surviving their subsequent murder attempt), Shaman Mnyambo rewards Eliza’s heart by returning her abilities before the sun rises in Tembo valley. For a film whose finale so significantly upped the standard for Nickelodeon Studios, it’s amusing to recall that its legacy is (appropriately) a Paul Simon song.

Mel Gibson’s follow-up to ‘The Passion Of The Christ’ was an even bloodier picture, but possibly just as spiritual, or spirituality-related, ‘Apocalypto’. It is an action/chase film about a young Mayan peasant named Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) who is forced into human sacrifice by troops in the army of a corrupt and wicked emperor. When the film was released, it was condemned for factual errors (for example, human sacrifice of the type seen in the film arrived late in Mayan society, and some historians believe it may have originated with the Aztecs). However, it was also hailed for its intense, often terrifyingly dynamic moments of violence. The most frightening image is when Jaguar Paw’s captives lay him out and prepare to remove his beating heart from his chest before beheading him, only to have the rite halted by a sun eclipse. This cosmic intervention is regarded as a message that Jaguar Paw and the other conscripts should be spared. Because this is a Mel Gibson action film, they are not spared; instead, they are set free to be used as human targets for javelin practice, a horror from which Jaguar Paw escapes, allowing Apocalypto to transform itself into a lengthy foot chase through the jungle, culminating in a final scene as horrifyingly funny as the one that ended the original ‘Planet Of The Apes’.

You may have overlooked the solar eclipse during ‘Mad Men’. Unlike the world-changing eclipses of sci-fi epics like ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ or ‘Rogue One’, it’s a deliciously bland non-event in ‘Mad Men’, with Don Draper flirting with his child’s teacher as if it were any other day. We can’t even see the eclipse! Nonetheless, the sun sets at an alarming moment in Don’s soul-corroding trip through the 1960s. Betty is meeting her future spouse; Peggy is ready to move on from Sterling Cooper; he is sowing the seeds of his affair with Ms. Farrell; and his professional independence is slipping through his fingers – all happening at the same time. The sun setting on Saturday afternoon predicted many of the losses and disappointments that would finally catch up with him. After all, the eclipse had a profound impact on Don’s life; he simply never looked closely enough.

Now that everyone is infatuated with Rebecca Ferguson as Lady Jessica in ‘Dune’, can we get them to watch ‘The Kid Who Would Be King’, in which she also plays a witch with dubious intentions? The film follows 12-year-old Alex (Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Andy’s son), who is trying to fit in at school and discovers the legendary Excalibur sword one day on his walk home. Alex’s retrieval of the sword from the stone triggers a chain of events involving sorceress Morgana (Ferguson) and wizard Merlin (Angus Imrie in childhood and Patrick Stewart in old age), culminating in a spectacular fight scenario set against a total solar eclipse. The details are what make this scene so special. An army of kids transformed into knights wearing armour and special eclipse-viewing glasses; Ferguson slinking, smirking, and generally being a very hot menace (this was the same year she made ‘Doctor Sleep’); and the pure-hearted sincerity Serkis’ and the film’s other school-aged outcasts bring to their effort to save the world – all at one go. The adult supporting cast is stacked (‘Andor’s Denise Gough and Genevieve O’Reilly, ‘Ted Lasso’s Nick Mohammed), but the film works because it immerses us in Alex’s feelings of loneliness and uncertainty before pulling us out of them through, of course, the beauty of friendship, shared goals, and belonging. It’s excellent and charming.

Which among these solar eclipse scenes have you guys seen already? Share your thoughts with us.