History Film / AfterEarth

* AntiTrueSight: The alien monsters can detect humans by smelling the pheromones released by fear, Ghosting is a technique in which the subject feels no fear and becomes invisible to the monster.

* HollywoodTactics: The strange tactics implied to be in use (such as favouring mêlée weapons over ranged ones) are {{justified}} since the film is set in a human culture that's trying to avoid ultra-high-tech dominance, preferring organically-dominant technology with as little high-tech as they want to risk. This allows for stylized action sequences involving the use of swords/spears, martial arts, and agile chase scenes.

* NoEscapeButDown: Kitai has to jump off a cliff in order to safe himself from a tiger-like beast.

* PantheraAwesome: Some sort of big cats attack the eagle nest. They don't go after Kitai, though; they're more interested in the helpless baby birds. They only attack Kitai when he decides to defend the eaglets.

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' -- the slightly surreal sci-fi Happyology-themed vanity project of a big Hollywood star in which he plays a supporting major character, which was made with the intent of making a sequel which will never come.

''After Earth'' is a post-apocalyptic science-fiction action film directed by Creator/MNightShyamalan, co-written by Shyamalan and Gary Whitta, and starring Creator/WillSmith and his son Creator/JadenSmith.[[note]]It is the second movie to star both Smiths after ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness''.[[/note]] It was released on May 31, 2013.

The films is set in a distant future, 1,000 years after humans evacuated Earth due to a massive environmental catastrophe. Cypher and Kitai Raige, father and son, are the sole survivors of a spaceship that crashed on what turns out to be an abandoned Earth. Cypher is mortally injured in the crash, which means Kitai must travel across the wild environment alone to activate the distress beacon in the wreckage of their ship, with highly evolved animals and extraterrestrial creatures that detect prey by smelling their fear in his path.

The original story idea came from Smith himself, and he hired Whitta to develop the idea more thoroughly. Shyamalan also made a few passes at it, although his involvement is so downplayed -- which many believe was due to [[AudienceAlienatingEra the negative reputation he had accrued with his past few films]] -- that it wasn't mentioned in any of the trailers or promotional material.

''After Earth'' is a science-fiction film starring Creator/WillSmith and his son Creator/JadenSmith, the second movie to star both Smiths after ''Film/ThePursuitOfHappyness''. It was released on May 31, 2013.

Father and son, Cypher and Kitai Raige, are the sole survivors of a spaceship that crashed on a DeathWorld, Earth. Now they must survive long enough to activate the distress beacon in the wreckage of their ship.

The original story idea comes from Smith himself, though he hired a screenwriter to develop the idea more thoroughly. The film's director, Creator/MNightShyamalan, also made a few passes at it, although his involvement is so downplayed that it isn't mentioned in any of the trailers.

!!Danger is real, these Tropes are a choice:

* SpiritualSuccessor: To ''Film/BattlefieldEarth'' - the slightly surreal sci-fi Happyology-themed vanity project of a big Hollywood star in which he plays a supporting major character, which was made with the intent of making a sequel which will never come.

* MinimalistCast: While there are some scenes in the beginning and the end of the movie filled with extras, only a few characters are actually focused on or given characterization/significance, which include Kitai, his dad, his mom, and a few crew members of Cypher’s ship.

* AwesomeMcCoolName: Smith the Elder's character's name: ''Cypher Raige''.

* ArtisticLicenseBiology: Species do not evolve ''to'' do something, they evolve ''because'' something provided an advantage for survival or reproduction. Unless it's a metaphor for "[[EverythingTryingToKillYou Everything wants to kill]] [[UpToEleven everything else]], including you, and is very fit for it", a planet where "everything has evolved to kill humans" while the humans were absolutely ''absent'' from it, makes about as much sense as saying that everything currently on our planet evolved to hunt Neptunians.

* AdultFear: Cypher lost his daughter to an Ursa prior to the movie’s main events and he spends the majority of the movie worrying about his son being out in the wild while Cypher is immobile at their ship’s crash site. Even worse is that he can see what his son sees, but he’s unable to do anything to protect his son other than tell him what to do.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Would all evidence of human civilization disappear in only a thousand years? You bet it would. Ironically the neolithic cave paintings Kitai finds would survive as just as depicted as well, for the same reason they survived until the modern era - they were in a sheltered place.

* ClimacticVolcanoBackdrop

** Additionally, as many critics and viewers pointed out, the giant eagle should have adapted already if the planet freezes every single night. She should not have died of exposure if she had been alive for dozens of years in that environment. Plus, if she died during the night, then her corpse wouldn't have held heat long enough to warm Kitai and save him from dying anyway.
* AwesomeMcCoolName: Smith the Elder's character's name: ''Cypher Raige''. However, many note that it's such a ridiculous name that it loops back around to being WhoNamesTheirKidDude. And there's also the Raiges' dead little laughter/sister, ''Senshi''.
-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': ''(just barely suppressing laughter)'' Was Lieutenant [=ManAwesome=] already taken?

* DullSurprise: Raised to the point of it being a recognised Martial Art, as experiencing fear will get you caught by the fear-smelling Ursa

* PlotTwist: With M. Night Shyamalan involved, you'd definitely think so...[[AvertedTrope but not this time.]] Unless the planet being Earth was meant to be a twist... if so, then [[SarcasmMode great job hiding that from us, guys.]] Never would've seen that coming in a movie called '''''After Earth'''''.
* RealityIsUnrealistic: Would all evidence of human civilisation disappear in only a thousand years? You bet it would. Ironically the neolithic cave paintings Kitai finds would survive as just as depicted as well, for the same reason they survived until the modern era - they were in a sheltered place.

-->'''Nostalgia Critic''': ''(just barely suppressing laughter)'' Was Lieutenant ManAwesome already taken?

[[caption-width-right:300:Take a knee.]]