World War Z

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World War Z

PG-13

Released Jun 21, 2013

1h 55m

Horror

Action

Adventure

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Popcornmeter

67%

Tomatometer

277 Reviews

72%

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250,000+ Ratings

When former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family get stuck in urban gridlock, he senses that it's no ordinary traffic jam. His suspicions are confirmed when, suddenly, the city erupts into chaos. A lethal virus, spread through a single bite, is turning healthy people into something vicious, unthinking and feral. As the pandemic threatens to consume humanity, Gerry leads a worldwide search to find the source of the infection and, with luck, a way to halt its spread.

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Critics Consensus

It's uneven and diverges from the source book, but World War Z still brings smart, fast-moving thrills and a solid performance from Brad Pitt to the zombie genre.

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Candice Frederick

Reel Talk Online

While the 3D effect helped increase the intensity of the film, I can only hope a sequel will fill in some of the story that is dangling in some areas.

Rated: C+

Sep 7, 2017

Full Review

Larushka Ivan-Zadeh

metro.co.uk

Scrape off all that spectacle and it's pretty non-original stuff.

Rated: 3/5

Sep 5, 2017

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Chris Stuckmann

ChrisStuckmann.com

It's actually quite remarkable this movie turned out even remotely good, considering the horrendous production reports and the reshooting of the entire last act.

Rated: B

Apr 23, 2015

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JD Duran

InSession Film

Marco Beltrami’s score is excellent for the genre and the environment he’s given to work with...

Rated: A-

Aug 19, 2024

Full Review

Patrick Cavanaugh

The Wolfman Cometh

Successfully captures the fragmented and anthological nature of the source material, with the scope and scale managing to deliver exciting sequences not often seen in low-budget zombie fare.

Rated: 4/5

Sep 20, 2023

Full Review

Benjamín Harguindey

EscribiendoCine

The well-filmed genial ending makes us realize the weaknesses of what preceded it. Finally, the zombies are scary. But what are we afraid of? There isn't one single interesting character in the entire movie. [Full review in Spanish]

Rated: 6/10

Aug 7, 2023

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Bill from Winchester

Cool movie about zombies. Brad Pitt was good as the main role. Lots of gore and violence so not recommended for younger viewers.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

01/12/25

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Isaiah

It’s not my favorite movie that’s why I gave it a 1 star rating

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

09/06/25

Full Review

Alejandra C

Probably one of the best zombie movies out there. Make you wonder if there was ever an apocalypse you will hope its not like this one

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/06/25

Full Review

Shaun R

One of the better zombie movies and a rare film that improves as it goes on.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

09/02/25

Full Review

Hughe J

World War Z was released in theatres in 2013 and is very loosely based on the novel of the same name written by Max Brooks. While the book was a series of short stories about the zombie outbreak that nearly destroyed the world, the movie centers around Brad Pitt's character and his attempts to keep his family on a boat. Pitt plays Gerry Lane who is an ex UN investigator caught in the initial zombie outbreak in Philly along with his family. In exchange for keeping his family on a UN boat he agrees to track down the initial outbreak location and travels to several countries. While doing so a zombie gets aboard his plane so naturally he detonates a grenade mid flight and blows up the aircraft. However his plot armor holds up and walks from the crash site to another UN base. He soon learns that zombies have sick people radar and can detect illnesses for some reason, which they avoid. Pitt therefore decides to infect healthy people so they don't get bit and end up infected by the zombies; yes this is the actual plot. In short while I really enjoyed the book this travesty was supposedly based on, this movie was terrible. I like Brad Pitt but the plot here was just dumb, the SFX were terrible, and the ending was a war crime. My only hope is that they don't make a sequel.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

08/30/25

Full Review

Audience Member

LOVEEE THIS MOVIE! I’ve been always rewatched thiss since i was a kid

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

08/17/25

Full Review

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Marc Forster

Director

Brad Pitt

Gerry Lane

Mireille Enos

Karen Lane

James Badge Dale

Speke

Daniella Kertesz

Segen

Matthew Fox

Parajumper

World War Z: Official Clip - Zombie Stampede

2:26

World War Z: Official Clip - Be Prepared for Anything

2:13

World War Z: Official Clip - Over the Wall

1:33

World War Z: Official Clip - Flight of the Living Dead

2:21

World War Z: Official Clip - Zombie Camouflage

2:11

World War Z: Official Clip - 12 Seconds to Infection

1:42

World War Z: Official Clip - We Just Woke the Dead

2:13

World War Z: Official Clip - They're Coming

1:47

World War Z: Official Clip - Zombie Outbreak

2:00

World War Z: Official Clip - Zombie Lab Attack

2:09

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Synopsis

When former U.N. investigator Gerry Lane (Brad Pitt) and his family get stuck in urban gridlock, he senses that it's no ordinary traffic jam. His suspicions are confirmed when, suddenly, the city erupts into chaos. A lethal virus, spread through a single bite, is turning healthy people into something vicious, unthinking and feral. As the pandemic threatens to consume humanity, Gerry leads a worldwide search to find the source of the infection and, with luck, a way to halt its spread.

Director: Marc Forster
Producer: Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Ian Bryce
Screenwriter: Drew Goddard, Damon Lindelof, Matthew Michael Carnahan
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Production Co: Latina Pictures, GK Films, Paramount, Plan B Entertainment, Plan B Films, 2DUX²
Rating: PG-13 (Intense Frightening Zombie Seq|Disturbing Images|Violence)
Genre: Horror, Action, Adventure
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Jun 21, 2013, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Jun 7, 2015
Box Office (Gross USA): $202.4M
Runtime: 1h 55m
Sound Mix: Datasat, Dolby

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