Martin Freeman as Oliver, Paddy Considine as Steven, Simon Pegg as Gary, Nick Frost as Andy, and Eddie Marsan as Peter in Edgar Wrightâ  s â œThe Worldâ  s
Martin Freeman as Oliver, Paddy Considine as Steven, Simon Pegg as Gary, Nick Frost as Andy, and Eddie Marsan as Peter in Edgar Wrightâ s â œThe Worldâ s End,â a Focus Features release. (Laurie Sparham, Focus Features) (Laurie Sparham)

Bottoms up! Director Edgar Wright and actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost get the band back together in the beer-swilling apocalyptic comedy "The World's End."

Fans of the zombie epic "Shaun of the Dead" and the action satire "Hot Fuzz" have been waiting forever for this final chapter in the Cornetto trilogy, so dubbed for the U.K. ice cream treat that pops up in all three films. Their devotion to this quirky oeuvre is aptly rewarded with this festival of total annihilation, alcoholic and otherwise. A pub crawl from hell is at the core of this sci-fi bromance, the last installment in a canon bursting with blood and ice cream.

"It's the unifying factor in the trilogy of films," says Pegg, 43, who seems as charmingly scruffy in person as he does on screen, during a recent San Francisco media junket. "We wanted to give it a great send-off."

Wright was inspired by a visit to his hometown of Wells in England's Somerset district, during which everything seemed just as he remembered but also somewhat bizarre. He began to reflect on "the joys and dangers of perpetual adolescence" and how hard it is for anyone to go home again.

"The thing that is in all three movies is the theme of the individual versus the collective, the idea of standing up against conformity," says Wright, 39, "And also, getting to an age when you finally have to stop being a teenager and take responsibility."

In "World's End," a "sad goth" antihero named Gary tries to reclaim the glory of his high-school era -- the days of mix tapes and Doc Martens, when the holy grail of his existence was surviving an epic pub crawl known as the Golden Mile. The goal is 12 taverns, with at least one pint chugged in each pub. Back in the day, the lads were always too soused to complete the journey. Now they approach the mission of catastrophic inebriation with steely determination.

"It's a cautionary tale about how too much nostalgia can be bad for you," Wright says. "When Gary uncorks the nostalgia bottle, it's very dangerous."

Ever the master manipulator, Gary cons his old BFFs into dropping their adult lives and getting hammered in a coming-of-middle-age haze. Oh, and did we mention there are distinctly Stepford overtones to the tale? The lads return home to find that their beloved taverns, not to mention most of the locals, seem to have been "Starbucked." Think "The Big Chill" meets "Alien."

"Childhood does mean everything; it's when you set who you are," Pegg says. "They can't leave it behind. Once the friends come back together, they instantly snap back into formation."

Ironically, making the picture has also been a reunion for Wright, Pegg and Frost. All three consider

the trilogy to be a labor of love more than a gig. After all, they have been collaborating since 1999, when they hit the radar with the British cult hit comedy "Spaced."

"I feel a great sense of accomplishment that we have actually done it," Pegg says. "It's never been in the cards that we won't work together again. We will. But now we've made three films that you can have in a box set. Sitting on the set at the last day of shooting, I felt a real sense of awe that we were able to pull it off."

"It's difficult to make British films in general without selling out or compromising," agrees Wright. "We are very proud that we were able to make good on the promise to make three films that truly work as a piece."

Though Wright loathes to reveal the twists in the plot, which hinge on everything from pints and hookups to robots, Pegg is happy to divulge that Gary is the most challenging role he has ever tackled. He's tickled to be playing someone with very few redeeming qualities beyond his avid appreciation of '90s Brit pop. For the record, the soundtrack is an irresistible mashup from "I'm Free," by the Soup Dragons to "Loaded," by Primal Scream to "Fools Gold," by Stone Roses.

"Gary has looked back on the last 20 years and realized he has achieved nothing," Pegg says. "The last time he was truly happy was that night with his mates 20 years ago. It's all he's got."

A punk rock rebel without a cause, Gary wears the same trench coat, drives the same beat-up car and tells the same jokes he did back in school. Like most Pegg characters, he is a boyish imp, but he's also an unmitigated creep.

"Gary is the best fun I have ever had. He's villain of the film as much as he is the hero," Pegg says. "He's not even a Machiavellian villain. He's a pain in the ass because he's in such pain, plus he's a nut case. He has nothing to lose. He is going to do this or he is going to die trying."

For his part, Frost, 41, the least garrulous of these three cheeky blokes, enjoyed not playing a "stoned idiot" for once. His character, Andrew, is a deeply repressed corporate lawyer who turns into the "pink hulk" after hitting the sauce. He's the antithesis of the schlubby but lovable loser from "Shaun."

Indeed, Gary's personality flaws turn out to be a secret weapon of sorts as the boys embark on an unexpected adventure that riffs on everything from "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" to "Invasion of the Body Snatchers." Pints are downed, the shtick hits the fan and, of course, it's the end of the world as we know it. Like "Shaun," this picture taps into the current pop culture obsession with doomsday.

"People are genuinely worried about the future of the planet," says Wright, "which is why apocalyptic themes are always with us."

Pegg suspects that it's far more personal than that.

"It's never really about the planet though is it? The planet will still be here. It's we who may not survive."

Not to spoil the film's big finish, but this world ends with a bang and a whimper. And a Cornetto wrapper.