Disaster movies are a niche that a lot of people can get behind. There is a huge audience out there who would select disaster films as some of their very favourites. For some, it’s the use of special effects, historical significance and the thrill of experiencing a serious situation from the comfort of their local cinema or sofa that pulls them in. For others, disaster movies trigger anxiety or panic, have predictable narratives and sometimes are simply just too far fetched. For film buffs though, disaster movies are a great divider of opinion.
Here are the top 10 disaster movies ranked by IndieWire, do you agree with the choices?
10. The Hurricane (1937)
When a hurricane rips into the South Seas it threatens to throw everyone into a life or death battle against the elements. Despite John Ford’s plot not aging the greatest, the film is an early stab at the disaster movie genre and the special effects do well to create the chaos and terror that ensues when nature’s wrath comes into play.
9. Twister (1996)
In the 1990s this film was not given many flowers, but in time it has come to be known as avant-garde. Jan de Bont’s 1996 blockbuster has two lovers at the heart of the storm and this is what pulls the audience in. Helen Hunt’s storm-chasing meteorologist and Bill Paxton’s TV weatherman are bickering soon-to-be divorcees and their turbulent relationship is mirrored in the tornado state of Oklahoma.
8. The Burning Sea (2021)
Much of this list contains American based films, which makes sense due to the country’s size and production opportunities. However The Burning Sea is an expectation to that, coming from Norway’s John Andreas Andersen. The film follows an oil rig off the coast of the ocean that goes down, sending two researchers to save one of their lovers from the perils of the sea. A goofy yet entertaining watch.
7. The Impossible (2012)
This film is inspired by a true story of María Belón and her family’s experience in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. J. A. Bayona’s film starts as an idyllic fantasy, but soon into the movie the tsunami hits and causes mass destruction and fear. It is a true nightmare and does well to depict the sheer power and size of the wave and the devastation it leaves in its wake. The film stars Naomi Watts and Ewan McGregor star as the parents, with Tom Holland playing one of their children.
6. On the Beach (1959)
It wouldn’t be a disaster movie ranking without an apocalypse. Stanley Kramer’s adaptation of Nevil Shute’s 1957 novel On the Beach is set in a world where nuclear warfare has caused everywhere except but southeastern Australia to become inhabitable. In this dire landscape, wind currents carrying radiation threaten to bring the human race to its inevitable end. On the Beach expertly inspires fear in its consequences.
5. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
Perhaps one of the most memorable disaster films of the 1970s, The Poseidon Adventure remains a thrilling watch decades later. Ronald Neame’s film focuses on a luxury liner on a voyage from New York City to Athens that gets overturned by a tsunami. Gene Hackman plays a preacher leading the charge to save the passengers and crew alongside a stacked cast (he was one of five Oscar winners from the movie). Incredible tension is built by the cast who make you care for each person on board.
4. Contagion (2011)
This film was perhaps a bit too close to hitting the nail on the head. Steven Soderbergh’s Contagion offers a slightly different take on a disaster movie, but not one that is unknown to anyone. Inspired by actual real-life epidemics like the 2004 SARS outbreak and the 2009 flu pandemic ahead of the Covid-19 pandemic, the film tracks the chaos and confusion as a highly contagious virus spreads across the world. Its cast includes Matt Damon, Jude Law and Kate Winslet to name a few.
3. The Towering Inferno (1974)
Another huge hit of the 1970s, The Towering Inferno grossed over $200 million, making it the most successful film of its year. To this day, despite its run time, it remains a great watch. John Guillermin’s film makes great use of its setting, a state-of-the-art high-rise set to open in San Francisco, where a huge fire breaks out. Paul Newman and Steve McQueen lead this top-notch disaster movie.
2. Airplane! (1980)
Coming in the second position, we have Jim Abrahams and brothers David and Jerry Zucker’s disaster parody Airplane! Despite its serious subject matter, Airplane! is known to be one of the funniest comedies ever made and on the cusp of the 1970s disaster cinema hype. Airplane’ remains the most well-remembered movie about a plane in crisis with its off-the-wall bonkers plot of a jet thrown into disarray by a bout of food poisoning and the alcoholic ex-fighter pilot who’s the only hope of getting it back on the ground.
1. Titanic (1997)
It seems wrong to label James Cameron’s cultural phenomenon a disaster movie but it is technically true. Titanic however, continues to go down as an all-time classic and is so much more than just a disaster movie. It fictionalizes one of the single most notorious disasters in human history in its story of lovers doomed by the sinking of the RMS Titanic. The film does well to render What really makes calamity as an obstacle in an epic love story between star-crossed couple Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. It is a heartbreaking watch and is no surprise it made the top spot.
