Cinema’s Greatest Disaster Movies

To celebrate the home entertainment release of Geostorm, which arrives onto 3D Blu-ray™, Blu-ray™ and DVD on February 19, here at Filmoria we’ve looked back through the archives at some of the greatest disaster movies to ever hit the big screen. From true life disaster to Dwayne Johnson saving the day, these films are ones you’ll be sure to watch again and again for all the thrills and spills.

Titanic (1996)

Source: YouTube

Perhaps one of the most famous real-life disasters, the sinking of the Titanic is a historical event that has been portrayed in various movies through the years, but none so affecting and larger in scale than James Cameron’s movie that still remains one of the highest grossing movies of all time. Stunning visuals for its time period, a love story between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio and a James Horner soundtrack that is simply divine, Titanic has all the ingredients for disaster movie success.

San Andreas (2015)

Source: Fat Movie Guy

As far as recent disaster epics go, then look no further than Dwayne Johnson flying his way into the danger zone in his helicopter and showing the world that there is literally nothing he can’t do. San Andreas captured cinema audiences back in 2015 with its wonderful level of tension, a strong leading man and a high level of destruction that saw one of America’s most famous locations under a barrage of water and experiencing plenty of disaster.

The Towering Inferno (1974)

Source: Movie Pilot

Way before Dubai’s Burj Khalifa broke records in reaching mass heights as the tallest building in the world, cinema produced a building that would soon become the focal point of The Towering Inferno. A film that not only presented a nightmare scenario in a literal tower of flames, but also heavyweight casting in Paul Newman, Steve McQueen and Faye Dunaway, it’s no surprise that an Oscar for Best Cinematography came calling.

Earthquake (1974) 

Source: IMDB

Another disaster epic hitting 1974, Earthquake was yet another earlier cinema disaster movie that possessed a wealth of acting talent, this time with Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner leading the way. This time around, the disaster was an earthquake and plenty of personal drama was thrown in to boot.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Source: Centre for Climate Control

Way before he was on his way to becoming one of the best recent actors to emanate from Hollywood, Jake Gyllenhaal followed up on his Donnie Darko success with a disaster epic that threw the kitchen sink at the genre. Twisters, floods and eventual frozen tundras worldwide were the result as The Day After Tomorrow hit the box office and became a success. The sheer sight of Roland Emmerich’s vision of New York in a frozen state was enough to produce shivers.

Geostorm (2017)

Source: Den of Geek

The most recent of the disaster movie variety is a movie that turns the weather into something that be controlled before presenting to us the cataclysmic realisation that it certainly isn’t something to be messed with! Geostorm is yet another disaster epic that doesn’t hold back in the terror and carnage of nature gone wild. Look out for a stunning space scene that is reminiscent of Gravity, and Gerard Butler saving the day as he always does!