Knowing
This weeks sees the release of Knowing, starring Nicholas Cage, that once again but the earth in terrible danger. In 1958, as part of the dedication ceremony for a new elementary school, a group of students is asked to draw pictures to be stored in a time capsule.
But one of the students, a mysterious girl who seems to hear whispered voices, fills her sheet of paper with rows of apparently random numbers instead.
Fast forward 50 years to the present: A new generation of students examines the contents of the time capsule and the girl's cryptic message ends up in the hands of young Caleb Myles. But it is Caleb's father, professor Ted Myles (Nicolas Cage), who makes the startling discovery that the encoded message predicts with pinpoint accuracy the dates, death tolls and coordinates of every major disaster of the past 50 years.
As Ted further unravels the document's secrets, he realizes it foretells three additional events-the last of which hints at destruction on a global scale and seems to somehow involve Ted and his son.
When Ted's attempts to alert the authorities fall on deaf ears, he takes it upon himself to try to prevent more destruction from taking place.
So to celebrate the release of the film we take a look at some of the best big budget disaster movies that have graced our cinema screens.
War of the Worlds
In 1953 H.G. Wells' classic novel of alien invasion was brought to the big screen and was directed by Byron Haskins and adapted by Barre Lyndon.
The film followed the residents of a small town are excited when a flaming meteor lands in the hills. Their joy is tempered some what when they discover it has passengers who are not very friendly.
War of the Worlds was a massive success when it was released, both critically and commercially, the film kicked off the disaster movie genre as well as cementing people's interest in outer space.
The Poseidon Adventure
Alright so the world isn't in danger in The Poseidon Adventure, which was released in 1972 but it's a damn good movie in this genre.
A passenger ship, on her way to the scrap yard is pushed to her limits by the new owners to save on the dismantling fees. A tidal wave hits her, flipping her over so that all the internal rooms are upside down.
A priest takes a mixed band of survivors on a journey through the bowels of the ship in an attempt to survive.
The film was a massive box office hit, second only to The Godfather that year.
Independence Day
Independence Day marked the return of the modern day disaster movie in fine style, as well as really launching Will Smith as an actor and a leading man.
Directed by Roland Emmerich the boasts some great special effects, including seeing the White House blown to smithereens as aliens invade.
Naturally Will Smith saves the day as he KO's an alien with a single punch... what a guy!
The Towering Inferno
The Towering Inferno boasted an impressive cast of Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden and Faye Dunaway and was released back in 1974.
On the day of its grand opening, the world's tallest building becomes victim to an electrical mishap and a subsequent huge fire on its upper floors, causing all of the city's rescue teams to converge upon the scene and attempt to fight against what is a raging monster.
The film followed on from the success of The Poseidon Adventure and went on to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
Other disaster movies that are well worth a look include Outbreak, Earthquake, Deep Impact, Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and I suppose 28 Days Later.
Knowing it out in cinemas now
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw