Greatest Disaster Movies

by Helen Earnshaw | 19 October 2014

With superhero movies now showing off the latest special effects and dominating the box office, the age of the disaster movie seemed to be over.

Godzilla

Once the pinnacle of the movie calendar, disaster films demonstrated the awesome potential power of nature, or other beings, on earth and made us marvel at our own insignificance.

Godzilla saw the return of this spectacle, as the infamous movie monster awakens to take on two nuclear energy-guzzling creatures wreaking havoc across the globe.

To celebrate the release of Godzilla on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD, we have put together a list of the greatest disaster movies ever.

From natural disasters and alien invasions to the biggest monster of all, it's time to feel pretty small.

- Independence Day (1996)

When a gigantic spacecraft obliterates the world's major cities in a bid to reap the earth's natural resources, a group of survivors band together to fight back.

Independence Day is one of those movies that you can watch again and again without ever getting tired of it - it remains one of my favourite movies in this genre.

It is a film that is big, bold, funny, and looks fantastic - it really is everything that a blockbuster is supposed to be.

Independent Day was the highest-grossing film of the year and pedestal to which subsequent disaster films aimed for.

It is also remembered for launching Will Smith's movie career and that White House-destroying money shot.

- Twister (1996)

When two meteorologists (Helen Hunt & Bill Paxton) design a state-of-the-art tornado research device called DOROTHY, a race against time and the elements ensues to get it into the heart of the storm before a competitor launches a similar device.

With terrifyingly realistic effects and a notoriously gruelling shoot that saw the lead actors temporarily blinded and with concussions, Twister is a rollercoaster of a film.

It is hard to believe that Twister is a movie that is almost twenty years old, and yet it is a film that is exciting today as it was back in 2006.

Twister is a movie that sees the action come thick and fast and never really allows the audience a minute to catch their breathe.

From start to finish, Twister is an action packed, exciting, and entertaining movie that I remain a huge fan of.

- The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

A cautionary example of the possible effects of global warming, the film sees a paleoclimatologist (Dennis Quaid) called on for help when his disregarded predictions begin occurring.

With tennis ball-sized hailstones, 10km high tsunamis and multiple tornados, The Day After Tomorrow needs to be seen on the biggest screen possible to watch extreme weather use the world's landmarks as mere playthings.

Roland Emmerich makes a terrific blockbuster disaster film - we have already heaped praise on Independence Day - and he delivered another great watch with The Day After Tomorrow.

Of course, it is not a movie to take too seriously, but it is one of those blockbuster films that you can just kick back and enjoy.

Emmerich has - as you would expect - focused on the visuals and it really does look terrific.

- War Of The Worlds (2005)

This loose adaptation of the infamous H. G. Wells' novel sees a dad (Tom Cruise) fight for survival and protect his children when an alien race emerges on earth.

Directing a story where the 'tripods' wait until earth had over-populated before striking in order to harvest human blood, meant that Steven Spielberg could finally make an "alien picture where there is no love and no attempt at communication."

War of the Worlds will celebrate its tenth anniversary next year, and remains a great movie in the disaster genre.

Spielberg successfully updates the action and effects for a modern audience and turns into an edge of your seat movie that is a lot of fun.

It may be action packed and look fantastic, but I have to admit that I still prefer the 1953 class. It is not every often that you can beat the original.

- The Towering Inferno (1974)

So far, we have only looked at modern day disaster movies but The Towering Inferno remains one of my favourite from the seventies.

The movie saw Paul Newman and Steve McQueen share the screen as an architect and fire officer get caught up in the middle of a major fire in the newly opened world's tallest building.

The Towering Inferno was released back in 1974, and saw John Guillermin in the director's chair.

In my humble opinion, The Towering Inferno is one of the best disaster movies as it filled with action packed moments as well as some terrific characters.

It was one of the spectacle movies of the seventies, and director Guillermin really does pull it off in fine style.

It is a classic of this genre and is as great a watch today as it was forty years ago.

- The Impossible (2013)

The Impossible is one of the most recent movies in this genre and it really was a cinematic triumph.

Directed by J.A. Bayona, The Impossible captured the fate of one family during the Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004.

First of all, the recreation of the devastation of the Tsunami will simply leave you stunned; how they have managed to create these epic scenes if just quite simply breathtaking. I know it does sound odd, but those images are quite simply beautiful.

The Impossible is a truly harrowing tale of perseverance and resilience as well as the importance, bond and strength of a family unit. Bayona has managed to make an epic movie feel incredibly personal and intimate.

The Impossible was one of the best movies I saw in 2013, and is a disaster movie that you have to see if you are a fan of this genre.

- Godzilla (2014)

Being directed by a self-confessed fan meant that Godzilla was always going to honour the monster movie behemoth, but the film also served to remind fans about why disaster films are such fun to watch.

At a time when nuclear energy on earth is at its highest, two enormous creatures break free of their secret government agency shackles.

Sensing a disturbance in nature, Godzilla emerges from the ocean to restore balance while showcasing his extraordinary destructive force - while us humans can only watch in awe.

It is always great to see Godzilla return to the big screen, as he is such an interesting and exciting character.

Gareth Edwards - who brought us Monsters - was in the director's chair, and he has brought Godzilla back to the big screen in fine style.

Godzilla himself is a mighty presence on the screen, but I really would have liked to see just a little bit more of him.

Other great disaster movies include Poseidon, Titanic, Armageddon, World War Z, and Deep Impact.