Combining spectacle with human drama, disaster movies are some of the largest, most epic canvases filmmakers can work on. And now we’re ranking some of the best and worst disaster movies, from Certified Fresh to Fresh to Rotten movies, all ranging from earthquakes (San Andreas), asteroids (Deep Impact), tsunamis (The Impossible), airplanes (Airport), fires (The Towering Inferno), boats (Titanic), and just about everything mother nature can throw at us (2012).
And now, the latest weather report: Twisters has gone Certified Fresh, just as we’ve re-visited the the 1996 original’s disaster zone and added as many new reviews as we could. Hit F5 on the Twister movie page and you’ll encounter over 70 reviews added recently!
So put on a helmet, wear a lifejacket, and hunker down in your fallout shelter as brace for the disaster movies ranked!
Critics Consensus: Well-acted and blessed with a refreshingly humanistic focus, The Wave is a disaster film that makes uncommonly smart use of disaster film clichés.
Synopsis: A Norwegian geologist (Kristoffer Joner) and his family (Ane Dahl Torp, Jonas Hoff Oftebro) fight for survival when a massive [More]
Critics Consensus:Deepwater Horizon makes effective use of its titular man-made disaster to deliver an uncommonly serious -- yet still suitably gripping -- action thriller.
Synopsis: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explodes in the Gulf of Mexico, igniting a massive fireball that [More]
Critics Consensus: The screenplay isn't quite as powerful as the direction or the acting, but with such an astonishing real-life story at its center, The Impossible is never less than compelling.
Synopsis: A couple and their three sons encounter terror, courage and compassion following the December 2004 tsunami that devastated Thailand. [More]
Critics Consensus:Black Sea may not be particularly deep, but thanks to Kevin Macdonald's judicious direction and a magnetic performance from Jude Law, it remains an efficiently well-crafted thriller.
Synopsis: Soon after losing his salvage job, former naval officer Robinson (Jude Law) assembles a misfit crew of unemployed sailors for [More]
Critics Consensus: Summoning a storm of spectacle and carried along by the gale force winds of Glen Powell's charisma, Twisters' forecast is splendid with a high chance of thrills.
Synopsis: Daisy Edgar-Jones stars as Kate Cooper, a former storm chaser haunted by a devastating encounter with a tornado during her [More]
Critics Consensus: An urgent warning against nuclear conflict, Threads is a chilling hypothetical that achieves visceral horror with its matter-of-fact presentation of an apocalypse.
Synopsis: Young lovers Ruth (Karen Meagher) and Jimmy (Reece Dinsdale) decide to get married after Ruth unexpectedly gets pregnant. But their [More]
Critics Consensus:The Poseidon Adventure exemplifies the disaster film done right, going down smoothly with ratcheting tension and a terrific ensemble to give the peril a distressingly human dimension.
Synopsis: En route from New York City to Greece on New Year's Eve, majestic passenger ship the S.S. Poseidon is overtaken [More]
Synopsis: In this large-ensemble disaster movie, Mel Bakersfeld (Burt Lancaster), the general manager of a Chicago-area airport, must contend with a [More]
Critics Consensus: Although it is not consistently engaging enough to fully justify its towering runtime, The Towering Inferno is a blustery spectacle that executes its disaster premise with flair.
Synopsis: Classic 1970s disaster movie about a fire that breaks out in a state-of-the-art San Francisco high-rise building during the opening [More]
Critics Consensus: A high-concept blockbuster that emphasizes special effects over three-dimensional characters, Twister's visceral thrills are often offset by the film's generic plot.
Synopsis: During the approach of the most powerful storm in decades, university professor Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt) and an underfunded [More]
Critics Consensus: A frustratingly uneven all-star disaster drama, Outbreak ultimately proves only mildly contagious and leaves few lasting side effects.
Synopsis: A dangerous airborne virus threatens civilization in this tense thriller. After an African monkey carrying a lethal virus is smuggled [More]
Critics Consensus: Though it gets occasionally bogged down by touchy-feely sentiment, White Squall benefits greatly from Jeff Bridges' assured lead performance and Ridley Scott's visceral, exciting direction.
Synopsis: In 1960, a hardy group of prep school students boards an old-fashioned sailing ship. With Capt. Christopher Sheldon (Jeff Bridges) [More]
Critics Consensus:Don't Look Up aims too high for its scattershot barbs to consistently land, but Adam McKay's star-studded satire hits its target of collective denial square on.
Synopsis: Kate Dibiasky (Jennifer Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (Leonardo DiCaprio) make an astounding discovery [More]
Critics Consensus:Volcano's prodigious pyrotechnics and Tommy Lee Jones' crotchety sneers at lava aren't quite enough to save this routine disaster film.
Synopsis: When a massive earthquake rocks the city of Los Angeles, Emergency Management department head Mike Roark (Tommy Lee Jones) returns [More]
Critics Consensus:San Andreas has a great cast and outstanding special effects, but amidst all the senses-shattering destruction, the movie's characters and plot prove less than structurally sound.
Synopsis: A seemingly ideal day turns disastrous when California's notorious San Andreas fault triggers a devastating, magnitude 9 earthquake, the largest [More]
Critics Consensus:The 33 offers an appropriately inspirational account of real-life heroism, but its stirring story and solid performances are undermined by a flawed focus and an overreliance on formula.
Synopsis: Disaster strikes on Aug. 5, 2010, as a copper and gold mine collapses in Chile, trapping 33 men underground. With [More]
Critics Consensus:The Hurricane Heist is a throwback to the overblown action thrillers of yesteryear -- and a thoroughly middling example of why they don't make 'em like this anymore.
Synopsis: The rural town of New Hope, Ala., has a pair of super-sized problems heading its way: There's a hurricane bearing [More]
Critics Consensus: While the special effects are well done and quite impressive, this film suffers from any actual drama or characterization. The end result is a film that offers nifty eye-candy and nothing else.
Synopsis: Based on a true story, the film tells of the courageous men and women who risk their lives every working [More]
Critics Consensus:The Day After Tomorrow is a ludicrous popcorn thriller filled with clunky dialogue, but spectacular visuals save it from being a total disaster.
Synopsis: After climatologist Jack Hall is largely ignored by U.N. officials when presenting his environmental concerns, his research proves true when [More]
Critics Consensus: The destruction of Los Angeles is always a welcome sight, but Earthquake offers little besides big actors slumming through crumbling sets.
Synopsis: When a major earthquake hits Los Angeles, the various residents of the city cope with the chaos and destruction. Successful [More]
Critics Consensus: Lovely to look at but about as intelligent as the asteroid that serves as the movie's antagonist, Armageddon slickly sums up the cinematic legacies of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay.
Synopsis: When an asteroid threatens to collide with Earth, NASA honcho Dan Truman (Billy Bob Thornton) determines the only way to [More]
Critics Consensus:Aftershock hints at an inventive twist on horror tropes, but ultimately settles for another round of mind-numbing depravity that may alternately bore and revolt all but the most ardent gore enthusiasts.
Synopsis: Mayhem and death follow when an earthquake traps a group of tourists (Eli Roth, Andrea Osvárt) in a Chilean town. [More]
Synopsis: Terrorists have planted a deadly virus on a transcontinental train. On board are the glamorous Jennifer Chamberlain (Sophia Loren) and [More]
Critics Consensus: Roland Emmerich's 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length.
Synopsis: Earth's billions of inhabitants are unaware that the planet has an expiration date. With the warnings of an American scientist [More]
Critics Consensus: Whether Moonfall is so bad it's good or simply bad will depend on your tolerance for B-movie cheese -- but either way, this is an Emmerich disaster thriller through and through.
Synopsis: In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision [More]
Critics Consensus: This remake of The Poseidon Adventure delivers dazzling special effects. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem that any of the budget was left over to devote to the script.
Synopsis: After a huge tidal wave capsizes a luxury liner in the North Atlantic, individual survivors (Josh Lucas, Kurt Russell, Jacinda [More]
Critics Consensus: The movie works when things are on fire, but everything else - from dialogue to characters - is scathingly bad.
Synopsis: Volcanologist Harry Dalton (Pierce Brosnan) and Mayor Rachel Wando (Linda Hamilton), finally convince the unbelieving populace that the big one [More]
Critics Consensus: The opening's got a great fiery explosion and Stallone puts in another earnest, sympathetic performance, but all else in Daylight feels designed to annoy the audience into submission.
Synopsis: A group of armed robbers fleeing the police head for the New Jersey Tunnel and run right into trucks transporting [More]
Critics Consensus: Clumsily scripted and populated with forgettable characters, Into the Storm has little to offer beyond its admittedly thrilling special effects.
Synopsis: Professional storm-chasers run toward danger to track a series of deadly tornadoes menacing a town over the course of a [More]
Critics Consensus: Lacking impressive visuals, well-written characters, or involving drama, Geostorm aims for epic disaster-movie spectacle but ends up simply being a disaster of a movie.
Synopsis: After an unprecedented series of natural disasters threatened the planet, the world's leaders came together to create an intricate network [More]
Synopsis: Scientist Dr. Bradford Crane and army general Thalius Slater join forces to fight an almost invisible enemy threatening America; killer [More]
Geostorm: the disaster movie with the disaster to end all disasters, disaster for days, isn’t being screened in advance. Not a good sign! C’mon studios, can’t you see how nice critics are being to The Snowman? Well, if Geostorm somehow receives a particularly Rotten score, it won’t be without company as we’ll see in this week’s gallery of 24 disastrous disaster movies that got less than 50% on the Tomatometer!
Krakatoa, East of Java (1969, 0%)
Just how fast does this one go downhill? For starters, Krakatoa is located west of Java….
When Time Ran Out (1980, 0%)
It’s 1980, and that’s when time ran out…for this genre! The Heaven’s Gate of disaster flicks, if you will.
Left Behind (2014, 2%)
Yea verily, like unto a plague of locusts, Left Behind hath begat a further scourge of devastation upon Nicolas Cage’s once-proud filmography.
Meteor (1979, 5%) Meteor is a flimsy flick with too much boring dialogue and not enough destruction. At least the pinball game is decent.
Firestorm (1998, 12%) Firestorm failed to ignite ex-pro footballer Howie Long’s career…or anything else for that matter.
The Concorde…Airport ’79 (1979, 14%)
The original Airport put the disaster genre into flight, gathering a dozen top-billing actors and even a Best Picture nomination. Three movies and a decade later, there’s barely enough stars to fill the poster, and even the ellipsis in the title suggests, ‘What are we all still doing here?’
Sharknado: The 4th Awakens (2016, 17%)
Loses the ridiculous charm of its predecessors, leaving only clumsy social commentary and monotonous schtick that’s lost its bite.
Into the Storm (2014, 21%)
Clumsily scripted and populated with forgettable characters, Into the Storm has little to offer beyond its admittedly thrilling special effects.
Daylight (1996, 26%)
The opening’s got a great fiery explosion and Stallone puts in another earnest, sympathetic performance, but all else in Daylight feels designed to annoy the audience into submission.
Dante’s Peak (1997, 26%)
The movie works when things are on fire, but everything else – from dialogue to characters – is scathingly bad.
Pompeii (2014, 27%)
This big-budget sword-and-sandal adventure lacks the energy and storytelling heft to amount to more than a guilty pleasure.
Hard Rain (1997, 29%) Hard Rain is an implausible heist movie soaked in disaster movie trappings.
Poseidon (2006, 33%)
This remake of The Poseidon Adventure delivers dazzling special effects. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that any of the budget was left over to devote to the script.
Earthquake (1974, 35%)
The destruction of Los Angeles is always a welcome sight, but Earthquake offers little besides big actors slumming through crumbling sets.
Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017, 45%)
A mild bounce back from the lows of the fourth Sharknado.
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015, 26%) Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! bites off more than it can chew, leaving viewers with an overlong mess that isn’t even bad enough to be good.
Hurricane (1979, 38%)
It’s Mia Farrow’s Swept Away! She stars in this sandy romance (with music by Nino Rota and cinematography by Sven Nykvist) featuring a 25-minute appearnce by the titular disaster.
2012 (2009, 39%)
Roland Emmerich’s 2012 provides plenty of visual thrills, but lacks a strong enough script to support its massive scope and inflated length.
Armageddon (1998, 39%)
Lovely to look at but about as intelligent as the asteroid that serves as the movie’s antagonist, Armageddon slickly sums up the cinematic legacies of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Michael Bay.
The Core (2003, 41%)
A B-movie with its tongue planted firmly in cheek, The Core is so unintentionally (intentionally?) bad that it’s a hoot.
The Day After Tomorrow (2004, 45%)
A ludicrous popcorn flick filled with clunky dialogue, but spectacular visuals save it from being a total disaster.
The 33 (2015, 45%)
Offers an appropriately inspirational account of real-life heroism, but its stirring story and solid performances are undermined by a flawed focus and an overreliance on formula.
Volcano (1997, 46%) Volcano‘s prodigious pyrotechnics and Tommy Lee Jones’ crotchety sneers at lava aren’t quite enough to save this routine disaster film.
San Andreas (2015, 49%) San Andreas has a great cast and outstanding special effects, but amidst all the senses-shattering destruction, the movie’s characters and plot prove less than structurally sound.
Repent, sinners: Earth Day is nigh! From toxic pollution to bottled water, nature has had just about enough of mankind’s thirst for convenience, as seen in this gallery of 24 tales of eco-terror!
Deep Blue Sea (1999, 57%)
Warning: Experimenting on sharks may be hazardous to Sam Jackson’s health.
The Core (2003, 41%)
A secret human experiment to create and control earthquakes instead shuts down the planet’s core, triggering global disasters and a high-concept Hollywood trip to the center of the Earth.
Roar (1981, 72%)
Animals without proper training maim the cast on-camera in this one-of-a-kind spectacle of human resolve and irresponsibility.
Troll 2 (1990, 6%)
Earth Day is about going green: Don’t eat porpoises, reduce your carbon footprint, and turn your friends and family into plant mush to keep the local goblin population up.
The Pack (1977)
Think abandoning your pets at a vacation spot will lead to cute adventures like Benji or Incredible Journey? Think again: When you oppress Fido, he rises up in a fiery anger!
Long Weekend (1979, 80%)
Two lovers on an isolated beach get a chilly reception from the locals. Per the tagline: ‘Their crime was against nature. Nature found them guilty.’
The Day After Tomorrow (2004, 45%)
Who’s denying climate change now?!
28 Days Later (2003, 87%)
Mess with monkeys, monkeys mess with man: The experimental primates unleash a ‘rage’ virus that overtakes the Earth.
The Birds (1963, 96%) The birds make their opinon on the screwball romance known: Just as Tippi Hedren and Rod Taylor meet for a cheesy rendezvous, a seagull takes a chunk of Hedren’s scalp to drastically alter the movie’s course.
Day of the Animals (1977)
Trans Ams and wanton aerosol spraying in the the ’70s thin Earth’s ozone layer, causing animals to go berserk from UV radiation.
Furry Vengeance (2010, 8%)
Poor Brendan Fraser plays a housing developer who runs up against a coalition of animal protesters, including this encounter with a skunk in his sedan.
Godzilla (1954, 93%)
If you’re going to risk waking moviedom’s greatest lizard with a nuclear test blast, remember that Godzilla never hits snooze.
Mimic (1997, 61%)
A breed of insects engineered by humans to wipe out cockroaches lives past it sell-by date, learning to prey on humans while adapting to our shape and movement.
Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind (1985, 87%)
A thousand years after a holocaust that wipes out civilization, Earth is still busy protecting itself with toxin-purifying plants and maurading larvae that protect fauna from the remaining humans.
Phase IV (1974, 56%)
Ants rise up to trigger the next step in evolution whether humans like it or not.
Piranha (1978, 72%)
Flesh-hungry fish, mutated and refined by the U.S. military for Vietnam War combat, are unleashed on a summer resort!
Prophecy (1979, 23%)
Mercury from a logging operation is mutating the wildlife population, leading to the best sleeping bag kill in cinema history.
The Ruins (2008, 48%)
Welcome to the jungle! The fauna surrounding a Maya temple beckon, trap, and claim any unlucky tourists that discover the location.
Birdemic: Shock and Terror (2008, 20%)
Eagles and vultures attack on a shoestring budget in this pseudo-romantic thriller.
Sharknado (2013, 82%)
Sharks inside a cyclone? Never piss off your deities.
The Bay (2012, 77%)
Water parasites take over people one by one in this found footage thriller by Barry Levinson.
The Happening (2008, 18%)
Plants, fed up with Mark Wahlberg’s acting, try to take him out on-screen with wind power and neurotoxins to no avail.
The Last Winter (2007, 76%)
Drill, baby, drill! …But, uh, take it easy when you hit the spooky gas.
Jurassic Park (1993, 93%)
Reduce the human population on a remote island full of dinosaurs? Life finds a way…
Think it sounds like a good idea to head into your local multiplex and videotape the biggest movies so you can upload them onto the internet and give a bunch of strangers free flicks? Well, you’re wrong! And one guy just got the prison sentence to prove it.
From Variety: "A man convicted of sneaking camcorders into movie screenings and selling the pirated tapes in videostores was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Friday. "It is hoped the sentence will deter further unlawful conduct and protect the public," said U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson.
Johnny Ray Gasca was convicted in June 2005 of three counts of copyright infringement as well as using a fake Social Security number and of an escape charge for fleeing his attorney’s custody while awaiting trial. Gasca gained notoriety as the first person to be charged in a federal crackdown on video piracy. He represented himself during a weeklong trial, saying he didn’t intend to profit from his actions. He said evidence was embellished to make him appear to be a "prince of piracy."
— Click here for the rest.
Among the films recorded by Gasca were "The Core," "8 Mile," and "Anger Management" — and those movies aren’t even worth going to the mall for, let alone prison.
From Variety: "Jane Fonda is preparing to mentor Lindsay Lohan.
The two thesps are attached to star along with Felicity Huffman in "Georgia Rule," which Garry Marshall is aboard to helm, write and produce.
Story centers on a rebellious young woman (Lohan) who has a dysfunctional relationship with her mother (Huffman) and is sent to spend a summer with her grandmother (Fonda).
Though deals aren’t done yet, project is eyeing an August start date."
Sure, we could just wait for Apple to add the trailer to its Quicktime site, but we ravenous horror geeks don’t like to wait, so make a visit to IGN and enjoy the all-new trailer for the all-new version of "The Fog."
Based on the well-remembered 1980 horror flick by scare king John Carpenter, "The Fog" tells the story of a sleepy Northern California town that spends its centennial eve being terrorized by murderous leper ghost zombie creatures from beyond the grave.
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