Natural disasters are some of the real world’s most terrifying events. Hurricanes, volcanic eruptions, and tornadoes strike large portions of the population worldwide every year, causing devastation and trauma. Hollywood has taken full advantage of humanity’s fear of an impending disaster, creating the disaster movie genre to leverage our worries and often make them entertaining.
Natural disaster movies often fluff up or exaggerate the effects of a disaster, making them more violent, and with graver consequences. Sometimes, action heroes have to save the day when the world is about to end. It is this extra bit of Mother Nature’s wrath that makes these films the most captivating, even if the story or characters leave something to be desired. These are the best disaster movies ever made in one easy list.
12. Sharknado (2013)
There’s something thrilling and comforting about watching a movie you know isn’t very good. Campy, cringy disaster movies like Sharknado are perfect situations for popcorn munching and relaxing with friends and family on a summer night. Ian Ziering stars as the protagonist who is placed in a version of Los Angeles overwhelmed with hurricanes made up of sharks. The plot is as ridiculous as it sounds, but if you have the right mindset going in, you’re sure to enjoy this film as it never takes itself too seriously. Five sequels followed on the SyFy channel in the years after this 2013 original.
11. 2012 (2009)
10. Don't Look Up (2021)
More of a political commentary than a true disaster movie, Don’t Look Up is filled to the brim with some of the biggest names in Hollywood today. Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep are just two of the stars who litter the cast list. The plot follows a potential doomsday threat that nobody actually believes is going to occur despite the warnings from scientists who have knowledge of the threat. A release that happened during the COVID-19 pandemic helped to make the satire in this film even sharper, as the virus was a real world-changing time period that many people refused to believe was a danger to society.
9. Contagion (2011)
Want an even more on-the-nose depiction of COVID-19-like events in fiction? Contagion is about as close to the real deal as it gets. Bryan Cranston and Matt Damon are two of the big names in this film about a virus that takes hold of the planet and won’t let go. Humanity’s reaction to the event is foreboding and helped to create insight into what we would really act like in the event something like this occurred, and then it obviously did.
8. Twister (1996)
7. Deep Impact (1998)
6. Armageddon (1998)
With a similar premise to Deep Impact but with a lot more fluff, Armageddon came out during the same summer as Mimi Leder’s film and made a lot more money. Bruce Willis is a NASA scientist who tries to take out an asteroid about to crash into the planet. The presence of Michael Bay meant not much adherence to science and a lot of special effects to get his point across.
5. Take Shelter (2011)
4. Everest (2015)
3. This Is the End (2013)
2. The Birds (1963)
Classics are always worth returning to, and Alfred Hitchcock knew how to depict horror better than anyone in the 1960s and beyond. The Birds creates an end-of-world scenario where birds mysteriously and incessantly attack a Californian community. The movie makes an otherwise mundane and weird scenario much more defined and refined than the plot synopsis makes it out to be.
1. Titanic (1997)
