Minami Hamabe as Noriko Oishi staring out a window in Godzilla Minus OneImage via Toho
By
Diego Pineda Pacheco
Published 40 minutes ago
Diego Pineda has been a devout storyteller his whole life. He has self-published a fantasy novel and a book of short stories, and is actively working on publishing his second novel.
A lifelong fan of watching movies and talking about them endlessly, he writes reviews and analyses on his Instagram page dedicated to cinema, and occasionally on his blog. His favorite filmmakers are Andrei Tarkovsky and Charlie Chaplin. He loves modern Mexican cinema and thinks it's tragically underappreciated.
Other interests of Diego's include reading, gaming, roller coasters, writing reviews on his Letterboxd account (username: DPP_reviews), and going down rabbit holes of whatever topic he's interested in at any given point.
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Few film genres are more easily capable of activating their audience's deepest survival instincts and empathy than disaster movies. These films follow a group of characters as they try to escape from disasters of all sorts. Whether it's a natural disaster, a global pandemic, an accident in outer space, or a murderous kaiju, these elements are central to the plot of a disaster film, making them some of the most entertaining movies ever made.
Over the past century, several great disaster movies have proven that the genre is as timeless as it is thrilling. From classics of the genre like The Towering Inferno to modern triumphs like Godzilla Minus One, these films show that audiences can't help but find themselves enraptured by stories about people trying their damnedest to overcome the most dangerous of situations.
10 'The Impossible' (2012)
Henry Bennett (Ewan McGregor) hugging his sons Thomas and Simon (Samuel Joslin and Oaklee Pendergast) while his son Lucas (Tom Holland) watches and cries in The Impossible.Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
With a critic score of 81%, J.A. Bayona's The Impossible is one of the highest-rated disaster films ever on Rotten Tomatoes, which is unsurprising. Based on the true story of the experiences of María Belón and her family during the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, this drama has everything that a good disaster movie needs: a great cast, a heart-wrenching story, and more than enough tragedy to touch the heart of any fan of the genre.
The film's whitewashing of the tragedy hasn't gone without well-earned criticism, but beneath that issue lies a testament to humanity's ability to come together during a disaster of this scale. Visceral and blunt, but without ever sacrificing its deeply human heart, The Impossible may be imperfect, but it's a display of all the impressive things that the disaster movie genre is capable of achieving.
9 'The Towering Inferno' (1974)
Paul Newman faces the fire in 'The Towering Inferno'Image via 20th Century Studios
One of the most iconic disaster movies of the 20th century, The Towering Inferno runs for a whopping 2 hours and 45 minutes, and not a second of that sprawling runtime is anything less than thrilling. It was the highest-grossing film of 1974, released during a decade when disaster flicks were becoming increasingly common. Standing out above the wave of them wasn't easy, yet The Towering Inferno has aged like fine wine.
All in all, despite being a little overstuffed, this is still one of the best disaster movies ever. The special effects were impressive for the time and still look fantastic, and the all-star ensemble cast (featuring a who's who of '70s icons like Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, and Faye Dunaway) is one of the most impressive of the era. The Towering Inferno is a gold standard for the disaster genre, the kind of classic gem that makes people go, "they don't make 'em like they used to."
8 'Only the Brave' (2017)
Taylor Kitsch looking stern and Ben Hardy looking confused next to him in Only the BraveImage via Columbia Pictures
Inspired by the story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots, an elite group of Arizonan firefighters, Only the Brave is one of the most underappreciated disaster films of the 2010s. Though it was a box office bomb, critics absolutely loved it, offering praise for its honoring of the real-life heroes that serve as its subject, as well as for the astonishingly stacked cast playing them, including Josh Brolin, Jeff Bridges, and Miles Teller.
The fires are staged with such terrifying realism that the stakes feel consistently high, like they always should in a good disaster movie. While paying homage to the Hotshots, though, Joseph Kosinski is also successful in humanizing them in all sorts of interesting ways, like offering scenes of male bonding that almost feel like a proto-Top Gun: Maverick. Though it's a little overlong, Only the Brave is worth is profoundly affecting and inspirational.
7 '28 Days Later' (2002)
It's not just natural disasters that ail humanity and inspire disaster films. Sometimes, it's a society-collapsing virus that's the source of a disaster story, as Danny Boyle proved back in 2002 with 28 Days Later. Inspired by classic zombie cinema, despite Boyle not considering it a zombie film per se, this post-apocalyptic horror gem is credited with reinvigorating the genre with its tone, style, and running infected.
It's one of the scariest horror films of the 2000s, a political allegory infected with the non-stop kinetic energy that characterizes Boyle as a director. Being a disaster film may not be its primary concern, but it's certainly a box it fits neatly into, with a punk-rock approach to the genre that has allowed it to only get better with age. It's a dark, undeniably misanthropic movie, and that's a refreshing thing to see in the disaster genre.
6 'Gravity' (2013)
Dr. Stone is tangled in a parachute cord. She holds a broken tether as she watches her colleague float away in Gravity - 2013Image via Warner Bros. Pictures
Disasters don't happen only on Earth. In Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity, one happens just above the Earth's atmosphere, as a pair of astronauts try to return to Earth after their space shuttle is destroyed in orbit. Though the genre is often about accidents affecting people in droves, it doesn't always need to be; Gravity proves that it works just as well when two people's safety is all audiences need to care about.
An absolute masterclass in directing supported by Sandra Bullock's powerhouse lead performance, Gravity is as eerily atmospheric as it is packed with nail-biting tension. It's one of the best sci-fi films of the 21st century (significantly heavier on the sci than it is on the fi), with technical qualities so impressive that it's easy to forget you're not actually watching a movie shot in space.
5 'Godzilla Minus One' (2023)
Godzilla chasing after a small fishing boat in 'Godzilla Minus One'Image via Toho
All Godzilla movies are disaster movies at heart, both thematically and narratively. The most iconic kaiju is a force of nature as deadly (and dangerous to urban infrastructure) as any earthquake or hurricane, and its origins as an allegory for the aftermath of the atomic bomb make it the quintessential disaster movie character. And as far as Godzilla movies go, it doesn't get much better than Godzilla Minus One.
Godzilla Minus One is a dream come true for those who love watching films with as much mass destruction as possible.
Visually impressive and a dream come true for those who love watching films with as much mass destruction as possible, Godzilla Minus One is one of the best horror movies of the last 40 years. Like the best of disaster movies, however, it's wise enough to anchor its story on deeply human characters and strong emotions, making sure that the audience is engaged with the narrative before ravaging Tokyo.
4 'The Birds' (1963)
Tippi Hedren is trapped in a telephone booth in Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds.Image via Universal Pictures
Being behind not just one, but two of the best horror movies of the 1960s is no small feat. Then again, Alfred Hitchcock was no conventional filmmaker. The Master of Suspense revolutionized horror with 1960's Psycho, and not content with doing just that, he followed it up three years later with The Birds. It may look like a cheesy B-picture on paper, but this prestige production is actually one of the greatest creature features ever made.
The movie received mixed reviews when it was first released, but today, people remember it as one of the greatest horror films of all time. Part disaster extravaganza, part character-driven drama, it's a magnificently-staged masterpiece confident that even the goofiest premises can make for some truly exceptional cinema. It's not your typical disaster flick by any means, but it's undoubtedly among the best.
3 'Godzilla' (1954)
Image via Toho
Well before Minus One took the world by storm, Ishirō Honda invented Godzilla (and kaiju cinema as a whole) with 1954's Godzilla. Released not even 10 years after the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, this creature feature is filled with nuclear paranoia and endless creativity. It has aged like fine wine in virtually every sense, and it remains the character's most rewatchable movie.
Godzilla perfectly understands everything that makes the disaster genre work. The human characters are deeply compelling, but never detracting attention from the destruction at the core of the story, and the disaster itself—Godzilla, of course—is just as engrossing. This quintessential classic balances postwar commentary, traditional creature feature fare, engaging drama, and perfectly executed disaster film tropes to perfection.
2 'Titanic' (1997)
The sinking Titanic shipImage via 20th Century Studios
You don't get to the top of the box office without being exceptional; and, for approximately 12 years, James Cameron's Titanic remained the highest-grossing film of all time, before he broke his own record with 2009's Avatar. But as romantic as this period drama may be, a romance drama isn't all it is: It's also one of the most iconic disaster films ever made.
The disaster at the heart of Titanic may not be a natural one, but it's disastrous all the same. Yet, the magic and timelessness of this masterpiece lie in the buildup to the ship hitting the iceberg. The elegance, the romance, the ensemble, the characters—all things that make this one of those '90s movies that get better with every rewatch. With that, once disaster strikes, one can't help but teeter on the edge of one's seat while suffering a nail-biting attack.
1 'Children of Men' (2006)
Image via Universal Pictures
Sometimes, disasters are quieter and subtler. They don't ravage cities directly, but rather ravage humanity itself, getting them to become the agents of destruction that bring on the apocalypse. Such is the case with Alfonso Cuarón's Children of Men, whose disaster is that everyone on the planet has suddenly become infertile. All entries in this genre rely on having just a bit of hope, though, and Children of Men's is that a woman suddenly appears who has miraculously become pregnant.
Children of Men is among the most perfectly-directed movies of the 21st century, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi masterpiece which understands that the most compelling aspect of any disaster film is watching humanity learn how to survive. Visually striking, flawlessly written, and beautifully humanistic in its optimism, Children of Men is definitely the greatest disaster movie of the last 100 years.
Children of Men
R
Drama
Action
Thriller
Science Fiction
Release Date
January 5, 2007
Cast
Clive Owen, Clare-Hope Ashitey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Julianne Moore, Michael Caine, Pam Ferris, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, Peter Mullan, Oana Pellea, Jacek Koman, Phaldut Sharma, Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi, Mishal Husain, Rob Curling, Maria McErlane, Michael Haughey, Miriam Karlin, Philippa Urquhart, Tehmina Sunny, Jody Halse, Ilario Bisi-Pedro, Michael Klesic, Martina Messing, Simon Poland
Runtime
109 minutes
Director
Alfonso Cuarón
Writers
Alfonso Cuarón, David Arata, Timothy J. Sexton, Hawk Ostby, Mark Fergus, P. D. James
Genres
Drama, Action, Thriller, Science Fiction
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Not a good list. It is all over the place. Are monster movies disaster movies? Are zombie movies? What is a disaster movie here
2025-11-21 19:49:21 Upvote Downvote Reply Copy