However, they are often movies that are a lot of fun to watch on the big screen. 123 Tastepoints. And of course, the most iconic of all natural disaster film scenes — Dennis Quaid and Jake Gyllenhaal outrunning an actual will-freeze-you-where-you-stand cold front. You witness the big earthquake the sinks L.A., the eruption of the Yellowstone volcano, a tsunami that reaches the tops of the Himalayas. It certainly made good use of it, with the scene of the tsunami roaring through the mountains and up a row of stalled cars on a road being a fantastic use of special effects. But critics said the performances of master actors Paul Newman and Steve McQueen make the movie worth watching. 195 Tastepoints. However, as you can probably tell, I like the spectacle inherent in natural disaster films — even in these smaller, more human-centered dramas. A series of arks intended to preserve the human race following the planet’s destruction are limited in space, and the world’s leaders must undertake the grim task of deciding who lives and who dies. << FIND THEM HERE! The story of a last-ditch fishing expedition that turns into an all out battle against an incredible — might I say, perfect — storm is better for each of its individual parts than as a movie as a whole. This meant it was just kind of…boring, which is the worst thing a natural disaster movie can be. The story follows an airplane crew trying to land their damaged plane after a madman detonates a bomb on board. And in terms of spectacle-laden disaster movies, this one is the gold standard. An argument could probably be made for this film being objectively better than either two or one in this countdown, and I would certainly accept that argument. The real star here is the storm — the driving rain and the cresting waves so intense and realistic looking that you can almost feel yourself getting battered by them. 569 Tastepoints. All rights reserved (About Us). The setting makes for all manner of unique challenges, and those challenges, along with the talents of Gene Hackman and Earnest Borgnine, are what help this movie rise above standard genre fare. This movie is kind of a halfway point between a natural disaster spectacle film and natural disaster human drama. The Rush job is apparent when you watch the movie, with a script that feels like a rough draft and performances that feel phoned in. More. 2012 (2009) Roland Emmerich became Hollywood’s king of disaster in the 1990s — mainly by cross-breeding the genre with alien and monster pictures, like Independence Day and Godzilla. As special effects have progressed to the point that filmmakers can realistically portray a disaster and its aftermath, such films have become even more ubiquitous. Directed by Dean Devlin. Joss Whedon won’t be involved behind the scenes on The Nevers at HBO as expected. Following a slew of airplane-in-distress movies that followed the highly successful 1970 film “Airport,” comedic filmmaking siblings David and Larry Zucker teamed with Jim Abrahams to write and direct this farce. Movies like: Geostorm. Saturday Night Live has tapped Jason Bateman, Timothee Chalamet, and Kristen Wiig to host the final three episodes of the season! “Airplane” proved a most effective satire of the subgenre thanks largely to a star-making performance from Leslie Neilson. I was less interested in the meteorologist and storm chasers arc, mostly because they weren’t interesting characters and — admittedly — because none of them looked like Richard Armitage. For someone who love spectacle, this human drama is rife with it. The twist is that the world must overcome cold war paranoia before it can work out a plan to deflect the massive threat. Follow Tugce Olgun @visnetmo. To add insult to injury, a plot that involves a series of massive, world-altering storms brought on by global warming defies credulity. It features a flood, dozens of different scenes of people outrunning lava flows, a truly spectacular volcano eruption and a particularly gruesome yet oddly emotional scene where a grandmother basically boils to death in an acid lake. I genuinely and unabashedly love this ridiculous movie. This movie absolutely knows what it had when it paired the two, as we get to see The Rock do all sorts of really cool action scenes, including: tearing a car door off with his bare hands in the first 10 minutes while rescuing a trapped teen, rescuing his estranged wife by helicopter as a building collapses underneath her, and The Rock racing a boat to the top of a cresting tsunami wave. This is a disaster movie that knows why you’re watching it and does its best to lean into the spectacle of it all — and on that aspect it absolutely delivers. But suffice to say this drama – about an asteroid the size of Texas barreling toward the Earth – amounts to a parade of disaster movie clichés set to Aerosmith’s most obnoxiously overplayed songs. 3.1 / 5. However, it lacks the smarts and character of a Bond film, and is frequently bogged down by bad dialogue. Edgar Wright’s end-of-the-world farce brings back many of the staples of past Edgar Wright comedies, including actors Simon Pegg and Nick Frost. This extremely popular 1996 film about a group of storm chasers trying to perfect a new data-gathering system is both a visual feast (though keep in mind that it was made over 20 years ago, and not all the effects have aged gracefully) and an exciting human drama. There's no understanding of climate change or anything like that to convey. It’s telling that one of the best and most popular disaster movies ever made serves as a mockery of the genre (or at least one small segment it). Filled with swoon-worthy moments and a whole lot of heart, Jacquelyn Middleton’s Say Hello, Kiss Goodbye is a steamy, intoxicating romance that you won’t be able to get enough of. It doesn’t do either of them particularly well, but it still has enough cool scenes and alright characters to be worth watching when it comes on TNT every once in a while. “Independence Day” stands as one of director Roland Emmerich’s best films (which I suppose isn’t saying much), thanks largely to the enduring charisma of star Will Smith and a series of thrilling action scenes that balance out a looming sense of dread.