One thing lockdown really has shown me is that I love a movie marathon and a theme. We’ve been through the feel-goods, the rom-coms, the biopics, alien invasions, superheroes, films with the President of the United States, heists, as well as full run-downs of the franchises think Star Trek, Jurassic Park, Terminator, Transformers, Die Hard, Lethal Weapon, Bond, Fast and the Furious, and films from our favourite actors and directors. But the one movie marathon that really brings the most joy has to be disaster films.
For me, disaster films are those featuring mother nature, whether an earthquake, volcano eruption, meteor, twisters, infections, and fires – you know those end of days kind of plots. I know you could include alien invasions, fantasy tales, monster attacks and superheroes but they are all worthy of their own movie marathon list I think.
I don’t know why disaster films bring me so much joy, maybe in these uncertain times it is nice to watch a little escapism with closure. Generally all disaster films end with a resolution of the crisis and life returns back to normal – and isn’t that what we are all craving at the moment?
My Top 10 Favourite Disaster Films
Dante’s Peak
In 1997, we were presented with two volcano movies, Pierce Brosnan as the rugged volcanologist saving a town from a dominant volcano alongside the amazing Linda Hamilton in Dante’s Peak, and Volcano set in LA with Tommy Lee Jones. It isn’t that Volcano is bad, I enjoyed both, it just isn’t Dante’s Peak, I’m afraid Pierce Brosnan adds something a little more special, and come on who doesn’t want to see James Bond and Sarah Connor face off with a destructive volcano.
OK, back to Dante’s Peak, it combines natural disaster, with a touch of romance, great special effects, a cheesy yet heartwarming sacrifice, and of course, a happy ending.
Twister
I have a little obsession with storm chasers, they totally fascinate me, as do tornados, probably because we don’t really get them here in the UK. This film is part epic disaster, part technology wars, as well as romance. TV weatherman Bill Harding played by the amazing Bill Paxton is trying to get to his tornado-hunter wife, the gorgeous Helen Hunt, to sign divorce papers, against the backdrop of intense storms sweeping across Oklahoma.
Armageddon
I don’t even need to sell Armageddon, do I? But if I did, I think all it would need is Bruce Willis, a baby faced Ben Affleck, a gigantic asteroid on a collision course with Earth, a race against time, a space mission, an incredible sacrifice, and an epic soundtrack, ‘I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing’ by Aerosmith will be in your head for days afterwards.
San Andreas
The most recent disaster film on my list and had to be included because the Rock is in it. The film sees the Rock, sorry Dwayne Johnson as Ray Gaines, taking on the infamous San Andreas Fault as a search and rescue helicopter pilot. When a 9.1 magnitude earthquake devastates Los Angeles and San Francisco, Ray alongside his estranged wife have to make their way from Los Angeles to San Francisco to save their daughter, who is having her own survival adventure.
Towering Inferno
A disaster movie with Steve McQueen and Paul Newman – count me in! I also love the cinema poster with the line “one tiny spark becomes a night of blazing suspense”. If you still need convincing to watch a movie from 1974 – it is a three-hour masterpiece, don’t let the length put you off, it really is nail-biting and action-packed the whole way through. Basically, the world’s tallest building all 138 stories, has a fire on the 81st floor, on the opening day, and the guests all get trapped. Don’t worry as fire chief McQueen and Newman as the buildings architect are on the case.
Outbreak
I have two medical disaster films on my list, first up, Outbreak, the one with the cute monkey and a blockbuster cast including Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman and Donald Sutherland. Watching a contagious virus spreading during an actual pandemic might seem wrong, but there is something strangely comforting about knowing that it all works out and science prevails.
Backdraft
Action thriller or disaster movie? You can make your own decision on that, but for me, this film following Chicago firefighters, including Kurt Russell, on the trail of a serial arsonist is what I call a man-made disaster that becomes a fight against the power of fire.
Deep Impact
Released in the same year as Armageddon it was always going to be hard for Deep Impact, but there is a charm to this movie, down mainly to the incredible Morgan Freeman. Armageddon had a giant asteroid, Deep Impact a 7-mile wide comet set to collide with Earth and cause a mass extinction. This film has everything an extinction crisis, a lottery, romance, and a giant wave.
Contagion
Don’t think you need more than a lethal airborne virus that kills within days, finding patient zero, a race for a vaccine, and a struggle to survive – fast packed drama that feels all too real. Plus, you will see Jude Law like you’ve never seen him before.
2012
My last film on my list is 2012, an epic journey before the end of the world after it is discovered that the Earth’s crust is becoming unstable after a massive solar flare caused by an alignment of the planets. This leads to John Cusack racing against time across the world to get to China to stowaway on one of the arks. After all that drama, the only thing that lets the film down is the end.
