Did you know that almost 25% of people who watch disaster movies do it as a way to feel better about what’s happening in real life?
Yeah, that’s right, according to recent polls…and quite a lot of psychologists out there. Wonder what that other 75% is thinking about tho!
Aaanyway. Your somewhat guilty pleasure is actually a super valid coping mechanism and, in the next few minutes, you’re gonna see a list of the best disaster movies ever!
We went through our TiVo Stream 4K list and through all the bookmarks to handpick the very best disaster movies have to offer.
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If you prefer to read the list, here are the best disaster movies we talked about in the latest Streamland episode:
Disaster movie 1: The day After Tomorrow
Let’s kick off the roundup with The Day After Tomorrow.
This is a movie everyone and their mom probably saw…
And they should definitely rewatch it, cause it’s one of the best disaster movies ever done. If you care about climate change, Day After Tomorrow shows the very worst …and most unlikely scenario to come – a new Ice Age that’s going to force us to burn books in order to survive.
Still, Roland Emerich, a master of the genre, cuts no corners – there’s epic set pieces being absolutely demolished…plus characters you care about.
Disaster movie 2: 2012
Yeah, the Day After Tomorrow is pretty cool even after all these years…but 2012, another Emmerich movie, is a masterpiece!
This is basically THE movie if you want to turn off your brain…and see shit* biip going down – and by shit I mean everything from LA to Yellowstone.
It has one of the most likable dudes in Hollywood as a hero – Does anyone else miss John Cusack- and also the.single.most.annoying.character in the history of disaster movies.
Yeah, I’m talking about that Russian billionaire.
Disaster movie 3: San Andreas
Still, one thing I noticed about disaster movies – everyone likes watching them when they come out, but few people take the time to do a marathon and fully explore the genre.
Fortunately, thanks to my TiVo Stream 4K I dove deep into this and found even more recent gems.
I’m talking about San Andreas, a disaster movie as fun and action filled as 2012, but not a 90s or early 2000s gem.
This The Rock flick has everything that makes the genre tick: huge catastrophe – check. Separated family – check. Awesome displays of people coming together in the face of doom – check.
The only thing that San Andreas really lacked was a true disaster movie antagonist, someone so selfish, shortsighted and stubborn you just wanna reach through the screen and slap them properly.
Disaster movie 4: The Wandering Earth
But maybe that’s a sign of the genre really evolving?
I do think that this is the case with The Wandering Earth. This is a disaster movie with the full might of China behind it – including the budget – that unfortunately few people have seen.
Like, whenever I talk to friends about it, they look at me like I’m crazy or something.
The Wandering Earth is basically what happens when you mix and match every Hollywood disaster trope and throw lots of money….plus some commie ideals like working together from the common good.
And surprisingly, even though it’s basically 2012 put into a blender with Geostorm, Interstellar, Snowpiercer and some good old propaganda…it works.
Add it to your Netflix queue, trust me!
Disaster movie 5: Melancholia
However, if you want something more thought-provoking, I’m gonna go ahead and suggest something a lot more mellow…and pretty damn clever.
It’s Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia and I do think it can work as a way to get you out of a funky mood.
This movie has Kirsten Dunst at her absolute best – what happens when a depressed woman is watching a planet hurtle towards Earth and promising to obliterate anything?
I won’t spoil it for you, but trust me, you’ll find plenty of wisdom in this weird disaster flick.
Disaster movie 6: Miracle Mile (A Classic!)
The same goes for this underrated and tragically forgotten movie.
Miracle Mile is a cult classic in some circles but so fresh you can barely believe it came out in 1988. It follows a dude who gets a phone call. On the line, a credible source tells him that, in just an hour or so, nukes will start raining down…. And the world as he knows it is about to end.
This is a fantastic flick if you want to see exactly how information spreads…and how panic has a snowball effect
Oh yeah, and as a cool piece of trivia – this is yet another disaster movie that features the famous La Brea Tar Pits. You know, those pools of bubbling asphalt thousands of years old.
Do you know your disaster movies? If so, drop a comment below and name the other major disaster flick with the La Brea Tar Pits!
I’ll give you some small hints – 1. it’s from 1997
And 2. It has basically the same plot of yet another famous ANOTHER disaster movie released that year.
Tough challenge, I know…can you answer it tho? Share your answer below.
Disaster movie 7: Outbreak
Also gimme a shoutout if you’ve been spending an eternity yelling at people to wash their dam hands…cause I have the perfect movie for you.
It’s Outbreak, the.disaster.movie. To teach people to rub that soap in properly.
The other pandemic movie, Contagion, might look more like what’s happening today….but Outbreak has all the right ingredients of a disaster flick – from the fast paced action to the cathartic opportunity to yell at your TV – TOLD YOU SO!
Disaster movie 8: Twister
And if you want the full TOLD YOU SO experience, try Twister.
This awesome disaster flick is so good, it almost got the Oscar for special effects….but lost to Independence Day cause…you know, Independence Day and Will Smith so good, he could sucker punch aliens.
Anyway, back to Twister. This is an old-school disaster flick about an almost divorced couple. They come back together.thanks to their storm chaser background and, wouldn’t you know it… a humongous tornado starts tearing everything in its path!
Disaster movie 9 Fearless (A 1993 hidden gem!)
Aaand on the topic of pure classics, I give you the 1993 gem called Fearless. This is a disaster movie that I think is truly unique.
Instead of being a series of unfolding disasters that test the main characters in lots of way, Fearless goes the other way. It follows a dude who survives an airplane crash, then just isn’t scared about anything, ever again. Instead, the movie follows him in his new, absolutely fearless life, and how someone like that can relate to people.
Disaster movie 10 Only the Brave (True Story!)
But if you want a true showcase of bravery, add this one to your list, then come back to tell me how you can’t believe you missed it until now!
At least, that’s what my friends say about Only the brave, the absolutely amazing…AND true story of a group of firefighters going up against wildfires.
Bonus points – this movie, just like Fearless, also has Jeff Bridges in the main cast. Could he be one of the unsung heroes of disaster movies? Drop your thoughts in the comments!
Disaster movie 11: The Impossible
Next off on the list – another true story!
The Impossible is such an underrated disaster movie, I barely see it discussed anywhere. This story is based on a family who went on a nice vacation…and got caught up in the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.
You should add this to your list because it has a lot of valuable insights into how people deal with tsunamis.
Disaster movie 12: Beasts of the Southern Wild (Or is it a disaster movie?)
The same could be said for Beasts of the Southern Wild…which I definitely consider a disaster movie, even though people call it a fantasy.
This is basically the top movie in my TiVo Stream 4K. It’s perfect for family time, for a date…and even when I feel off and need a little reassurance.
Beasts of the Southern Wild is a bold and heartwarming movie following Hush Puppy, a small girl who lives with her dad in the Bathtub, a delta full of people who ran away from mainstream society.
Their charming, off the grid existence is threatened by climate change, which is fantastically represented through Hush Puppy’s childlike imagination. And Hush Puppy is truly the inspiration we need in difficult times.
Might sound a bit cheesy, but this disaster movie does have some valuable lessons to share. People should definitely tell themselves to be more bold, more brave, more Hush Puppy!
Disaster movie 13: Armageddon (Best of all time)
Also, be brave like Bruce Willis!
I know I said a disaster movie doesn’t have to be flashy, you know, with buildings ripped apart and the Statue of Liberty knocked down…yet that’s exactly what we crave sometimes.
And when it comes to sheer scale of destruction and fear, contrasted by truly selfless acts where humanity comes together, I dare you…I double dare you to find something better than Armageddon….
This list wasn’t a top but still, if it was, I’m gonna go ahead and say Armageddon wins! Feel free to disagree in the comments!
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