Best disaster movies

[Sohan]

I want to watch some disaster movies. Anybody has any recommendations?

I have seen The core, Armageddon, Deep impact, volcano, vertical limit. Any other good movies kind of like these movies?

 

[Gevera Bert]

If you want to go back a little there is;

-The poseidon adventure
- Earthquake
-The towering inferno

 

[UCLAfan]

the remake of TRUE GRIT seems to qualify.

 

[celery7]

How so? The reviews have been solid.

 

[livinnbfe]

Everyone I know who has seen it advise against it.

 

[Broderick]

The Day after Tomorrow is pretty good....

2012 is just a little farfetched with the overdone special effects.

The original Poseidan Adventure and the Tower Inferno are awesome movies. The remake of PA wasn't bad, but didn't compare to the original. I'm actually surprised they haven't remade the TI yet......

Oh yeah, the original Airport was good too.

If you're looking for post armageddon type movies, the Road was good if not a little vague (they never really tell you wtf happened) but The Book of Eli is better IMO. All of the Mad Max movies are classics and must see Post apocalypse movies.....

"Knowing" is good but you have to get past Nicola Cage playing the same fricken role over and over again. I watched a couple of his movies back to back and the only differences in his performance is the name of the character......

 

[AaronTassle]

I've seen it and thoroughly enjoyed it, of course I'm the type that prefers a more realistic film to the usual Hollywood recycled glitz.

And that is what you get with the Coen bros.

 

[classy lady]

2012 is too cheesy imo.

 

[Raven]

The Road is a good movie. I think it is very underrated movie.

 

[Due October 1st!]

It is, but I found it to simply be a short exerpt from a bigger story. It didn't really have a beginning or an end, just the middle.

I know everything isn't all cut and dried with a beginning, a middle and an end, but I'd like to at least have my movies that way lol.....

 

[Lust for Lola]

I heard that the movie "Pearl Harbor" qualifies.

 

[Pompal 09.]

I am so, so sorry the medication is not working!

 

[Ruby T]

Hey Don, I thought you'd be posting something like Gothra vs Tokyo or something with your love for asian women lol.......

 

[tyler]

Well...

...now that you've mentioned it!

 

[diosaalx6]

Titanic. Nowadays most disaster movies are just that...a disaster of a movie.

 

[loser_hot_sexy]

don't they already have that problem with the new airport sinking into tokyo bay?

I saw the documentary on that subject. The planners had numerous studies done: one said it wasn't that bad, one said it was really really bad. They "chose" to believe the one that said it wasn't that bad....OOPS

 

[Quintus-Zadok]

That movie The Road, wow I found that heavy to watch, reminds me of how quickly our humanity can be stripped away.

Never saw the first 2 or 3 minutes so I assumed there was more info on what was going on, I see from tboys posts there wasnt.

Kinda differentiates the types of disaster films I guess...the without hope ones like The Road
action ones like Mad Max 2012, eerie like Knowing, or the towering inferno/posideon type...not sure what to label them.

 

[chicago bears 2009 (3-2)]

I beg to differ! 'The Road' is very much a film about hope. It re-affirms love for family, perseverance for life and one of the toughest relationships out there: Father & Son. In the end, the Boy finds a family who adopts him, a caring Father figure who will help maintain the memory of his own Father, a nurturing Mother figure who will bring female affection back into his life, a brother of the same age and a girl who will most likely become his spouse and keep humanity alive. One can see how humanity can be stripped away or one can see how Love will persevere. It is a brilliant testament as to how no matter how dark our days may be, Love will conquer evil. I did not find it hard to watch at all as I found it reflective, touching and at times profound.

Towering Inferno/Poseidon/Earthquake, much as I enjoyed them, are more of the entertainment variety of disaster films. They carry nowhere near the weight, gravitas or cinematic quality that 'The Road' does.

 

[maniqui79]

I appreciate your perspective and thoughtful responce. I feel that you are taking a optimistic view. In no way do I mean to be condescending or offensive to you.



However, when I view that film, I cant get past the canibalism, live food storage, brutality, survival of the fittest mentality and hoplessness that seems to run thru the whole film.
The wife cant cope and walks into the storm to die, The father stoicly trys to protect and nurture his son. Yet how can he shelter him? The boy asks something like "we arent like them right? we are the good guys" Yet when faced with the choice between nobility and practicality the father chooses practicality to maintain his sole goal of protecting his son.(he pushes the naked vistims back into the basement rather than setting them free) to better his chance of survival.

What humanity is this? Do the ends justify the means?

When the mother and daughter are being surrounded by the hunters, what lesson about humanity does he teach when he shelters the son and allows the others to be captured. The mother and daughter were clearly ina similar situation to he and his sons....no smarter or more foolish just less lucky. He is powerless to save them.

The father is mortally wounded and commits a unintentionally horrific act with the flare gun, and more lives and bits of hope are snuffed out.

His anger leads him to indirectly sentence a thief to his death when he takes the thiefs clothes in winter weather. Are they still the good guys?

Finally the father dies and the child is left alone, we see no end to the calamity that is befalling the earth, the skies are still grey, the temperature sub zero, the roving bands of marauders would seem to make the hope of planting food impossible. The limited canned food left will soon be gone.

Suddenly a family shows up and offers to let the boy join them. Is this hope the father had taught the son to avoid strangers. How will this family survive with another mouth to feed?

I honestly felt that the producers or the studio behind the film said thats it, no way you are ending it with the fathers death, we need some hope in the film....insert a dirty but happy middle class family...the first surviving family unit we see in the film that arent perverted or canibalistic...and have them take him in, otherwise this is too dark and people will want their money back.

Perhaps im cynical and have missed the point to the film. I appreciate and admire that you could view it differently. Personally I couldnt get past how quickly humanity is lost when the situation becomes unbearable.

OK sorry for the heavy post...
Damn lets get back to hot bods, cute sps, t and a, and lighter fair like denzel washingtons apocalyptic film.

 

[Carlee]

I'm with you scotty, that scene with the mother and daughter being captured by the cannibals illustrated to me that while they didn't go out and actively pursue other forms of nurishment, they didn't lend a hand when needed. (Not that they could do much anyways).

In regards to the thief: The kid repeatedly said "dad don't" yet he did leave him to die. Only after constant harassment by the son did he relent and go back to return his goods only to find him gone.

As for the message of the film. I don't really think there was one. I think it was just a short story on what happened to 2 people after a cataclysmic event. It was more like the middle of the story as opposed to a complete story (you know, beginning, middle, end). At least in "The book of eli" the end was him delivering it (the book).......

Another good movie (albeit an old one) is: On the Beach. Pretty gloomy outlook but I felt it was the most realistic and humanistic approach.

The thing about "The Road" is that without a proper beginning or explanation of what transpired, we could never really grasp the situation. If it was a natural disaster, did it happen everywhere? At least in "The book of Eli" you saw the bomb craters and they discussed "the before life" so you had an idea of the premise of the story.