Disasters The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time  

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These are the most entertaining, the most fun, the greatest disaster movies ever made, ranked by movie experts and film fans alike. There is a long history of these kinds of movies in cinema - never to be taken too seriously, always slightly histrionic - for moviegoers who love to watch cities leveled and populations run screaming for their lives. This list includes films that center around a natural disaster, like a storm, as well as other kinds of catastrophe that might cause an apocalypse.

This list of floods, fires, earthquakes and alien attacks is built from both your votes and those lists that Rankers have contributed. If you are a die-hard fan of disaster movies, if you know your F-5 Tornados from your 10.5 Earthquakes, make your own ranking of these to really impact the list order! And if you see a good film that should be amongst these greatest disaster movies of all time, please add it!

Be sure to check out Ranker's list of All Disaster Films.

Check out more great lists like Worst Game of Thrones Characters, Best Horror Anime, and Celebrities With Allergies.
list ordered by

1
2,166 712
The Day After Tomorrow is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2004 The Day After Tomorrow is a 2004 American climate fiction-disaster film co-written, directed, and produced by Roland Emmerich and starring Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum, ...more

2
2,004 786
Independence Day is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1996 Independence Day is a 1996 American science fiction disaster film co-written and directed by Roland Emmerich. The film stars Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch, ...more

3
1,614 851
Armageddon is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1998 Armageddon is a 1998 American science fiction disaster thriller film, directed by Michael Bay, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, and released by Touchstone Pictures. The film follows a group of ...more

4
1,664 588
Twister is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1996 Twister is a 1996 American disaster drama film starring Bill Paxton and Helen Hunt as storm chasers researching tornadoes. It was directed by Jan de Bont from a screenplay by Michael Crichton ...more

5
1,438 547
Deep Impact is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1998 Deep Impact is a 1998 American science fiction disaster film directed by Mimi Leder, written by Bruce Joel Rubin and Michael Tolkin, and starring Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, ...more

6
1,578 883
2012 is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2009 2012 is a 2009 American science fiction disaster adventure film directed and co-written by Roland Emmerich. It stars John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, ...more

7
967 600
The Poseidon Adventure is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1972 The Poseidon Adventure is a 1972 American action-adventure disaster film, directed by Ronald Neame, produced by Irwin Allen, and based on Paul Gallico's novel of the same name. The film features ...more

8
1,150 546
Dante's Peak is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1997 Dante's Peak is a 1997 American epic disaster adventure film directed by Roger Donaldson, and starring Pierce Brosnan, Linda Hamilton, Charles Hallahan, Elizabeth Hoffman, Jamie Renée ...more

9
1,403 752
Titanic is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1997 Titanic is a 1997 American epic romantic disaster drama film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of what happened to the RMS Titanic, it stars ...more

10
1,137 702
War of the Worlds is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2005 War of the Worlds is a 2005 American epic science fiction disaster film and a loose adaptation of H. G. Wells's novel The War of the Worlds, directed by Steven Spielberg and written by Josh ...more

11
946 509
The Perfect Storm is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2000 The Perfect Storm is a 2000 American biographical disaster drama film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is an adaptation of the 1997 non-fiction book of the same title by Sebastian Junger, which ...more

12
882 333
Outbreak is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1995 Outbreak is a 1995 American medical disaster film directed by Wolfgang Petersen and based on Richard Preston's non-fiction book The Hot Zone. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, and ...more

13
1,053 449
I Am Legend is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
physcod added 2007 I Am Legend is a 2007 American post-apocalyptic science fiction horror film directed by Francis Lawrence and starring Will Smith. It is the third feature film adaptation of Richard Matheson's ...more

14
840 467
Volcano is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1997 Volcano is a 1997 disaster film directed by Mick Jackson and produced by Andrew Z. Davis, Neal H. Moritz and Lauren Shuler Donner. The storyline was conceived from a screenplay written by Jerome ...more

15
716 445
The Towering Inferno is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1974 The Towering Inferno is a 1974 American action drama disaster film produced by Irwin Allen featuring an all-star cast led by Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. The picture was directed by John ...more

16
762 344
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
kaylive added 1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 American science fiction action thriller film written, produced and directed by James Cameron. The film stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert ...more

17
752 672
Cloverfield is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2008 Cloverfield is a 2008 American science fiction found footage monster film directed by Matt Reeves, produced by J. J. Abrams & Bryan Burk, and written by Drew Goddard. Before settling on an ...more

18
445 420
Earthquake is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1974 Earthquake is a 1974 American ensemble disaster film directed and produced by Mark Robson. The plot concerns the struggle for survival after a catastrophic earthquake destroys most of the city ...more

19
428 442
Alive is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1993 Alive is a 1993 American biographical survival drama film based upon Piers Paul Read's 1974 book Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors, which details the story of a Uruguayan rugby team. The ...more

20
781 283
San Andreas is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
analise.dubner added 2015 San Andreas is an upcoming American disaster film directed by Brad Peyton and written by Allan Loeb, Carlton Cuse, Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes, based on the original script by Jeremy Passmore and ...more

21
491 359
The Andromeda Strain is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
1971 The Andromeda Strain is a 1971 American science fiction film produced and directed by Robert Wise. Based on Michael Crichton's 1969 novel of the same name and adapted by Nelson Gidding, the film ...more

22
445 447
Poseidon is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2006 Poseidon is a 2006 disaster film directed and co-produced by Wolfgang Petersen. It is the third film adaptation of Paul Gallico's novel The Poseidon Adventure, and a loose remake of the 1972 ...more

23
568 431
The Core is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
2003 The Core is a 2003 American science fiction disaster film. It concerns a team that has to drill to the center of the Earth in order to restart the rotation of the Earth's core. The film was ...more

24
519 408
Knowing is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
arpan_mukherjee93 added 2009 Knowing is a 2009 science fiction mystery thriller film directed by Alex Proyas. M.I.T. professor John Koestler (Nicolas Cage) links a mysterious list of numbers from a time capsule to past and ...more

25
625 353
WALL-E is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
gamedemon24 added 2008 WALL-E is a 2008 American computer-animated science-fiction comedy film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton, the story follows a ...more