The Greatest Disaster Movies of All Time
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 action disaster movies that level cities and have populations run screaming for their lives. This list includes thrillers 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 extreme weather such as 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 the Best End of the World Movies, New Disaster Movies, Worst Game of Thrones Characters, Best Horror Anime, and Celebrities With Allergies.
- 11996
- Actors: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Cary Elwes, Jami Gertz, Lois Smith
- Directed by: Jan de Bont
During the approach of the most powerful storm in decades, university professor Dr. Jo Harding (Helen Hunt) and an underfunded team of students prepare the prototype for Dorothy, a ground-breaking ...more - 21996
- Actors: Will Smith, Bill Pullman, Jeff Goldblum, Mary McDonnell, Judd Hirsch
- Directed by: Roland Emmerich
In the epic adventure film "Independence Day," strange phenomena surface around the globe. The skies ignite. Terror races through the world's major cities. As these extraordinary events unfold, it ...more - Actors: Dennis Quaid, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ian Holm, Emmy Rossum, Sela Ward
- Directed by: Roland Emmerich
After climatologist Jack Hall (Dennis Quaid) is largely ignored by U.N. officials when presenting his environmental concerns, his research proves true when an enormous "superstorm" develops, setting ...more- 41998
- Actors: Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Vanessa Redgrave, Morgan Freeman
- Directed by: Mimi Leder
A comet is hurtling toward Earth and could mean the end of all human life. The U.S. government keeps the crisis under wraps, but crack reporter Jenny Lerner (Tea Leoni) uncovers the truth -- forcing ...more - 51995
- Actors: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Kevin Spacey, Cuba Gooding
- Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
A dangerous airborne virus threatens civilization in this tense thriller. After an African monkey carrying a lethal virus is smuggled into the U.S., an outbreak occurs in a California town. To ...more - 62015
