Taking a class this fall on disaster movies and hoping to get ahead of the curve. (syllabus has stuff like The Host, Attack the Block, The Day After Tomorrow and the original Godzilla)
#Favorite Disaster Movies?
mossy escarp
distant ibex
The Impossible 2012
high hinge
im not knowledgable about any earlier stuff, but for the 90s-2000 wave, i think the big ones are
Twister (havent seen it but i have the feeling it was partly responsible for the uptick in disaster movies),
Dante's Peak (just watched this, ok movie, good disaster scenes)
Independence Day (if you count this as disaster. i do)
there was also a movie called Daylight, which i saw as a kid but never have seen mentioned ever, so i guess its not worth much.
Armageddon (this is the peak of the trend, imo. its cheesy, but effective. if there was only one 90s disaster movie, this would be it)
then theres the Armageddon clones, Deep Impact and The Core (noteworthy in how they relate directly to Armageddon, but not worth much on their own)
and The Day After Tomorrow (i dont think this movie is good, but probably worth study because its maybe the first climate change disaster movie. and well.. look out your window)
then you get into the next wave of junk, 2012, San Andreas, etc. havent seen them, dont think they have much merit.
the real originator of the whole wave was probably Titanic, but that one transcends the disaster genre. see also, james cameron's previous movie, The Abyss, also about stuff sinking into the ocean
and a mention to Disaster Movie, the terribly unfunny spoof movie that signaled the death of the genre wave, but also showed how big the trend was that it earned an entire spoof movie.
and of course, this 90s wave of movies except Day After Tomorrow were all pre-9/11. which im sure will be mentioned in class, how a real life disaster totally put the kibosh on the fun of watching cities get destroyed at the theater.
only ones worth remembering to me: Titanic, Armageddon, Independence Day.
for old stuff, the one that comes to mind (havent seen it) is The Poseidon Adventure