List of disaster films

This is an incomplete list that may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by expanding it with reliably sourced entries.

This list of disaster films represents over half a century of films within the genre. Disaster films are motion pictures which depict an impending or ongoing disaster as a central plot feature. The films typically feature large casts and multiple storylines and focus on the protagonists' attempts to avert, escape, or cope with the disaster presented.

Historical Past

• An Earthquake in NYC?- Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999, TV movie)Hallmark Entertainment
• Disaster by the Bay: The Great San Francisco Earthquake and Fire of 1906 (2006)
• Earthquake in Chile (1975)
• The Great Flood (2012)
• San Franciscoke (2006, TV movie)
• Surviving the San Francisco Earthquake of 1989 (2004, TV movie)
• The Impossible (2012)

Future

• After the Flood (2001)
• A Town Has Turned to Dust (1998)
• The Bed Sitting Room (1969)
• Beyond the Time Barrier (1960)
• The Book of Eli (2010)
• Christmas with the Stars: An International Earthquake Benefit (1989, TV movie)
• The Colony (2009–, TV series)
• Damnation Alley (1977)
• The Dark Knight Rises (2012)
• Day the World Ended (1955)
• Deathlands: Homeward Bound (2003)
• Doomsday (2008)
• The Eden Formula (2006)
• Epoch: Evolution (2003)
• Five (1951)
• In the Year 2889 (1967)
• The Last Woman on Earth (1960)
• La Jetée (1962)
• Lost City Raiders (2008, TV movie)
• The Noah (1975)
• Mad Max (1979)
• Oblivion (2013)
• PAD: Post-Apocalyptic Dreams (2012)
• Planet of the Apes (1968)
  • Beneath the Planet of the Apes (1970)
  • Escape from the Planet of the Apes (1971)
  • Conquest of the Planet of the Apes (1972)
  • Battle for the Planet of the Apes (1973)
  • Planet of the Apes (1974, TV series)
  • Return to the Planet of the Apes (1975, TV series)
  • Planet of the Apes (2001)
  • Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
  • Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
• Quintet (1979)
• Returner (2002)
• The Road (2009)
• The Road Warrior (1981)
• Seven Days (1998–2001)
• The Shape of Things to Come (1979)
• The Shape of Things to Come (2007)
• Solarbabies (1986)
• Soylent Green (1973)
• Things to Come (1936)
• The 100 (2014, TV series)
• The War Game (1965)
• Waterworld (1995)
• The World, the Flesh and the Devil (1959)
• World Without End (1956)

Natural disasters

• Cave-In! (1983, TV movie)
• Caved In: Prehistoric Terror (2006, TV movie)
• Descent (2005)
• Doomsday Prophecy (2011, TV movie)
• On Hostile Ground (2000, TV movie)
• Phase (2013)

Avalanches

• Avalanche (1978)
• Avalanche Alley (2001)
• Avalanche Express (1979)
• Vertical Limit (2000)

Earthquakes

• 10.0 earthquake (2014)
• 10.5: Apocalypse (2006)
• Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999)
• The Big One: The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)
• The Day the Earth Moved (1974, TV movie)
• Deathquake (1980)
• Deluge (1933)
• Disaster Wars: Earthquake vs. Tsunami (2013)
• Earthquake (1974)
• Earthquake in New York (1998, TV movie)
• Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief (2010, TV movie)
• Megafault (2009)
• Nature Unleashed: Earthquake (2005)
• San Andreas (2015)
• San Francisco (1936)
• Short Walk to Daylight (1972, TV movie)

Electrical disturbances and lightning

• 2012: Supernova (2009, TV movie)
• Stonehenge Apocalypse (2010, TV movie)

Fires

• Backdraft (1991)
• City on Fire (1979)
• Fire! (1977, TV movie)
• Firestorm (1998)
• In Old Chicago (1937)
• Terror on the 40th Floor (1974, TV movie)
• The Towering Inferno (1974)

Floods

• Flood! (1976)
• Flood (2003)
• Flood (2007)
• Hard Rain (1998)
• Killer Flood: The Day the Dam Broke (2003, TV movie)
• The Impossible (2012)
• Nihon Chinbotsu (Japan Sinks)
• The World Sinks Except Japan (2006)
• The Rains Came (1939)

Global catastrophes

• 2012 (2009)
• The Core (2003)
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
• Deep Impact (1998)
• Meteor (1979)

Hurricanes and Tornadoes

• Atomic Twister (2002, TV movie)
• Category 7: The End of the World (2005)
• Category 6: Day of Destruction (2005)
• Condominium (1980, TV movie)
• Cyclone (1978)
• The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
• The Hurricane (1937)
• Hurricane (1974, TV movie)
• Hurricane (1979)
• Into the Storm (2014)
• Night of the Twisters (1996, TV movie)
• NYC: Tornado Terror (2008, TV movie)
• Sharknado (2013, TV movie)
• Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014, TV movie)
• Storm Chasers: Revenge of the Twister (1998, TV movie)
• Tornado! (1996)
• Twister (1996)

Tidal Waves and Tsunami

• Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)
• Hereafter (2010)
• The Impossible (2012)
• The Perfect Storm (2000)
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (2005, TV movie)
  • Poseidon (2006)
• Tidal Wave (Submersion of Japan) (1973)
• Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997)
• Tidal Wave (2009)
• Titanic II (2010, TV movie)
• The Tsunami and the Cherry Blossom (2011)
• Kayal (2014)

Volcanoes

• Dante's Peak (1997)
• The Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961)
• Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York (2006, TV movie)
• Dragon Head (2003)
• The Island at the Top of the World (1974)
• Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
• Krakatoa: The Last Days (2006, docudrama)
• Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006)
• Pompeii (2014)
• St. Helens (1981)
• Supervolcano (2005, docudrama)
• Volcano (1997)
• When Time Ran Out (1980)
• Under the Mountain (2009)
• Super Eruption (2011)

End of Days

• 4:44 Last Day on Earth (2011)
• Crack in the World (1965)
• The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
• Doomsday Prophecy (2011)
• End Day (2005 docudrama)
• This Is the End (2013)
• Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964)
• Fail-Safe (1964)
• Goodbye World (2013)
• Knowing (2009)
• The Last Days of Man on Earth (1973)
• The Last War (1961)
• Last Woman on Earth (1960)
• The Lost Missile (1958)
• Noah (2014)
• Meltdown: Days of Destruction (2006)
• On the Beach (1959)
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
• The World's End (2013)

Epidemics

• Absolon (2001)
• The Andromeda Strain (1971)
• After Armageddon (TV Movie 2010)
• Blindness (2008)
• Carriers (2009)
• The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
• Children of Men (2006)
• Contagion (2011)
• Covert One: The Hades Factor (2006)
• Darwin's Nightmare (2004)
• Daybreakers (2010)
• Doomsday Virus (1996)
• Ebola Syndrome (1996)
• Epidemic (1987)
• Fatal Contact: Bird Flu in America (2006)
• Flying Virus (2001)
• The Happening (2008)
• I Am Legend (2007)
• I Am Omega (2007)
• Infection: The Invasion Begins (2010)
• The Invasion (2007)
• The Last Man on Earth (1964)
• Metamorphosis: The Alien Factor (1990)
• No Blade of Grass (1970)
• The Omega Man (1971)
• Outbreak (1995)
• Perfect Sense (2011)
• Phase 7 (2011)
• Plague (1978)
• Quarantine (2008)
• Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)
• Smallpox 2002 (2002)
• SST: Death Flight (1977)
• The Stand (TV miniseries) (1994)
• Virus (1980)
• Virus (1999)
• World War Z (2013)
• World Without End (2012, mini-series)

Space

• 2012: Supernova (2009, TV movie)
• Anna's Storm (2007)
• Armageddon (1998)
• Asteroid (1997)
• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Crack in the World (1965)
• The Day the Sky Exploded (1958)
• Deep Impact (1998)
• Doomsday Prophecy (2011, TV movie)
• Doomsday Rock (1997, TV movie)
• End of the World (1977)
• Epoch (2001)
• Gravity (2013)
• Lifepod (1993)
• Meltdown: Days of Destruction (2006, TV movie)
• Pandorum (2009)
• Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
• The Shape of Things to Come (1979)
• Solar Attack (2005, also known as Solar Strike)
• Solar Crisis (1990)
• Sunshine (2007)
• Tycus (1998)
• Threshold (2003, TV movie)
• When Worlds Collide (1951)
• Where Have All The People Gone? (1974)
• Without Warning (1994)

Aliens

• Attack the Block (2011)
• Battle: Los Angeles (2011)
• Battleship (2012)
• The Blob (1958)
• The Blob (1988)
• The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951 original and 2008 remake)
• The Day the Earth Stopped (2008)
• Decoys (2004)
• End of the World (1977)
• The Faculty (1998)
• Falling Skies (2011, TV series)
• Hangar 18 (1980)
• I Come in Peace (1990)
• Impostor (2001)
• Independence Day (1996)
• Invasion (2005–2006, TV series)
• Invasion (1997, TV movie)
• Invasion: Earth (1998, mini-series)
• The Invasion (2007)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
• Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
• Invasion of the Les-Body Snatchers (2012)
• Invasion of the Pod People (2007)
• Invasion of the Saucer Men (1957)
• Koi... Mil Gaya (2003)
• Kronos (1957)
• Lifted (2006)
• Liquid Sky (1982)
• Mars Attacks! (1996)
• Night Skies (2007)
• Pitch Black (2000)
• Planet 51 (2009)
• Progeny (1998)
• The Shadow Men (1998)
• Signs (2002)
• Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
• Skyline (2010)
• Slither (2006)
• Starship Troopers: Invasion (2012)
• Strange Invaders (1983)
• Suburban Commando (1991)
• Terminal Invasion (2002)
• They Live (1988)
• Transmorphers (2007)
• Transmorphers: Fall of Man (2009)
• U.F.O. (1993)
• The Visitor (1979)
• The War of the Worlds (1953, three remakes in 2005)
• Within the Rock (1996)
• War of the Worlds (2005)

Computers

• Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
• Eagle Eye (2008)
• Demon Seed (1977, aka Proteus IV)
• Pulse (2006)
• Virus (1999)
• WarGames (1983)
• App (film) (2013)

Monsters

• 2 (2007)
• Altered (2006)
• Battle of the Worlds (1961, original title: Il Pianeta degli uomini spenti)
• Bugs (2014)
• Cloverfield (2008)
• D-War (2007)
• Destroy All Monsters (1968)
• The Fourth Kind (2009)
• The Godzilla franchise (1954–present)
• Godzilla (1998)
• Godzilla (2014)
• Godzilla 2000 (1999)
• Godzilla: Final Wars (2004)
• Godzilla vs. Gigan (1972)
• Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla (1974)
• Godzilla vs. SpaceGodzilla (1994)
• Gorgo (1961)
• Helldriver (2010)
• Invasion of Astro-Monster (1965)
• Killer Mountain (2011, TV movie)
• The Mist (2007)
• Mega Piranha (2010)
• Mega Python vs. Gatoroid (2011)
• Mega Shark Versus Crocosaurus (2010)
• Mega Shark Versus Giant Octopus (2009)
• The Monster X Strikes Back/Attack the G8 Summit (2008)
• Outlander (2008)
• Pacific Rim (2013)
• Resident Evil (2002)
  • Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
  • Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
  • Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)
  • Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
• Tremors franchise (1990–2004)
• Terrorvision (1987)
• Terror of Mechagodzilla (1975)
• The Host (2006)
• Mega Shark Versus Mecha Shark (2014)

Man-made disasters

• Antibody (2002, TV movie)
• Deep Blue Sea (1999)
• Frankenfish (2004)
• Growth (2010)
• Hybrid (2007, TV movie)
• The Island (2005)
• Komodo vs. Cobra (2005)
• Path of Destruction (2005)
• Primal Force (1999)
• Sabretooth (2002)
• Sharktopus (2010)
• Splice (2009)
• S.S. Doomtrooper (2006)
• Supergator (2007)
• Vexille (2007)
• Sharktopus vs. Pteracuda (2014)

Hazardous materials

• Cabin Fever (2002)
• Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever (2009)
• Cabin Fever: Patient Zero (2014)
• End Day (docudrama) (2005)
• Fire Down Below (1997)
• Shattered City: The Halifax Explosion (2003)

Chemicals

• 28 Weeks Later (2007)
• Chain Reaction (1996)
• The Children (1980)
• The Crazies (1973, aka Code Name Trixie)
• Danger Zone (1997)
• Dasavathaaram (2008)
• Fire Down Below (1997)
• Gas! Or It Became Necessary to Destroy the World in Order to Save It (1970, aka Gas-s-s-s)
• The Happening (2008)
• Infected (2008)
• Infected (2012)
• It's a Disaster (2012)
• Once Upon a Forest (1993)
• Outbreak (1995)
• Plague (1978)
• Right at Your Door (2006)
• Something Beneath (2007)

Biohazards

• Phase 7 (2011)
• Ravager (1997)
• World War Z (2013)
• Warning Sign (film) (1985)

Radioactive materials

• Atomic Train (1999)
• Atomic Twister (2002, TV movie)
• A Boy and His Dog (1976)
• By Dawn's Early Light (1990)
• The Chain Reaction (1980)
• The China Syndrome (1979)
• Countdown to Looking Glass (1984)
• The Day After (1983)
• Deterrence (2000)
• Doomsday Machine (1972)
• Invasion USA (1952)
• The Final Combat (1983)
• The Manhattan Project (1986)
• Miracle Mile (1988)
• Next (2007)
• On the Beach (2000)
• Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
• The Peacemaker (1997)
• The Quiet Earth (1985)
• Red Alert (1977, TV movie)
• Scorcher (2002)
• Special Bulletin (1983)
• The Sum of All Fears (2002)
• Testament (1983)
• This Is Not a Test (1962)
• Threads (1984, TV movie)
• The War Game (1965, TV movie)
• When the Wind Blows (1986)

Transportation

Airplanes

• 7500 (2013)
• Air Collision (2012, direct-to-video)
• Airborne (2012)
• Airline Disaster (2010, direct-to-video)
• Airport (1970)
• Airport 1975 (1974)
• Airport '77 (1977)
• Airspeed (1999)
• Alive (1993)
• Blackout Effect (1998, TV movie)
• Cabin Pressure (2002, TV movie)
• Con Air (1997)
• The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)
• Concorde Affaire '79 (1979)
• Crash (1978, TV movie)
• Crash Landing (1999)
• Crash: The Mystery of Flight 1501 (1990, TV movie)
• Crisis in Mid-Air (1979, TV movie)
• The Crowded Sky (1960)
• The Doomsday Flight (1966, TV movie)
• Ekipazh (1980)
• Executive Decision (1996)
• Falling from the Sky: Flight 174 (1995, TV movie)
• Fate Is the Hunter (1964)
• Fearless (1993)
• Final Approach (2007, TV movie)
• Final Descent (1997, TV movie)
• Final Destination (2000)
• Fire and Rain (1989, TV movie)
• Flight (2012)
• Flight 90: Disaster on the Potomac (1984, TV movie)
• Flight 93 (2006, TV movie)
• Flight into Danger (1956, TV movie)
• Free Fall (1999)
• The Ghost of Flight 401 (1978, TV movie)
• The Grey (2012)
• Ground Control (1998)
• The High and the Mighty (1954)
• Hijack (2008)
• The Hindenburg (1975)
• The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973, TV movie)
• Jet Over the Atlantic (1959)
• Jet Storm (1959)
• Last Flight to Abuja (2012)
• Lost Flight (1969, TV movie)
• Mach 2 (2001)
• Mayday (2005, TV movie)
• Mayday at 40,000 Feet! (1976, TV movie)
• Miracle Landing (1990, TV movie)
• Murder on Flight 502 (1975, TV movie)
• The Night They Took Miss Beautiful (1977, TV movie)
• No Highway in the Sky (1951)
• Non-Stop (2014)
• Pandora's Clock (1996, TV movie)
• Panic in the Skies! (1996, TV movie)
• Passenger 57 (1992)
• Skyjacked (1972)
• Snakes on a Plane (2006)
• Sonic Impact (2000)
• SST: Death Flight (1977, TV movie)
• Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983, TV movie)
• Submerged (2000)
• The Taking of Flight 847: The Uli Derickson Story (1988, TV movie)
• Terror in the Sky (1971, TV movie)
• Turbulence (1997)
• Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying (1999)
• Turbulence 3: Heavy Metal (2001, direct-to-video)
• United 93 (2006)
• World Trade Center (2006)
• Zero Hour! (1957)

Cars, trucks and buses

• The Big Bus (1976)
• Daylight (1996)
• Eagle Eye (2008)
• The Elevator (1974, TV movie)
• Final Destination 2 (2003)
• Hanging by a Thread (1979, TV movie)
• Maximum Overdrive (1986)
• The Night the Bridge Fell Down (1983, TV movie)
• Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976, TV movie)
• Speed (1994)
• Super 8 (2011)
• Trucks (1997)

Ships and submarines

• Britannic (2000)
• Cruise Into Terror (1978, TV movie)
• Déjà Vu (2006)
• Ghosts of the Abyss (2003)
• Gray Lady Down (1978)
• Hostile Waters (1997)
• Juggernaut (1974)
• K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
• The Last Voyage (1960)
• The Neptune Factor (1973)
• The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  • Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
  • Poseidon (2006)
• Speed 2: Cruise Control (1997)
• Titanic (1943); four scenes were used in A Night to Remember (1958)
  • Titanic (1953)
  • A Night to Remember (1958)
  • S.O.S. Titanic (1979, TV movie)
  • Titanic (1997)
  • The Legend of the Titanic (1999)
  • Titanic II (2010)
• Trapped Beneath the Sea (1974)

Spaceships

• Apollo 13 (1995)
• Armageddon (1998)
• The Core (2003)
• Gravity (2013)
• Houston, We've Got a Problem (1974, TV movie)
• Lost in Space (1998)
• Marooned (1969)
• Pandorum (2009)
• SpaceCamp (1986)

Theme Parks and Stadiums

• Black Sunday (1977)
• The Death of Ocean View Park (1979)
• Final Destination 3 (2006)
• Rollercoaster (1977)
• Superdome (1978)
• Two-Minute Warning (1976)

Trains

• Atomic Train (1999)
• Breakheart Pass (1985)
• Broken Arrow (1996)
• The Burning Train (1980)
• The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
• The Day of the Roses (1996)
• Derailed (2002)
• Disaster on the Coastliner (1979, TV movie)
• The Peacemaker (1997)
• Runaway! (1973, TV movie; aka The Runaway Train and Frozen Passage)
• Runaway Train (1985)
• Silver Streak (1976)
• Super 8 (2011)
• Unstoppable (2010)
• Last Passenger (2013)

Animals and plants

Animals

• Anaconda (1997)
• Bats: Human Harvest (2007, TV movie)
• Ben (1972)
• The Birds (1963)
• The Birds II: Land's End (1994)
• Black Scorpion (1959)
• Blood Monkey (2007)
• Burning Bright (2010)
• Congo (1995)
• Day of the Animals (1977)
• Deadly Eyes (1982)
• Flu Bird Horror (2008)
• Food of the Gods (1976)
• Grizzly Park (2008)
• Grizzly Rage (2007)
• The Intruder (2010)
• Jersey Shore Shark Attack (2012)
• KAW (2007, TV movie)
• Killer Fish (1979)
• Killing Birds (1987)
• Komodo (1999)
• Kraken: Tentacles of the Deep (2006, also known as Deadly Water)
• Malibu Shark Attack (2009, also known as Mega Shark of Malibu)
• Maneater (2007)
• Night of the Lepus (1972)
• Nightwing (1979)
• Prophecy (1979)
• The Rats (2002)
• Rats - Notte di terrore (1984)
• Reptilicus (1962)
• Rogue (2008)
• Silent Warnings (2003)
• Sharknado (2013)
• Shark Swarm (2008)
• Snow Shark (2011)
• Swamp Shark (2011)
• Willard (1971)
• Willard (2003)
• Bait(2012 film)

Bugs

• Arachnophobia (1990)
• Legion of Fire: Killer Ants! (1998, TV movie)
• Black Swarm (2008, TV movie)
• Bug (1975)
• Bugs (2003, TV movie)
• Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
• The Giant Spider Invasion (1975)
• The Hive (2008, TV movie)
• Ice Spiders (2007, TV movie)
• Kingdom of the Spiders (1977)
• Locusts: The 8th Plague (2005, TV movie)
• Naked Jungle (1954)
• Phase IV (1973)
• The Savage Bees (1976, TV movie)
• Slices of Life (2010)
• Skeeter (1994)
• The Swarm (1978)
• Terror Out of the Sky (1978, TV movie)
• They Nest (2000, TV movie)

Plants

• Bone Eater (2008)
• The Day of the Triffids (1962)
• The Happening (2008)
• The Ruins (2008)

References

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