I love disaster films.  I must have an inner desire to see the Earth pulverized or mankind snuffed into extinction by a  biological plague.  Maybe the dogs and cats can do a better job at managing the environment than we have.  There are literally thousands of movies out there that could be classified as “disaster movies”  In coming up with my list, I gravitated to movies that in my opinion  had attention holding story lines as compared to movies that were simply built around disaster special effects.  I tried to include movies from a wide variety a genres such as zombies, historical events, aliens and natural disasters. The minimum requirement was that a large group of people had to have been killed off.  While large is a relative term, I took the pornography approach.  I know it when I see it.  Some notable disaster flicks did not make my list. These include Armageddon, The Day After Tomorrow and The Core.  I viewed these as having no semi-believable story line or simply special effect excuse for movies.  Since it impossible to suspend disbelief in a Zombie movie(unless you believe in Zombies) I only included  Zombie movies that attempted to address underlying social issues. This left out Night Of The Living Dead type movies. I also did not include some of the original disaster genre flicks such as Earthquake and The Towering Inferno. While these were ground breakers for their time I do not consider them particularly good movies.  I also did not include made for television movies which would leave out the very good Testament and  The Day After.  These are intended to be nothing more than my personal choices, feel free to comment with yours and why.

1. Deep Impact.   Full of cliches.  Standard disaster story line.  I don’t care.  This is my favorite disaster movie. The scene where the tidal wave strikes New York City still gives me chills. I think I enjoy it so much because it is rated one of the more scientifically accurate natural disaster movies.  For me a great disaster film is one that does not have to suspend reality too much.

Memorable Quote: “We get hit all the time by rocks and meteors some of them the size of cars, some no bigger than your hand, but the comet we discovered is the size of New York City, from the north end of Central Park to the Battery, about 7 miles long. It weighs 500 billion tons”

2.The Poseidon Adventure. I am talking about the original and not the crappy remake. The Poseidon Adventure is considered the father of epic disaster films. I remember seeing it with my parents at a theater that no longer exists in Pittsburgh, Pa. I cried when the priest played by Gene Hackman died at the end saving the lone surviving group of passengers. The pre-digital era special effects of the wave hitting the SS Poseidon is laughable by today standards. Looking at it today you can tell it is pretty much a model boat in a bathtub. It  does not matter.  The Poseidon Adventure is a disaster film from a long gone era where the story line and not the special effects defined the movie.

Memorable Quote:  “They’re suppositories Mr Rogo. You don’t swallow them.”

3.The Ten Commandments The movie that defined Charlton Heston as Moses. How can I not include a movie where the 1st born of Egypt are killed and the Pharaoh’s army is wiped out in the Red Sea. Anyone who has taken the Hollywood Universal Studios tour got to see how they actually parted the waters. Quite impressive for its day. Once again I prefer the films where the production actually tells a story versus being a vehicle for special effects.

Memorable Quote: “You will be mine, like my dog, or my horse, or my falcon, except that I shall love you more – and trust you less.”

4. Titanic The one and only time any of us guys can say we went to a Chick-Flick Disaster Movie and not be talking about simply it simply being a disaster that we were dragged kicking and screaming to a  chick snoozer.  This far and away beats out its terrible chick- flick disaster competitor, Armageddon.

Memorable Quote: ” Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Ismay? His ideas about the male preoccupation with size might be of particular interest to you.”

5. Planet Of The Apes The Charlton Heston original and not the terrible Mark Wahlberg career damaging remake. What makes this one of the great disaster movies of all time is that you do not realize it is a disaster movie until the final chilling Statute Of Liberty scene which many sites have rated one of the greatest endings of all time.

Memorable Quote: “ Get Your Stinking Paws Off Me You Damm Dirty Ape!”

6. The Omega Man Another Charlton Heston flick that is an adaption of the 1954 novel ” I am Legend.” Most are familiar with the visually better but storyline and politically inferior 2007 remake starring Will Smith. The Omega man in my opinion is better because it take a much more introspective look at the dangers of biochemical warfare and the dangers of technology. It does much more with the story and relies much less on special effects as you would expect from of movie of that era. If you have seen  the Will Smith I Am Legend, give the Omega Man a look and compare for yourself.

Memorable Quote: “You know the old song? If you were the only girl in the world, and I was the only boy, well, okay, but until then, don’t bother me? Well, I guess I’m the only boy…”

7. 28 Days Later The U.K version of I Am Legend done with much more style, story and suspense. With all respect to George Romero and his Night Of The Living Dead franchise, this and the sequel 28 days later are two of the best zombie holocaust movies of all time. Great use made of the en vogue, “fast cut” zombie carnage that you see in most horror films now.

Memorable Quote: “Plans are pointless. Staying alive is as good as it gets.”

8. Fail-Safe One of the most unique and riveting disaster movies of its day.  At the height of the cold war with the Soviet Union the Unite States military protocols break down resulting in the dropping of an atomic bomb on Moscow. In order to prevent all out nuclear war, the President Of The United States played by Henry Fonda agrees to the unthinkable.

Memorable Quote:  ” I’ve been making a few rough calculations on the effect of two twenty megaton bombs dropped on New York City in the middle of a normal workday…”

9.Independance Day The dialogue and acting are so campy you are not sure whether this is a disaster flick or parody of a disaster flick ala Mars Attacks. The special effects however are spectacular. This one gets on the list for the destruction of the White House. See it in Blu-ray if you have a compatible blu-ray  player and television.  Boomer Boomer!

Memorable Quote: “If you’re so smart, tell me something, how come you go to M.I.T. for 8 years to become a cable repairman?”

10. The Andromeda Strain A meteorite strike brings an alien virus to earth wiping out a town.  Scientists must work to find a cure before the virus destroys mankind. Great performance by Arthur Hill.  Watch this instead of the dialogue idiotic Dustin Hoffman remake Outbreak.

Memorable Quote: “….the aircraft and pilot’ll have to be sterilized”

11. War Of The Worlds The original adaption of the Orson Wells radio broadcast of the alien invasion that panicked the world.  Much superior to the Tom Cruise remake which  in my opinion is unwatchable save the first 20 minutes of the movie.

Memorable Quote”  “After all that men could do had failed, the Martians were destroyed and humanity was saved by the littlest things, which God, in His wisdom, had put upon this Earth.”