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.

Man-made disasters

  • Ablaze (2001)
  • Backdraft (1991)
  • The Burning Sea (2021)
  • City on Fire (1979)
  • The Core (2003)
  • Crack in the World (1965)
  • Dante's Inferno (1935)
  • Daylight (1996)
  • Deepwater Horizon (2016)
  • Fire! (1977)
  • Firestorm (1998)
  • In Old Chicago (1937)
  • Ladder 49 (2004)
  • Pandora (2016)
  • Red Skies of Montana (1952)
  • The Tower (2012)
  • The Towering Inferno (1974)
  • Trapped (2001)

Natural disasters

  • 10.0 Earthquake (2014)
  • 10.5 (2004)
  • 13 Minutes (2021)
  • 2012 (2009)
  • 2012: Doomsday (2008)
  • After the Shock (1990)
  • Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999)
  • Armageddon (1998)
  • Asteroid (1997)
  • Avalanche (1978)
  • Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
  • California Firestorm (2002)
  • Christmas Icetastrophe (2014)
  • Christmas Twister (2012)
  • Cyclone (1978)
  • Dante's Peak (1997)
  • The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
  • Deep Impact (1998)
  • Deluge (1933) "the first studio produced narrative disaster picture."
  • Devil Winds (2003)
  • Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York (2006)
  • Earthquake (1974)
  • Earthquake in New York (1998)
  • Fire Twister (2015)
  • Flood (2007)
  • Flood! (1976)
  • Flood: A River's Rampage (1997)
  • Geostorm (2017)
  • The Great Los Angeles Earthquake (1990)
  • Greenland (2020)
  • Hard Rain (1998)
  • Heatwave! (1974)
  • The Hurricane (1937)
  • Hurricane (1979)
  • Ice (1998)
  • The Impossible (2012)
  • Into the Storm (2014)
  • Killer Flood: The Day the Dam Broke (2003)
  • Krakatoa, East of Java (1969)
  • Magma: Volcanic Disaster (2006)
  • Meteor (1979)
  • Nature Unleashed: Avalanche (2004)
  • Nature Unleashed: Earthquake (2005)
  • Nature Unleashed: Fire (2004)
  • Nature Unleashed: Tornado (2005)
  • Night of the Twisters (1996)
  • The Night the World Exploded (1957)
  • NYC: Tornado Terror (2008)
  • On Hostile Ground (2000)
  • The Perfect Storm (2000)
  • Pompeii (2014)
  • Poseidon (2006)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  • The Quake (2018)
  • The Rains Came (1939)
  • Raise the Titanic (1980)
  • S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
  • San Andreas (2015)
  • San Francisco (1936)
  • Seattle Superstorm (2012)
  • St. Helens (1981)
  • Storm (1999)
  • Super Cyclone (2012)
  • The Happening (2008)
  • Tidal Wave (1973)
  • Tidal Wave (2009)
  • Tidal Wave: No Escape (1997)
  • Titanic (1953)
  • Titanic (1996)
  • Titanic (1997)
  • Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000)
  • Tornado! (1996)
  • Tornado Warning (2002)
  • Twister (1996)
  • Twisters (2024)
  • Tycus (1998)
  • Volcano (1997)
  • The Volcano Disaster (also known as Nature Unleashed: Volcano, 2005)
  • Volcano: Fire on the Mountain (1997)
  • The Wave (2015)
  • When Time Ran Out (1980)

End of days

  • The Day After (1983)
  • Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (1961)
  • When Worlds Collide (1951)
  • Knowing (2009)

Aircraft

  • Airport (film series), 1970s series of four airplane-themed disaster films
  • Airport (1970 film), a film based on Arthur Hailey's book
  • Airport 1975, sequel to the 1970 film
  • Airport '77, sequel to Airport 1975
  • The Concorde ... Airport '79, 1979 sequel to Airport '77
  • Airspeed (1998)
  • Alive (1993)
  • The Doomsday Flight (1966)
  • Fire and Rain (1989)
  • The Flight of the Phoenix (1965)
  • Flight of the Phoenix (2004)
  • The High and the Mighty (1954)
  • The Hindenburg (1975)
  • Sully (2016)
  • Survive! (1976)
  • Turbulence (1997)
  • United 93 (2006)
  • Zero Hour! (1957)

The atomic age

  • Atomic Train (1999)
  • Atomic Twister (2002)
  • Control (1987)
  • Friend of the World (2020)
  • The Lost Missile (1958)
  • Miracle Mile (1988)
  • On the Beach (1959)
  • Panic in Year Zero! (1962)

Epidemics and pandemics

  • The Andromeda Strain (1971)
  • The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
  • Contagion (2011)
  • Outbreak (1995)
  • Perfect Sense (2011)
  • Plague (1979)
  • The Stand (1994)
  • Virus (1980)
  • Virus (1995)
  • Warning Sign (1985)

Shipwrecks

  • Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
  • Britannic (2000)
  • The Finest Hours (2016)
  • Gray Lady Down (1978)
  • K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
  • The Last Voyage (1960)
  • A Night to Remember (1958)
  • Poseidon (2006)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  • The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
  • Raise the Titanic (1980)
  • S.O.S. Titanic (1979)
  • Titanic (1953)
  • Titanic (1996)
  • Titanic (1997)
  • Titanic: The Legend Goes On (2000)

See also

  • Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction
  • Cultural significance of tornadoes § Motion pictures with a tornado theme
  • List of apocalyptic films
  • List of firefighting films
  • List of monster movies
  • List of natural horror films
  • List of zombie films
  • Survival film

References

Bibliography