The Top 10 Best Natural Disaster Movies

Natural Disaster Movies Make Mother Nature Look Terrifying.

Natural disaster movies tell the tale of man versus nature when nature decides to stop messing around. As big as we are as a species, the planet could get rid of us all in the blink of an eye. But the chances of that happening are pretty slim, right? Still, Hollywood likes to remind audiences what could happen if a super exaggerated natural disaster ever hit. Whether it’s a giant storm, category-5 tornadoes, earth-shattering quakes, or a wave that blocks out the sun, the movies have managed to give all these phenomena their 15 minutes of fame on the big screen. Of course, for every good movie, there are tons of terrible ones, which is why I decided to put together a list of the Best Natural Disaster Movies. So hold onto your butts because this list has it chalked full of every natural disaster you can think of.    

10. Armageddon

Terrible animal cracker metaphor aside, Armageddon was one of the better natural disaster movies. Besides, it was either this or Deep Impact, and how many people actually saw Deep Impact? Oddly enough, Michael Bay was probably the best possible pick for director of this flick (words I never thought I would ever utter in my life), because it’s a movie that knew how insane it was from the get-go. One of my favorite pieces of Hollywood trivia is when Ben Affleck asked Michael Bay, “Wouldn’t it be easier for NASA to train astronauts how to drill rather than training drillers to be astronauts?” Ben was promptly told to shut-up.

9. The Day After Tomorrow

Including this movie on a natural disaster, movies list is a bit debatable, since global warming isn’t exactly natural. I’m not going to get into a stupid debate on a movie blog (FYI global warming is totally real and man-made), so I’ll include this movie on this list on the premise that man is an animal so technically it’s “natural.” It’s more science fiction than anything else, but hey those effects are pretty cool and seeing Dennis Quaid rushing to save Jake Gyllenhaal from freezing to death in New York makes for a pretty good mindless Sunday afternoon. Plus, this movie has pretty much every disaster you can get, volcanoes, blizzards, tidal waves…  It’s got something for everyone.

8. Volcano

Like Armageddon, this is another one of those natural disaster movies that had a doppelganger. In the case of Volcano, it was Dante’s Peak. As much as I love Pierce Brosnan though, I think a giant volcano in the middle of downtown LA makes for a “better” movie (or at least one that’s a lot more fun to watch). Tommy Lee Jones races to save his family and all of Los Angeles from a volcano that pops up out of nowhere like a pimple on prom night. Surprisingly enough, the effects aren’t that bad for a movie made in the 90’s (except for that scene where the guy sinks into lava) and it does a pretty good job of constantly raising the stakes to keep your heart racing.

7. The impossible

Boy, natural disaster movies based on true events sure are fun. Especially when that true story has to focus on a white family in Thailand during the Indian Ocean tsunami. Whitewashing aside, this is a pretty stomach churning at a number of different parts, which is probably given the point given the whole “disaster” part of a natural disaster. Apparently, the movie is pretty accurate given that the original family was on set to give tips to the cast and crew, and many of the extras were actual tsunami survivors. I’m not going to say that this is an easy movie to watch, but that’s why it’s earned a place on this list. After all, we wouldn’t want to glamorize disaster too much.

6. The Wave

It looks like this natural disaster movies list is getting another tsunami film on it. This time though it’s Greenland instead of Thailand, so you can forget about sunny beaches. While the tsunami in The Impossible came out of nowhere, there is a lot of focus put on building up to the wave in, well, The Wave. It’s also from the new director of the Tomb Raider, Roar Uthaug (who has an awesome name, by the way). Now you might be wondering what makes this movie any better than the last. Well, it’s because it’s more pulse-pounding and thrilling than The Impossible, focusing on the disaster itself rather than the aftermath. It’s also because I really like hearing people say fjord.