Chaos! Panic! Disaster!...
by azathothpwiggins | created - 12 Jul 2021 | updated - 02 Mar 2023 | PublicRemember those disaster epics from the likes of Irwin Allen? Well, he wasn't alone! Here are some incredible offerings from the terrifyingly entertaining world of catastrophic calamity!...
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1. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,287 | Gross: $116.00M
2. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons
Votes: 49,259 | Gross: $84.56M
3. Earthquake (1974)
PG | 122 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
Votes: 17,898 | Gross: $79.70M
4. Airport 1975 (1974)
PG | 107 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A 747 in flight collides with a small plane, and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Votes: 11,874 | Gross: $47.29M
5. Flood (1976 TV Movie)
98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After several weeks of heavy rainfall, the dam above Brownsville is ready to burst. But the town's mayor refuses to open its gates - paving the way for disaster.
Director: Earl Bellamy | Stars: Robert Culp, Martin Milner, Barbara Hershey, Richard Basehart
Votes: 538
6. The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
PG | 113 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane.
Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
Votes: 6,957 | Gross: $13.00M
7. Crack in the World (1965)
Not Rated | 96 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A dying scientist pushes forward his project to tap through to the Earth's magma layer, with results that threaten to destroy the Earth as we know it.
Director: Andrew Marton | Stars: Dana Andrews, Janette Scott, Kieron Moore, Alexander Knox
Votes: 2,873
8. When Worlds Collide (1951)
Approved | 83 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
As a new star and planet hurtle toward a doomed Earth, a small group of survivalists frantically work to complete the rocket which will take them to their new home.
Director: Rudolph Maté | Stars: Richard Derr, Barbara Rush, Peter Hansen, John Hoyt
Votes: 9,239
9. The Swarm (1978)
PG | 116 min | Horror, Thriller
A huge swarm of deadly African bees spreads terror over American cities by killing thousands of people.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain
Votes: 8,559 | Gross: $10.00M
10. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
Unrated | 99 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When the U.S. and Russia unwittingly test atomic bombs at the same time, it alters the nutation (axis of rotation) of the Earth.
Director: Val Guest | Stars: Edward Judd, Janet Munro, Leo McKern, Michael Goodliffe
Votes: 6,207
11. Genocide (1968)
Approved | 84 min | Horror, Sci-Fi
All the insects on Earth become wild and attack humans, causing Armageddon.
Director: Kazui Nihonmatsu | Stars: Keisuke Sonoi, Yûsuke Kawazu, Emi Shindô, Reiko Hitomi
Votes: 744
12. Smash-Up on Interstate 5 (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 100 min | Drama
Flashbacks profile California motorists involved in a disastrous 39-car smash-up over a holiday weekend.
Director: John Llewellyn Moxey | Stars: Robert Conrad, Sian Barbara Allen, Buddy Ebsen, Herb Edelman
Votes: 449
13. Mayday at 40, 000 Feet! (1976 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
The co-pilot and engineer of a passenger jet struggle to keep the plane airborne until it can reach an open airfield after a killer aboard the plane fires a gun at an engine and pilot of the plane.
Director: Robert Butler | Stars: David Janssen, Don Meredith, Christopher George, Ray Milland
Votes: 363
14. Tornado (1943)
Approved | 83 min | Drama
Pete Ramsey (Morris) is a hard-working coal miner who falls in love with and marries scheming showgirl Victory Kane (Kelly). Victory presses Pete to fight for the position of the mine ... See full summary »
Director: William Berke | Stars: Chester Morris, Nancy Kelly, William Henry, Gwen Kenyon
Votes: 125
15. Hurricane (1974 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 74 min | Drama
Two hurricane hunters track a huge, violent hurricane that is bearing down on a Gulf Coast town.
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Larry Hagman, Martin Milner, Jessica Walter, Barry Sullivan
Votes: 222
16. Disaster on the Coastliner (1979 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 97 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A vengeful employee of a computer-controlled railway arranges a head-on collision of passenger trains. Can it be stopped?
Director: Richard C. Sarafian | Stars: Lloyd Bridges, Raymond Burr, Robert Fuller, Pat Hingle
Votes: 605
17. The Savage Bees (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The festive fun of the annual Mardi Gras celebration is brought to a halt when a swarm of African killer bees escape from a foreign freighter.
Director: Bruce Geller | Stars: Ben Johnson, Michael Parks, Paul Hecht, Gretchen Corbett
Votes: 805
18. Concorde Affaire '79 (1979)
96 min | Action, Crime, Thriller
A reporter tries to stop the crash of an aircraft after uncovering an airline's plot to save their business by sabotaging Concorde flights and have them decommissioned.
Director: Ruggero Deodato | Stars: James Franciscus, Mimsy Farmer, Venantino Venantini, Fiamma Maglione
Votes: 631
19. Starflight: The Plane That Couldn't Land (1983 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 115 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
On the maiden flight of the first hypersonic commercial plane which can make the flight from New York City to London in four hours, a minor disaster occurs resulting in the plane actually ... See full summary »
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Lee Majors, Hal Linden, Lauren Hutton, Ray Milland
Votes: 1,296
20. Zero Hour! (1957)
Passed | 81 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
In 1950s Canada, during a commercial flight, the pilots and some passengers suffer food poisoning, thus forcing an ex-WWII fighter pilot (Dana Andrews) to try to land the airliner in heavy fog.
Director: Hall Bartlett | Stars: Dana Andrews, Linda Darnell, Sterling Hayden, Elroy 'Crazylegs' Hirsch
Votes: 2,297
21. Fer-de-Lance (1974 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 100 min | Adventure, Thriller
Snakes on board an American sub set off a chain of events that ultimately causes the boat to sink to the bottom of the ocean. The surviving crew must devise a rescue plan to free themselves and raise the sub.
Director: Russ Mayberry | Stars: David Janssen, Hope Lange, Ivan Dixon, Jason Evers
Votes: 186
22. This Is Not a Test (1962)
Not Rated | 73 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
A deputy sheriff stops motorists on a mountain road after police dispatch reports of a possible nuclear attack.
Director: Fredric Gadette | Stars: Seamon Glass, Thayer Roberts, Aubrey Martin, Mary Morlas
Votes: 893
23. The Big Bus (1976)
PG | 88 min | Action, Comedy
A nuclear powered bus driving cross-country, from New York City to Colorado, is destined for disaster due to the machinations of a mysterious group allied with the oil lobby.
Director: James Frawley | Stars: Joseph Bologna, Stockard Channing, John Beck, Rene Auberjonois
Votes: 3,715 | Gross: $3.54M
24. The Doomsday Flight (1966 TV Movie)
Approved | 93 min | Crime, Thriller
A bomb on board an airliner has an altitude-sensitive trigger. Unless a ransom is paid, it will explode when the plane descends to land.
Director: William A. Graham | Stars: Jack Lord, Edmond O'Brien, Katherine Crawford, John Saxon
Votes: 397
25. Meteorites! (1998 TV Movie)
PG-13 | 89 min | Action, Adventure, Crime
A meteor shower threatens a small American town.
Director: Chris Thomson | Stars: Roxanne Hart, Tom Wopat, Pato Hoffmann, Amiel Daemion
Votes: 596
26. Crash (1978 TV Movie)
95 min | Drama
On December 29, 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401 crashes into the Florida Everglades, resulting in 101 fatalities.
Director: Barry Shear | Stars: William Shatner, Adrienne Barbeau, Brooke Bundy, Christopher Connelly
Votes: 303
27. Plague (1979)
PG | 88 min | Sci-Fi, Drama, Thriller
An ambitious lab assistant carries out a forbidden experiment and accidentally creates a deadly bacteria which kills her and rapidly engulfs the city. The authorities order a curtain of ... See full summary »
Director: Ed Hunt | Stars: Daniel Pilon, Kate Reid, Céline Lomez, Michael J. Reynolds
Votes: 331
28. Heatwave! (1974 TV Movie)
90 min | Drama
The residents of an isolated mountain town must band together to survive during a devastating heat wave.
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Ben Murphy, Bonnie Bedelia, Lew Ayres, David Huddleston
Votes: 206
29. Cyclone (1978)
PG-13 | 100 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After a surprise cyclone hits the area, tourists become stranded on a boat in the sea, and they have to do anything in order to survive. To make matters even worse, they're joined by the survivors of a plane crash and a sinking boat.
Director: René Cardona Jr. | Stars: Arthur Kennedy, Carroll Baker, Lionel Stander, Andrés García
Votes: 848
30. Fire: Trapped on the 37th Floor (1991 TV Movie)
TV-PG | 94 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Susan and Paul are working late on the thirty-seventh floor of a Los Angeles skyscraper. Also in the building are the cleaning staff, security, and some engineers installing sprinklers. As ... See full summary »
Director: Robert Day | Stars: Lee Majors, Lisa Hartman, Peter Scolari, John Laughlin
Votes: 261
31. On the Beach (1959)
Approved | 134 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
After a global nuclear war, the residents of Australia must come to terms with the fact that all life will be destroyed in a matter of months.
Director: Stanley Kramer | Stars: Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire, Anthony Perkins
Votes: 14,422 | Gross: $11.00M
32. No Blade of Grass (1970)
R | 96 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An environmental catastrophe destroys civilization. Led by father John and mother Ann, the Custance clan sets out on a quest for safety in a savage world that may just end up turning them into the very thing they are fleeing.
Director: Cornel Wilde | Stars: Nigel Davenport, Jean Wallace, John Hamill, Lynne Frederick
Votes: 2,059 | Gross: $0.35M
33. Panic in Year Zero! (1962)
Passed | 93 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A family leaves Los Angeles for a camping trip just before hydrogen bombs destroy the city. In the midst of the chaos, the father must fight to keep his family alive along the highway.
Director: Ray Milland | Stars: Ray Milland, Jean Hagen, Frankie Avalon, Mary Mitchel
Votes: 4,837
34. Skyjacked (1972)
PG | 101 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Charlton Heston, James Brolin, Yvette Mimieux, Claude Akins
Votes: 2,342 | Gross: $2.50M
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