Disaster movies are a very specific genre with a few standout films and many more underrated hidden gems that have largely stayed out of the spotlight since their release. The best disaster movies are all well-known affairs, from Twister to Deep Impact, promising widespread destruction on an often global scale.

That being said, some disaster movies are overlooked because they are more intimate, detailing smaller-scale catastrophes sometimes even based on real events. Whether disaster movies have bleak endings or are able to overcome the odds, many of them are criminally overlooked.

10

Monsters

A Creative Sci-Fi Thrill Ride

Sometimes, disaster plotlines can be triggered by more supernatural phenomena, as is shown off in 2010’s seldom-discussed Monsters. After a NASA probe crashes into the Mexican-American border, the extraterrestrial life that was aboard takes over a mᴀssive area, resulting in a quarantine zone full of dangerous creatures that a pH๏τojournalist and his daughter race to escape.

Monsters was a mᴀssive financial success, thanks to its incredibly lean budget that provided over four times its value in theaters. Sadly, its interesting blend of space invaders, romantic drama, and political tension doesn’t add up to lasting pop culture memory.

9

Into The Storm

Is Overshadowed By A Similar, More Famous Series

When it comes to inclement weather, the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly tornadoes of the Twister duology have a corner on the cinematic market. That doesn’t mean other films shouldn’t try exploring killer storms, however, as demonstrated by Into the Storm, which sees a freak series of twisters devastate a rural town in Oklahoma.

Into the Storm has some fantastically indulgent sH๏τs of destruction that linger over the effects of nature’s awesome power, rivaling the action of its more famous movie compeтιтor. The use of found footage also helps create a very real sense of panic that places audiences directly into the shoes of the cyclones’ victims.

8

The Grey

Liam Neeson’s Bleak Lupine Tale

An incredibly underrated fixture of Liam Neeson’s star-studded filmography, The Grey is a more intimate disaster movie that pits man vs. nature to grueling effect. Neeson plays a suicidal sharpshooter that hunts wolves for an oil company in Alaska who is forced into a survival scenario alongside his coworkers when their plane crashes.

Between the freezing hostile climate and the ᴅᴇᴀᴅly pack of wolves trailing their every move, the main group of The Grey is slowly whittled down. Their spirits break as the bleak film examines themes of depression, masculinity, and the rules of nature.

7

The Hurricane Heist

Combines Two Genres For Daring Effects

Simultaneously a disaster movie and a brilliant heist movie, The Hurricane Heist is exactly what its тιтle implies. The story follows a treasury worker, a meteorologist, and a maintenance worker as they team up to stop a gang of thieves from stealing from an Alabama treasury using a ᴅᴇᴀᴅly Category 5 hurricane as cover.

Just like how cold and warm fronts mix together to form violent storms, The Hurricane Heist’s exciting blend of genres elevate one another to new heights. It’s a shame this creative premise hasn’t paid off with more notoriety, but the rare few who take the time to experience it will find it well worth the effort thanks to some truly jaw-dropping action setpieces.

6

Deepwater Horizon

A Real-Life Disaster Rendered In Movie Form

Movies based on real-world disasters are always a tricky thing to write for, with public acceptance of such an adaptation usually coming long after the event has faded from recent memory. Deepwater Horzion is a fictionalized retelling of the actual Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster off the coast of Mexico which forever changed the industry.

The film takes a fascinating look at the horrific chain of events that led to the catastrophe, bringing details to light in a very informative yet spectacular manner. Mark Wahlberg is the perfect vessel for the dangers of human folly amid the tumultuous and volatile fossil fuels industry.

5

The Andromeda Strain

An Underrated Michael Crichton Flick

While many movies based on Michael Crichton’s science fiction books have reached peak levels of popularity, especially Jurᴀssic Park, not all of his adaptations are so lucky. Enter The Andromeda Strain, a viral contagion disaster movie that revolves around a mysterious pathogen from outer space that comes down on a crashed satellite.

In a post-COVID world, it’s no wonder that pandemic movies aren’t more popular, but The Andromeda Strain is still a thrilling and realistic take on what an encounter with extraterrestrial “life” would most likely be like. Chilling, tense, and featuring death on a widespread scale, the film plays out like a true biblical plague in slow-motion.

4

Black Sea

A Tense Bottle Film At The Deepest Depths Of The Ocean

Fears of the open ocean and confined spaces are both healthy phobias to maintain, and Black Sea exploits both of them to tremendous effect. The 2014 thriller centers on the intrepid crew of a submarine that ends up sinking to the bottom of the sea, fighting to stay alive as their vehicle cracks beneath the pressure of the waves.

The film does a great job maintaining the kind of realistic human tension and infighting that would reasonably surface in such a scenario, with the British and Russian factions that form in the international treasure hunting crew making the worst of a bad situation. It’s a shame Black Sea doesn’t get its just deserts in pop culture.

3

The Midnight Sky

A Thoughtful View On A Frozen-Over Planet

Across all the amazing films starring George Clooney, The Midnight Sky is by far the most underrated. Both starring and directed by Clooney, the film takes place in the near future after the Earth has been evacuated due to some vague ecological collapse.

Clooney plays a scientist with a terminal illness manning a remote station in the Arctic to warn a previous space mission from returning to the planet, only to find a young stowaway in his facility. The unique split narrative and somber personal journey Clooney’s character endures during the crisis makes for a gripping flick.

2

Crack In The World

A Devastating Warning Of Scientific Carelessness

The threat of a nuclear armageddon thanks to the Cold War weighed heavily on the minds of screenwriters in the ’50s and ’60s, as demonstrated by movies like Crack in the World. Here, a team of scientists fire a nuclear bomb into the center of the Earth in hopes of harvesting its natural energy, only to create devastating consequences for the planet.

The cataclysm gets so bad that the Earth is nearly split in two, and the special effects describing this have aged surprisingly well for a movie released in 1965. Crack in the World functions as a haunting word of warning for humanity’s hubris in our attempts to harvest greater and greater yields from nature.

1

In The Heart Of The Sea

An Early Star Performance From Now-Famous Actors

Despite having two actors that would go on to become famous for their work in the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, In the Heart of the Sea is a critically underrated period disaster film deserving of more acclaim. The story is based on the real events that inspired the novel Moby Dick, in which a rogue whale shatters a whaling ship and leaves the crew for ᴅᴇᴀᴅ.

The horrors of survival in the open ocean lead to terrible ends for all members of the film’s crew, including a young Tom Holland and a freshly post-Thor Chris Hemsworth. Both stars cast visions of their future stardom in this harrowing disaster movie that detailed a real-life tragedy.