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Adisaster film ordisaster movie is afilm genre that has an impending or ongoingdisaster as its subject and primaryplot device. Such disasters may includenatural disasters,accidents,military/terrorist attacks or global catastrophes such as apandemic. A subgenre ofaction films,[1][2] these films usually feature some degree of build-up, the disaster itself, and sometimes the aftermath, usually from the point of view of specific individual characters or their families or portraying the survival tactics of different people.
These films often feature large casts of actors and multiple plot lines, focusing on the characters' attempts to avert, escape or cope with the disaster and its aftermath. The genre came to particular prominence during the 1970s with the release of high-profile films such asAirport (1970), followed in quick succession byThe Poseidon Adventure (1972),Earthquake (1974) andThe Towering Inferno (1974).[3]
The casts are generally made up of familiarcharacter actors. Once the disaster begins in the film, the characters are usually confronted with human weaknesses, perhaps falling in love or finding a villain to blame. The films usually feature a persevering hero or heroine (Charlton Heston,Steve McQueen, etc.) called upon to lead the struggle against the threat; in many cases, the "evil" or "selfish" individuals are the first to succumb to the disaster.[4] The genre experienced a renewal in the 1990s boosted bycomputer-generated imagery and larger studio budgets which allowed for greater spectacle, culminating in the cinematic phenomenon that wasJames Cameron'sTitanic in 1997.[5]
Disaster films were made before the phrase was coined in the early 1970s. The genre is almost as old as the film medium itself. One of the earliest wasFire! (1901) made by James Williamson of England. Thesilent film portrayed a burning house and the firemen who arrive to quench the flames and rescue the inhabitants.[citation needed] Origins of the genre can also be found inIn Nacht und Eis (1912), about the sinking of theTitanic;Atlantis (1913), also about theTitanic; the DanishThe End of the World (1916), (about acomet);Noah's Ark (1928), the Biblical story from Genesis about the great flood;Deluge (1933), abouttidal waves devastatingNew York City;King Kong (1933), with a giganticgorilla rampaging through New York City; andThe Last Days of Pompeii (1935), dealing with theMount Vesuvius volcanic eruption in 79 AD.[6]
John Ford'sThe Hurricane (1937) concluded with the striking sequence of atropical cyclone ripping through a fictional South Pacific island. The dramaSan Francisco (1936) depicted the historic1906 San Francisco earthquake, whileIn Old Chicago (1937) recreatedThe Great Chicago Fire which burned through the city in 1871.[6]Carol Reed's 1939 film,The Stars Look Down, examines a catastrophe at acoal mine inNorth-East England.
Inspired by the end ofWorld War II and the beginning of theAtomic Age,science fiction films of the 1950s, includingWhen Worlds Collide (1951),The War of the Worlds (1953) andGodzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956), routinely used world disasters as plot elements. This trend would continue withThe Deadly Mantis (1957),The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961) andCrack in the World (1965). Volcanic disasters would also feature in films such asThe Devil at 4 O'Clock (1961) starringSpencer Tracy andFrank Sinatra, and the 1969 epicKrakatoa, East of Java starringMaximilian Schell.[7]
As in the silent film era, the sinking of theTitanic would continue to be a popular disaster with filmmakers and audiences alike.Werner Klingler andHerbert Selpin released theepic filmTitanic in 1943. The film was soon banned inGermany and its director, Selpin, was allegedly executed. The film was a staple for all Titanic films, and scenes became stock footage for the British version.Clifton Webb andBarbara Stanwyck starred in the 195320th Century Fox productionTitanic, followed by the highly regardedBritish filmA Night to Remember in 1958. The British action-adventure filmThe Last Voyage (1960), while not about the Titanic disaster but a predecessor toThe Poseidon Adventure, starredRobert Stack as a man desperately attempting to save his wife (Dorothy Malone) and child trapped in a sinkingocean liner. The film, concluding with the dramatic sinking of the ship, was nominated for anOscar forBest Visual Effects.[7][8]
Additional precursors to the popular disaster films of the 1970s includeThe High and the Mighty (1954), starringJohn Wayne and Robert Stack as pilots of a crippled airplane attempting to cross the ocean;Zero Hour! (1957), written byArthur Hailey (who also penned the 1968 novelAirport) about an airplane crew that succumbs to food poisoning;Jet Storm andJet Over the Atlantic, two 1959 films both featuring attempts to blow up an airplane in mid-flight;The Crowded Sky (1960) which depicts a mid-air collision; andThe Doomsday Flight (1966), written byRod Serling and starringEdmond O'Brien as a disgruntled aerospace engineer who plants a barometric pressure bomb on an airliner built by his former employer set to explode when the airliner descends for landing.[7][9][10]
The golden age of the disaster film began in 1970 with the release ofAirport.[3] A huge financial success, earning more than $100 million ($713 million in 2022-adjusted dollars) at the box office, the film was directed byGeorge Seaton and starredBurt Lancaster,Dean Martin,George Kennedy,Jacqueline Bisset andHelen Hayes. While strictly not even a disaster—an airplane crippled by the explosion of a bomb—the film established the classic blueprint of the genre: a headline emergency story and multiple plotlines acted out by an all-star cast.Airport was nominated for 10Academy Awards, includingBest Picture, winningBest Supporting Actress for Hayes.[11]
The 1972 release ofThe Poseidon Adventure was another huge financial success, notching an impressive $84 million in US/Canada gross rental theatrical rentals ($592 Million in 2022-adjusted dollars); the disaster film officially became a movie-going craze.[citation needed] Directed byRonald Neame and starringGene Hackman,Ernest Borgnine,Shelley Winters andRed Buttons, the film detailed survivors' attempts at escaping a sinking ocean liner overturned by a giant wave triggered by an earthquake.The Poseidon Adventure was nominated for eight Academy Awards, includingBest Supporting Actress forShelley Winters, and winning forOriginal Song and receiving aSpecial Achievement Award for visual effects.[12]
The trend reached its zenith in 1974 with the release ofThe Towering Inferno,Earthquake, andAirport 1975 (the firstAirport sequel). The competing films enjoyed staggering success at the box office, withThe Towering Inferno earning $116 million ($697 million in 2022-adjusted dollars),Earthquake earning $79 million ($475 million in 2022-adjusted dollars), andAirport 1975 earning $47 million ($282 million in 2022-adjusted dollars) in theatrical rentals.[13]
Arguably the greatest of the 1970s disaster films,The Towering Inferno was a joint venture of20th Century Fox andWarner Bros. and was produced byIrwin Allen (eventually known as "The Master of Disaster", as he had previously helmedThe Poseidon Adventure and later producedThe Swarm,Beyond the Poseidon Adventure andWhen Time Ran Out...). Directed byJohn Guillermin and starringPaul Newman,Steve McQueen,William Holden andFaye Dunaway, the film depicts a huge fire engulfing the tallest building in the world and firefighters' attempts at rescuing occupants trapped on the top floor. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning forBest Cinematography,Best Film Editing andBest Original Song.[14]
Earthquake was also honored with four Academy Award nominations for its impressive special effects of a massive earthquake leveling the city ofLos Angeles, winning forBest Sound and receiving a Special Achievement Award for visual effects. The film was directed byMark Robson and starredCharlton Heston,Ava Gardner,Geneviève Bujold, George Kennedy andLorne Greene. It was noted as the first film to utilizeSensurround, where massive subwoofer speakers were installed in theaters to recreate the vibrating sensation of an earthquake.[15] Several made-for-TV movies also capitalized on the craze, includingHeatwave! (1974),The Day the Earth Moved (1974),Hurricane (1974),Flood! (1976) andFire! (1977).[16][17][18][19][20]
The trend continued on a larger scale withThe Hindenburg (1975), starringGeorge C. Scott;The Cassandra Crossing (1976), starringBurt Lancaster;Two-Minute Warning (1976), starring Charlton Heston;Black Sunday (1977), starringRobert Shaw;Rollercoaster in Sensurround (1977), starringGeorge Segal;Damnation Alley (1977), starringJan-Michael Vincent;Avalanche (1978), starringRock Hudson;Gray Lady Down (1978), also starring Charlton Heston;Hurricane (a 1979 remake of John Ford's 1937 film; a different movie than the made-for-TV production of same title listed above), starringJason Robards; andCity on Fire (1979), starringBarry Newman. TheAirport series continued withAirport '77 (1977) andThe Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979), withGeorge Kennedy portraying the character Joe Patroni in each sequel, andThe Poseidon Adventure was followed byBeyond the Poseidon Adventure in 1979.
The genre began to burn out by the late-1970s when the big-budget filmsThe Swarm (1978),Meteor (1979),Hurricane (1979),The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979),Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979) andWhen Time Ran Out... (1980) performed poorly at the box office, signaling declining interest in the disaster film product.[21][22][23]
AlthoughThe Big Bus (1976), an earlier disaster film spoof, had failed to be a hit, the end of the trend was marked by the 1980 comedyAirplane!, which fondly spoofed the clichés of the genre to surprising box-office success, producing a sequel of its own,Airplane II: The Sequel, in 1982.[24]
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The resurgence of big-budget productions of the genre—aided by advancements inCGI technology during the 1990s—include such films asTwister,Independence Day,Daylight,Dante's Peak,Volcano,Hard Rain,Deep Impact andArmageddon. In 1997,James Cameron co-produced, wrote and directed a version of the epic story of theTitanic. The film combined romance with intricate special effects and was a massive success, becoming thehighest-grossing film of all time for twelve years with over $2.2 billion worldwide,[25] and won 11Academy Awards includingBest Picture andBest Director.[26]
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