To prepare for latest apocalyptic flick Moonfall, there’s a fair amount of disaster movies that have flown under the radar and deserve revisiting.
There’s something oddly cathartic about sitting back to watch cataclysmic disasters play out on-screen. Asteroid strikes, aliens, volcanic eruptions – what’s not to love about seeing mankind on the verge of collapse? Every one indulges that deep rooted morbid curiosity of what could be. Some even hit a little too close to home, especially in the midst of a global pandemic; films like Contagion and Outbreak suddenly don’t feel overly far-fetched anymore.
5 Underrated Disaster Movies to Watch Before Moonfall
To prepare for latest apocalyptic flick Moonfall – a film where the moon is launched from its orbit and hurtles toward Earth – on February 4th, there’s a fair amount of disaster features that have flown under the radar and deserve revisiting.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
When the S.S. Poseidon is struck by a 90ft tidal wave, a group of survivors band together to make their escape through the capsized cruise ship. Interest in this genre swayed through the 70s before picking up popularity almost two decades later. Questions on faith are raised, the body count slowly rises and claustrophobic desperation kicks in fast. The Poseidon Adventure is immensely entertaining from beginning to end with a scene-stealing performance from Gene Hackman.
Watch The Poseidon Adventure on HBO Max, Prime Video, Apple TV or Redbox.
Deep Impact (1998)
A comet plummets toward Earth threatening to wipe out the entire population – stop me if you’ve heard this one before. There’s a lot of heart thrown into Deep Impact as it leads several intertwining stories to an emotional final act. Where Armageddon takes the perspective of the astronauts tasked to destroy the meteor, Deep Impact shows the devastating effect this disaster would have. Ultimately, it is a film about the human condition, layering relationships between parent and child and how much they’re willing to give up for their loved ones.
Dante’s Peak (1997)
Pierce Brosnan and Linda Hamilton find themselves battling the clock when they discover a volcano is about to erupt. Their biggest problem? Evacuating a disbelieving town directly in the line of fire. Given recent volcanic headlines, Dante’s Peak doesn’t seem entirely unrealistic – or far off for that matter. Throw a dog into the mix and two kids on a rogue rescue mission, the stakes are higher than ever for Brosnan and Hamilton.
Watch Dante’s Peak on HBO Max.
The Impossible (2012)
Based on the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, The Impossible deals with the aftermath faced by locals and tourists in a time of crisis. This is a powerful piece driven by its authenticity, emphasizing the mass destruction left behind that gives viewers a personal and direct insight to the harrowing circumstances. Ewan McGregor gives one of the greatest performances of his whole career as a selfless father and husband attempting to keep his own trauma at bay.
WALL-E (2008)
A robot left to clean-up waste on an uninhabitable Earth sets out on a journey across the galaxy for love, altering the fate of humanity in the process. WALL-E isn’t your typical run of the mill disaster flick – and it’s maybe a stretch to call it underrated – however it is very thematically relevant considering the current climate of the world. WALL-E addresses environmental concerns through consumerism in an otherwise wholesome manner with an air of sentimental nostalgia.
Related: Don’t Look Up Has No Business Being This Good
About Moonfall
In Moonfall, a mysterious force knocks the Moon from its orbit around Earth and sends it hurtling on a collision course with life as we know it.
With mere weeks before impact and the world on the brink of annihilation, NASA executive and former astronaut Jo Fowler (Academy Award® winner Halle Berry) is convinced she has the key to saving us all – but only one astronaut from her past, Brian Harper (Patrick Wilson, “Midway”) and a conspiracy theorist K.C. Houseman (John Bradley, “Game of Thrones”) believes her.
These unlikely heroes will mount an impossible last-ditch mission into space, leaving behind everyone they love, only to find out that our Moon is not what we think it is.
Moonfall comes to theaters on February 4th.
Jenna is a Film and Visual Culture graduate and freelance entertainment writer from Scotland. Her passion lies with TV and horror, where she will take any opportunity to geek out. Jenna spends her free time binging shows and looking to be spooked.