Do you ever feel like everything in the world is going just a little too well, that you're
waiting for something to finally go wrong for once?
No?
Not lately?
Well, how about a story that reminds you that things could somehow be worse?
Disaster films provide us with an opportunity to imagine what we would do to survive the
unthinkable.
If you're looking to have that kind of experience from the safety of your living room, we've
got some recommendations for the best disaster films you can watch right now.
What happens when a group of highly resourceful people are faced with a close encounter of
the third kind?
That's the question answered by Occupation, an indie alien invasion thriller from Down
Under about a contingent of citizens who forge a resistance movement after their rural community
is decimated by heavily armed extraterrestrials.
"Take cover!"
While Occupation may not be as slickly polished as your average Michael Bay or Roland Emmerich
disaster blockbuster, director Luke Sparke and his crew make impressive use of their
limited budget.
Meanwhile, the action is grounded by the interpersonal drama playing out among a talented cast.
"Matty… no, don't.
You don't know what it'll do."
Now is a perfect time to catch up with it before the sequel, Occupation: Rainfall, arrives
on our shores this fall.
Firefighters are real-life heroes, and their lives, loves, and sacrifices have made for
a reliable source of screen drama through the years.
Ron Howard's Backdraft became a pop culture phenomenon in the early '90s, while John Travolta
and Joaquin Phoenix explored the bond forged by fighting flames in 2004's Ladder 49.
But one movie you might have missed and should definitely check out is Lifeline.
This 1997 action-drama hails from Hong Kong, was directed by veteran filmmaker Johnnie
To and is rife with both compelling characters and thrilling stunt work.
The big firefighting action is largely contained in Lifeline's final stretch, but that only
serves to make it hit all the harder.
By the time the climactic factory blaze breaks out, To has thoroughly invested time in the
rivalries and romances that play out among the hotshot crew of the fire station.
Anyone interested in a blend of soapy-but-sincere character drama with slick cinematic action
particularly the trademark brand imported from Hong Kong's legendary film industry owes
it to themselves to check out Lifeline.
At 7:19 a.m. on September 19, 1985, Mexico City was rocked by an earthquake with a magnitude
of 8.0.
The city was devastated, with thousands of buildings collapsing and over 5,000 lives
lost.
7:19 uses this real-life tragedy as a backdrop for a very human story between two lead characters,
which in turn illustrates the societal divides of a culture.
Demián Bichir and Héctor Bonilla star as two men from opposite ends of the social ladder,
trapped together under the ruins of a nine-story building in the earthquake's aftermath.
As they wait for a rescue that they gradually accept will never come, they break down the
borders that separate them and find themselves sharing an acceptance of their mutual fate.
The film serves both as a look back at a tragedy that shook a nation and as a quiet meditation
on how death and destiny can serve as a surprising equalizer.
A lot of the disasters on this list are things that could happen to anyone - earthquakes,
fires, and, yes, even an alien invasion.
But The Wandering Earth, a hit Chinese sci-fi movie from 2019, takes these garden-variety
disasters and laughs in their general direction.
What kind of disaster befalls the characters in this film?
Well, the title says it all: The entire planet Earth goes through a stroll through space in the
span of a little over two hours.
Okay, it's a little more complicated than that.
As it turns out, the sun is turning into a red giant, and when that happens, Earth will
only have a few centuries left before all life is extinguished.
To save humanity as we know it, a team of plucky scientists does the only logical thing:
They strap a bunch of high-powered super-rockets onto the planet and launch it out of our usual
solar system so it can take residence in a new one.
Needless to say, you don't need a spoiler warning to know that a plan like that doesn't
go off without a few hiccups.
"Warning, Earth engine system failing."
The Wandering Earth is the best kind of disaster movie: the kind that you can't really picture
taking place within your lifetime.
So you just strap in and go along for the ride, confident in the knowledge that you'll
never have to worry about actually riding a rocket-powered planet Earth into Alpha Centauri.
It may not feature earthquakes, hurricanes, or even a capsized luxury liner, but the past
decade's most captivating tale of culture going up in flames has to be that of the 2017
Fyre Festival.
It's a story of unchecked hubris, hollow ambition, and the cheese sandwich heard 'round the world.
You may have seen the tragic Instagram snaps of the soggy mattresses, the dilapidated FEMA
tents, and the festival-goers stranded at the airport desperate for rescue.
Now, you can hear the inside story from the "survivors" in the documentary FYRE: The Greatest
Party That Never Happened.
"Fyre Festival baby, here we go."
Director Chris Smith previously turned his documentary lens on the twisted rabbit hole
of method acting with the Jim Carrey profile Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond.
Just as Jim & Andy turned a seemingly simple premise into a meditation on art and fame,
FYRE goes beyond the clickbait appeal of a rich people party gone horribly wrong.
It serves as a sobering investigation of dangerous wealth in the age of the influencer.
Smith's documentary doesn't gloss over the serious harm done to those taken in by organizer
Billy McFarland's half-baked scheme, or to the small business owners of the unsuspecting
Great Exuma archipelago, who were left high and dry in the wake of the disaster.
"I went through about $50,000 of my savings that I could've had for a rainy day.
And just, they just wipe it out and never look back."
Come to FYRE for the train wreck.
Stay for a journey into the dark heart of humanity.
Thanks for watching.
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