Disaster movies are intense.

A comet can hurdle towards Earth at any moment.

Earthquakes, volcanoes, and floods might usher in a biblical apocalypse.

Morena Baccarin and Gerard Butler on the poster for Greenland with orange explosions behind them.

Image via STX FIlms

Sometimes, disaster unfolds with a single iceberg hitting a boat or damaging a space shuttle.

Thebest disaster movies must balancethese traits with a pace comfortable for viewers.

What makes this genre particularly challenging is that the formula can get overdone and veer into familiarity.

A group of people run away from cars and a large tsunami in The Wave.

Image via Nordisk Film

This is the case for the 2015 Norwegian film,The Wave.

Can Geologist Kristian Eikjord (Kristoffer Joner) reunite with his family before it’s too late?

Life in space is impossible."

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The silence is haunting, like an omen of death thats yet to come.

Oftentimes, disaster movies suggest cheap thrills.

ButGravityis different; the film won seven awards that year at the Oscars, including Best Director forAlfonso Cuaron.

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Others quickly exhibit similar ailments,eventually resulting in a pandemic that would shut down the world.

What follows is a race to find the origin and cure to prevent societal collapse.

6'2012' (2009)

Directed by Roland Emmerich

2012is asci-fi epic in every way.

An astronaut is untethered and floats away from Earth in a promotional image for ‘Gravity’.

Image via Warner Bros.

And eventually, a flood.2012is the ultimate end of the world movie.

Its similar tozombie stories likeThe Last of UsandThe Walking Deadin many ways.

28 Days Laterwas Murphys first major feature film he had a lot to prove and did.

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Two astronauts work together to survive after an accident leaves them stranded in space.

Hopefully, its just as perfect!

4’Titanic' (1997)

Directed by James Cameron

Titanicis a disaster movie.

But also a love story.

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Titanicis based on a real event, and inspired by one womans true story.

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S.

Or the third option abandon humanity altogether and cheat their way to safety.

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This is proof enough that the movie made an impact.

2’The Impossible' (2012)

Directed by J.

The movie follows one familys relentless attempt to reunite.

The Monster Wreaks Havoc in Cloverfield.

Image via Paramount Pictures

Additionally,we get to see a youngTom Hollands first performanceon the big screen.

But when catastrophe strikes in Antarctica, it sends floods and ice storms around the world.

Likemany blockbuster disaster movies,The Day After Tomorrowisnt entirely accurate.

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A group of friends venture deep into the streets of New York on a rescue mission during a rampaging monster attack.

The world cant freeze over that quickly.

But the threat is escalated for plot, and for keeping audiences engaged.

The movie explores themes that viewers anticipate might soon happen.

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What if disaster strikes today?

What will come tomorrow?

Its a clever title, and you know what to expect going into it.

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NEXT:The 10 Worst Disaster Movies of All Time, Ranked

Gwyneth Paltrow as Beth on a phone call in Contagion.

Image via Warner Bros.

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Healthcare professionals, government officials and everyday people find themselves in the midst of a pandemic as the CDC works to find a cure.

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Jackson Davis (John Cusack) shines a flashlight in a flooded corridor in ‘2012’.

Image via Sony Pictures Releasing

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Cillian Murphy in 28 Days Later looking toward camera.

Image via Fox Searchlight

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Four weeks after a mysterious, incurable virus spreads throughout the UK, a handful of survivors try to find sanctuary.

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Jack’s corpse floats in the water next to Rose, who lays on a floating door

Image via 20th Century Studios

Titanic poster

A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

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A father consoles his wife and son while the group shelter in a bunker in Greenland.

Image via STX Entertainment

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Naomi Watts and Tom Holland as Maria and Lucas Bennett, injured and wading through water in The Impossible.

Image via Warner Bros.

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The story of a tourist family in Thailand caught in the destruction and chaotic aftermath of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami.

Jake Gyllenhaal wades through a flooded city street in heavy rain in ‘The Day After Tomorrow’.

Image via 20th Century Fox

The Day after tomorrow

The Day After Tomorrow examines the consequences of abrupt climate change as a series of extreme weather events ravage the planet. A climatologist must navigate the frozen landscape to save his son in New York, highlighting the urgency of addressing environmental challenges and the resilience of human bonds amidst adversity.

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Movie

The Day After Tomorrow