The Disaster Area aims to be the one-stop shop for all things disaster movie-related: news, reviews, trailers, articles, and analyses.
Our contributors are all fans of this much-misunderstood type of movie, and we bring that perspective to our work. Some disaster movies are embarrassing, yes, but so are some thrillers, superhero movies, dramas, musicals, etc.—you get the picture. We’ll proudly put the best disaster movies up against the best dramas any day; in fact, sometimes it’s the same movie.
What is a disaster movie, anyway?
“I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it, and the motion picture involved in this case is not that.” —US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart, Jacobellis v. Ohio, 378 U.S. 184 (1964).
Disaster movies span the genres, from action to drama to thriller to comedy to musical. So that we’re not left relying on “I know it when I see it,” here are some Q-and-As that nail down our thinking.
Q. Is Air Force One a disaster movie? What about Gravity? Or All is Lost?
A. Tough call. Here are some criteria:
- The movie needs to span the “before,” the “during,” and the “after” of the event. If it deals only with the “after,” it’s a postapocalyptic or dystopian movie.
- The event needs to affect more than 1 or 2 people. Otherwise, it’s usually a survival story. Unfortunately, this lets out some of our favorite movies, including All Is Lost, while letting others in (such as Air Force One and Gravity).
- The event itself needs to drive the plot. If it’s just incidental to the story, then it’s not a disaster movie.
- Something has to actually happen, not just be a threat. In the latter case, that usually means it’s a thriller or a drama.
Q. Are movies with sharks automatically disaster movies?
A. No. See the points 2 and 4 under the previous question. Jaws is a disaster movie, while In the Shallows is not.
Q. Are your criteria going to be applied consistently across every single movie in existence?
A. We don’t want to lie to you; there are going to be times where it just “feels like a disaster movie” to us, and criteria be damned. Sorry—we’re human.
We hope you enjoy your time here at The Disaster Area—thanks for stopping by, and tell your friends.