Last Updated on 12 June 2024

The following list is the Official Definitive List of the 250 best disaster movies of all time.

I found 37 different ranked lists online of “best disaster movies of all time” and pulled them all into Excel and merged them all to get this definitive compilation.  Some only included natural disasters, while others included aliens or monsters. With so many lists, I think they even out. See my Methodology page for the research process that was used, including links to all 37 lists that were averaged. Below is a checklist you can print to track which ones you’ve seen, followed by the ranked list with links to IMDb.

Greatest-Disaster-Movies-Viewing-ChecklistDownload
  1. Twister (1996)
  2. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
  3. Titanic (1997)
  4. Independence Day (1996)
  5. Armageddon (1998)
  6. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
  7. 2012 (2009)
  8. The Towering Inferno (1974)
  9. Deep Impact (1998)
  10. Dante’s Peak (1997)
  11. Contagion (2011)
  12. The Perfect Storm (2000)
  13. The Impossible (2012)
  14. San Andreas (2015)
  15. Volcano (1997)
  16. The Wave (2015)
  17. Airplane! (1980)
  18. Outbreak (1995)
  19. A Night to Remember (1958)
  20. Greenland (2020)
  21. The Core (2003)
  22. Airport (1970)
  23. World War Z (2013)
  24. Earthquake (1974)
  25. Don’t Look Up (2021)
  26. Gravity (2013)
  27. War of the Worlds (2005)
  28. This Is the End (2013)
  29. Geostorm (2017)
  30. Pompeii (2014)
  31. Cloverfield (2008)
  32. Deepwater Horizon (2016)
  33. The Birds (1963)
  34. Crawl (2019)
  35. 12 Monkeys (1995)
  36. Deluge (1933)
  37. 28 Days Later… (2002)
  38. The Wandering Earth (2019)
  39. Apollo 13 (1995)
  40. Only the Brave (2017)
  41. The Day the Earth Caught Fire (1961)
  42. Into the Storm (2014)
  43. Hard Rain (1998)
  44. Melancholia (2011)
  45. Godzilla (2014)
  46. Children of Men (2006)
  47. I Am Legend (2007)
  48. Unstoppable (2010)
  49. Train to Busan (2016)
  50. Knowing (2009)
  51. Miracle Mile (1988)
  52. The Mist (2007)
  53. San Francisco (1936)
  54. Backdraft (1991)
  55. Alive (1993)
  56. Moonfall (2022)
  57. In Old Chicago (1938)
  58. Dawn of the Dead (2004)
  59. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
  60. Daylight (1996)
  61. Take Shelter (2011)
  62. Poseidon (2006)
  63. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012)
  64. Pandora (2016)
  65. The Swarm (1978)
  66. Tremors (1990)
  67. The Seventh Seal (1957)
  68. Shaun of the Dead (2004)
  69. Jurassic Park (1993)
  70. Everest (2015)
  71. Skyfire (2019)
  72. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
  73. Zombieland (2009)
  74. When Worlds Collide (1951)
  75. Godzilla (1954)
  76. The Hindenburg (1975)
  77. War of the Worlds (1953)
  78. Bird Box (2018)
  79. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
  80. Perfect Sense (2011)
  81. Vertical Limit (2000)
  82. The High and the Mighty (1954)
  83. The 33 (2015)
  84. Black Sea (2014)
  85. The Quake (2018)
  86. Waterworld (1995)
  87. Meteor (1979)
  88. Planet of the Apes (1968)
  89. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
  90. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes (2014)
  91. The Tower (2012)
  92. Sunshine (2007)
  93. When the Wind Blows (1986)
  94. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)
  95. Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (2009)
  96. Airport 1975 (1974)
  97. Reign of Fire (2002)
  98. Mad Max (1979)
  99. Flood (2007)
  100. The Hurricane Heist (2018)
  101. Disaster Movie (2008)
  102. Virus (1980)
  103. Your Name. (2016)
  104. Krakatoa, East of Java (1968)
  105. 28 Weeks Later (2007)
  106. The Night the World Exploded (1957)
  107. Godzilla (1998)
  108. Skyscraper (2018)
  109. Pearl Harbor (2001)
  110. The Finest Hours (2016)
  111. Sharknado (2013)
  112. Arachnophobia (1990)
  113. Mars Attacks! (1996)
  114. King Kong (2005)
  115. #Alive (2020)
  116. Snakes on a Plane (2006)
  117. Cold Zone (2017)
  118. The Burning Sea (2021)
  119. The Quiet Earth (1985)
  120. On the Beach (1959)
  121. The Happening (2008)
  122. K-19: The Widowmaker (2002)
  123. The World’s End (2013)
  124. The Day the Earth Stood Still (2008)
  125. End of Days (1999)
  126. Sharknado 2: The Second One (2014)
  127. 10.5 (2004)
  128. Aftershock (2010)
  129. Airport ’77 (1977)
  130. Interstellar (2014)
  131. The Last Voyage (1960)
  132. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
  133. Avalanche (1978)
  134. Category 7: The End of the World (2005)
  135. White Squall (1996)
  136. Underwater (2020)
  137. Aftershock (2012)
  138. Attack the Block (2011)
  139. The Pink Cloud (2021)
  140. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
  141. Dr. Strangelove (1964)
  142. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)
  143. Executive Decision (1996)
  144. WALL-E (2008)
  145. Chernobyl: Abyss (2021)
  146. In the Heart of the Sea (2015)
  147. The Last Days of Pompeii (1959)
  148. Final Destination (2000)
  149. 7:19 (2016)
  150. Left Behind (2014)
  151. The 12 Disasters of Christmas (2012)
  152. The Stand (1994)
  153. Asteroid (1997)
  154. Category 6: Day of Destruction (2004)
  155. Donnie Darko (2001)
  156. Signs (2002)
  157. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  158. Absolute Zero (2006)
  159. Metropolis (1927)
  160. Raise the Titanic (1980)
  161. Threads (1984)
  162. Hurricane (1979)
  163. The Book of Eli (2010)
  164. Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! (2015)
  165. Skyjacked (1972)
  166. The Thing (1982)
  167. Shock Wave (2017)
  168. Sharknado 5: Global Swarming (2017)
  169. Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991)
  170. Ashfall (2019)
  171. The Martian (2015)
  172. The Day After (1983)
  173. The Last Sharknado: It’s About Time (2018)
  174. Turbulence (1997)
  175. REC (2007)
  176. Soylent Green (1973)
  177. USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (2016)
  178. Sharknado 4: The 4th Awakens (2016)
  179. A Quiet Place (2018)
  180. The Concorde… Airport ’79 (1979)
  181. The Big Bus (1976)
  182. 127 Hours (2010)
  183. Adrift (2018)
  184. Contact (1997)
  185. Dawn of the Dead (1978)
  186. The Blob (1958)
  187. Pacific Rim (2013)
  188. Mad Max 2 (1981)
  189. Stowaway (2021)
  190. Love and Monsters (2020)
  191. Them! (1954)
  192. Night of the Comet (1984)
  193. Sully (2016)
  194. Tremors 2: Aftershocks (1996)
  195. Maximum Overdrive (1986)
  196. Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956)
  197. Quarantine (2008)
  198. It Came from Outer Space (1953)
  199. Zombieland: Double Tap (2019)
  200. The Day of the Triffids (1963)
  201. The 5th Wave (2016)
  202. Snowpiercer (2013)
  203. Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome (1985)
  204. Planet of the Apes (2001)
  205. Day of the Dead (1985)
  206. The Blob (1988)
  207. Fire in the Sky (1993)
  208. The Black Hole (1979)
  209. The China Syndrome (1979)
  210. Flightplan (2005)
  211. Flight (2012)
  212. Virus (1999)
  213. The Road (2009)
  214. San Andreas Quake (2015)
  215. Hours (2013)
  216. Fail Safe (1964)
  217. Red Planet (2000)
  218. World Trade Center (2006)
  219. Night of the Twisters (1996)
  220. King Kong (1976)
  221. The Invasion (2007)
  222. The Poseidon Adventure (2005)
  223. Eight Legged Freaks (2002)
  224. Tremors 3: Back to Perfection (2001)
  225. The Peacemaker (1997)
  226. Doomsday (2008)
  227. Daybreakers (2009)
  228. Killer Bees (1974)
  229. 10.5: Apocalypse (2006)
  230. Independence Day: Resurgence (2016)
  231. The Last Days of Pompeii (1935)
  232. These Final Hours (2013)
  233. Quarantine 2: Terminal (2011)
  234. Gray Lady Down (1978)
  235. Diary of the Dead (2007)
  236. United 93 (2006)
  237. Right at Your Door (2006)
  238. Chernobyl Diaries (2012)
  239. Carriers (2009)
  240. Impulse (1984)
  241. Hellfighters (1968)
  242. Five Came Back (1939)
  243. Pandemic (2009)
  244. Supervolcano (2005)
  245. Vanishing on 7th Street (2010)
  246. St. Helens (1981)
  247. The Apocalypse (2007)
  248. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
  249. A Fire in the Sky (1978)
  250. 40 Days and Nights (2012)

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