WithMoonfallfinally here, there’s hope that this film could be the next great science-fiction disaster flick. Of course, it also looks like it’s taking a rather interesting approach to what could be a world-ending catastrophe as there seems to be some humor mixed in with whatever is coming to wipe out the world. Interestingly, and perhaps because the real world has been so dark and scary lately,Moonfallis the first full-scale disaster movie to hit theaters in a little while.
In order to get primed and get in the right mood to seea movie likeMoonfall, there are a couple of very specific disaster movies potential viewers should check out first. While something like The Poseidon Adventure is one of the best disaster movies out there, it’s not really going to get people ready to watch a film likeMoonfall. There are very specific films that should be watched before anyone heads to the theaters to check out the newest flick in this popular genre.
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The Wave
UnlikeMoonfallthis film isn’t about some sort of interstellar disaster but it fits in this list because it is something that basically depicts an unstoppable force and people who are just trying to get out of its way. The Wave also happens to be the only film in this group that happens to be a foreign film. The Norwegian flick depicts the collapse of a portion of a mountain that creates an avalanche resulting in an 260 foot tall tsunami that destroys everything in its path. The people who happen to be in its path are tasked both with getting others to understand the impending doom that is moving towards a city and getting out of the way and far enough away that they don’t end up getting swept away in the floodwaters that ensue.
Sunshine
Sunshinedefinitely has the interstellar disaster feel that iscloser to whatMoonfalloffers, thought it’s a bit more lowkey than the newest flick. InSunshine, the year is 2057 and a group of astronauts are sent to try and find a way to reignite the earth’s sun. The massive star is actually starting to lose its heat and charge and of course, if it’s allowed to be extinguished, then all life on earth will gradually die as the planet will be struck with a kind of ice age that had never been seen before. As is the case wiith movies like this, when the astronauts think they have found a way to not only accomplish their mission, but seemingly make that mission quite a bit easier, things go wrong quickly.
There are arguments over what is the best approach and why and when a path to try and accomplish the mission is decided, fate tends to throw things in the astronaut’s path. The fact that the fate of the entire earth hangs in the balance gives this movie a great sense of impending doom, even if it’s not quite as action-packed as some other disaster movies out there.
Melancholia
Kirsten Dunst might be best known as Mary Jane Watsonto certain audiences but she’s also taken more than a few turns in indie films that have gotten quite a bit of critical acclaim. One of those lesser known but critically acclaimed films just happened to be the disater movie known asMelancholia. This film saw Dunst and her on-screen family dealing with the end of the world in a way that was entirely unavoidable. A giant planet which was named Melancholia was headed directly for earth and everyone knew there was no way to survive the eventual collision.
The movie tracks the last days on earth as Dunst and her peeps tried to tie up loose ends and come to grips with what was about to happen. This obviously wasn’t a disaster film in the same way thatMoonfallwas, in part because it didn’t have the same kind of mammoth budget but it still goes down as one of the better movies in this genre precisely because it involves an end of the world that everyone sees coming. Most of the time the suspense is built by wondering who or what will intervene to save everyone, the tension in this film is all about seeing how people react to the very end. The film doesn’t hide what’s going to happen, but it’s still worth giving a watch.
Greenland
InGreenland, world leaders have discovered that a huge meteor is heading to earth and is going to cause a civilization ending event. What sets this apart from other movies of this ilk is that those governments behave quite a bit like a real world government might behave given this news. It first tells everyone that the only meteors that are going to hit the earth will undoubtedly cause some damage but aren’t really worth worrying about.
In the meantime, the governnents have put together a kind of secret lottery that allows certain people to get access to “arcs” that are meant to house and protect enough of the population that humanity can survive once the immediate danger has passed. Gerard Butler gets the call, allowing himself his wife and son to be saved, but of course, things don’t go according to plan. The film might not have gotten as much word of mouth as it should have, perhaps considering people thought it was just another meteor movie. However,Greenlandwas popular enoughto earn a sequel and it’s definitely worth checking out ahead ofMoonfall’srelease.
The Day After Tomorrow
This is another disaster movie where the threat isn’t coming from outer space but from planet itself.The Day After Tomorrowis a kind of dramatized account of what will happen if people don’t start taking global warming seriously. On in the film, it’s far too late to do anything about the impending ice age and instead a family that includes Jake Gyllenhaal as a supposed high schooler needs a to find a way to survive the initial shifting of the planet’s temperature.
The movie is strangely compelling, despite being obviously over the top and viewers are going to find themselves rooting for mankind, even though it essentially brought its own doom on itself.
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