Trains are huge, so when they derail or collide with each other, their unimaginable power becomes painfully obvious. During a railway accident, the train lives its own life - it becomes uncontrollable, and it is no longer possible to stop it. Passengers can do nothing to prevent injury, and often dangle from wall to wall in the carriages, suffering broken limbs and internal injuries.
The worst disasters in our history have taken a huge toll of human life, but they have given us important insights into how we can improve rail infrastructure as well as keep passengers safe.
10. Al Ayyat railway accident - Egypt, 2002 (383 victims)
At 2 am on February 20, 2002, a gas cylinder exploded in the fifth car of an Egyptian train. The all-consuming fire quickly spread to the other cars as the train continued to race along the tracks. This went on for two hours until the driver finally stopped. As a result, seven carriages were completely burned down and almost 400 people died. However, the number of victims of this disaster was repeatedly disputed, since a complete list of passengers was missing. Also, due to the intensity of the flames, many of the corpses burned to a state of ash, and their identification was impossible. Moreover, the train was overloaded and many passengers are believed to have died by jumping from the burning train. Although official figures say 383 people died, many believe that an estimate of 1,000 lives is more accurate.
9. Awash train accident - Ethiopia, 1985 (428 dead)
The worst train accident in African history occurred on January 14, 1985, near the city of Awash. The city is located on the Awash River. An express train derailed on its way to this town due to the fact that the driver did not slow down while passing over a curved bridge, which caused several cars to fall into a cliff. Of the 1,000 passengers on the train, 428 died, and almost all the other passengers were badly injured. After a terrible accident, the driver was arrested and charged with not slowing down when entering a turn.
8. Train accident Torre del Bierzo (Torre del Bierzo) - Spain, 1944 (200-500+ victims) 
On January 3, 1944, near the village of Torre del Bierzo in Spain, an out of control mail train flew into tunnel number 20. A shunting locomotive with three cars was in front of it, trying to avoid a collision. These two cars were still in the tunnel when the mail train crashed into them. From the other side, a coal carrier with 27 loaded wagons was approaching. The driver of the shunting locomotive tried to warn the coal carrier, but it nevertheless crashed into the locomotive. The flame of the catastrophe burned for two days. Since many people were traveling without tickets and the fire completely consumed the human remains, the exact number of passengers was difficult to estimate, but survivors claimed that the train was overcrowded as many of them were heading to the Christmas market.
7. Balvano train accident - Italy, 1944 (521-600+ victims)
During World War II, severe shortages led to the development of black market trade. In 1944, adventurers and enterprising entrepreneurs traveled surreptitiously on freight trains to reach supplier farms. At the same time, there was a severe shortage of high-quality coal. Burning low-grade substitutes gave off a large amount of odorless carbon monoxide. On March 2, 1944, a heavily overloaded locomotive number 8017 stalled inside a steep tunnel. The attendants and passengers, including several hundred "hares", died from suffocation. The only survivors were those who traveled in the few rear cars left out in the open when the train stalled.
6. Railway accident near Ufa - Russia, 1989 (575+ victims)
The largest railway accident in the history of the Soviet Union occurred on June 4, 1989. A gap in the pipeline pipe allowed a large volume of gas to accumulate in the lowland between the cities of Ufa and Asha. When the staff noticed a drop in pressure, they simply increased the pressure to normal levels instead of looking for a possible leak. Around 1:15 a.m., two trains carrying more than 1,200 passengers, many of whom were children, passed each other. The sparks caused by their passage ignited a highly flammable cloud, resulting in an explosion that was visible from more than 100 kilometers away. The escaping flames scorched trees within a radius of 3.86 kilometers and destroyed both trains.
5. Train accident in Guadalajara (Guadalajara) - Mexico, 1915 (600+ victims) 
In 1915, the Mexican Revolution was in full swing. President Venustiano Carranza ordered the families of his army to be transported to Guadalajara, which he had recently conquered. On January 22, 1915, a specially prepared train with twenty heavily overloaded cars left Colima. It is said that the carriages were so crowded with people that passengers even clung to the carriages from below and rode on the roofs. During a steep descent, the driver lost control of the train. The train continued to pick up speed, descending the rails, and eventually flew into a deep ravine. Less than a third of the people from the official passenger list survived the catastrophe.
4. Railway accident in Bihar (Bihar) - India, 1981 (500-800 victims) 
On June 6, 1981, during the monsoon season in India, a nine-car train carrying about a thousand passengers plunged into the Baghmati River. The weather conditions that day were especially rainy and windy, and the water level in the river was higher than usual. Just as the train was approaching a bridge crossing a river, a cow crossed the tracks. In an attempt to avoid a collision, the engineer braked too hard, causing the cars to skid on the wet railroad tracks and derailed into the river. Help arrived only a few hours later, and most of the passengers either drowned or were already swept away by the water by the time rescuers got to work. More than 300 bodies were never found.
3. Railway accident in Churea (Ciurea) - Romania, 1917 (600-1000 dead)
During World War I, a passenger train's brakes failed while descending a steep slope near Churya station. The 26-car train was carrying refugees and wounded soldiers trying to escape the advancing German forces. The engineer tried his best to slow the train down by shifting into reverse gear and using the sand thrower for better grip, but the train continued to pick up speed. To avoid a collision with the second train at the end of the descent, the runaway train was redirected to the passing track. Due to the high speed, the train nevertheless, unfortunately, left the tracks and caught fire. As a result, hundreds of people died.
2. Crash in Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne (Saint Michel-de-Maurienne), France, 1917 (800-1000 victims) 
On December 12, 1917, about 1,000 French soldiers were returning home for the winter holidays. Due to the general shortage of both locomotives and insufficient provision of equipment, people were transported by two trains connected together, but under the control of one locomotive. Of the 19 cars on the train, only the first three had automatic air brakes, the rest had either hand brakes or none at all. Descending into a valley in the French part of the Alps, the driver ordered his assistants to slow down, but the train continued to pick up speed. The brakes overheated and flames began to flare up under the cars. After 6 kilometers, the first car went off the tracks, and the rest of the cars crashed into it, catching fire in a few minutes. Due to the strength of the flames, only 425 bodies out of approximately 1,000 victims were identified.
1. Train accident and tsunami in Sri Lanka, 2004 (1700+ victims)
On December 26, 2004, an earthquake in the ocean north of Sumatra triggered a giant tsunami that killed 280,000 people. On that terrible day, more than 1,500 passengers were traveling in the Queen of the Sea. The train was 170 meters from the shore when the first wave hit. The water immediately stopped the train. Local residents and passengers, thinking that the train would be an escape from the water, climbed onto its roof or hid behind it. The second wave was much more powerful: it demolished the train from the railway tracks and dragged the wagons into the jungle. Those who were not crushed by the train drowned quickly as they were trapped in the carriages. Only a few passengers survived this tragedy.
At the turn of the millennium, many people willy-nilly thought about the end of the world, but filmmakers did not miss the opportunity to capitalize on these phobias. That is why over the past few years, a huge number of disaster films with a variety of destructive scenarios of events have appeared on the screens, and the genre itself has become one of the highest grossing. AiF.ru offers to recall 10 exciting films in which life on Earth was under threat.
What is the San Andreas movie about?
Armageddon, dir. Michael Bay, 1998
In 1998, one of the highest grossing directors on the planet Michael Bay directed the movie "Armageddon" Bruce Willis,Ben Affleck and Liv Tyler starring. The picture scared the audience with a possible collision with our planet of a giant asteroid. According to the plot of the film, in order to save humanity, NASA specialists want to drill an asteroid and blow it up from the inside. Armageddon was deservedly nominated for an Oscar in four nominations at once, because it was made according to all the laws of the genre: grandiose special effects, a sentimental love line, a dynamic plot and a cynical script.
Bruce Willis. Special signs.
"Earth's core: Throw into the underworld", dir. John Amiel, 2003
Unlike "Armageddon", the picture "Earth's Core: Throw Into the Underworld" did not find a response in the hearts of most of the audience and cannot boast of box office success. However, it deserves to be on our list, if only because of the unusual threat to the planet. According to the director John Amiel, humanity is threatened with an "underground apocalypse": the core of the Earth will stop rotating. This means that soon all life on the surface of our planet will die. The only way to save the world is to detonate the strongest nuclear bomb deep underground, thus spinning the core. The task of saving humanity in the film is entrusted to an international team ( Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank,Stanley Tucci). The fate of the characters is quite predictable, but watching them is still fascinating.
The Day After Tomorrow, dir. Roland Emmerich, 2004
Movie Roland Emmerich"The Day After Tomorrow" is dedicated to a different, non-cosmic catastrophe. The massive melting of glaciers leads to the fact that the temperature of the world's oceans drops sharply, and the Earth's climate is changing. Heavy rains begin over the territory of the United States, turning into continuous snowfall, and the temperature drops very quickly (to enhance the effect of the disaster, the Hollywood director deliberately accelerated the development of all climate changes). The picture "The Day After Tomorrow" is literally saturated with natural disasters and mass deaths of people. It vividly depicts the flooding of New York, and Roland Emmerich's episode of the destruction of Los Angeles was especially impressive, which even won the MTV Movie Awards for the best action scene in 2005.
"Inferno", dir. Danny Boyle, 2007
"Dark days are coming" - this is the slogan the director of the film "Inferno" warns the audience with. Danny Boyle. The action of the film takes place in 2057, when the sun is gradually fading, and the life of mankind is in jeopardy. Earthlings see the only way to escape: one by one they send spaceships to a bright star in order to ignite it again with the help of a nuclear charge. The director of "Slumdog Millionaire", "The Beach" and "Trainspotting" wanted to conquer the audience this time too: in "Inferno" there is something to think about, something to be afraid of and something to admire. Script and acting by talented actors Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans,Rose Byrne) keeps you in suspense throughout the movie.
The Appearance, dir. M. Night Shyamalan, 2008
Spectacular environmental thriller M. Night Shyamalan introduces viewers to another possible danger for earthlings. In several states on the east coast of the United States, a massive epidemic of suicides begins: a virus that the authorities tend to associate with terrorists, and the townsfolk with the authorities, is transmitted by airborne droplets. In fact, these are toxins that accidentally got into the air. In 2008, the film was an incredible box office success, and in Bridgend, due to a series of suicides that swept the city, The Apparition was even banned from showing.
"2012", dir. Roland Emmerich, 2009
Many impressionable people looked forward with horror to December 2012, when, according to the Mayan calendar, the end of the world could come. The plot of the film "2012" Roland Emmerich built on these events. Huge tsunamis and strong earthquakes turn people's lives into hell. Everyone thinks only about how to save themselves from the flood, because only 40,000 people can fit in pre-built "arks". The film "2012" on forums, social networks and blogs had a great response, people around the world discussed the possibility of an impending disaster. Scientists even had to comment on the film and calm the excited public. As a result, the total box office of the Hollywood film amounted to as much as $769 million.
Omen, Alex Proyas, 2009
Mystical blockbuster Alex Proyas with Nicolas Cage in the title role, it tells about a certain message to the future, which warns people about the end of the world. A mysterious sheet filled with numbers falls into the hands of a young professor. The scientist establishes a connection between these dates and the largest global disasters that have occurred on Earth over the past 50 years. Now the world is aware of possible catastrophes, it remains only to find out how to prevent them and what will happen when the chain of these dates ends. Viewers note that "The Sign" retains an element of unpredictability until the last frame, and all the scenes of plane crashes, accidents in the subway and a burning forest are shown effectively and naturally.
Melancholy, dir. Lars von Trier, 2011
Melancholia is the most romantic and mysterious disaster movie on our list. The idea for the painting came from Lars von Trier during one of the therapy sessions he attended to get rid of his depression. The doctor told the cult director that people suffering from depressive states react more calmly to stressful situations, because they are initially tuned in to the worst. A few years later, these words were embodied in the script for the film Melancholia. The painting shows the life story of Justine ( Kirsten Dunst) against the backdrop of an impending catastrophe: the asteroid Melancholia is approaching the Earth, capable of destroying all life on our planet. Lars von Trier focused on the psychology of a person doomed to death. His characters are torn between despair, panic, apathy and hysteria. And the slow motion of the last seconds of life on Earth can impress even the most sophisticated viewer.
Metro, dir. Anton Megerdichev, 2013.
Although the film "Metro" shows an apocalypse not on a planetary scale, it still made our list because it is dedicated to one of the most common human phobias. In 2013 the Russian director Anton Megerdichev made a film about the disaster in the Moscow subway, based on the novel Dmitry Safonov. According to the plot of the film, the construction of new buildings that has been widely deployed in the center of Moscow leads to the fact that a crack appears in one of the metro tunnels. As a result of a violation of the tightness of the ceiling, water from the Moskva River enters the tunnel. The mad stream threatens not only with the collapse of the subway tunnels, but also with the destruction of the entire city. According to many film critics, the picture "Metro" if not originated, then at least revived the genre of disaster films in Russia.
The San Andreas Fault, dir. Brad Peyton, 2015
Disaster movie Brad Peyton"The San Andreas Fault" topped the Russian box office ratings last weekend. In the center of the plot of the picture is an earthquake that shook California and led to the formation of a huge crevice in the ground near the city of San Andreas. The protagonist of the blockbuster is rescue pilot Ray Gaines ( Dwayne Johnson) goes in search of his missing daughter, who may have survived a terrible disaster. Many viewers who watched the San Andreas in 3D are delighted with what they see. Still, because the amount of destruction and expensive special effects for one minute of viewing rolls over. But the main thing that can be taken out of Brad Peyton's picture is that a person is nothing compared to the forces of nature and no steel or houses will save him.
It is terrible to realize how much evil man has done to himself and the planet on which he lives. Most of the damage has been done by large industrial corporations that don't think about the level of danger of their activities in order to make a profit. And it is especially scary that the catastrophes also occurred as a result of tests of various types of weapons, including nuclear ones. We offer 15 of the biggest disasters in the world caused by man.
15. Castle Bravo (March 1, 1954)
The United States conducted a nuclear test in March 1954 at Bikini Atoll, off the Marshall Islands. It was a thousand times more powerful than the explosion on Hiroshima, Japan. This was part of an experiment by the US government. The damage caused by the explosion was catastrophic for the environment over an area of 11265.41 km2. 655 representatives of the fauna were destroyed.
14. Disaster in Seveso (July 10, 1976)
An industrial disaster near Milan, Italy resulted from the release of toxic chemicals into the environment. During the production cycle, when receiving trichlorophenol, a dangerous cloud of harmful compounds entered the atmosphere. The release instantly had a detrimental effect on the flora and fauna of the territory adjacent to the plant. The company concealed the fact of leakage of chemicals for 10 days. Cases of cancer have increased, as was later proven by studies of dead animals. Residents of the small town of Seveso began to experience frequent cases of heart pathologies and respiratory diseases.
The meltdown of part of a nuclear reactor on Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania, USA, released an unknown amount of radioactive gases and iodine into the environment. The accident was due to a series of human errors and mechanical failures. There was much debate about the scale of pollution, but the authorities withheld specific figures so as not to raise a panic. They argued that the release was insignificant and could not harm the flora and fauna. However, in 1997, the data was re-examined, and it was concluded that those who lived near the reactor had 10 times more manifestations of cancer and leukemia than others.
12. Oil spill from the tanker Exxon Valdes (March 24, 1989)
An accident on an Exxon Valdez tanker released a huge amount of oil into the ocean off Alaska, polluting 2,092.15 km of coastline. As a result, irreparable damage to the ecosystem was caused. And to date, it has not been restored. In 2010, the US government stated that 32 species of wildlife had been harmed and that only 13 species had been restored. Could not restore the subspecies of killer whales and Pacific herring.
The explosion and flooding of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico at the Macondo field led to the fact that there was a leak of oil and gas in the amount of 4.9 million barrels. According to scientists, this accident was the largest in US history and claimed 11 lives of platform workers. The inhabitants of the ocean were also harmed. Until now, violations of the ecosystem of the bay are noted.
10 Love Canal Disaster (1978)
In Niagara Falls, New York, about a hundred houses and a local school were built on the site of an industrial and chemical waste dump. Over time, the chemicals seeped into the upper layers of the soil and water. People began to notice that some black swampy spots appeared near the houses. When they did the analysis, they found the content of eighty-two chemical compounds, eleven of which were carcinogenic substances. Among the diseases of the inhabitants of the Love Canal, such serious diseases as leukemia began to appear, and 98 families had children with serious pathologies.
9. Chemical pollution in Anniston, Alabama (1929-1971)
In Anniston, in the area where the agricultural and biotech giant Monsanto first produced cancer-causing substances, they were inexplicably released into Snow Creek. The population of Anniston suffered greatly. As a result of exposure, the percentage of diabetes and other pathologies has increased. Monsanto paid $700 million in damages and rescues in 2002.
During the military conflict in the Persian Gulf in Kuwait, Saddam Hussein set fire to 600 oil wells to create a poisonous smoke screen for as much as 10 months. It is believed that between 600 and 800 tons of oil burned daily. About five percent of the territory of Kuwait was covered with soot, livestock died from lung diseases, and the number of cancer cases increased in the country.
7. Zilin chemical plant explosion (November 13, 2005)
There were several powerful explosions at the Zilin Chemical Plant. A huge amount of benzene and nitrobenzene, which has a detrimental toxic effect, was released into the environment. The disaster resulted in the death of six people and the injury of seventy.
6 Pollution Times Beach, Missouri (December 1982)
The spraying of oil containing toxic dioxin led to the complete destruction of a small town in Missouri. The method was used as an alternative to irrigation to keep dust off the roads. The situation worsened when, as a result of flooding the city with the waters of the Meremek River, toxic oil spread along the entire coast. Residents were exposed to dioxin and reported immune and muscle problems.
For five days, smoke from coal burning and factory emissions covered London in a dense layer. The fact is that cold weather has come and the residents massively began to heat the stoves with coal to warm the houses. A combination of industrial and public air emissions resulted in thick fog and poor visibility, and 12,000 people died from inhaling toxic fumes.
4 The Poisoning Of Minamata Bay, Japan (1950s)
In 37 years of plastics production, the petrochemical company Chisso Corporation has dumped 27 tons of the metal mercury into the waters of Minamata Bay. Because the inhabitants used it to fish, unaware of the chemical spills, the mercury-poisoned fish caused serious health damage to babies born to mothers who ate fish from the Minamata, and killed more than 900 people in the region.
3. Bhopal Disaster (December 2, 1984)
The whole world knows about radiation contamination as a result of a nuclear reactor accident and a fire at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine. It has been called the worst nuclear power plant disaster in history. About a million people died due to the effects of the nuclear holocaust, mainly from cancer and exposure to high levels of radiation.
After the 9-magnitude earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan, the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant was left without power and lost the ability to cool nuclear reactors. This led to radioactive contamination of a large territory and water area. About two hundred thousand residents were evacuated due to fear of serious illnesses as a result of exposure. The disaster once again made scientists think about the dangers of atomic energy and the need to develop
What's wrong with disaster movies these days. But I want to look at the collapsing wonders of technology and surviving heroes! We remembered 10 disaster films based on real events, and not the weak fantasy of screenwriters. Go!
10. "And the storm came" (2016)
Director: Craig Gillespie.
Cast: Chris Pine, Casey Affleck, Ben Foster.
1952, USA. The oil tanker Pendleton is wrecked off the coast. Only the local Coast Guard manages to help the crew members. The problem is that she only has light boats at her disposal, which may not withstand the storm.
The film is not bad, but the authors went too far with pathos and seriousness. Sometimes you don’t even believe that everything is based on a real story - the characters shown in the tape seem so far-fetched. However, the fact that the writers decided to "tweak" the characteristics of the characters by setting the "heroism" perk to the maximum is not surprising.
9. The Perfect Storm (2000)
Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen.
Cast: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, John C Reilly.
In 1991, the so-called “perfect” or Halloween storm covered the Atlantic coast of the United States. The elements destroyed the Andrea Gail fishing boat. The sailors went out to fish, trying to compensate for the previous unsuccessful catch. No one ever returned from the voyage.
According to reports by Captain Andrea Gail, shortly before the ship stopped communicating, the waves were over nine meters high. There are claims that the sailors were killed by a 30-meter wave, although this is considered unlikely. But for the film - what you need.
The picture has only one claim. The Perfect Storm thinks too much, successfully exploiting the fact that there is no reliable information about what happened to Andrea Gail.
8. Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Director: Peter Berg.
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, Douglas M. Griffin.
It seems that the explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico happened quite recently. But no, it's been seven years. The echoes of the event are still loud, and environmentalists do not stop sounding the alarm. A huge oil slick has done a lot of trouble.
The film, which got its name from the oil platform, tells the story of the workers of the station, who found themselves face to face with fire. Cut off from the world by expanses of water, brave men solve problems as best they can - in their own way, in a simple way, but effectively.
The accident killed 13 people. The filmmakers see the British oil and gas giant BP as the only culprit of the fiery nightmare. This company still cannot recover from the consequences of the scandal.
7. "Earthquake" (2010)
Directed by: Feng Xiaogang.
Cast: Xu Fan, Zhang Jingchu, Yang Lixin.
The main thing is not to confuse this film with the craft of the same name by Sarik Andreasyan. It is best to focus on the year of release: the Chinese tape came out in 2010, and the Russian one - in 2016.
The film is based on the 1976 Tangshan earthquake. It lasted less than a second, but in terms of the number of victims and the scale of destruction, it became the second in the written history of mankind. As a result of the disaster, from 240 to 655 thousand people died, about 5 million houses were destroyed.
Feng Xiaogang's film does not try to embrace the immense and show all the horrors that the earthquake brought. Instead, he focuses on the story of one family who physically survived a terrible tragedy, but psychologically cannot cope with it even after decades.
6. "Impossible" (2012)
Directed by: Juan Antonio Bayona.
Cast: Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor, Tom Holland.
Another film about family life through the prism of a natural disaster. The tsunami that hit Thailand catches by surprise the hero Ewan McGregor and his household who came to rest. The element sweeps everyone away, but in the end the family will be reunited.
The tragedy occurred at the very end of 2004. A giant tsunami more than 15 meters high has risen due to an underwater earthquake in the Indian Ocean. As a result, about 300 thousand people died.
This time, not only the tsunami background is real, but also the family story. The story of a Spanish family that was lucky enough to survive the tsunami was taken as a prototype for the film.
5. "K-19" (2002)
Directed by: Katherine Bigelow.
Cast: Harrison Ford, Liam Neeson, Peter Sarsgaard.
They say that the sailors called the Soviet nuclear submarine K-19 "Hiroshima" because of frequent accidents. About one of these accidents, which can easily be included in the ranks of man-made disasters, and tells the film by Kathryn Bigelow.
During one of the submarine's trips in 1961, the reactor cooling system was damaged, as a result of which gamma radiation began to rise sharply. Despite the efforts of the crew, within a few hours the ship, along with the crew, was completely contaminated with radiation. Soon, eight crew members died due to radiation sickness.
The participants of the event generally reacted negatively to the release of K-19. According to survivors, too much of the film is made up, from technical issues to relationships between submariners. There was no rebellion, no desire to surrender to the Americans. Well, cinema is cinema, even if it is based on reality - the main thing is that it is interesting to watch.
4. "Survive" (1992)
Director: Frank Marshall.
Cast: Ethan Hawke, Vincent Spano, Josh Hamilton.
On October 13, 1972, an Uruguayan Air Force airliner operated a charter flight FAU 571 en route Montevideo - Mendoza - Santiago. There were 40 people on board the plane - the Old Cristians rugby team, relatives of the athletes and support staff. Not far from the destination, the ship hit a cyclone, crashed into a mountain and collapsed. 12 people died immediately, and the rest had to fight for their lives with cold and hunger. For more than two months, the guys have been waiting for help. They managed to survive by eating the corpses of their comrades.
With a strong story, the film is also strong. But "Survive" is just the case when the first place is not visual effects, but psychology. What would you do in the place of these unfortunates? To condemn, forgive or understand? Action is also enough. The tape was even nominated for an MTV award for the episode with the plane crash.
Some scenes of the film today look too naive - the decent age of the tape is affecting. Nevertheless, we advise you to watch this movie, because it will certainly encourage you to learn more about what happened to the crashed in the Andes in the fall of 1972.
3. Miracle on the Hudson (2016)
Director: Clint Eastwood.
Cast: Tom Hanks, Aaron Eckhart.
Screen adaptation of a true story that happened on January 15, 2009 with an Airbus A320 flying from New York. One of the two films in our ranking, which has a disaster, but no deaths. Yes, the movie came out fresh, but it looks great as a thorough reconstruction of events.
The plane just managed to break away from the runway of New York airport, when a minute and a half later it collided with a flock of birds. The crew had to make several life-changing decisions for dozens of passengers. As a result, a huge colossus plopped down on the Hudson River. After that, the pilot Chesley Sullenberger was dragged through the courts, but in the end everything worked out.
Clint Eastwood detachedly captures everything that happened, not particularly trying to evoke an emotional response from the viewer. But as always, the lead actor Tom Hanks did his best.
Disaster movies are always fun to watch. The plot keeps the viewer in suspense until the very end. It is difficult to predict what will happen to the main characters, whether someone will survive. This is a selection of the best disaster movies.
10. Omen
"Omen" opens the ranking of the best disaster films. The beginning of the plot takes the viewer back to 1959. At a school holiday, students are given the task of drawing the world in the future, their illustrations must be sealed in a time capsule for 50 years. A girl named Lucinda draws numbers from 0 to 9 in a chaotic manner, after which she is found locked in one of the rooms in a state of mental arousal. 2009 - it's time to open the time capsule. Lucinda's drawing accidentally falls into the hands of astrophysicist John Koestler. Studying the numbers, he realizes with horror that the girl predicted all the significant disasters for 50 years ahead. There are three more tragedies left, will John have time to prevent them?
9. 2012
2012 is a film about the end of the world released in 2009. This is one of the interpretations of the prediction of the Mayan calendar. In 2009, a team of scientists discovered strange activity on the Sun. The star emits a large number of neutrinos, which heat up the Earth's core. The US government is immediately informed of this. The president gathers a council of rulers from different countries, which decided to build several arks, selling tickets for them for 1 billion euros. Thus, only the rich can be saved. year 2012. Jackson Curtis is a writer who accidentally becomes aware of an impending disaster and the location of the arks. Can he save his family by becoming a stowaway on the ship of life?
8. And the storm came
A Storm Came Down is a historical disaster film that premiered in 2016. The plot is based on the real events of 1952, which are also described in the novel by Michael Tojais "The Selfless Hours". During a storm off the coast of Massachusetts, the Pendleton oil tanker is wrecked. A Coast Guard team led by Bernard Webber was sent to help. Bernard's fiancée, Miriam, thinks this mission is too dangerous and useless, she is sure that the rescuers will die, failing to save anyone. However, she fails to convince the Coast Guard leadership of this. Miriam is left to wait for her lover on the shore, are they destined to meet?
7. Subway
Metro is one of the best Russian disaster films based on the novel of the same name by Dmitry Safonov. The piles of the old Moscow metro cannot withstand the new load, which continues to increase as the city is built up. A subway worker notices water in the tunnel, but management does not attach any importance to this. In parallel with this, the plot of the personal life of Irina Garina develops. The heroine cannot make a choice between her husband Andrei and their joint daughter Ksyusha, and her lover Vlad Konstantinov. By chance, Andrei, Ksyusha and Vlad find themselves in the same train car, which crashes due to water entering the tunnel. Passengers will have to independently get out of the Moscow dungeon.
6. Tornado
The thriller "Smerch", released in 1996, continues the rating of disaster films. A tornado is one of the most dangerous natural phenomena. In the US, tornadoes happen regularly and are a real problem for coastal residents and scientists alike. In the center of the plot, Joe is a scientist who studies tornadoes. As a child, Jo survived a great hurricane that claimed her father's life. Now she is looking for ways to study natural phenomena and predict the appearance of tornadoes. In order to investigate the tornado with the help of special equipment, it is necessary to get inside the funnel. Jo lives on the edge, but even she has competition. Will her love for science and her desire to save innocent lives be able to defeat the greed of ill-wishers?
5. Hell
In the middle of the list of top 10 best movies in the disaster genre is the sci-fi movie Inferno. The premiere took place in 2007. In the near future, the Sun begins to gradually lose its activity. Due to the fading of the heavenly body, the Earth is immersed in permafrost, which threatens the imminent extinction of mankind. In order to revive solar activity, it was decided to send an Icarus II expedition to the star, protected by a special shield, and drop a bomb on the surface of the Sun. The team of the last expedition went missing seven years ago. Flying over Mercury, Icarus II receives a distress call from Icarus I. In order to save their colleagues and increase the stocks of explosives for a more likely success of the operation, the crew heads to the Icarus I. How will this deviation from the course end?
4. Crew
A popular Russian disaster film called "The Crew" was released in 2016. The main character is Alexey Gushchin, a young and very ambitious pilot. Aleksey is one of those people who always do as they see fit, regardless of orders and commands. For this reason, his career as a military pilot fails, and Alexey finds a job in civil aviation. Leonid Zinchenko takes him to his team, who is also wayward, like Alexei. They often clash. But everything changes when the plane's crew lands on an island where an ongoing earthquake and volcanic eruption are claiming the lives of many residents. Now the pilots have to save those who survived.
3. Survive
Opens the top three best disaster films deeply psychological thriller "Survive". The story is based on real events, Nando Parrado, a participant in the incident and the main character of the film, was invited as a consultant. On October 13, 1973, a school rugby team from Uruguay flew to the competition, on board were schoolchildren, their relatives, a coach and crew. The airliner lost control while flying over the Andes and crashed onto a high plateau. Those few who were lucky enough to stay alive were cut off from the world by impenetrable mountain slopes. For several months, the guys tried to survive in difficult conditions. They had to sleep on the plane and eat the corpses of their comrades and relatives.
2. Day after tomorrow
Global warming, with which scientists have been scaring people for many years, has finally come. However, this did not happen quite as expected. Due to the fact that the glaciers, having broken away, went into free swimming in the world's oceans, the temperature over the planet has decreased. Jack Hall, a paleoclimatologist, believes that soon the air temperature will reach such values at which humanity will die out by freezing. However, members of the UN and the US government are in no hurry to believe him. When the temperature drops below -100°C, the fuel freezes, planes and helicopters fall, people on the street die. Jack calculates that the cold snap will peak in New York, where his son is currently located.
1. Armageddon
Topping the list of best disaster films is Armageddon, which premiered in 1998. Several meteorites fall one by one to the Earth. The meteor shower barely has time to end, as the astronauts notice a new threat. A giant asteroid is approaching the planet, a collision with which humanity will not survive. NASA employees are considering possible rescue options. One of them - driller Harry Stamper - offers to drill an asteroid and lay a bomb inside. After the explosion, the cosmic body will break up into many small pieces that will burn up in the Earth's atmosphere. NASA sends a rescue team led by Stamper to carry out his plan.
