Disaster movies of the 1970s

[larrys]

The BD release of The Cassandra Crossing is 3 weeks from yesterday and I got nostalgic about the disaster movies of the 1970s. I was born in 1962 and grew up going to seeing a lot of these theatrically when they were first released. Especially from 1972-1977. Below is an informal, incomplete list of what I consider disaster movies from 1970-1980. I did not include any made for TV movies from that decade.

My questions: How many of these do you have in your collection, if any? What is your favorite disaster movie of that era? What disaster movies of that era did I forget? Which of the ones below are not really disaster movies? Besides the cheesey 70s factor or the so bad it's good factor, are there any disaster movies of that era that, in your opinion, are legitimately good films or even classics?

Disaster films of the 70s I saw theatrically:

The Poseidon Adventure
The Towering Inferno
Earthquake
Airport '75
The Hindenburg
The Cassandra Crossing
Two-Minute Warning (debatable if it's really a disaster movie IMO)
Rollercoaster (same as above)
Airport '77
When Time Ran Out (1980)

Other Disaster films of the 1970s

Airport
Meteor
The Swarm
Beyond the Poseidon Adventure
The Concorde-Airport '79
Avalanche
Hurricane

I went to a theater to see 10 of the disaster movies of that era. I was one dumb 12-14 year old kid. God help me I paid to see When Time Ran Out when I was a senior in high school. I was a big fan of Paul Newman, but the real reason had to be because I was a horny 17 year old and would've watched Jackie Bisset in any movie. When Time Ran Out's title was prophetic because it was the movie that finally killed the disaster movie genre after a 10 year run.

Of the ones I have listed, I have only 3 in my collection: Airport, Poseidon Adventure and Towering Inferno. All on BD. Until BD, I had never owned them an any other home video format. For pure nostalgia reasons, I will get Cassandra Crossing when it is released next month. A huge slice of 70s cheese.

[Mr.Dig]

I love disaster flicks! Big fan of Irwin Allen! My favorites are "The Poseidon Adventure" and "The Towering Inferno". I'm very happy to have these movies on blu-ray. Would love to see "Beyond The Poseidon Adventure" on blu-ray.
Also,"When Time Ran Out" was great.
Great list of disaster flicks you have,but these are also worth mentioning:

Cave In! (1983)
Fire! (1977)
Flood (1976)
City On Fire (1979)

[HomerThompson]

It's insane to think that Airport, a film largely forgotten today, is the 43rd highest grossing film (with inflation) of all time and was nominated for Best Picture.

The Towering Inferno is #54 and The Poseidon Adventure is #76.

Huge films at the time.

http://www.boxofficemojo.com/alltime/adjusted.htm

[Todd Tomorrow]

I too love 70s disaster flicks, even the terrible ones. I find them oddly comforting, because I grew up with them. Cinematic catastrophe seems to soothe my nerves.

I remember my dad taking me to The Towering Inferno and seeing Earthquake in Sensurround, which was surprisingly effective. I would love an Airport box set. I watched the first one on Blu recently and it stands up very well, though its more of a melodrama/thriller than an outright disaster film. The sequels get increasingly OTT with every instalment, but in a most entertaining way.

[LMN8R]

Originally Posted by larrys

I went to a theater to see 10 of the disaster movies of that era. I was one dumb 12-14 year old kid. God help me I paid to see When Time Ran Out when I was a senior in high school. I was a big fan of Paul Newman, but the real reason had to be because I was a horny 17 year old and would've watched Jackie Bisset in any movie. When Time Ran Out's title was prophetic because it was the movie that finally killed the disaster movie genre after a 10 year run.

I'm guessing you really enjoyed The Deep then. I know I did.

[Todd Tomorrow]

Another few which haven't been mentioned yet and which were disaster genre hybrids:

The British Juggernaut, the excellent The Taking of Pelham 123 and The Medusa Touch with combined a supernatural Omen-style horror film with disaster movie thrills.

[rkolinski]

Some of the best weren't mentioned:

The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Black Sunday (1977)
The China Syndrome (1979)
Gray Lady Down (1978)

and Skyjacked (1972)

[newginafets]

The Towering Inferno is my favorite, but i havent seen most of the movies mentioned above

[larrys]

Originally Posted by LMN8R

I'm guessing you really enjoyed The Deep then. I know I did.

Absolutely true. In fact, I bought it on BD a few years ago. Had never owned it before. Originally saw it in 1977. After seeing her in that I actually paid to see The Greek Tycoon and Who is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe in 1978. I saw alot of crappy movies when I was a teen. Sadly, if The Greek Tycoon came out on BD now I'd probably buy it. Just to see her again in her prime.

Another post on this thread mentioned Gray Lady Down and The Medusa Touch. I've never seen either one, but would be interested. I know Medusa is on BD right now, but the price is a little high for me to make a blind buy.

Regarding The China Syndrome, I've never considered that a disaster movie. To me, it's a thriller and a commentary on the TV news business of the late 70s. It's also one of the 5-6 best films of 1979.

[Pondosinatra]

I remember there being a slew of Airplane disaster movies in the 70's...

[JMDiaz718]

There were some pretty good ones way back when too. I wasn't born yet to have experienced them in theaters.

San Francisco
The Rains Came
The Rains of Ranchipur
Deluge
Metropolis (kinda disaster)
When Worlds Collide
War of the Worlds 1953
Crack In The World

[BillWatkins]

I'm surprised no one mentioned the 70s disaster movie parody The Big Bus (1976). There's also Avalanche Express (1979).

[Akijama]

Koch Media will release The Hindenburg on June 11 in Germany.