Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)

Directed by: Irwin Allen
Starring: Michael Caine, Sally Field, Karl Malden, Telly Savalas, Slim Pickens, Peter Boyle, Angela Cartwright

In his review of this film, Roger Ebert tells the story of discussing a possible sequel to The Poseidon Adventure with producer Irwin Allen, several years before the fact. As Ebert tells it, Allen toyed with the idea of taking the survivors from the first movie and putting them on a train, which would then become trapped inside a collapsed tunnel through the Alps. If only they’d gone with that one…

Haeundae (2009)

Directed by: Je-gyun Yun
Starring: Kyung-gu Sol, Ji-won Ha, Joong-Hoon Park, Jeong-hwa Eom

In the very large shadow cast by 2012, there was at least one other noteworthy disaster movie released during 2009. A South Korean production, Haeundae (a.k.a. Tidal Wave or Tsunami) is a low budget effort in comparison with Emmerich’s juggernaut (hey, most movies are!) but is nevertheless a quite entertaining piece of disaster melodrama.

Coming attractions: Meteor Apocalypse

Yes, the good folks at The Asylum are at it again — gotta give ‘em credit for churning out those disaster flicks on a regular basis. Who knows, one of these days they just might get it right.

This time, we can look forward to some Meteor Apocalypse. Joe Lando stars alongside Claudia Christian, whom I liked a lot during her stint as Cmdr. Ivanova on Babylon 5 years ago. The story:

A gigantic meteor enters Earth’s orbit and begins to disintegrate, showering the entire planet with debris.

And what’s that at the top of the poster? Why, yes, it’s a quote from Revelations. Turns out Meteor Apocalypse is released through Asylum’s subdivision Faith Films, so there might be quite a bit of religion thrown in with the mayhem. Buyer beware.

Street date is February 23rd.

Avalanche (1978)

Directed by: Corey Allen
Starring: Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster, Jeanette Nolan, Rick Moses, Barry Primus, Cathey Paine

Here’s a prime example of the kind of film that it takes a disaster movie fan to appreciate. The Roger Corman production Avalanche, starring a Rock Hudson well past his prime and a Mia Farrow of the pre-Woody era, is certainly not a good movie. However, once things get going it is actually pretty fun to watch, if only for all the wrong reasons.

Mission of the Shark (1991)

Directed by: Robert Iscove
Starring: Stacy Keach, Richard Thomas, Steve Landesberg, Don Harvey, David Caruso

One of these days I’ll have to write a definition of what a disaster movie is. I suppose many would categorize Mission of the Shark as a war movie, and they would not be wrong, but it certainly deals with one particularly catastrophical incident so here we go.

Mission of the Shark tells the story of the the sinking of the U.S.S. Indianapolis. Yes, it’s the very same story Captain Quint tells in that scene in Jaws.

The Core (2003)

Directed by: Jon Amiel
Starring: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, Tchéky Karyo, DJ Qualls, Bruce Greenwood

I will always have the highest regard for director Jon Amiel, but The Core is not the reason for that.* This is a movie that plays like a cross between Michael Bay’s Armageddon set underground and cheesy 1950’s sci-fi flicks — comparisons I’m certainly not the first one to make. Watching it, I actually had to remind myself that The Core was released as late as 2003 and is only six years old. The plot and so-so visual effects make parts of it feel quite dated already.

Resuming regular broadcasts

…and we’re back. Been busy with other obligations over the holidays, so not much time (or energy) to watch and write up disaster flicks. But now it’s time to get back in the saddle. I hope you all had really happy holidays, because now worldwide destruction is on again. In a couple of hours, the year’s first review will be up.

Flood (2007)

Directed by: Tony Mitchell
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Jessalyn Gilsig, Tom Courtenay, Joanne Whalley, David Suchet, Nigel Planer

Setup is for sissies. Flood wastes no time to get things moving, drowning a gloomy Scottish town even before the titles have hit the screen. Where many disaster movies spend the first half hour or more on heavy-handed exposition, Flood hits the ground running.

Disaster Movie Saturday

Got Syfy? Then you can spend this Saturday watching a disaster movie marathon that lasts all day and most of the night. The main attraction is the premiere of Annihilation Earth (“It’s got meteors…it’s got quakes” — see trailer below).

The other films are Earthstorm, Meteor, 10.5 Apocalypse, something called Ba’al: The Storm God, Ice Twisters, Disaster Zone: Earthquake in New York and (if you’re still awake at 3AM) Avalanche: Nature Unleashed. A full day of cheap thrills, in other words. Congrats!

It’s a Metal Tornado!

If you thought Atomic Twister was a great title for a disaster movie (even though the film itself sucked), check this out: Metal Tornado. That’s right: Metal Tornado. And no, it’s not an 80’s heavy metal comedy, it’s an upcoming sci-fi disaster movie. Check out the synopsis and full poster after the jump.