Poseidon (2006)

Directed by: Wolfgang Petersen
Starring: Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Emmy Rossum, Richard Dreyfuss, Jacinda Barrett, Andre Braugher, Kevin Dillon

The Poseidon Adventure is one of the classic disaster films of the 1970’s and a personal favorite of mine, so I’ll admit I approached Wolfgang Petersen’s remake with some skepticism. And no, the 2006 version of Poseidon doesn’t even come close to the original in terms of atmosphere, characters or suspense. It does deliver some nice action sequences, though.

2012 (2009)

Directed by: Roland Emmerich
Starring: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover

So is 2012 the disaster movie to rule them all? Well, not quite, though Roland Emmerich certainly tries his damndest, in the process delivering some of the biggest, most spectacularly over-the-top destruction sequences ever committed to film. 2012 is big, loud and stupid – but also very good-looking and very entertaining.

Ice Ice Baby

Meanwhile, I came across news about an upcoming disaster movie called Ice, based on a 1970’s novel by James Follett. What caught my attention was the fact that Sam Neill is set to star, alongside other well-known names such as Richard Roxburgh, Claire Forlani and Stephen Moyer.

According to the production company website, Ice is a climate change thriller set in the year 2020:

Findings by environmental scientist Professor Thom Archer suggest that Halo, the corporate energy company drilling on the Greenland Glacier are causing it to melt.
Archer’s warnings are ignored, so he heads to the Arctic to find indisputable evidence. Upon arrival, he realises humankind is under immediate threat, and races home to save his family.
The glacier collapses, with devastating consequences. Astonishing weather patterns emerge and plunge the world’s temperatures into steep decline.
ICE confronts a wholly terrifying and plausible natural disaster of epic proportions. This uncompromising production sees a planet on the brink of annihilation, unleashing an apocalypse with an intensity and magnitude audiences will never forget.

Sounds fun enough. Shooting is underway in New Zealand, and the release is set for next year.

*

Am going to see 2012 this Saturday. Will post a review on Sunday.

Megafault (2009)

Directed by: David Michael Latt
Starring: Brittany Murphy, Eriq La Salle, Bruce Davison, Justin Hartley, Paul Logan

Mockbuster producers The Asylum proudly proclaimed that their Syfy original movie Megafault is their biggest production to date. What you have to keep in mind is that that’s not really saying much at all. Sure, there are a couple of recognizable names in this one, along with very many explosions, but it’s still a bargain bin production.

Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York (2006)

Directed by: Robert Lee
Starring: Costas Mandylor, Michael Ironside, Alexandra Paul, Eric Breker, Pascale Hutton

Yes, folks, it’s time to watch the Big Apple get devastated again. This time in so inept a way that it makes Aftershock: Earthquake in New York look like a high-end production.

2012: Supernova trailer online

The Asylum keeps grinding ‘em out. Hot on the heels of Megafault - which I still haven’t had the opportunity to see – comes 2012: Supernova. This one is a disaster flick with more of a science fiction flavor: As a star in “a nearby galaxy” goes supernova and threatens Earth (I’m smelling some possible scientific implausibilities already), our heroes will have to come up with a way to save us from the wave of lethal radiation.

To be released October 26. Official info over at theasylum.cc.

Twister (1996)

Directed by: Jan de Bont
Starring: Helen Hunt, Bill Paxton, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jami Gertz, Lois Smith, Cary Elwes

You wouldn’t know it from looking at her, but Helen Hunt is one of the densest objects on Earth. She’s so heavy, not even an F5 tornado, capable of hurling trucks around like confetti, can lift her off the ground. At least that’s my conclusion after watching Twister, where Helen and co-star Bill Paxton more than once remain firmly grounded while vehicles and buildings in their immediate vicinity are torn apart or whisked away into the air.

New 2012 clip featuring Woody Harrelson

With just one month to go before the premiere, yet another 2012 clip has been released online. No VFX extravaganza this time, just acting: it’s a short scene where John Cusack’s character visits Woody Harrelson’s doomsday prophet to ask what’s up with this end-of-the-world business. Somewhat humorous, no less.

Are you excited yet?

(Found over on comingsoon.net.)

Lars von Trier does disaster

I didn’t deliver a new disaster movie review this weekend, as I should have. Sorry about that. I’ll get a new one up as soon as I can.

In the meantime, I give you this piece of news: director Lars von Trier has announced his new project, Melancholia, which is described as a psychological-drama-slash-disaster-film. 

Aftershock: Earthquake in New York (1999)

Directed by: Mikael Salomon
Starring: Tom Skerritt, Charles S. Dutton, Sharon Lawrence, Lisa Nicole Carson, Jennifer Garner, Erika Eleniak-Goglia

Choosing New York as the epicenter of a major earthquake isn’t exactly an obvious choice, as The Big Apple isn’t particularly known for being located in an earthquake zone. Googling the subject, it turns out there are indeed some fault lines beneath the city that might pose a bigger threat than previously thought. I don’t know if the makers of this made-for-tv movie (originally aired as a two-part miniseries) had an unexpectecly deep knowledge of geology, but I suspect they really didn’t care. You see, the quake that devastates New York is first and foremost not a physical event – it is an opportunity for the people affected by it to learn valuable life lessons and get closer to each other. Oh yeah, it’s a Hallmark production.