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The best disaster movies on Prime Video tap into one of humanity’s greatest and most revealing fears: the inevitable end of the world due to natural causes. Indeed, though highly overplayed in Western cinema, natural disaster stories perfectly lay the groundwork for characters and plots that tackle the very limits of human perseverance. In the face of Mother Nature’s wrath, only the strongest survive – yet even those resigned to their doomed fates have stories worth telling as well.
Despite natural disaster movies getting more than their fair share of the spotlight during the turn of the century, the various angles from which the apocalypse can be examined continue to deliver some of the most compelling tales about human nature. Whether the science checks out or not, the best natural disaster movies on Prime are inventive features that push the genre in new and worthwhile directions. Here are ten of these movies.
10 Melancholia (2011)
One of Prime Video’s best-rated natural disaster movies, Lars von Trier’s 2011 movie, Melancholia revolves around two sisters, Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg), who are in opposite states of mind. On the night of Justine’s wedding, she finds herself doubting her happiness while celebrating the best day of her life. While Justine’s wedding is expensive and lavish, a blue planet named Melancholia is headed toward Earth. As Claire tries to keep it together for her sister’s sake, she’s concerned about the impending doom that’s about to rain down on all of them. Out of the best disaster movies on Prime Video, Melancholia may have the greatest cinematography.
9 Knowing (2009)
Nicolas Cage is a father and professor who stumbles upon a pattern of numbers contained in a time capsule – which accurately predict major disasters in the future. Though Knowing came out to mixed reviews, it still ranks among the best disaster movies on Prime Video for its inventive concept. By approaching the natural disaster genre from such an unusual angle, Knowing succeeds at crafting a truly effective mystery thriller that cleverly tackles hopelessness, religious institutions, the mundanity of modern life, and destiny.
8 It’s A Disaster (2013)
Todd Berger’s film, It’s a Disaster, isn’t like any other entry on this list of the best disaster movies on Prime Video. The movie mixes drama and comedy with a huge plot twist at the end. Starring Rachel Boston, America Ferrera, Kevin M. Brennen, Jeff Grace, David Cross, and Julia Stiles, the film centers on a monthly brunch that several couples have together. While it’s obvious the couples present have issues, a man arrives at the door to inform the group that a mysterious attack has taken over the city. Unsure of what to do, they all stay inside the house to wait it out while becoming unhinged, unfolding into a unique dramedy.
7 Greenland (2020)
Morena Baccarin and Gerard Butler are a couple struggling to save their family from meteor fragments devastating Earth, and their only hope of survival is to reach the bunkers in Greenland. A terrifyingly realistic approach to the natural disaster, Greenland is not for the faint of heart. Amid the backdrop of a scientifically viable and truly unpredictable natural calamity, Greenland explores the best and worst impulses of humanity. Though the movie offers nothing truly groundbreaking, it still deserves a place among the best disaster movies on Prime Video for near-perfectly executing the best and most relatable aspects of the natural disaster genre.
6 Hard Rain (1998)
Directed by Mikael Salomon, Hard Rain stars Morgan Freeman, Christian Slater, and Randy Quaid and centers on Tom (Slater) and his Uncle Charlie (Edward Asner), who are drivers of an armored truck chock-full of three million dollars. The dam they need to cross is shut down due to extreme rainfall, which has flooded the area. The duo is attacked by a man named Jim (Freeman), who wants what they have. Hard Rain counts among the best natural disaster movies on Prime for how it throws crime and action into the mix, resulting in an action-driven drama set in a frighteningly relatable version of the post-apocalypse.
5 The Core (2003)
The early-2000s was a great time for successful movies across all genres, and one of the best includes The Core, an action-adventure sci-fi movie with a few recognizable faces. Starring Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Brian Greenwood, they play a crew assigned to travel to the Earth’s core to set off a nuclear device. The Earth’s core has stopped spinning, which sets off a series of disasters happening worldwide. The team hopes that the explosion will push the core into motion again, but things don’t necessarily go as planned. One of the best disaster movies on Prime Video, The Core is a classic movie that breaks the limits of planetary catastrophes.
4 Contagion (2011)
In hindsight, the 2011 movie Contagion starring Matt Damon and Gwyneth Paltrow was a terrible portent of things to come, with the plot focused on the rapid epidemic spread of an airborne virus that kills the infected within days. With the global medical community struggling to contain mass panic while simultaneously trying to stop the virus from spreading, Contagion may hit too close to home for some audience members. Nonetheless, the way Contagion seems to have eerily and accurately predicted the worldwide events related to the Covid-19 pandemic is why it ranks highly among the best disaster movies on Prime Video.
3 Doomsday Book (2012)
Doomsday Book is a South-Korean movie composed of several stories about the apocalypse or natural disasters. While all three chapters are fantastic, the final chapter named”Happy Birthday is the one with a killer meteor. However, the most interesting chapter may be Heavenly Creature, in which a robot attains Nirvana – one of the signs of the apocalypse. For viewers looking for a disaster movie that’s unlike what’s typically offered in the genre, Doomsday Book is one of the best disaster movies on Prime Video.
2 Deepwater Horizon (2016)
Mark Wahlberg, Kurt Russell, John Malkovich, Gina Rodriguez, and Kate Hudson star in the movie adaptation of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico – one of the top ten worst manmade disasters in the history of the world. No list of the best disaster movies on Prime Video would be complete without this movie. Deepwater Horizon honors the 11 oil rig workers who died in the tragedy, the injured crew members and their families, and those who worked and continue to work hard to contain the disaster’s environmental effects. Underneath the sheer action-packed entertainment and A-list cast, Deepwater Horizon exposes the worst parts of humanity’s relationship with the planet.
1 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015)
Mad Max: Fury Road is actually the latest movie in a franchise about a natural disaster storyline that originally started in 1979. Starring Mel Gibson, the action-adventure Mad Max centered on a dystopian world in the near future. Filled with barren lands, vicious criminals, and other grisly events that set Max off into a revenge-filled rampage, Mad Max‘s post-apocalypse is actually realistically caused by a gasoline shortage. Directed by George Miller, Mad Max, and the installments that followed are among his best movies he’s directed in his career.
Meanwhile, with Tom Hardy replacing Mel Gibson in the titular role of Max, Fury Road reimagines the post-apocalypse being caused by a water shortage instead of a fuel shortage. Apart from pulling the franchise closer to the natural disaster genre, Fury Road is one of the best disaster movies on Prime Video for its poetic violence, strong feminist themes, and reinvention of ’80s cult action conventions. All four Mad Max movies are streaming on Prime Video.
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