The 1970s are remembered as a time when Hollywood took a gritty turn, centering its films around misguided antiheroes and the troubles they find on their journies. These coarse thrillers influenced a new generation of disaster movies uplifted by performances from some of the decade's best actors.
While today's catastrophe flicks rely on CGI and non-stop explosions, disaster movies in the 1970s relied on practical effects and character development. Whether it's a natural climate apocalypse, a vessel doomed to crash, or a skyscraper on the verge of collapse, these older action films established many of the tropes utilized to this day.
The Hindenburg (1975) - 6.3
George C. Scott teams up with original West Side Story director Robert Wise for this very speculative thriller about the 1937 Hindenberg disaster. The Hindenberg explores the theory the German aircraft was somehow sabotaged, even though evidence suggests otherwise.
Scott plays German Luftwaffe Colonel Franz Ritter in the film, who travels with the Hindenberg after receiving threats that the zeppelin airship will be shot down over New York. The Hindenberg wasn't well-received when it was released, and it's still considered a disastrous disaster flick.
The Cassandra Crossing (1976) - 6.4
A star-studded ensemble cast crowds the already overcrowded plot in The Cassandra Crossing. A Swedish terrorist infected with the plague transmits the deadly virus to other passages on a European commuter train, leading an international response team to the conclusion that the passengers must remain quarantined in the train.
With the train moving, and with the disturbed passengers getting more riled up about their situation, The Cassandra Crossing takes an even more stressful turn as the locomotive reaches a rickety old bridge that will probably collapse. The film stars the likes of Ava Gardner, Sophia Loren, Martin Sheen, and Burt Lancaster.
Juggernaut (1974) - 6.6
Inspired by real events, Juggernaut is a British disaster movie starring Anthony Hopkins, Richard Harris, and Omar Sharif. In the film, someone has loaded the ocean liner SS Britannic with large bombs as it traverses the North Sea, which prompts a team of disposal experts to disarm the explosives before they kill all 1200 passengers on board.
On land, police hunt down the person responsible for planting the bombs, a person who refers to himself as Juggernaut. Juggernaut will only help if officials meet his ransom demands.
Airport (1970) - 6.6
Tried-and-true disaster actors Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin shine in Airport, a popular action flick that did very well in theaters. George Seaton's straightforward melodrama involves a passenger airplane whose routine journey is thwarted by a suicide bomber on board.
Lancaster plays the manager of the fictional Lincoln International Airport near Chicago, who does his best to guide the plane driven by Martin's pilot character to safety. Airport was so successful it launched a franchise.
Black Sunday (1977) - 6.8
In Black Sunday, based on the book of the same name by Thomas Harris, Bruce Dern plays a Vietnam veteran whose severe PTSD leads him to plot a terrorist attack with the help of the Palestinian group Black September. Robert Shaw co-stars as the obsessive Israeli Mossad agent trying to prevent the assault.
John Frankenheimer's disaster movie is epic in scope, but it includes intimate character studies and tense situational drama. It also features a Goodyear Blimp set to self-destruct any second.
The Towering Inferno (1974) - 7.0
Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, and Faye Dunaway share the screen in The Towering Inferno. Newman plays the architect of an ambitious new office skyscraper in San Francisco, but his contractor cuts corners in order to speed up the building process and save money.
On the night of the skyscraper's opening party, the poorly constructed building goes up in flames, leaving everyone inside in peril. McQueen plays the local fire chief, who works with Newman's character to contain the fires before the whole complex comes down.
The Poseidon Adventure (1972) - 7.1
The Poseidon Adventure also features a star-studded ensemble cast, including Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Albertson, and Shelley Winters. The Towering Inferno's director Irwin Allen takes disaster out the sea with this feature about an ocean liner that capsizes en route to Crete.
An underwater earthquake is responsible for the calamity, but it's the humans on board who make matters worse by turning on each other. Known for its impressive special effects and set designs, The Poseiden Adventure set a new standard for action-packed rescue flicks.
The Andromeda Strain (1971) - 7.2
Another Robert Wise film, The Andromeda Strain is based on the Michael Crichton novel. After a deadly organism from outer space lands on Earth, an elite group of scientists is summoned to a top-secret underground facility to find a way to prevent the organism from spreading.
Visually impeccable and well-paced, The Andromeda Strain provides a realistic portrait of how the government responds to disasters — even disasters that are out of this world. It is also fueled by accurate depictions of scientific investigations.
The China Syndrome (1979) - 7.4
A television reporter uncovers innumerable safety violations at a nuclear power plant in The China Syndrome. Jane Fonda plays the journalist, Kimberly Wells, who plans to go public with her findings.
This brings Wells into the center of a vast conspiracy to cover up the potential for a massive nuclear meltdown. Jack Lemmon and Michael Douglas co-star in this disaster movie wrapped in neo-noir layerings.
Distant Thunder (1973) - 8.1
The Indian director Satyajit Ray is among the most influential filmmakers of all time, yet few contemporary American moviegoers are familiar with his impressive filmography. One of his best, Distant Thunder, is also the best disaster movie from the 1970s.
Set in a tiny village during WWII, Distant Thunder takes a long, deep look at one of India's most devastating events: the Great Bengal Famine of 1943. Ray's movie centers around one struggling family whose quiet lives are upturned by the hunger and starvation closing in on them.