This document discusses Hollywood's fascination with disaster films and humanity's appetite for depictions of mass destruction. It traces the history and evolution of the disaster film genre from the silent era to modern blockbusters that employ cutting-edge visual effects to portray catastrophic events. While focused on visual spectacle, these films also attempt to explore human drama and reactions to crisis through ensemble casts dealing with impending disasters.

1. i
Disaster Porn
our appet destructi n
ite for
o

2. i
i
ood t r o y s t h e wwoo rr l dd
ollyw des
HHollywood l

4. i MASS DESTRUCTION
WARNING: i
-- AND spoilers -- AHEAD!

5. SEVERE
SEVERE
RISK
END
OF
THE
WORLD
IMMINENT
HIGH
SEVERE
RISK
OF
END
OF
THE
WORLD
AROUND
THE
CORNER
ELEVATED
SIGNIFICANT
RISK
OF
APOCALYPSE
NEAR
YOU
BUT
NOT
YET
GUARDED
GENERAL
EVERYDAY
RISK
OF
END
OF
THE
WORLD,
BE
PREPARED
LOW
LOW
RISK
OF
END
OF
THE
WORLD,
REMAIN
WATCHFUL 5

6. i i

7. Disaster Porn
i

8. our appe destructi n
tite for
o
i
Overview
i
Disaster
Porn

10. Disaster
Movies

11. The sky is falling
fallin
g
?
Oooh, pretty!*
*
We’ve
always
had
a
thing
for;disast
er porn

12. 21st Century
and Disaster
Intimate
bedfellows

13. The tone was set by 9/11 and the
instant dissemination of information
accross the globe through news
agencies, domestic digital cameras,
mobile phones and the Internet...

14. The first decade of the 21st century showed a world that
seems to have become beset by ever-more cataclymic effects

15. It was, in many ways, no different from previous decades
but our access to these events has been made easy
through the proliferation of new media technologies...

16. ...and we can relive
eyewitness visual and
audio testaments time
and time again...

17. f
t no w people o
as an exa mple, righ re struggli
ng
Just na
i, Perú, Chi le and Japa effects of
Hait ting
ope with t he devasta recently...
to c em
at affected th
d isasters th

18. There are daily news
about rising oil prices...

19. Falling house prices...

20. “THE CREDIT CRUNCH”

21. g str eet
S pir alin
ime s...
cr

22. Wars in Afghanistan and Iraq...

23. and never to far away
the panics of flu
pandemic and

24. In short, never has
there been a better
time for makers of
disaster films!

25. Disaster
Fiction
Global audiences are now served
up the details of people´s
suffering and miraculous survival

26. ster
Disa ity
Real
mobil es and -hand
red on ents of first
captu fragm
Im ages
corde rs are f disasters
cam ords o
al rec world
person ut the
througho

27. Disaster
Reality

28. ...forming a tsunami of grainy
blurred, shaky video clips...
28

29. Every disaster film cliché is seen
for real and we either turn away
or, more often, are TRANSFIXED

30. street man ifestations
are the big ragments
lmination-o f all these f
-and cu

31. n films itive
er-por seeded prim
Disast me deep-
sa tisfy so
n us w ith the
yearni ng withi
loud bangs, and
losions,
exp
-pou ndin g
h eart
adre naline

32. h films
The foc us of suc
tacular
is on the s p e c
i t y and
a small
calam
roup of p eople in
g
nent dang
er , and how
immi
y must c ope or
the
evise a m et h o d
d
of escape

33. Tensionped by
o
is devel
concent rating on
ous mea
ns
the miracul
of re scue and
whethe r all the
aracters ( usually in
ch
n all-star cast) have
a
th e inner
stre ngth to
surv ive the
ordeal

34. urney to
filmic jo of
n a long portrait
Is has bee close-up of this
re ach this , but as the rest lywood has
des truction will detail, hol very
pres entation asters from the
thrived on dis ilm-making
beginn ings of f

35. In
the
2003
docu
mentary,
Los Angeles P
lays Itself
the
director
and
fi
lm
scholar
Thom
Andersen
m
akes
the
argument
that
“di
saster
movies
tend
to
ap
pear
at
moments
when
a
culture
is
in
crisis
about
the
leg
i5macy
of
authority”
(hence
th
e
burgeoning
of
the
genre
in
the
p
ost-­‐Watergate
yea
rs)

36. Fic(onal
representa(ons
of
natural
destruc(on
on
a
massive
scale—fires,
floods,
earthquakes—must
be
somehow
paradoxically
comfor(ng,
he
theorizes,
perhaps
because
they
allow
us
to
imagine
the
worst
fate
the
gods
can
visit
upon
us,
while
s(ll
allowing
us,
the
viewers,
to
survive

37. Disasters
have
been
the
subject
of
film-­‐goers'
fascina(on
since
the
Sme
of
silent
film
epics,
and
this
interest
conSnues
to
exist
up
to
the
present
Sme

38. h es!
ro ma spny
tast ake so orm tly
Ca n t ent f e mos al
ca er r
ff they a r natur
di t
- bu made o r
an- t he
m e ei
an b or
ey cding
Th en y
the y or
p ng, or call
im oi
o ng xist lo
an eally
c b
glo

39. isaster films,
a
sub-­‐gen
re
D
of
acSon
films,
hit
their
peak
in
the
decade
of
the
1970s
l-star
Big-budget disaster films provided al
type
casts and interlocking, Grand Hotel-
stories, with suspenseful action and
tural)
impending crises (man-made or na ,
in loca les such as aboard imperiled airliners
ocean-
trains, dirigibles, sinking or wrecked
ers,
lin ers, or in towering burning skyscrap
s
crowded stadiums or earthquake zone
OIen
noted
for
their
visual and
spec ial effects,
but
not
their
ac(ng
performances

40. Genera:ons
of
cu;ng-­‐edge
specia l effect s
i
have
met
scene-­‐chewing
ac:ng
(heroic
sacrifice,
cowardice,
bonding)
in
blockbuster
films
about
humans
and
catastrophes
The 1950s saw nuclear
nightmares (monstrous
s
animals and the scientist
who loved them)
like
THEM

41. Disaster Movies
A 1970s renaissance included Earthquake (1974),
Meteor (1979) and Irwin Allen shipwrecks and
skyscraper fires (Towering Inferno, 1974). Both
“nature” and human greed figure as causes
The
genre
also
shares
features
with science fiction

42. s,
En semble casts mingle current idol
ous
caricaturish villains and glamor
risk;
couples, often with children at
and
New
York
City,
NY,
Los
Angeles,
CA
W ashington,
DC
are
frequent
targets,
reaffirming
American
images
of
es
superiority
even
in
interplanetary
cris

43. A
vigorous
1990s
cycle
includes
Jurassic
Park
(1993),
Twister
(1996)
(tornadoes),
Volcano
(1997),
Godzilla
(1998)
(transmuSng
Japanese
nuclear
nightmares),
Deep
Impact
(1998)
and
Armageddon
(1998)
(meteors);
Titanic
(1997)
shares
features
of
the
genre.
This
florescence
reflected
fears
of
the
millennium,
but
it
also
pushed
the
fronSers
of
computer-­‐generated
effects
and
global
box-­‐office
profits

44. Once com
puter
effects b
ecame th
norm, thi e
ngs got a
little out The arms
of contro race in d
l effects h igital
as contri
buted to
ratchetin the
g up of
apocal
yptic
scenar
ios

45. Along with showing the
spectacular disaster, these
films concentrate on the
chaotic events surrounding
the disaster, including
efforts for survival, the
effects upon individuals
and families, and 'what-if'
scenarios!

46. The best disaster films comment upon the
negative effects of advancing technology ,
demonstrate the 'hubris' of scientists and
other individuals, deliver uplifting moral
lessons of sacrifice, and provide a
'how-to' in terms of survival skills

47. Most
disaster
films
have
large-­‐scale
special effects
(especially
in
the
recent
past's
mega-­‐budget
spectaculars)

48. he
rs
faced
with
t
Hug e
casts
of
sta ero
or
heroine
crisis,
a
p ersevering
h n,
ton Hesto lled
(i.e., Charl a
ueen,
etc.)
c nst
Steve McQ
struggle
agai
e
on
to
lead
th
up
ny plot-lines
the
thr eat
and
ma
ters
l:ple
charac
affec:ng
mu

49. In many cases, the 'evil' or
'selfish' individuals are the
first to succumb to the
conflagration

50. As
in
any
sub-­‐genre,
the
move
to
capitalize
on
the
'disaster film'
trend
has
led
to
many
sub-par disaster films,
with
weak
and
unsubtle,
formulaic
plots,
improbable
circumstances
and
bad
science,
poor
character
development,
and
laughable
ac:ng
from
third-­‐rate
stars
portraying
cliched
characters

51. 2012 : The Mayan
signals the en calendar
d of time, on
December 12
, 2012, bringin
total global de g
struction. As th
start to fall ap ings
art, the hero J
Cusak must sa ohn
ve us all (or a
least his roma t
ntic interest)

52. Despite its massive scale of destruction, 2012
will be familiar to anyone whose seen any movie
about an earthquake, volcano, aquatic disaster,
or celestial body striking the Earth

53. Roland Emmerich’s 2012 is jammed with every cliche and trope
ever found in a Hollywood disaster movie, while giving the Earth an
over-the-top pummeling. It’s a reasonably fun flick at times,
if you don’t think about it … at all

54. "I said to
myself t
more di hat I'll d
saster m o
to end a ovie, bu one
ll disaste t it has
packed r movies
everythi . So I
ng in 20
12."
Did you
know?
Roland
Director Emme
:
Independ rich
Th
e
Day
Af ence
Da
er
Tomo y,
row,
Go
dzila ,
2012

55. 2012: ICE AGE
The eruption of Mt Fuji — a “Supervolcano” —
covers the earth in choking clouds. Humanity
hurtles toward extinction as a group of scientists
fights to break the grip of the new ice age
2012: DOOMSDAY
When astronomers discovered the phenomena of
magnetic tornadoes on the planet Mercury, they
were amazed by the destructive power of these
gargantuan solar-fueled magnetic fields…but they
never imagined witnessing the catastrophic forces in
their own backyards

56. 2012: SUPERNOVA
A scientist tries to save the Earth from the deadly
blast of a star gone supernova.
Decoding the Past: 56
Doomsday 2012 -
The End of Days
History Channel documentary on the Mayan
predictions

57. But for those who crave this
kind of bloodless destructive
force-of-nature fest,
you could do a lot worse
Like
The Day After Tomorrow,
for starters

58. The Day After
Tomorrow (2004): Global
warming hits crisis point as New
York turns arctic and Manhattan
gets the worst of it with a tsunami.

59. The ice age is here

61. There is
little doub
war min
t that global
g is
REAL
In the last c
entury th
has climb e averag
ed about e temper
0.6 degre ature
es Celsiu
degree F s (about
ahrenhei 1
t) around
the world
Most sci
entists
tempera say the
tures ar higher
atmosph e a resul
eric incr t of an
caused b ease in c
y the bur arbon di
such as ning of f oxide,
coal and ossil fue
petrole ls
um

62. Knowing (2009):
Nicolas Cage opens a
time capsule to find that dire,
apocalyptic events are about
to unfold, like the entire
Earth catching fire.

63. War of the Worlds
(2005): Aliens are back
again, even more peeved
with humanity and Tom
Cruise specifically, zapping
people into dust and bringing
down New Jersey.

64. The Core (2003): The
Earth's inner core has
stopped spinning, throwing
pigeons, cars and buildings
into gravitational chaos.

65. Armageddon (1998):
Epic deja vu, as NYC is
pelted with a fiery meteor
shower and Bruce Willis
captains a NASA space
shuttle to try to blow apart
the space rock before it hits.

66. Deep Impact (1998):
Trapped on a jammed
highway, onlookers watch as
a comet approaches Earth.

67. Deep Impact (1998):
Image of Manhattan as
special effects are added

68. Independence Day
(1996): They're here...

69. The Last Wave (1977):
Aussie director Peter Weir
creates an apocalyptic story
drenched in the supernatural
Aboriginal Dreamtime.

70. Planet of the Apes (1968):
One of disaster movies' iconic images
is the classic final shot, where
Charlton Heston discovers the
remains of NYC on a beach

71. ii
Origins
Disaster Porn
i

72. The
Greatest
Disaster
and
End
of
the
World
Films:
Pre-­‐1970s
Before
the
1970s
when
disaster
films
underwent
a
strong
revival,
there
were
many
earlier
action/adventure
disaster
films,
such
as
The
Hurricane
(1937)
-­‐
including
one
of
the
most
spectacular
tropical
storm
scenes
ever
shot
in
film
history.
And
two
50s
films,
The
High
and
the
Mighty
(1954)
and
Zero
Hour
(1957)
-­‐
were
the
inspiration
for
all
the
airplane
disaster
films
of
the
70s

73. Disaster themes are almost as old as the lm
medium itself
hQp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IKafWeHXoY
One of the earliest was Fire!(1901) made by James
Williamson of England. The silent film portrayed a burning
house and the firemen who arrive to quench the flames and
rescue the inhabitants

74. Origins of the genre can also be found in In Nacht und
Eis - Night and Ice (1912) about the sinking of the
Titanic; Atlantis (1913), also about the Titanic; and in
Noah's Ark (1928) the Biblical story of the great flood

75. Atlantis was restored a
1993 and in DV nd released on la
D format in 200 serdisc in
created through 5. The restoratio
a high definition n was
negative and th scan of a resto
e tinting was red
abbreviated vers recreated using
ion from The N an
Japan. The rest ational Film Cen
ored version a ter in
combined intert lso was made
itles in Danish with
material on the D and English. E
xtra
Did you
VD included the
ending originally two-minute altern
filmed for Russia ative
know? 15-minute surviv
ing fragment of
n audiences and
August Blomʼs
the
Holger-Madsenʼs and
1914 film Liebele
i.

76. Deluge (1933), about tidal waves devastating New York
City; King Kong (1933), with a gigantic gorilla rampaging
through New York City; and The Last Days of
Pompeii (1935), dealing with the Mount Vesuvius volcanic
eruption in 79 AD

77. ic ane
H urr the
h
T h e d w i t o p i ca l
's r
F o r d c l u d e of a t g h a
n
J ohn 7 ) c o ence t h r o u sland.
u i
( 1 9 3 g seq p p i n g cific c i s c o
n i a
s triki n e r uth P F r a n storic
o i
c y c l al So S a n t h e h i s c o
on a c
ficti d r a m p i c t e d r a n n O l d
F
T h e 6) de a n i
I
l e ted Th
e
( 193 6 S e , w h crea w h i c h
1 9 0 q u a k 37) re i r e 871
h 9 F 1
e a r t go (1 a g o city in
a c
C hic t C h i gh the
a ou
G r e ed thr
n
bur

78. Inspired by the end of World War II and the beginning of the Atomic
Age, disaster films of the 1950s routinely used world disasters as
plot elements
The 50´s !

79. The
newfound
popularity
of
science
fic:on
in
the
1950s
influenced
producer
George
Pal
to
produce
W h e n
Worlds Collide
(1951),
which
despicted
the
end
of
the
world
when
a
star
and
planet
from
another
solar
system
approchach
Earth

80. The
some:mes
outrageous
concepts
of
fantasy-­‐minded
follow-­‐ups
like
The
War
of
the
Worlds
(1953)
allowed
filmmakers
to
aQempt
new
and
spectacular
visual
effects,
including
the
destruc:on
of
buildings
and
ci:es
on
a
large
scales.
In
fact,
both
“When
Worlds
Collide”
and
“The
War
of
the
Worlds”
were
awarded
with
Oscars
for
their
elaborate
effects

81. S

82. This trend would
continue with...
The 50´s !

83. Titanic
As
in
the
silent
film
era,
the
sinking
of
the
Titanic
would
con:nue
to
be
a
popular
disaster
with
filmmakers
and
audiences
alike
in
The 50´s !

84. The British ac
tion/adventur
while not abo e film
ut the Titanic
starred Robe disaster but a
rt Stack as a predecessor
save his wife man despera to
(Dorothy Ma tely attemptin
a sinking oce lone) and chil g to
an liner d trapped in
The film, concluding with the
dramatic sinking of the ship,
was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Visual Effects*
*
The
Time
Machine
was
the
winner
The 60´s !

85. Additional precursors to
the popular disaster films
of the 1970s include...

86. ge of the
den Agan in
The Gol be
Disa ster film release of
e
1970 with th
Jacqueline Bisset
Helen Hayes Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster

87. han
arnin g more t
ncial s uccess e ce,..
ffi
the box o
na
A huge fi
m illion at
$45
While not exclusively focused on a disaster, in this case, an airplane
crippled by the explosion of a bomb, the film established the blueprint of
multiple plotlines acted out by an all-star cast
demy
was nomina ted for 10 Aca
ture,
Awards inclu ding Best Pic
Actress
winning Be st Supporting
for Helen Hayes

88. ? ?
?
?
s character ized by the
The dis aster film i onventions
following codes and c
(Clichés)

89. Characters & Stars
in a disaster movie

90. Movie
Stars

91. Typical Disaster Movie Character
The Bad Guy...
The Hero...
The Bad Guy
The Self-Doubter... Turned Good...
Who am I?
The damsel in distress...
The Reluctant Hero...
The Kid(s)...
The Strong Woman...

92. The Hero...
This is a
straight foward hero,
usuall y male. They
are capa ble from the
outset of doing what
it ta kes to survive
and/o r save the day
Steve McQueen Chief O'Hallorhan
The Towering Inferno

93. The Reluctant Hero... ho
e w rust
on ‘t
me ism acter
so ro
is he ar heir
ch e t
is e
Th th m’, a sid ve
as the out to sa
h n
o teps role
up o s
h al job
w m
nor day
the Dennis Quaid
Jack Hall
The Day After Tomorow

94. The Reluctant Hero...
people
hey ar e good
T and do
who ‘s tep up’ e done;
ds to b
w hat nee
ow the ink
rhaps h
pe es to th
nce lik pond
audie
they w ould res
Shelley Winters
Belle Rosen
The Poseidon Adventure

95. The Bad Guy...
The bad guy is out and
out ‘black hat’ (quite
often rich) who is out for
themselves. This is a
character the audience
does not mind (in fact
relishes) seeing killed off
Billy Zane
Caledon 'Cal' Hockley
Titanic

96. The Bad Guy
Turned Good...
who y
cter ighl
hara ing h
he c ff be
T ver
so hate
star ct for w es
su spe ut ‘com
on b e end
reas in th
go od’
Stanley Tucci
Dr. Conrand Zimsky
The Core

97. The Self-Doubter...
bter is more ofte n a phase that
Self-dou
characters go thr ough rather than
many
king up an actual character type in
ma
its own right

98. The Self-Doubter...
usually early in t he movie as a team
It is
re heard to say
is for ming and people a
things like ‘I can ’t go on’ or ‘this is
ss’. These are th e characters who
hopele of one type or
often ‘m orph’ into heroes
another

99. The Kid(s)... Kids are essential
component of the
‘women and children first’
ethos that dominates
many disaster movies

100. The Kid(s)...
When not being rescued,
cute, worried about or
underlining sacrifice, they
may just be precocious
Jackson Bond
Oliver
The Invasion

101. The Strong Woman...
T he strong
an is more
wom
comm on in
dern films
mo
Michelle Rodriguez
TSgt. Elena Santos
Battle: Los Angeles

102. The damsel in distress...
se a re the
The
screa ming
n wh o the
w ome
m en re scue
Jennifer Jones
Lisolette Mueller
Towering Inferno

103. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• NATURAL DISASTERS
(earthquakes,
floods,
hurricanes,
tropical
storms)

104. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• NATURAL DISASTERS
(earthquakes,
floods,
hurricanes,
tropical
storms)

105. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• ACCIDENTS
(skyscraper
fires,
plane
crashes,
ocean
liners
capsized
or
struck
by
icebergs,
viruses
unleashed)

106. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• ACCIDENTS
(skyscraper
fires,
plane
crashes,
ocean
liners
capsized
or
struck
by
icebergs,
viruses
unleashed)

107. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• PLANETARY- RELATED
(asteroids
or
meteors
off-­‐course)

108. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• NUCLEAR - RELATED CRISES

109. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• ALIEN INVASIONS and
rampaging
creatures
(oeen
mutant)

110. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• CRIMINALLY- INSTIGATED
(bombs
planted
in
planes,
terrorist
conspiracies)

111. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• MILLENNIAL - RELATED (the
end
of
the
world,
or
end
of
the
century
tales)

112. The most commonly portrayed
disasters in films
• ABOUT FAILED TECHNOLOGY OR
TECHNOLOGY - GONE AWRY
(computers
running
amok)

121. 2016 - Das Ende Der
Nacht
Alternate title: Hell, The End of the Night
In a post-apocalyptic world, three people
search for water. However, they'll soon find
out that they're not alone
121
Metal Tornado
When astronomers discovered the phenomena of magnetic tornadoes
on the planet Mercury, they were amazed by the destructive power of
these gargantuan solar-fueled magnetic fields…but they never
imagined witnessing the catastrophic forces in their own backyards

122. Melancholia (2011)
136 min - Drama | Sci-Fi - 11 November 2011 (USA)
Two sisters find their relationship challenged as
a nearby planet threatens to collide into the
Earth.

123. Hollywood Destroys the World
The
new
wave
of
disaster
movies
and
TV
shows
isn’t
about
staving
off
the
apocalypse.
It’s
what
happens
aeerwards
that
counts
Denzel
Washington
stars
in Neighbors
band
together
aeer
a
‘The
Book
of
Eli.’ catastrophe
in
NBC’s
‘Day
One.’

124. For any claims of disaster or dramatic
changes in 2012, where is the
science? Where is the evidence?
There is none, and for all the fictional
assertions, whether they are made in
books, movies, documentaries or over
the Internet, we cannot change that
simple fact. There is no credible
evidence for any of the assertions
made in support of unusual events
taking place in December 2012.