Image: Apaches Entertainment / Telecinco Cinema
About This Quiz
The oldest stories on Earth are arguably the disaster stories depicted in holy books around the world. Whether it's locusts, floods or utter destruction, we can't get enough of disaster stories. It's not the disaster that draws us in, but the triumph after the disaster that hooks us.Â
Sometimes we want to see what would happen if the entire planet blew up, but more often than not, we want to see a group of regular people save the entire planet from blowing up. It's cool to watch what would happen if aliens crash-landed on Earth, but it's cooler to watch the entire planet overcome their differences and fight aliens together.
Disaster films pluck every emotion from fear and hate to love and hope. Can you imagine if an asteroid was headed right toward Earth? Would you go to work? Imagine if you saw a UFO in your backyard? Would you tell anyone? Can you imagine being the last apocalypse survivor or being stuck in a copper mine? Can you imagine floating away in outer space or trying to outrun a tsunami?Â
Disaster films shine a glimmer of hope on some of the darkest moments imaginable. No matter how many aliens or explosions or crashes or breakdowns, there is always the belief that no disaster is too big to overcome, and that's why we love disaster films. Can you name these disaster films based on an image?
"Titanic"
"Titanic" went on to win 11 Oscars at the 1998 ceremony after tying "All About Eve" with 14 nominations. "La La Land" went on to receive 14 nominations in 2016. The film is one of just three to earn 14 nominations and one of three to win 11 awards.
"Independence Day"
"Deep Blue Sea"
"Jaws"
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"Earthquake"
"Anaconda"
"Twister"
In a decade that defined the word blockbuster, "Twister" was one of the biggest. Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton play a separated couple on the verge of making history in this 1996 thriller. It earned two Oscar nominations but lost to another epic disaster film.
"Volcano"
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"Cloverfield"
"The Day After Tomorrow"
Jake Gyllenhaal has to help save himself and others after New York City starts experiencing the worst effects global warming has to offer. His father in the film, Dennis Quaid, had been warning of the impending doom for years but nobody listened.
"28 Days Later"
"Armageddon"
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"The Poseidon Adventure"
The 1970s were filled with disaster films, and this was one of the more successful ones. The film won two Oscars and earned a total of nine nominations. Gene Hackman and Shelly Winters lead the cast that also features Leslie Nielsen.
"Deep Blue Sea"
"Jaws"
"Titanic II"
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"Armageddon"
"Deep Impact"
The United States and Russia up a crack team of astronauts to stop a comet headed to Earth in this disaster flick from 1998. The movie got a boost when astronomers announced, just before the film's release, that a comet would collide with Earth in the year 2028. The statement was later revised.
"Apocalypto"
"Independence Day"
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"Bird Box"
"The Perfect Storm"
Mark Wahlberg and George Clooney lead this cast of fishermen out of Gloucester. The group of actors spent time hitting the bars and hanging on the docks in Gloucester to research the film. The movie is based on a true story.
"The Happening"
"The Impossible"
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"Contagion"
This Steven Soderbergh film from 2011 was released just as bloggers, vloggers and social media influencers really started to take off. Jude Law plays a vlogger who stirs up public panic as government officials try to figure out what's going on.
"28 Days Later"
"Armageddon"
"The Road"
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"Twister"
"Armageddon"
After a lot of science and math calculations, NASA discovers the only way to save the world is to get the best drillers on Earth and send them into space to drill a hole into an asteroid and drop a nuke into it. To say this movie has an all-star cast is to understate the point.
"Apocalypse Now"
"Gravity"
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"Ad Astra"
"World War Z"
Brad Pitt and his family are stuck in traffic when they realize the world is under attack by a zombie-creating virus. Pitt plays a former government employee with a somewhat shadowy resume. Once he gets his family to safety, he sets off to find the source of the virus and put an end to it.
"The Martian"
"Gravity"
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"Geostorm"
Scientists build a system of satellites to control the weather and prevent natural disasters in this film. One day the satellites start malfunctioning and it's up to the system's designer to save the world from one of the worst storms ever.
"Gravity"
"Interstellar"
"Ad Astra"
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"Earthquake"
"The Core"
The Earth's core control's the planet's magnetic field and protects us from harmful radiation from space. The core stops rotating in this film, so a group of specialists journey to the center of the Earth to detonate a bomb that will jump-start the core's rotation.
"Geostorm"
"End of Days"
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"Armageddon"
"Independence Day"
"Independence Day" stars Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum and is the textbook definition of a "blockbuster" film. In one of the greatest speeches in cinema history, the president rallies the entire globe to fight alien invaders.
"Apocalypse Now"
"Men in Black"
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"The Impossible"
"Independence Day"
"War of the Worlds"
Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg teamed up for this 2005 sci-fi epic based on the H.G. Wells classic. The film gained widespread success and even garnered three Academy Award nominations. Tom Cruise has to save his family when aliens begin taking over.
"World War Z"
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"Earthquake"
"The 33"
"127 Hours"
"San Andreas"
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson stars as a helicopter pilot determined to save his family from an earthquake that registers a 9.1 magnitude. The quake wreaks havoc on LA and San Francisco and viewers could enjoy the graphics in 3D when it was released. Just ignore the complete impossibility of the tsunami and you'll be fine.
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"I, Robot"
"The Road"
"How It Ends"
"I Am Legend"
This movie is based on a novel from 1954. Will Smith plays a lone survivor after a virus outbreak kills everybody and turns others into zombies. He navigates NYC with his dog until he discovers he's not the only person alive.
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"Deep Impact"
"Volcano"
Tommy Lee Jones has to save the city of Los Angeles from one of the worst situations imaginable. The entire city has essentially turned into an active volcano. There's lava under the entire city and every sewer manhole is a volcano spout.
"Twister"
"Earthquake"
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"Volcano"
"Dante's Peak"
The small town of Dante's Peak is on the verge of being destroyed when a dormant volcano decides to wake up. Pierce Brosnan plays the lead role in the 1997 film that went on to attain box office success and cult classic status.
"Earthquake"
"Tsunami"
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"The Towering Inferno"
Opening day can't get much worse for this San Francisco skyscraper. Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire and OJ Simpson all star in this 1974 disaster flick. The film won three Oscars and earned eight nominations, including a Best Picture nomination.
"Die Hard"
"Skyscraper"
"Rampage"
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"Earthquake"
"Twister"
"Outbreak"
A fake disease spreads from Zaire to the fictional town of Cedar Creek in California as government officials scramble to contain it at all costs. Cuba Gooding Jr. and Dustin Hoffman race against time and against an evil cover-up to stop the virus from spreading.
"Volcano"
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"Tsunami"
"Volcano"
"Earthquake"
The strongest earthquake recorded on Earth topped out at 9.6 on the Richter Scale and happened in 1960 in Chile. This disaster action flick was released in 1974 and starred Charlton Heston and Ava Gardner. It was famously released in "Sensurround," which was supposed to make moviegoers feel the earthquake.
"Twister"
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"Se7en"
"2012"
Science and religion come together in this 2009 film when cataclysmic events shake the world just as the Mayans predicted it. John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Woody Harrelson, Danny Glover and more star in the film.
"1408"
"1999"
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"Snakes on a Plane"
When mobsters need to eliminate a witness, they take the unusual approach of planting poisonous snakes on his plane. Unfortunately for them, Samuel L. Jackson is also on that plane, and he takes it upon himself to save the passengers from disaster.
"Anaconda"
"Con Air"
"Turbulence"
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"Cloverfield"
"Godzilla"
Godzilla is a monster supposedly spawned by nuclear testing and first appeared in 1954. There have been at least 35 Godzilla films and there are plenty more on the way. The monster is known as the "King of the Monsters."
"Colossal"
"King Kong"
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"Interstellar"
"Airplane"
"Alien"
"Airport"
The "Airport" film series consists of four movies and it's not to be confused with "Airplane," which is a parody of the "Airport" films, among others. Seven chaotic stories are all intertwined as a snowstorm cripples a Chicago airport.
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"North by Northwest"
"Vertigo"
"Psycho"
"The Birds"
Hitchcock is known as the master of suspense, but this film delves into the disaster genre. We take for granted every day that birds don't readily attack us, but if they did, it would be total disaster.
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"Armageddon"
"Children of Men"
Alfonso Cuaron directed this 2006 disaster thriller about the end of humanity. In the year 2027, humans haven't been able to get pregnant for the past 18 years and humanity is doomed. When one woman gets pregnant, hope is restored, but only if nothing happens to her.
"Apocalypse Now"
"28 Days Later"
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"Contagion"
"2012"
"Cloverfield"
This 2008 film is the first film in the "Cloverfield" franchise that consists of three movies. A group in New York City are celebrating and having a grand party when a monster arrives and starts destroying everything in sight.
"The Day After Tomorrow"
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"Lady in the Water"
"Signs"
"Independence Day"
"The Happening"
"The Happening" was released in 2008 and was directed by M. Night Shyamalan. Mark Wahlberg stars in the film as a high school science teacher tasked with saving his family and stopping the madness. The film didn't get the greatest of reviews.
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"The Happening"
"Bird Box"
"Bird Box' was released in 2018 and began streaming on Netflix later that year. The "Bird Box" challenge quickly went viral online and boosted the movie's viewership. More than 80 million households watched the film on Netflix within a month.
"Anaconda"
"The Birds"
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"The 33"
"Mad Max"
George Miller created this cult classic back in 1979 and Mel Gibson starred in the film. Miller resurrected the film in 2015 and Tom Hardy took over the lead role. The film received positive reviews and a new installment is in the works.
"Night of the Living Dead"
"The Road"
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"Anaconda"
"Shaun of the Dead"
"Men in Black"
"Night of the Living Dead"
"Night of the Living Dead" and "Dawn of the Dead" were both made by George A. Romero and are cult classics, basically launching the zombie film genre. A group of people trapped in a house must fight to stay alive when zombies start terrorizing the United States.
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"Rampage"
"Cloverfield"
"King Kong"
There are at least eight King Kong films in the franchise and the monster first appeared in 1933. King Kong has faced off against Godzilla in some adaptations, and King Kong's nickname is the "Eighth Wonder of the World."
"Godzilla"
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"Air Force One"
"Olympus Has Fallen"
"White House Down"
Channing Tatum plays a police officer touring the White House with his daughter when the city is suddenly attacked. Tatum finds himself in a situation where he has to save his daughter and others as well as protect the president.
"Independence Day"
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"Independence Day"
"The 33"
The 2010 Chilean mining incident made headlines all over the world. All 33 miners got trapped hundreds of stories below ground when a boulder the size of two Empire State Buildings blocked the mine's only exit.
"Gravity"
"Alive"
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"The Night Before"
"The is the End"
James Franco, Seth Rogen, Danny McBride and others all play themselves in this film about the end of the world. Franco is hosting a party when the group of friends suddenly has to survive the apocalypse.
"Future World"
"How It Ends"
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"Scary Movie"
"Date Movie"
"Disaster Movie"
This parody film from 2008 pokes fun at popular disaster movies like "Armageddon," "Twister," "The Day After Tomorrow" and several others. The film also makes fun of pop culture stars like Justin Timberlake, Michael Jackson and Kanye West.
"Epic Movie"
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"Into the Wild"
"Apocalypse Now"
"The Road"
This novel was published in 2006 and adapted to film just three years later. The novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 2007 alongside other awards. The film stars Viggo Mortensen as the father who protects his son from cannibals and more.
"I Am Legend"
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"Independence Day"
"End of Days"
The devil is looking for a new bride as the millennium comes to an end in this 1999 disaster thriller. Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a depressed former NYPD detective who takes it upon himself to stop Satan from doing so.
"The Terminator"
"Armageddon"
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"Poseidon"
"Deep Blue Sea"
"The Holiday"
"The Impossible"
Naomi Watts, Ewan McGregor and Tom Holland all star in this disaster film based on the earthquake and tsunami that occurred in the Indian Ocean in 2004. Watts earned several nominations for her role in the film.
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"28 Days Later"
This British film blurs the line between disaster film and horror flick and received mostly positive reviews. When animal rights activists try to stop animal experiments, they ultimately release an infected monkey into society and all hell breaks loose. The zombies in this movie run fast and attack savagely, unline the shambling creatures in the Romero zombie canon.
"Resident Evil"
"28 Days"
"Contagion"
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You Got:
/40
