io9: Disaster Movies

R.I.P. Sakyo Komatsu, author of Japan Sinks

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 10 Aug 2011 17:30:00 PDT

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Sakyo Komatsu's 1973 novel Japan Sinks hit a nerve for a whole generation of Japanese people, and spawned two movie versions. (Just as the name suggests, it was a novel in which the tectonic plates under Japan suddenly shift, setting off volcanos, earthquakes and tsunamis, killing millions.) More »

Louis Leterrier finally gets green light to direct the world's silliest disaster movie: Earth's gravity stops working!

Charlie Jane Anders — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 08:30:00 PST

Yesterday, Universal Pictures announced a deal for Louis Leterrier to direct G, a science fiction "tentpole" movie. Nothing much was revealed about G, except that it's "a scifi disaster pic with shades of The Day After Tomorrow and Taken." And they haven't hired a screenwriter yet. More »

30 Awesome Disaster Movie Money Shots

Charlie Jane Anders — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 16:10:09 PST

Every great disaster movie has some moments of pure, epic destruction, where everything collapses, burns or blows up real good. Bonus points for destroyed landmarks and victim cameos. Here are 30 amazing money shots from the greatest disaster porn flicks. More »

Sean Connery's chest hair vs. a rogue meteorite fragment — to the death!

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 17:45:44 PDT

Sean Connery, shirt unbuttoned halfway to his navel, plays chicken with a meteor fragment heading straight for his base, while Natalie Wood and Martin Landau watch. Will it strike before he can launch his missiles to destroy the big meteor? More »

Watch Vampire Bill fight the new Ice Age in the first trailer for ICE

Meredith Woerner — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 06:30:00 PDT

Vampire Bill knows that the world is approaching the next Ice Age, and yet no one will believe him! Watch Stephen Moyer give his best "angry scientist" in the new trailer for the adaptation of James Follet's disaster novel, ICE! More »

Strip Roland Emmerich's 2012 Of Its Special Effects, And What Do You Get?

Meredith Woerner — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:39:49 PDT

You've seen five slapsticky minutes of disaster-porn film 2012. You've even seen our 1970s exploitation version of the film. Now see Roland Emmerich's film denuded of special FX, with just the actors making "o" faces. [via Film Drunk] More »

252 Typhoon Survivors Buried In A Mall — How Long Until They Start To Steal?

Meredith Woerner — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:33:00 PDT

If you're trapped in a mall at the end of the world, at least you can still get an Orange Julius — until all of the lights go out and people start to go all Lord of the Flies. The new Japanese natural disaster flick 252 takes place after the world's largest typhoon crashes through Tokyo. Buried beneath the rubble and muddy water are 252 survivors all trapped inside a mall. Now it's up to the rescue workers to get them out before they all start to lose air, and their minds. Click through for the trailer. More »

Transformers Meets Cloverfield, from the Director Of Hostel

Charlie Jane Anders — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 07:00:00 PDT

Hostel director Eli Roth is sick of doing torture-porn, and he's in the home stretch of writing a huge-budget PG-13 science fiction movie that he says is inspired by Transformers and Cloverfield. He isn't giving any details about the new project, except that it'll feature "mass-destruction" and pandemonium. (The other thing Cloverfield and Transformers have in common, of course, is the dreaded shaky-cam [TM].) Roth hasn't completely changed his tune, however: he'll still film some ultraviolent scenes, to include on an unrated DVD for his splattery fans. [FirstShowing] More »