1970's Disaster Movies
by justin-charles | created - 30 Oct 2014 | updated - 31 Oct 2014 | PublicBurning Buildings , Killer Bees, Hijackings, The Weather etc etc
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1. The Towering Inferno (1974)
PG | 165 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
At the opening party of a colossal, but poorly constructed, office building, a massive fire breaks out that threatens to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Paul Newman, Steve McQueen, William Holden, Faye Dunaway
Votes: 48,201 | Gross: $116.00M
2. Earthquake (1974)
PG | 122 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Various interconnected people struggle to survive when an earthquake of unimaginable magnitude hits Los Angeles, California.
Director: Mark Robson | Stars: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, George Kennedy, Lorne Greene
Votes: 17,870 | Gross: $79.70M
3. Meteor (1979)
PG | 108 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
The U.S. must join forces with the U.S.S.R. in order to destroy a gigantic asteroid heading straight for Earth.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Sean Connery, Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Brian Keith
Votes: 8,197
4. The Cassandra Crossing (1976)
R | 129 min | Drama, Thriller
Passengers on a European train have been exposed to a deadly disease. Nobody will let them off the train. So what happens next?
Director: George P. Cosmatos | Stars: Sophia Loren, Richard Harris, Martin Sheen, O.J. Simpson
Votes: 9,876
5. Rollercoaster (1977)
PG | 119 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A blackmailer threatens to sabotage roller coasters at various American amusement parks if he isn't paid a huge ransom.
Director: James Goldstone | Stars: George Segal, Timothy Bottoms, Richard Widmark, Henry Fonda
Votes: 6,907
6. City on Fire (1979)
R | 106 min | Action, Drama
A pyromaniac, ex-employee of a city oil refinery creates an explosion at the facility which starts a chain-reaction of fires that engulf the entire city.
Director: Alvin Rakoff | Stars: Barry Newman, Susan Clark, Shelley Winters, Leslie Nielsen
Votes: 1,589
7. Avalanche (1978)
PG | 91 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
The vacationers at a winter wonderland struggle to survive after an avalanche of snow crashes into their ski resort. Their holiday then turns into a game of survival.
Director: Corey Allen | Stars: Rock Hudson, Mia Farrow, Robert Forster, Jeanette Nolan
Votes: 2,397
8. Flood (1976 TV Movie)
98 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
After several weeks of heavy rainfall, the dam above Brownsville is ready to burst. But the town's mayor refuses to open its gates - paving the way for disaster.
Director: Earl Bellamy | Stars: Robert Culp, Martin Milner, Barbara Hershey, Richard Basehart
Votes: 537
9. The China Syndrome (1979)
PG | 122 min | Drama, Thriller
A reporter finds what appears to be a cover-up of safety hazards at a nuclear power plant.
Director: James Bridges | Stars: Jane Fonda, Jack Lemmon, Michael Douglas, Scott Brady
Votes: 32,997 | Gross: $51.72M
10. The Swarm (1978)
PG | 116 min | Horror, Thriller
A huge swarm of deadly African bees spreads terror over American cities by killing thousands of people.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Michael Caine, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark, Richard Chamberlain
Votes: 8,545 | Gross: $10.00M
11. The Poseidon Adventure (1972)
PG | 117 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
A group of passengers must embark on a harrowing struggle for survival after a rogue wave capsizes their cruise ship at sea.
Director: Ronald Neame | Stars: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters, Red Buttons
Votes: 49,176 | Gross: $84.56M
12. Two-Minute Warning (1976)
Approved | 115 min | Action, Crime, Drama
A crazed sniper is set to kill spectators at an L.A. Coliseum football championship game and the police race against time to eliminate him.
Director: Larry Peerce | Stars: Charlton Heston, John Cassavetes, Martin Balsam, Beau Bridges
Votes: 4,378
13. Black Sunday (1977)
R | 143 min | Adventure, Crime, Drama
When a Black September terrorist group begins a plot to carry out a massive terrorist attack in the United States, an Israeli commando works with the FBI to identify the target and conspirators, and prevent the plan from succeeding.
Director: John Frankenheimer | Stars: Robert Shaw, Bruce Dern, Marthe Keller, Fritz Weaver
Votes: 9,075 | Gross: $15.77M
14. Hurricane (1979)
PG | 120 min | Adventure, Drama
The desperate love affair between a young Samoan chief and an American painter, against the will of her father. Amid this man-made tension comes a hurricane so devastating, the lives of the lovers and the entire island are imperiled.
Director: Jan Troell | Stars: Jason Robards, Mia Farrow, Max von Sydow, Trevor Howard
Votes: 700
15. Airport (1970)
G | 137 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A bomber on board an airplane, an airport almost closed by snow, and various personal problems of the people involved.
Directors: George Seaton, Henry Hathaway | Stars: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, George Kennedy, Jean Seberg
Votes: 21,662 | Gross: $100.49M
16. Airport 1975 (1974)
PG | 107 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A 747 in flight collides with a small plane, and is rendered pilotless. Somehow the control tower must get a pilot aboard so the jet can land.
Director: Jack Smight | Stars: Charlton Heston, Karen Black, George Kennedy, Efrem Zimbalist Jr.
Votes: 11,844 | Gross: $47.29M
17. Airport '77 (1977)
PG | 114 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
Art thieves hijack a 747, hit fog and crash into the ocean, trapping them and the passengers under one hundred feet of water.
Director: Jerry Jameson | Stars: Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant, Joseph Cotten, Olivia de Havilland
Votes: 12,300 | Gross: $30.00M
18. The Concorde... Airport '79 (1979)
PG | 113 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A supersonic airborne disaster. In order to survive a flight headed for the Moscow Olympics, passengers of the Concorde must endure aerial acrobatics to dodge missiles and survive a device that decompresses the plane.
Director: David Lowell Rich | Stars: Alain Delon, Susan Blakely, Robert Wagner, George Kennedy
Votes: 6,948 | Gross: $13.00M
19. Beyond the Poseidon Adventure (1979)
PG | 114 min | Action, Adventure
An extension of the previous film, wherein a group of adventurers return to the overturned ship to seek several fortunes.
Director: Irwin Allen | Stars: Michael Caine, Sally Field, Telly Savalas, Peter Boyle
Votes: 5,868
20. The Savage Bees (1976 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 90 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
The festive fun of the annual Mardi Gras celebration is brought to a halt when a swarm of African killer bees escape from a foreign freighter.
Director: Bruce Geller | Stars: Ben Johnson, Michael Parks, Paul Hecht, Gretchen Corbett
Votes: 799
21. The Bees (1978)
PG | 83 min | Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
When South America killer bees corporately smuggled into the United States mutate into intelligent insects and attacks helpless people, young scientists work desperately to end the threat as the menace swarms in on the city areas.
Director: Alfredo Zacarías | Stars: John Saxon, Angel Tompkins, John Carradine, Claudio Brook
Votes: 1,471
22. Raid on Entebbe (1976)
Not Rated | 145 min | Action, Drama, History
True story of a daring Israeli commando assault on the Entebbe Airport in Uganda to free hostages of a terrorist hijacking.
Director: Irvin Kershner | Stars: Peter Finch, Charles Bronson, Yaphet Kotto, Martin Balsam
Votes: 3,797
23. Skyjacked (1972)
PG | 101 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A crazed Vietnam vet bomber hijacks a Boeing 707 in this disaster film filled with the usual early '70s stereotypes, and demands to be taken to Russia.
Director: John Guillermin | Stars: Charlton Heston, James Brolin, Yvette Mimieux, Claude Akins
Votes: 2,341 | Gross: $2.50M
24. Gray Lady Down (1978)
PG | 111 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A Navy Captain uses his experimental Snark to reach a nuclear submarine stuck on an ocean ledge.
Director: David Greene | Stars: Charlton Heston, David Carradine, Stacy Keach, Ned Beatty
Votes: 3,530
25. Fire (1977 TV Movie)
97 min | Action, Drama
A convict starts a fire in a forest to cover his escape, but the fire goes out of control and threatens to destroy a small mountain community.
Director: Earl Bellamy | Stars: Ernest Borgnine, Vera Miles, Patty Duke, Alex Cord
Votes: 359
26. The Hindenburg (1975)
Approved | 125 min | Adventure, Drama, History
A chronicle of the Hindenburg disaster in which a zeppelin burst into flames.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: George C. Scott, Anne Bancroft, William Atherton, Roy Thinnes
Votes: 6,580 | Gross: $27.95M
27. Goliath Awaits (1981)
PG | 200 min | Adventure, Drama, Romance
A team of scientists discover a secret underwater community within the wreck of an ocean liner that sank during World War II.
Stars: Mark Harmon, Christopher Lee, Eddie Albert, John Carradine
Votes: 1,198
28. Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970)
M | 100 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
Thinking this will prevent war, the US government gives an impenetrable supercomputer total control over launching nuclear missiles. But what the computer does with the power is unimaginable to its creators.
Director: Joseph Sargent | Stars: Eric Braeden, Susan Clark, Gordon Pinsent, William Schallert
Votes: 10,139
29. The Andromeda Strain (1971)
G | 131 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Top scientists work feverishly in a secret, state-of-the-art laboratory to discover what killed the citizens of a small town and how the deadly contagion can be stopped.
Director: Robert Wise | Stars: James Olson, Arthur Hill, David Wayne, Kate Reid
Votes: 40,406 | Gross: $3.42M
30. Juggernaut (1974)
PG | 109 min | Action, Drama, Thriller
A blackmailer demands a huge ransom in exchange for information on how to disarm the seven bombs he placed aboard the transatlantic liner Britannic.
Director: Richard Lester | Stars: Richard Harris, Omar Sharif, David Hemmings, Anthony Hopkins
Votes: 6,312 | Gross: $1.56M
31. The Medusa Touch (1978)
PG | 109 min | Drama, Mystery
A telekinetic novelist causes disasters simply by thinking about them.
Director: Jack Gold | Stars: Richard Burton, Lee Remick, Lino Ventura, Harry Andrews
Votes: 7,486
32. S.O.S. Titanic (1979 TV Movie)
Not Rated | 194 min | Drama, History
On her maiden voyage in April 1912, the supposedly unsinkable R.M.S. Titanic strikes an iceberg in the Atlantic Ocean.
Director: William Hale | Stars: David Janssen, Cloris Leachman, Harry Andrews, David Battley
Votes: 1,501
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