17 Disaster Movies So Cheesy You Can’t Help Loving Them

Sometimes the best movies aren’t the ones that win awards – they’re the ones that make you laugh, cringe, and cheer all at once.

Disaster movies have a special place in our hearts, especially when they’re packed with over-the-top special effects, ridiculous dialogue, and impossible heroics.

These films may not be masterpieces, but they’re ridiculously entertaining and totally worth your time.

1. The Core (2003)

Ever wonder what happens when Earth’s core stops spinning? Apparently, microwaving pigeons and crashing the Golden Gate Bridge are just the beginning. This film takes scientific accuracy and tosses it straight into a volcano.

A ragtag team of scientists pilots a subway-sized drill through molten rock to detonate nuclear bombs at the planet’s center. The dialogue is wonderfully terrible, and the science makes absolutely zero sense, but you’ll be glued to the screen anyway.

2. Volcano (1997)

Los Angeles gets a surprise visitor in the form of a volcano erupting right beneath the city. Tommy Lee Jones plays an emergency management director who decides the best plan involves diverting molten lava with concrete barriers.

Watching lava slowly chase people down Wilshire Boulevard is both terrifying and hilarious. The special effects are charmingly dated, and the melodrama is cranked up to eleven, making this a guilty pleasure classic.

3. 2012 (2009)

Roland Emmerich destroys the entire planet in spectacular fashion, throwing every disaster imaginable at the screen. Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and continental shifts all happen simultaneously because why not?

John Cusack plays a struggling writer who somehow outruns collapsing cities and tidal waves in a limousine. The destruction is beautifully rendered, even if the plot is utterly preposterous and the science is pure fantasy.

4. Dante’s Peak (1997)

Pierce Brosnan plays a volcanologist with a tragic past who tries warning a small town about an impending eruption. Naturally, nobody listens until it’s too late and the mountain literally explodes.

The film delivers spectacular destruction sequences, including a lake turned to acid and a grandmother’s heroic sacrifice. It’s more scientifically accurate than most disaster movies, but still delightfully over-the-top with its dramatic tension and narrow escapes.

5. Daylight (1996)

Sylvester Stallone leads survivors through a collapsed Manhattan tunnel after a massive explosion seals them underground. Water floods in, fires rage, and debris blocks every exit, creating a claustrophobic nightmare scenario.

Stallone’s character makes impossibly heroic decisions while delivering cheesy one-liners. The tension builds nicely despite predictable plot beats, and the practical effects hold up better than you’d expect for a nineties action flick.

6. Geostorm (2017)

Humanity builds a satellite network to control the weather, but naturally, it malfunctions and starts destroying cities instead. Gerard Butler must venture into space to fix the system before it triggers a global catastrophe.

The premise is wonderfully bonkers, featuring frozen beaches in Rio and fireballs raining on Hong Kong. It’s a glorious mess of CGI destruction and conspiracy plots that somehow manages to be entertaining despite itself.

7. San Andreas (2015)

Dwayne The Rock Johnson plays a rescue helicopter pilot who abandons his job to save his family during the biggest earthquake California has ever seen. Physics takes a backseat as he survives building collapses, tsunamis, and impossible jumps.

The destruction of San Francisco and Los Angeles is impressively rendered, even if the survival odds are astronomically unrealistic. It’s pure popcorn entertainment with heart-pounding action sequences.

8. Armageddon (1998)

When NASA needs to save the world from a Texas-sized asteroid, they naturally call upon oil drillers instead of, you know, actual astronauts. Bruce Willis leads a crew of roughnecks into space with more bravado than brains.

The movie’s packed with explosions, Aerosmith ballads, and enough American flags to stock a parade. Sure, the physics are laughable, but the emotional payoff hits surprisingly hard despite all the cheese.

9. Earthquake (1974)

This seventies disaster epic introduced audiences to Sensurround technology, literally shaking theater seats during quake sequences. Los Angeles crumbles as multiple storylines converge amid collapsing buildings, broken dams, and widespread chaos.

The special effects were groundbreaking for their time, using miniatures and practical stunts. While the melodrama feels dated now, the destruction sequences still pack a punch and influenced countless disaster movies.

10. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

Climate change triggers an instant ice age, freezing the Northern Hemisphere in a matter of days. Dennis Quaid treks from Washington to New York through blizzards to rescue his son trapped in the city.

The science is hilariously compressed and exaggerated, but the frozen cityscapes are visually stunning. Watching wolves hunt in abandoned ships and people outrunning cold fronts is absurd yet undeniably entertaining.

11. Poseidon (2006)

A rogue wave capsizes a luxury cruise ship on New Year’s Eve, turning the vessel completely upside down. Survivors must climb upward through the inverted ship, navigating flooded corridors and collapsing structures to reach the hull.

Josh Lucas leads a small group through increasingly dangerous obstacles in this remake of the classic seventies film. The production design of the upside-down ship is impressive, even if character development is minimal.

12. The Towering Inferno (1974)

A brand-new San Francisco skyscraper catches fire during its grand opening celebration, trapping hundreds on the upper floors. Steve McQueen and Paul Newman lead the firefighting efforts in this star-studded disaster epic.

The practical fire effects are genuinely intense, creating palpable tension as flames consume floor after floor. It’s a masterclass in old-school disaster filmmaking with real stunts and miniatures that modern CGI often can’t replicate.

13. Into the Storm (2014)

Found-footage style meets tornado destruction in this adrenaline-fueled thriller. Multiple twisters converge on a small Oklahoma town during graduation day, trapping students, parents, and storm chasers in a fight for survival.

The tornado effects are impressively realistic, even if the characters make bafflingly stupid decisions. Watching an airport hangar get shredded and a fire tornado form provides visceral thrills despite predictable plotting.

14. Outbreak (1995)

A deadly African virus reaches American shores via an illegally imported monkey, triggering a full-blown epidemic. Dustin Hoffman plays an Army virologist racing against time to find a cure before the government firebombs an entire California town.

While prescient given recent events, the movie takes wild liberties with virology and military protocol. The infected monkey’s cross-country journey is both thrilling and hilariously implausible, but the tension remains effective.

15. Skyscraper (2018)

Dwayne Johnson plays a security consultant with a prosthetic leg who must scale the world’s tallest building to rescue his family from terrorists and a raging fire. He literally jumps from a crane into the building in defiance of physics.

The Hong Kong setting provides stunning visuals, even if the plot borrows heavily from Die Hard and The Towering Inferno. It’s shameless, ridiculous fun that knows exactly what it is and delivers accordingly.

16. Sharknado (2013)

When a freak hurricane hits Los Angeles, it somehow picks up sharks and deposits them throughout the city via waterspouts. Yes, you read that correctly—sharks flying through the air, chomping on unsuspecting victims.

This made-for-TV movie embraces its ridiculous premise completely, delivering intentionally campy dialogue and absurd action sequences. It spawned multiple sequels and became a cult phenomenon precisely because it’s so gloriously, unapologetically stupid.

17. The Perfect Storm (2000)

Based on a true story, this film follows a Massachusetts fishing crew who sail directly into the convergence of three massive storm systems. George Clooney captains the Andrea Gail as mountainous waves and hurricane-force winds batter the vessel.

The CGI water effects were revolutionary for their time, creating terrifyingly realistic ocean conditions. While the outcome is tragic and predetermined, watching the crew battle nature’s fury remains gripping and emotionally powerful.