Movie » Disaster Films

Featuring spectacular special effects set amidst the backdrop of one of the most tragic events of the 20th century James Cameron's award-winning TITANIC stands as one of the greatest Hollywood spectaculars of all time. Beginning with an undersea expedition in the 1990s in which scuba divers are searching the sunken ship for lost relics a painting of young Rose DeWitt Bukater Kate Winslet is found. This triggers a flashback to the young woman's story as it happened on the doomed Titanic. Rose is a daughter of privilege on her way to be married to an arrogant but wealthy young man Billy Zane. Despairing Rose finds herself falling in love with Jack Dawson Leonardo DiCaprio a carefree and poor young artist who is also aboard. When the great ship strikes an iceberg and begins to sink Rose and Jack have only each other as their world falls apart around them. Director James Cameron spared no expense in bringing his simple yet powerful love story to life building a 90 scale model of the ship fussing over the tiniest

The countdown has begun! Against the real-life backdrop of the U.S. deployment of WMDs in Europe during the escalating Cold War, this "dramatically involving [and] agonizingly graphic film" (The Hollywood Reporter) about nuclear holocaust detonated a direct hit into the heartland of America.Starring Jason Robards, JoBeth Williams, Steven Guttenberg, John Cullum and John Lithgow, this "controversial, potent drama" (Leonard Maltin) remains "one of the most talked-about programs in history"(Newsweek)! When Cold War tensions reach the ultimate boiling point, the inhabitants of a small town in Kansas learn along with the rest of America that they have fewer than 30 minutes before 300 Soviet warheads begin to appear overhead! Can anyone survive this ultimate nightmare...or the nuclear winter that is sure to follow?

A volcanologist forlorn over the loss of his wife in the Mt. Pinatubo eruption arrives at a small Pacific Northwest town to investigate the rumblings of the local dormant volcano. Though he instantly fears the worse he must convince the skeptical townspeople and his suspicious superiors who believe he is overreacting in the aftermath of his own tragedy. The beautiful widowed mayor of the picturesque town believes him however and soon they find themselves in a fight for their lives as "Dante's Peak" blows its stack ten miles high raining ash and fire over everything in its shadow. The Signature Collection Special Edition laserdisc includes added commentary by the director and production designer a behind-the-scenes documentary and an isolated score.

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SPEED: A mad bomber Dennis Hopper is out for revenge against LAPD rookie cop Jack Traven Keanu Reeves who with the help of his partner Harry Temple Jeff Daniels foils the criminals' plot to extort money from the city by holding hostage an elevator full of people. He plants a bomb on a bus set to arm itself when the vehicle hits 50 mph and detonate if it drops below that speed. The hero with the help of a beautiful passenger named Annie Sandra Bullock must defuse the explosive device before the bus runs out of gas. This fast-paced thriller received two Academy Awards for Best Sound and Best Sound Effects Editing as well as a nomination for Best Film Editing.

05-51489 Night Of The Twister The people of sleepy Blainsworth, Nebraska, have no idea of the deadly, unpredictable storms heading toward them-rogue tornadoes that will change their lives forever. There are already storms brewing between young Danny Hatch (Devon Sawa) and his father, Jack (John Schneider), a former football star who is disappointed in his irresponsible son. Danny is home alone, babysitting his baby brother when the monster twisters suddenly whirl through the unsuspecting town! Now, Danny must begin a long struggle to survive the night and rescue his family... through downed electrical wires, broken gas lines, and a heart stopping final escape from the twisters' fury! Based on actual events and packed with terrifying tornado footage and special effects, this gripping film is both a thrilling look at nature's deadliest force and a testament to one family's struggle to survive against the odds. Approximately 91 Minutes Color

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It's not easy replacing Harrison Ford as a beloved screen hero, but Ben Affleck brings fresh vitality to The Sum of All Fears, reviving Paramount's Tom Clancy franchise in the role Ford made famous. As CIA agent Jack Ryan, Affleck is a rookie in the covert ranks, unraveling a plot that lures Russian and American superpowers into a nuclear standoff, while a neofascist faction turns most of Baltimore into an atomic wasteland and holds the world in the grip of a terrorist nightmare. Affleck combines sharp intelligence with a new-guy's perspective, while a senior agent (Morgan Freeman) passes the torch of back-channel authority. The result is one of the best Clancy films to date, ably helmed by Phil Alden Robinson (whose comic thriller Sneakers was sorely underrated) with a stellar supporting cast, and adapted with abundant humor, humanity, and thrills by Donnie Brasco screenwriter Paul Attanasio and cowriter Daniel Pyne. Even the typically reticent Clancy would approve. --Jeff Shannon

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In director Wolfgang Petersen's fast-paced intelligently written thriller Dustin Hoffman plays Col. Sam Daniels an expert on infectious diseases who is called in to study the outbreak of a deadly illness in Zaire. He finds a virus that spreads so quickly it could wipe out an entire nation in just a few weeks and he believes that it might have spread to the United States. With the help of his ex-wife Rene Russo who works at the Centers for Disease Control Daniels tracks the virus to the quiet seaside town of Cedar Creek California. His superiors' reticence to help begins to raise questions in Daniels's mind and he must find a cure before a panicky U.S. army general decides to kill the town's populace in order to save the world. The all-star cast includes Hoffman Russo Kevin Spacey Donald Sutherland Morgan Freeman and Cuba Gooding Jr.