greatest ever disaster movies

Throughout cinematic history, audiences have flocked to see mayhem and carnage splashed across the silver screen. The disaster movie is a genre that has kept pace with the times and continues to dazzle with its blend of high tension, characters in peril and awesome special effects. To celebrate this much-loved, time-honoured school of film, host Giles Coren presents a rundown of 40 of the world’s most cataclysmic motion pictures, as voted for in an exclusive poll of Five’s viewers and readers of the Times newspaper.

From the classic fare of the 70s, including ‘The Towering Inferno’ and ‘The Poseidon Adventure’, to the effects-laden blockbusters of today – such as ‘The Day after Tomorrow’ and ‘Titanic’ – the show explores the apocalyptic scenarios dreamed up by Hollywood’s most fevered screenwriters.

Ships sink, planes explode, buildings catch fire and trains plough out of control as the Greatest Ever Disaster Movies careens through its countdown. Along the way, a host of famous faces including Robert Vaughn, George Kennedy, Ali Larter and John C McGinley offer their thoughts on what makes this electrifying genre so madly compelling.