I'm going to revisit the 70's disaster movies and wanted to know what everyone's favorites are. I know most if not all suck. But that's half the fun in watching them. I recently saw "Airport '77" again and was surprised how good the special effects were at a time where there was no CGI. But I personally think "Earthquake" is the best.

Poseidon Adventure. Loved the creation of the world of an ocean liner upside down. Great cast and solid, yet over-the-top, acting.

The Towering Inferno. Just the thought of dying in a fire in a high rise gives me chills. That movie was really well done for it's time. 48 years ago.

The death scenes of Robert Wagner and Susan Flannery was both harrowing and terrifying.

This. In addition to sleazy Borgnine prossy BS, you get Shelly Winters as a scuba-diver, and claustrophobic thrills. Towering Inferno has some great fear-of-heights stuff, but Poseidon is the complete picture.

The original Airport is the best overall movie.

Heaven's Gate

Towering Inferno, The Poseidon Adventure, Earthquake & the Day After.
That one is really bleak.

Oops the Day After is 83. Still good though.

I googled “70s disaster movies” to refresh my memory on the genre. Really, the only good ones have already been mentioned: Airport, The Poseidon Adventure, and The Towering Inferno.

One other movie was listed among them on google that caught my attention. The China Syndrome. It’s certainly not an action packed adventure like the other movies but it fits the category well and would rank up there with the better disaster movies of the 70s.

There's a special place in my cinema heart for the total cheese that is Avalanche.

Same. Mostly for Victoria Principle's Foxy Brown look

The Swarm
When Time Ran Out
Hindenburg
Rollercoaster
Meteor

...almost anything associated with producer Irwin Allen in the '70s.

The Towering Inferno is a favorite of mine.

I watched this tonight for the first time since I was a kid and didn't remember anything about it. The sets were great, but you said it, over-the-top acting is an understatement. It was horrible, as was the script. I laughed out loud several times. A few eye rolls too. When I mentioned "Earthquake" before it's more of a guilty pleasure. But the acting is way better than "The Poseidon Adventure". "The Towering Inferno" has to be the best of the bunch. Classy film all around.

Easily it would be the Swarm; I remember buying a used copy of the paperback as a kid and it was a scary premise and seeing the movie stills in the book made me want to track down the movie. No video store had it in my area though there was one we found in the South Bay that we could rent from. Eventually my dad and I found a video store that was willing to sell their copy; my dad thought it was a porno because the box was large like one and the art said adult drama.





Great memories lol! Of course the movie is so campy and goofy but it had some cool concepts and a great cast. Michael Caine was hamming it up and really stole the show.