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The focus of such films is on the spectacular calamity and a small group of people in imminent danger, and how they must cope or devise a method of escape. “Tension is developed by concentrating on the miraculous means of rescue and whether all the characters (usually in an all-star cast) have the inner strength to survive the ordeal.”( Wheeler, 2003: 87) Most disaster films have large-scale special effects (especially in the recent past mega-budget spectaculars), huge casts of stars faced with the crisis, a persevering hero or heroine (i.e., Charlton Heston, Steve McQueen, etc.) called upon to lead the struggle against the threat, and many plot-lines affecting multiple characters. In many cases, the evil or selfish inpiduals are the first to succumb to the conflagration. As in any sub-genre, the move to capitalize on the disaster film trend has led to many sub-par disaster films, with weak and unsubtle, formulaic plots, improbable circumstances and bad science, poor character development, and laughable acting from third-rate stars portraying clinched characters.
The most commonly portrayed disasters in American films are natural disasters (earthquakes, floods, hurricanes, tropical storms, etc.), accidents (skyscraper fires, plane crashes, ocean liners capsized or struck by icebergs, viruses unleashed), planetary-related (asteroids or meteors off-course), criminally-instigated (bombs planted in planes, terrorist conspiracies), alien invasions and rampaging creatures (often mutant), nuclear-related crises, millennial-related (the end of the world, or end of the century tales) and about failed technology or technology-gone awry (computers running amok). (Feil, 2005: 109)
Along with showing the spectacular disaster, these films concentrate on the chaotic events surrounding the disaster, including efforts for survival, the effects upon inpiduals and families, and what-if scenarios. The best disaster films comment upon the negative effects of advancing technology, demonstrate the hubris of scientists and other inpiduals, deliver uplifting moral lessons of sacrifice, and provide a how-to in terms of survival skills.
1.2 Literature Review
Before the 1970s when disaster films underwent a strong revival, there were many earlier action/adventure disaster films, such as The Hurricane (1937)─—including one of the most spectacular tropical storm scenes ever shot in film history. And two 50s films, The High and the Mighty (1954) and Zero Hour (1957) ─— were the inspiration for all the airplane disaster films of the 70s. Hitchcock’s Foreign Correspondent (1940) also contained a harrowing airplane crash sequence. The real horrors of World War II, the perceived threat of nuclear annihilation and radioactive material during the resultant Cold War led to a further onslaught of disaster-related films in the 50s.
In the 1970s, actual disasters, such as the Watergate crisis (from 1972 to 1974), the collision of two 747s in the Canary Islands (in late March, 1977), and the Three Mile Island incident (in late March, 1979) made the time ripe for Hollywood to contribute. Big-budget disaster films provided all-star casts and interlocking, Grand Hotel or “Ship of Fools” type stories, with suspenseful action, races against time, and impending crises in locales such as aboard imperiled airliners, trains, dirigibles, crowded stadiums, sinking or wrecked ocean-liners, or in towering burning skyscrapers or earthquake zones.
Producer and director Irwin Allen was nicknamed “The Master of Disaster” in the 1970s due to the tremendous success of his films. The three films most responsible for jump-starting the renaissance of spectacular disaster films were Airport (1970), and Allen’s two special effects-laden epics The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974). These kinds of films would often receive numerous special/visual effects Oscar nominations, but were often neglected for their acting performances.