The Most Authentic Disaster Movies

WatchMojo

Sometimes reality is far more terrifying than fiction! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for disaster films that are the most faithful to real-life events. Head’s up: There will be spoilers.

Transcript

00:00 We never lost an American in space.

00:01 We're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch.

00:04 Failure is not an option.

00:06 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down

00:08 our picks for disaster films that are the most faithful

00:10 to real-life events.

00:11 Heads up, there will be spoilers.

00:13 Oh, you wanna go home?

00:14 It's not the worst idea, is it?

00:17 Number five, Alive.

00:20 This 1993 film tells the harrowing

00:22 and true tale of survival.

00:23 An Uruguayan rugby team find themselves fighting

00:26 for their lives after their plane crashes

00:28 in the Andes Mountains.

00:29 (gunshots)

00:31 Bobby.

00:35 Bobby Francois.

00:38 Hey, Carlitos.

00:42 Smoke?

00:44 Yeah.

00:45 Filled with a stellar ensemble cast,

00:46 the film sticks closely to the real-life events,

00:48 including the depiction of gruesome details

00:51 like starvation and exposure to extreme cold.

00:53 Don't you know that you're playing with our lives?

00:55 There's virtually nothing left!

00:58 Nothing's left!

01:00 Why don't you just take a knife

01:01 and slit our throats while we slept?

01:03 One of the real-life survivors, Nando Parado,

01:06 even consulted on the film.

01:07 Over two months later, the passengers managed

01:09 to contact authorities who rescued

01:11 the remaining 16 survivors out of 45.

01:14 (laughing)

01:16 Regardless of any minor changes made,

01:27 this film is harrowingly true to life.

01:29 Number four, The Impossible.

01:31 In this 2012 film, a family struggles to survive

01:33 after a tsunami hits their resort in Thailand.

01:35 (screaming)

01:38 Somebody help!

01:39 Grab my hand!

01:40 Although taking some artistic liberties,

01:43 Impossible is praised for its realistic portrayal

01:45 of the Thai response and help through the disaster.

01:48 More importantly, it's true to the real-life experiences

01:51 of Maria Belon, her husband Enrique,

01:53 and their three children.

01:54 I can't go with you.

01:55 You can't leave us alone again, Dad.

01:57 I have to keep looking for them, you see.

01:59 You have to look after Simon.

02:00 No!

02:01 No, stay with us.

02:03 Belon worked closely with the film's director,

02:05 J.A. Bayona, and is now a motivational speaker

02:07 among other ventures.

02:08 The film has since then been a critical darling,

02:11 with Naomi Watts being nominated for an Academy Award

02:13 for her performance as Maria.

02:15 Maria, what?

02:16 What?

02:18 What, darling?

02:19 Oh, darling.

02:22 No, no.

02:25 You're gonna be fine.

02:26 Number three, "Torah, Torah, Torah."

02:28 There have been no lack of films dramatizing

02:30 the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor during World War II,

02:33 but this 1970 Japanese film

02:35 has been the most definitive so far.

02:36 Praised for its historical accuracy,

02:50 "Torah" depicts the attack from both the American

02:52 and Japanese points of view.

02:53 In the film, the American forces successfully

02:55 crack the Purple Code and intercept the message

02:58 about the planned attack, but fail to warn superiors.

03:00 I see no reason to disturb Marshall

03:02 with something that's incomplete.

03:04 Wait until you have the final part.

03:07 Yes, sir.

03:09 Meanwhile, the Japanese's goal

03:11 to attack the American aircraft carriers is thwarted

03:14 when they realize those carriers

03:15 had already departed the base.

03:16 Although a box office flop, the film succeeds

03:19 in its fidelity to the tragic events of Pearl Harbor.

03:21 [speaking Japanese]

03:25 Number two, "A Night to Remember."

03:34 It was the ship of dreams.

03:36 No, not that movie.

03:37 Although James Cameron's romantic drama

03:38 is not without its historical detail,

03:40 this 1958 film is still the most accurate

03:42 on the sinking of the RMS Titanic.

03:44 I name this ship Titanic.

03:48 May God bless her

03:51 and all who sail in her.

03:54 Based on the 1955 bestseller by Walter Lord,

03:57 the film depicts the ship's last hours

03:59 after hitting the fatal iceberg.

04:01 What is it?

04:01 Iceberg, sir.

04:02 I put a hard a sob and reversed the engines,

04:04 but she was too close.

04:06 Praised by Titanic historians and survivors alike,

04:09 the drama follows actual historical figures

04:11 with only some artistic license.

04:12 The only grievous inaccuracy

04:14 was depicting the Titanic sinking intact.

04:16 It was discovered later that the ship had split in half.

04:19 [speaking Japanese]

04:22 Not bad for a '50s film.

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04:45 Number one, "Apollo 13."

04:48 Based on the real-life space mission to the moon,

04:50 Ron Howard's 1995 movie

04:52 is unscrupulously true to historical events.

04:55 We have a problem.

04:57 Apollo 13, America's fifth crewed mission to the moon,

05:06 is suddenly aborted when an onboard explosion

05:08 damages the craft's oxygen supply and electrical power.

05:11 When mission control aborts,

05:13 the crew led by Jim Lovell

05:14 suffers from loss of electrical power

05:16 and freezing temperatures before the return to Earth.

05:19 - All right, look, we're not doing this, gentlemen.

05:20 We are not gonna do this.

05:21 We're not gonna go bouncing off the walls for 10 minutes

05:24 'cause we're just gonna end up right back here

05:25 with the same problems.

05:27 Trying to figure out how to stay alive.

05:29 - Director Ron Howard went above and beyond

05:31 to ensure scientific realism,

05:32 consulting with NASA engineers.

05:34 He even obtained their permission

05:36 to shoot inside an actual reduced-gravity spacecraft.

05:38 And the famous line?

05:39 - Houston, we have a problem.

05:41 - Houston, we have a problem?

05:42 That is only a slight variation on the actual quote.

05:45 Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here.

05:46 Which other disaster films did you feel

05:48 were just as good as a documentary?

05:50 Let us know in the comments down below.

05:51 - I have never seen a document

05:54 so crowded with infamous falsehoods and distortions.

05:57 - Did you enjoy this video?

05:59 Check out these other clips from WatchMojo

06:01 and be sure to subscribe and ring the bell

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