4. The Towering Inferno
A powerful and dramatic offering from 1974, The Towering Inferno is exactly as it sounds. A huge building catches fire and before long, most of it is ablaze with people still trapped inside desperately seeking a way out. Bring on the heroic duo of Steve McQueen & Paul Newman. Icons of their era, McQueen & Newman were not keen to relinquish the spotlight in this film, both actors "respectfully requesting" equal amounts of dialogue to ensure neither could individually be known as the leading man. As good as this movie was, I would not argue with a remake simply because recent disaster movies have become more about highly unlikely global catastrophes. While these have provided cinematic spectacles, you don't walk away fearing that it could happen to you or someone you know. I've never walked along the beach and worried about sea level mysteriously rising by about 50 feet due to North Atlantic currents (see "The Day After Tomorrow"). Films like "2012" and "The Day The Earth Stood Still" were clearly more focused on providing a grand effects powerhouse than a terrifying disaster story. A huge building catching fire in the city trapping dozens of civilians whose only hope are the working class heroes? That's more like it! Give me something I can really relate to. If aliens come and wipe out all life, there's not an awful lot I can do, except throw water at them and hope for the best ("Signs" & "The War Of The Worlds").