10 Most Underrated Disaster Movies Of All Time

Released in 1961 to critical acclaim and a solid audience response, The Day the Earth Caught Fire is likely a film which has slipped under the radar of modern movie-goers. Directed and written by Val Guest, the film takes place after a series of nuclear explosions perpetrated by the US and Russia have thrown the entire planet off its axis. What follows is a series of city-destroying earthquakes, raging fires, and a mission to put the Earth back in place.

It’s classic sixties sci-fi, full of social and political commentary and extremely off-kilter science (the way to put the Earth back? Detonate more bombs!), but it is well filmed and acted enough to make it quite compelling in places. The effects of the natural disasters are also surprisingly well-crafted, and the ambiguous ending is one for debate once you’ve seen the picture.

If you’re after a sixties disaster epic, look no further than this.