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I am also partial to Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds. I realize that this movie came out at the height of anti-Tom Cruiseness, and that Dakota Fanning as a casting choice is problematic, but I enjoy the H.G. Wells story enough and thought that the re-imagination of it into modern times was clever and terrifying.

Two more honorable mentions. Outbreak, a virus/biological warfare disaster movie that probably stays out because of the lack of Earth-destruction sequences. But the movie is subtle yet smart, deliberate yet gripping, and positively terrifying if you consider it was made at a time when Ebola was scaring the world. Donald Sutherland is amazingly evil, and Morgan Freeman can be counted on to save the day. Did I mention he’s a disaster movie staple? Do not despair, another virus outbreak movie did make my list. And Morgan Freeman.

So that was a mouthful. You can tell I watch a lot of these. So I had to narrow it down to just a measly five. Here’s what I came up with.

5. Independence Day.

Perhaps the quintessential summer blockbuster, this aptly-titled alien invasion/disaster film has it all. There are noble sacrifices by none other than the President himself compliment a redeeming ultimate sacrifice by an unlikely, quirky hero. We see massive destruction scenes for several cities, including of course New York and the White House (when it was still fun to destroy New York; it became cliché and perhaps even risqué in the early 21st Century). The cast is varied as it is amusing, with Will Smith providing perhaps the weakest link to an otherwise strong Bill Pullman and Jeff Goldblum. Nor do the cameos by now more famous actors (Vivica Fox and Harry Connick Jr.) disappoint.

But, above all, this movie features a tried and true message of all reliable disaster flicks: America will eventually save the day, F- yeah! A sequel is supposedly in the works, and I will gobble it up like popcorn at the movies. I only hope that it can be half as amusing and at the same time trite, clichéd, and ridiculous as Ronald Emmerich’s first appearance on my list.

4. The Towering Inferno

The oldest (and perhaps most derided in retrospect) movie on the list is the 1974 Best Picture nominee, The Towering Inferno. Featuring a positively amazing cast of past and future Oscar winners - Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway, and William Holden (and a nominated turn by none other than Fred Astaire!) - this movie was in its time considered the best of its genre in that decade.

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