All-Star Disaster Movies: Is 'Contagion' probably the most Star-Studded of all of them?

'Contagion' finds lots of large names -- Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Jude Law, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Elliott Gould, plus much more -- coping with an out-of-control bird flu epidemic. By having an all-star cast that rivals that old Irwin Allen productions in the seventies, we can not help but question: where does 'Contagion' stack facing the greatest disaster epics ever? Will it put more Oscar those who win in risk compared to original 'The Poseidon Adventure?' Warning: Some spoilers for who bites the large one out of these classic movies. 15. 'Volcano' (1997) Greatest names: Tommy Lee Johnson, Anne Heche, Don Cheadle Awesome (but condemned) character actor: Michael Rispoli Oscar those who win: 1 (Johnson) Haven't I seen yourself on TV? John Corbett ('Sex and also the City' and 'Northern Exposure') Despite Tommy Lee Jones' perfectly no-nonsense method of wrangling lava, a lot of no-title stars stop this from achieving true "all-star" status. 14. 'The Core' (2003) Greatest names: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci Awesome (but condemned) character stars: Bruce Greenwood, Delroy Lindo Oscar those who win: 1 (Swank) Following a couple of impressive magnetics-gone-haywire sequences, this thriller rapidly will get sillier the much deeper our terranauts explore our planet's core. A minimum of -- in classic disaster movie tradition -- several familiar faces don't reach the finish from the film, then when they bite the dust, we're feeling the requisite pangs. 13. 'The Next Day Of Tomorrow' (2004) Greatest names: Dennis Quaid, Mike Gyllenhaal, Sela Ward Awesome (but condemned) character stars: Ian Holm, Jay O. Sanders Oscar those who win: none No problem using the two leads, but when we are likely to cry "Not again!" when we get easily wiped from the map by tornadoes or killer waves, they ought to have filled the cast with increased people we recognize. Points, a minimum of, for that demise of pretty-boy leader Perry King but for the truly sad last moments of Ian Holm and crew. 12. 'Earthquake' (1974) Greatest names: Charlton Heston, Ava Gardner, Geneviève Bujold, Richard Roundtree Oscar those who win: 2 (Heston and disaster movie staple George Kennedy) Haven't I seen yourself on TV? Lorne Greene ('Bonanza'), Victoria Principal ('Dallas') In whatever way your perception, 'Earthquake' is fairly unimpressive. The effects are cheap and also the cast barely registers about the Richter scale. We like Charlton Heston, but we'd more enjoyable watching him fight individuals damn dirty apes or preventing zombies inside a publish-apocalyptic La. 11. '2012' (2009) Greatest names: John Cusack, Amanda Peet, Oliver Platt, Thandie Newton, Danny Glover, Woodsy Harrelson Oscar those who win: none Anything you considered the script or that ending, it is a nicely packed cast of individuals we love to, having a superbly catastrophic dying toll. 10. 'The Poseidon Adventure' (1972) Greatest names: Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine, Shelley Winters Awesome (but condemned) character stars: Leslie Nielsen, Roddy McDowall Oscar those who win: 4 (Hackman, Borgnine, Winters and Red-colored Buttons) Do you over-the-top Gene Hackman equal the star wattage of, say, Paul Newman and Steve McQueen? No, but this high-water mark in disaster movies comprises for the possible lack of A-listers using its boat-flipping moments and self-sacrificial dramatics. As well as an Oscar-winning theme song! 9. 'Airport 1975' (1974) Greatest names: Charlton Heston, Karen Black, Linda Blair, Gloria Swanson, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, George Kennedy Oscar those who win: 2 (Heston and Kennedy, back together again) Haven't I seen yourself on TV? Yes, that's Erik ('CHiPs') Estrada You will never rival this type of casting they'd within the '70s, in which a star from quiet films (Swanson) could rub elbows using the girl from 'The Exorcist' and pop singer Helen Reddy. 8. 'The Perfect Storm' (2000) Greatest names: George Clooney, Mark Wahlberg, Diane Lane Awesome (but condemned) character stars: John C. Reilly, William Fichtner, John Hawkes Oscar those who win: none (Clooney did not get his until 2006) We'd rank this movie greater, however the dying count and scale from the disaster is dwarfed by movies like 'Deep Impact' (see below). Plus, that cheesy farewell hallucination of Wahlberg cost them some things. 7. 'Airport' (1970) Greatest names: Burt Lancaster, Dean Martin, Jacqueline Bisset Oscar those who win: 4 (Lancaster, Helen Hayes, Van Heflin and, yep, George Kennedy again) The disaster movie that began everything: a couple of slightly over-the-hill stars, incidents where more over-the-hill stars from the bygone era, and something hot babe are held in a existence-threatening situation. Allow the Oscar-worthy overacting (and also the dying toll) begin! "It is the greatest all-star cast ever put together for any single Universal film!Inch boasts a clip (below). 6. 'Outbreak' (1995) Greatest names: Dustin Hoffman, Rene Russo, Morgan Freeman, Cuba Gooding Junior., Jesse Sutherland Awesome (but condemned) character actor: Kevin Spacey Haven't I seen yourself on TV? Patrick Dempsey ('Grey's Anatomy') as virus victim number 1. Search the grunge! Oscar those who win: 1 (Hoffman), with future those who win Freeman, Gooding and Spacey We never quite bought Dustin Hoffman being an action hero, but what's to not love in regards to a virus-run-amok movie with your an entertaining cast? RIP, Dempsey and Spacey. Your touching movie deaths were only a walking stone to higher billing. 5. 'The Cassandra Crossing' (1976) Greatest names: Ava Gardner, Richard Harris, Burt Lancaster, Sophia Loren, Martin Sheen Awesome (but condemned) character actor: Lee Strasberg Oscar those who win: 2 (Lancaster, Loren) A number of them might have been past their prime, however these stars remained as stars having a capital S if this movie arrived on the scene. And that is future leader Martin Sheen as Ava Gardner's hot boy toy and O.J. Simpson (outfitted like a priest!) within the same movie! 4. 'The Swarm' (1978) Greatest names: Michael Caine, Henry Fonda, Katharine Ross, Richard Widmark Disaster movie staple: Richard Chamberlain Oscar those who win: 4 (Olivia p Havilland, Patty Duke, Lee Grant, Ben Manley), with future those who win Caine and Fonda By 1978, moviemakers had used nearly every disaster imaginable, but there is an abundance of old-school and current stars prepared to face certain dying by fire, earthquake or, within this situation, a swarm of killer bees. Unlike Winters in 'The Poseidon Adventure' and Hayes in 'Airport,' nobody saw any Oscar nominations with this puppy. 3. 'Deep Impact' (1998) Greatest names: Robert Duvall, Téa Leoni, Elijah Wood, Morgan Freeman, James Cromwell, Leelee Sobieski, Blair Underwood Oscar those who win: 3 (Duvall, Vanessa Redgrave, Maximillian Schell), with future champion Freeman Haven't I seen yourself on TV? Ron Eldard and Laura Innes ('ER'), Kurtwood Cruz ('That 70s Show'), Richard Schiff ('The West Wing') Now this is exactly what we are speaking about: an overview of tiers of society, in the leader to news anchors to regular families, wrestling using the large issues of who should live and who should die like a meteor hurtles toward Earth. (We'd include 'Armageddon,' with the exception that the disaster never really happened and nearly everybody lives.) 2. 'Contagion' (2011) Greatest names: Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Winslet Oscar those who win: 4 (Marion Cotillard, Damon, Paltrow and Winslet) Haven't I seen yourself on TV? Dr. Sanjay Gupta plays themself When you are Steven Soderbergh, you are able to assemble an exciting-star cast when you want, whether you are likely to request your stars to take advantage of casinos, stop drug trafficking, or face lower a deadly epidemic. 1. 'The Towering Inferno' (1974) Greatest names: Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, Faye Dunaway, Fred Astaire, Robert Wagner Disaster movie staples: Richard Chamberlain, O.J. Simpson Oscar those who win: 2 (William Holden, Jennifer Johnson), with future those who win Newman and Dunaway We are not to imply it is the best disaster movie available, however, you cannot beat the star energy of McQueen and Newman, when both were within their prime. The familiarity from the supporting cast and also the inevitable timetable through which they meet their disaster (or amazingly survive) is exactly what we call the defacto standard of-star disaster movies. Top photo: Warner Bros.

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