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For this list, we're taking a look at tropes that keep popping up and blowing up in disaster movies.
Special thanks to our user Josh3000 for submitting the idea using our interactive suggestion tool at www.WatchMojo.com/suggest
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No. 1 disaster movie cliché: One single American man saves entire world
yap
+AdelioNightstorm cliche No2: save it from a russian or german
+fire_strika Or Muslim
of course, america!!!
of course("patriorism" mode engaged)
The Golden Gate bridge is the only thing that has died more in movies than Sean Bean.
Twin towers has had a lot destruction in movies too.
Here's one, the guy how runs away from an object that can be avoided by going to the side I guess he went to Prometheus school
Ding
True and nice little reference there
I agree especially on Prometheus School
Damn didn't read this before I put mine. Said the same thing. :)
Prime example is the space needle in 10.5
Cliche 1: It's always the americians who save the world
😂👍 yeah but in real life they are the destructors
+Valdoy2866™ That's cause there's no foreign disaster films.
Nate England Sinking of Japan movie says your argument is invalid.
2020 proved that’s not true
Pretty much no, in "Heros, when your land is needing you" (a german production) the german government is it, in "Flames: Inferno over Berlin" it is a German Fireman, in "Stormflood" it is a female scientist, you can argue depending on which land the land is always the hero.
Same as in a horror film, there's always that one child who stands paralyzed with fear, and the heroic main characters will have to abandon certain safety to run back and tackle them out of the way or lift them up out of an about-to-plummet ledge.
So true
The reason why the use New York is because the skyline and landmarks are recognizable world wide, so it makes it easy for audiences. Same reason they show world landmarks being destroyed too
Top 10 Horror Movies where noone actually dies
Hulk Hogan sex tape.
+Bendyrulz something died, my heart and soul
+Dirt Bandit keeping up with the kardassians
The Oscars
The Grammys
top 10 last minute rescue scenes in movies
yes!
+cinema gamer best idea ever
dark knight saving Harvey
It would literally be all just Battle of Five Armies
All of 2012 and all of San Andreas
As a superhero in training, I fully endorse New York always being under attack. That ensures the future of Spiderman films.
+Heroic Concepts lmfao
a super hero in training? really?
+CLASSIC GAMING (Bryson M) Another wannabe gaming channel that makes no videos and has gaming in the name? Really?
+TheLeetPandas I know. I was planning on starting making bids soon but I didn't and I can't change my name for another month or so...
This list could definitely be longer. Character's escape death by inches by leaping to safety. In the aftermath of the carnage and destruction, they smile instead of being severely traumatized, including children. Everyone's okay after getting hit in the face by debris, shrapnel, and constantly scraping and falling on concrete. This needs a top 20.
Ikr? In real life, people are usually traumatized after dealing with a natural disaster.
How about the fact that characters are all watching the news when something really important is being broadcast? And it's always on the news channel whenever someone turns on the tv.
hussd21 that's kind of how it works in real life, if something major happens like that all stations will be interrupted
Why on earth would a director choose to show people watching television if it wasn’t important to the plot?
more Cliches are 1. not only are landmarks destroyed they seem to be the only thing targeted 2. Canadian cities like Toronto and Vancouver are always safe 3. Earthquakes, Tornado, Hurricanes etc all destroy stuff built to survive them
+Moondog 151 The Aliens in Independence Day were heading towards Toronto at one point but they were probably just on their way there to stop at a Tims.
i died after that
+Moondog 151 or they always escape the the last minute
really why are Canadian cities not destroyed like i mean we have the CN tower
4:41 Nostalgia Critic's older jokes :"Boomer will live." Nice shout out for him
The little girl always slightly more observant than EVERYONE else
Hey man, Bill Pullman's speech in Independence Day is amazing, almost makes me want to be American sometimes.
How bout The Golden Gate bridge... in about EVERY FUCKING MOVIE!?!?!
Is it weird that I cried when they showed the dogs and the old people dying? It hit me right in the feels
Top Ten movies where the Black guy dies first
solanoguz there’s too many for a top ten
the pets/children have to live, they embody innocence.
my favorite gotta be "old couple realizes there is no way out, accept their fates and embrace". Like it never makes not feel *something*
that nostalgia critic reference
where?
+Michael Ortiz "boomer will live''
+Harvin Dhillon SQUEEEEE!!!!!
I hate it when the dog survives because it always seems like they just let it alive to avoid the big uproar among the audience. Everything else can kick the bucket but god beware a dog dies - this movie will surely get bad reviews.
Probably your best list and execution of it ever Watch Mojo. Great work.
My favorite is when the scene makes it look like a loved character dies but really they come back to life or still living
How about "the kid always survives." It's like there is no disaster film where some one under the age of 15 bites the dust. For some reason the kid (may have a close call but) always makes it to the end.
ikr
I think cinema sins jized all over this
One my favorite clichés: the protagonist's or plucky comic relief's speech before the main characters have that one final push!
Boomer surviving in Independence day was honestly the best part of the whole movie
Wanna hear a joke Me neither
what
suh dude
+Raihaan Malik no, i dont wanna hear your stupid fucking ass joke you fucking...
I didn't expect the water to get so salty so quickly
+Raihaan Malik yeah, it's called shut up
Where is the Tornado equals cow flying right in front of screen while mooing
+Jochen Schotte I'm sure that ended.
Here's a few more: An early on-screen death of a minor character who just happens to be a friend/sidekick/partner of either the main protagonist or the scientist? The biggest douche of the film either has a radical change of heart or becomes one of the last major characters to die. Two people who are antagonists early in the film manage to get together to help each other and/or other people to survive. Pre-teens almost never die, especially if they are cute. No matter how many thousands or millions have died, the film almost always ends on an upbeat note, with a score to match.
In Independence Day, out of the actors they had, the greatest one of them all was that one random guy who saluted the president after he gave his speech.
that moment you realize that you've seen every movie on this list except sharknado... \o/
Something I just thought about... Why hasn't Morgan Freeman run for President yet?
There is one cliche that are usually in monster movies. This big monster goes on a rampage in the city. Usually, there are policemen, the SWAT team, and maybe the Marines. They are shooting at the monster with their guns and the bullets never phase the monster. I then roll my eyes and exclaimed, "You're wasting your ammo! Stop it!" That always drives me nuts!
Dante's Peak. Pierce Brosnan's best role, lol.
What about James Bond or GoldenEye?
typing this before watching.... #1 should be " it takes place America "
in^
+Nicholas Jones You can edit comments.
+Max Moser (aMAXproduction) not in mobile
+Nicholas Jones Better: "It takes place in the United States of America". I would be surprised if anything happen in Colombia, Mexico or Argentina
You were kinda close, but you forgot the 0
"They blew up Congress! Ha, ha, ha!"
good list.
It's not just pets who get plot shielded thicker than the vaults at Fort Knox, kids are even more likely to always, always, always survive. This is not even just a disaster movie trope as it tends to be universal in American mainstream movies. The only time children die is if it happens before the events of the narrative proper and includes grieving parents who will almost surely get another kid, or adopt one, or in some way get a token kid as replacement. As a result it becomes virtually possible to get invested in child characters as I know for a fact no harm will come to then. That and the fact that Hollywood kids are so horribly annoying I keep wishing someone would saw them in half. From making truly dumb comments to shrieking wildly all the time to acting all pissy at nothing, children in movies tend to be dreadful.
What I really like about Disaster films are the epic speeches from the president, that end with "God bless America" before everything goes to hell.
"Boomer!!!" "Oh no, you don't shoot that green shit at me!" "Welcome to earth!" "Now that's what I call a close encounter!" However cheesy and bad people think about Independence Day, that movie had been my teenager escape from the cruel real world since forever...my guilty pleasure when I grown up. It's still my favorite movie of this genre, and Will Smith is still the best funky hero ever for me. XD
The only reason i clicked on this was because it only came out a minute ago.
Same
+Raihaan Malik 11 hours ago :/ im early
Top 10 Memes (ง❍෴❍)ง
͡° ͜ʖ ͡°
yes
ヽ(^。^)ノ
if u like give a hell yeah
+Cortez Stewart HELL YEA
Roses are red My names not dave this makes no sense microwave
+Kasper It's...*beautiful* *sniffle-sniffle*
Burma-Shave
Independence Day Ressurgence will probably have all of those cliches lol
I don't know how you never run out of ideas.
The elderly couple who just hug each other when the tsunami approaches
Obvious one that was not on here: How the disaster perfectly follows the main character with a straight path of destruction. Or it could be said - to steal a catch phrase from Jeremy at Cinesins - how everyone runs the same way the path of destruction is occurring aka the Prometheus school of running. A building is falling from north to south. Let us run from north to south and not dart to the east or west.
the old person sacrifice 😂😂😂
Excelente resumen!!
Here's my idea for a Sci Fi disaster film: "A humanoid alien race invades the earth. They lost their planet and they need another one. So they decide to cause lots of natural disasters to kill the human race. But the whole mankind, with the help of those aliens against the genocide, counterattack the aliens" This film wouldn't contain cliches. For example: -These aliens don't attack mankind by pure evil, but because they lost their planet and need another one -The only american city not to be destroyed is going to be New York -Nobody would anticipate the invasion -Among the ruins of the buildings and cities, there would've be lots of corpses of Kids and adults alike -About that, a scene would include a tsunami hitting a school bus full of children -The "Divorced couple" cliche would be given a twist: it would be a happily married couple until one of them dies in one of the disasters -Every president in the world would give a speech to their respective countries -The aliens mothership would be destroyed because somebody sacrifices his life by crashing a military plane full of nuclear warheads. Thus saving the world -That somebody wouldn't be american. He would be russian, french, german, polish, greek or something like that. -But that doesn't mean the U.S. army would just sit and do nothing. They would help. But they wouldn't be the ones who end up saving the world.
70s disaster movies were the best. Ive watched Poseidon Adventure. Its a good movie. I really need to watch Towering Inferno
The Nostalgia Critic would be so proud.
more like cinema sins
You missed the obvious one: if there's a team who's job is to halt the disaster there's almost guaranteed to be the following combination of people in it: Grumpy old veteran Rebel who comes good at the end One female crew member A black guy Crazy European who might turn out to be evil
The world may be coming to an end but I loved every bit of that!
3:50..."Boomer Will Live."
top 10 songs that dont say the title
I laughed so hard at the use of the Joker meme!
I love this channel
thank goodness pets don't die.that makes me cry every time.
stupid questions by kids like "Daddy, when can we go home? you just saw the whole world destroyed.
+Cameron Hayes xD
I kind of wish I had a garage rock band just so I could call it 'The Old Person Sacrifice'.
Good list haha
top 10 movies where the black guy dies first
+When She Shows You Her Moves that is racist
😂👍
+When She Shows You Her Moves No1: forrest gump
Final Destination 3 , the two girls became niggas and died
Top 10 Disaster Film Cliches
wait what
the two movies that break all these rules is Alex Proyas's Knowing and Lars Von terrier's Melancholia period.
Maybe because the 3 people that saw them aren't on this thread
I find that these clichés fit modern disaster films more than the ones from the 1970s.
I'm early and desire attention
Stfu
+Nightshade Productions Stfu
K
K
K
THEY BLEW UP CONGRESS!!! LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wiping out corruption (literally) can only be a good thing!
Corruption doesn't originate from a hundred year old concrete building, but from an impure heart.
Another cliche is that the only way to survive is to either be an expert in that disaster or directly know someone else who is
Lol
Awesome!
Wanna know how to get likes? Say: "Independence Day is awesome."
I love your profile pic its so patriotic
Nah.
Independence Day is AWFUL!!! Where's my trophey?
+Jason Bourne reported lmao
+Austin Phillips Thank you.
everything is cliche just breathing is like jfc be original gawsh
Bill Pullman's speech was neither silly or corny, IT WAS FUCKING AWESOME!
I'm from his hometown!
The funny guy who is always making light out of darn situations
Did they really just call foreshadowing a cliche? That's a basic storytelling technique!
cliche doesn't necessarily mean a bad thing.
Biggest cliche: US saves the world
+Chechab That is true, the hero(s) who comes up with the solution is always an American, at least when the whole world is involved.
most of these are American movies..
That's why I can't bear to watch Independence Day
Don't wanna sound arrogant but we are the most powerful country in the world.. There's a good chance it would be us.. Although it could also be Russia or perhaps china
wow, this was a really eye opener....O_O
Where do Watchmojo get their background music for their videos? These songs are really good!
could you imagine Donald trump give the president speech at the end of the world. if thats not a reason not to have him in power then we are doomed anyway
8th wonder of the world He wouldn't bother giving a speech, he would just go for blowing up the threat.
Nice Nostalgia Critic reference on #7!!!
That one smart guy who lives alone and predicts/knows whats going to happen but everyone ignores him because they think he's insane except for the main character who listens to the guy but the guy dies and the main character saves the world.
The Law like Woody Harrelson in 2012
The one where the camera zooms out to outer space at the end.
I see the little twist you put to the joker quote ;)
They forgot one more disaster movie cliche...LOOTING
Seriously, once the point of stealing 70' TV if there's no electricity!💡
Airplane manages to make a miraculous takeoff despite being inches away from burning lava, pyroclastic flow, extremely hot fire or falling debris.
I can really agree. Made me mystified how the pet survived among other cliches.
Bad movie science is probably the most common cliche in all these movies. A geologist student friend of mine told me how after taking a bunch of science classes it was painful to rewatch The Day After Tomorrow. That movie is inspired by a disaster book co-authored by Art Bell so that probably explains why the movie "science" in that film is so over the top.
+GuineaPigDan There's really no science in these films. You just watch them to enjoy the drama, the action and the destruction. And occasionally a good plot.
Here are some other Disaster Film cliches: Apocalyptic Scenario Natural Disasters Random Explosions City Destruction Anyone Can Die Fight to Survive Red Shirt Nuclear War Pandemics Alien Invasion Shipwrecks Ice Age The Apocalypse Brings Out the Best in People
"The Stupid Higher-Ups" always ticks me off.
The disaster "chasing" the character. I mean, it's like that earthquake/volcano/tornado/lightning storm/meteor shower/building collapse has it in for YOU SPECIFICALLY!!!! And it always goes only just as fast as the character can run/drive/fly/swim.
Bahahahahahaaaaa! 😂 So true!
Christy Redden ... but you'll be OK as long as you keeeeeeep going!
Disaster films are basically tech destruction videos on a city-sized scale. It's satisfying to watch something break.
I find it quite funny they used clips from I Am Legend for #5 when that's one of the very few movies were the dog is actually killed.
I love the divorced couple cliche.
that ID4 speech was stirring
Here's something to avoid clichés: -The main character is happily married. -The hero's wife dies during the film's run -The one who stops the aliens is either another alien or a foreign guy. Like a russian, french, german or asian guy, among other nationalities. But that doesn't mean the americans just sit there and do nothing
I will have to admit those speeches are great
4:40 Had a massive Nostalgia Critic moment :D "Boomer, Will Live!"
Computers with experts working on them and their colleagues watching like it's an E-sports event.