The Best Disaster Movies and TV Shows on HBO
Finding a good Disaster movie and TV show to watch can be hard, so we've ranked the best ones and included where to watch them. Check out our list of the best Disaster movies and TV shows of all time streaming on HBO.
1. Chernobyl
What it's about: The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Where to Watch: 5 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO). 5 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Vudu & YouTube).
2. Shaun of the Dead
What it's about: Shaun lives a supremely uneventful life, which revolves around his girlfriend, his mother, and, above all, his local pub. This gentle routine is threatened when the dead return to life and make strenuous attempts to snack on ordinary Londoners.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
3. Cast Away
What it's about: Chuck Nolan, a top international manager for FedEx, and Kelly, a Ph.D. student, are in love and heading towards marriage. Then Chuck's plane to Malaysia crashes at sea during a terrible storm. He's the only survivor, and finds himself marooned on a desolate island. With no way to escape, Chuck must find ways to survive in his new home.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
4. Die Hard: With a Vengeance
What it's about: New York detective John McClane is back and kicking bad-guy butt in the third installment of this action-packed series, which finds him teaming with civilian Zeus Carver to prevent the loss of innocent lives. McClane thought he'd seen it all, until a genius named Simon engages McClane, his new "partner" -- and his beloved city -- in a deadly game that demands their concentration.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
5. Independence Day
What it's about: On July 2, a giant alien mothership enters orbit around Earth and deploys several dozen saucer-shaped 'destroyer' spacecraft that quickly lay waste to major cities around the planet. On July 3, the United States conducts a coordinated counterattack that fails. On July 4, a plan is devised to gain access to the interior of the alien mothership in space, in order to plant a nuclear missile.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 7 services (iTunes, Google Play & 5 others).
6. Die Hard 2
What it's about: Off-duty cop John McClane is gripped with a feeling of déjà vu when, on a snowy Christmas Eve in the nation’s capital, terrorists seize a major international airport, holding thousands of holiday travelers hostage. Renegade military commandos led by a murderous rogue officer plot to rescue a drug lord from justice and are prepared for every contingency except one: McClane’s smart-mouthed heroics.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
7. Enemy of the State
What it's about: A hotshot Washington criminal lawyer becomes the target of a rogue security executive videotaped in the act of murdering a congressman when the incriminating tape is surreptitiously slipped into his shopping bag by the videographer, who is fleeing the executive's assassins.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
8. The English Patient
What it's about: In the 1930s, Count Almásy is a Hungarian map maker employed by the Royal Geographical Society to chart the vast expanses of the Sahara Desert along with several other prominent explorers. As World War II unfolds, Almásy enters into a world of love, betrayal, and politics.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
9. Frequency
What it's about: When a rare phenomenon gives police officer John Sullivan the chance to speak to his father, 30 years in the past, he takes the opportunity to prevent his dad's tragic death. After his actions inadvertently give rise to a series of brutal murders he and his father must find a way to fix the consequences of altering time.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).
10. The Towering Inferno
What it's about: At the opening party of a colossal—but poorly constructed—office building, a massive fire breaks out, threatening to destroy the tower and everyone in it.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $14.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
11. Underwater
What it's about: After an earthquake destroys their underwater station, six researchers must navigate two miles along the dangerous, unknown depths of the ocean floor to make it to safety in a race against time.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $5.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).
12. Grand Canyon
What it's about: Grand Canyon revolved around six residents from different backgrounds whose lives intertwine in modern-day Los Angeles. At the center of the film is the unlikely friendship of two men from different races and classes brought together when one finds himself in jeopardy in the other's rough neighborhood.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO).
13. Hours
What it's about: A father struggles to keep his infant daughter alive in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
14. Something Borrowed
What it's about: Though Rachel is a successful attorney and a loyal, generous friend, she is still single. After one drink too many at her 30th-birthday celebration, Rachel unexpectedly falls into bed with her longtime crush, Dex -- who happens to be engaged to her best friend, Darcy. Ramifications of the liaison threaten to destroy the women's lifelong friendship, while Ethan, Rachel's confidant, harbors a potentially explosive secret of his own.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).
15. Sometimes in April
What it's about: Debra Winger, Oris Erhuero and Idris Elba star in this drama framed by the Rwandan genocide.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
16. Flight of the Phoenix
What it's about: When an oil rig in the Gobi Desert of Mongolia proves unproductive, an aircraft crew are sent to shut the operation down. However, on their way to Beijing, a major dust storm forces them to crash their C-119 Flying Boxcar in an uncharted area of the desert.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).
17. The Hindenburg
What it's about: In this highly speculative historical thriller, Colonel Franz Ritter (George C. Scott), a former hero pilot now working for military intelligence, is assigned to the great Hindenburg airship as its chief of security. As he races against the clock to uncover a possible saboteur aboard the doomed zeppelin he finds that any of the passengers and crew could be the culprit.
Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO MAX & HBO) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).
18. Tsunami: The Aftermath
What it's about: Tsunami: The Aftermath is a television mini-series that was broadcast in two parts in 2006. It dramatizes the events following the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and the resulting tsunami in Thailand. Tsunami: The Aftermath is a joint production of HBO and the BBC and stars Tim Roth, Toni Collette, Sophie Okonedo, Samrit Machielsen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Savannah Loney. It was filmed in Phuket and Khao Lak, Thailand from April to June 2006. Phuket and Khao Lak were two of the worst hit areas in the country in the December 26, 2004 disaster.
Where to Watch: 2 episodes (100%) are available to stream on a subscription service (HBO). 2 episodes (100%) are available to rent or buy from $1.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & YouTube).