All-Star Disaster Movies: Is 'Contagion' most likely probably the most Star-Studded of these?

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