Top 10 Intense Movie Storms

Starting off our list is the Martin Scorsese-directed remake of the 1962 classic of the same name. Scorsese has added intense storms to a few of his other films like “The Wolf of Wall Street”. “Cape Fear”’s storm, however, takes place on a river in North Carolina in Sam Bowden’s houseboat. It also features violent thunder, dangerous tides, and revenge-seeking Robert De Niro and Nick Nolte holding an improvised trial while the boat remains pilot-less. And you thought courtroom dramas were intense!

This entry on our list combines two things completely not associated with each other: tornadoes and sharks. That’s right…tornadoes…and sharks. While on paper it sounds like a terrible nightmare, the execution in this made-for-TV movie gave it a cult-like following. When a cyclone off the coast of L.A. carries sharks onto shore, the ensuing mayhem is disastrous…and hilarious in ridiculous ways. Not even the cheesy looking “CGI” sharks could take away from “Sharknado”’s awesomeness.

This entry on our list takes the usual heist movie recipe and simply “adds water”. Set in Indiana during a terrible rainstorm, we meet two armored truck drivers who get robbed. The money is then stashed away, so a hunt for the stolen funds follows. The fact that it was filmed inside of an enormous tank with a replica town built inside of it made for a controllable yet realistic look through the use of practical effects only. Although the action thriller might have been panned by critics, it’s hard not to at least admire the filmmakers’ dedication to realism.

P.T. Anderson makes our list with his 1999 film “Magnolia.” Throughout the movie, the director makes references to the book of Exodus, specifically chapter eight, verse two. That passage talks about one of the plagues that God cursed Egypt with when the Pharaoh would not free his slaves, which was smiting “all thy borders with frogs.” What makes this storm so special is its symbolism in the drama. The characters each react to the storm differently and the audience is left to interpret it in many different ways.

This film is based on the true story of the real-life ship Albatross and her crew, which consists of Captain Skipper and several teenage boys learning how to sail. While the boys are bonding and becoming sailors, their ship is hit with what is known as a white squall. While some believe this type of phenomenon to be a myth, what differentiates it from a regular windstorm on the sea is the appearance of white-tipped waves and the absence of black clouds, which means you get no warning until it is too late. While the storm in the drama is undoubtedly terrifying, it also helps bring the crew closer together.

This is the survival story we all know and love. When a FedEx employee named Chuck Noland has to travel to Malaysia to fix productivity issues, his plane gets taken down by a violent thunderstorm. Our perspective stays on Chuck the whole time so we feel every tense moment - from when the water comes crashing in until he reaches the surface – until we see the destruction and ruin only Mother Nature could cause. And so, his lonely journey begins.

The most recent entry on our list brings us tornadoes from the found footage perspective. When two students start filming a time capsule project and a team of storm chasers heads to their town trying to get new footage, they end up getting more than they bargained for. The tornadoes in this film are massive, deadly, and destroy everything in their path. And just when things couldn’t get any worse, an explosion turns a tornado into a “firenado”. This rare phenomenon has never been portrayed so brilliantly on film before.

Out of all the entries on our list, this one takes the award for most variety. The cause behind all of the chaotic weather is none other than global warming. Polar ice starts melting as a result and what ensues is scientifically inaccurate yet ridiculously awesome destruction. Tornadoes in Los Angeles, rising tides in New York City, and another ice age are the main attractions in this disaster flick. Amazingly shot with breathtaking visuals, if there is anything Roland Emmerich does well, it’s destruction.

The title of this movie says it all. When a group of fishermen out at sea are caught in, you guessed it, a perfect storm, they have to fight the weather to make it back to shore. The tension is very real as the crew has nowhere to run and no choice but to ride through the extreme weather. The realism of the visuals is breathtaking. Based on true events and on an actual storm that happened in 1991, it’s scary trying to imagine actually being caught in this hurricane - and with this disaster drama we don’t have to.

Before we report on number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Tropical Storm on Isla Nublar
“Jurassic Park” (1993)
- Puzzling Snowstorm
“The Shining” (1980)
- Island Thunderstorm
“Shutter Island” (2010)
- Solo Storm at Sea
“Life of Pi” (2013)
- Alaskan Blizzard
“The Grey” (2011)

Spinning in at number one is the classic “visuals over characters” disaster film known as “Twister”. In the movie, we follow a team of storm chasers as they follow a series of tornadoes in Oklahoma in order to deploy a research device to better understand them. What follows are gigantic tornadoes carrying high speed flying debris, houses, and cows. Nominated for an Oscar for visual effects, even today the visuals in this drama are still scary real.

Do you agree with our list? What do you think is the best movie storm? For more destructive top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.