As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

As The Light Goes Out: 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

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Hollywood doesn’t have a monopoly on disaster films. We take a look at some of the best international disaster films out there.

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As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

Anything can go wrong at any time and movies like reminding us of this fact. Disaster films normally depict an impending or present disaster and the frantic attempts by people to survive. While there is usually one or two main protagonists, ensemble casts are often used.

Even though Hollywood has the lion’s share of disaster films spanning several decades, there have been plenty of interesting international films as well. Some focus on artificial disasters such as the Chinese film As The Light Goes Out while others focus on natural disasters. Here are the best ones.

10 The Wave (2015)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

In this Norwegian disaster film, everything seems normal in the lush tourist destination of Geiranger in Norway’s Sunnmøre region. But just when geologist Kristian is planning to move on to a better paying gig in the oil industry, she notices something weird.

It looks like the mountain overlooking the tourist destination is about to crumble courtesy of tsunami. She issues a warning but no one believes her at first. Then disaster strikes. The mountain starts crumbling at a fast rate, giving everyone only a few minutes to flee.

9 Pandora (2016)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

This well-written South-Korean thriller film tries to emphasize how mega corporations care less about anything else other than money and how governments are irresponsible. In the movie, a power plant worker tries to save lives and contain a nuclear disaster using the little resources he has.

It all begins when an earthquake occurs. Pyung-Sub tables his concerns about the the poor state of the power plant but he is ignored. Soon, a nuclear explosion occurs at the plant as a result of the earthquake. Things quickly go out of control, creating a very thrilling and emotional film.

8 Metro (2013)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

Russian films don’t often get international recognition but once in a while, a few of them stand out. Take for example the 2013 disaster film Metro. In the movie, Moscow’s transit system which runs under the Moscow River begins to have leaks.

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One of the workers notices it and informs the assistant station master but he is ignored. Soon, water from the river breaches the ceiling of the tunnel, causing the underground transit system to flood. Passengers are thus left to fight for their lives.

7 Aftershock (2010)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

Set in 1976, the Chinese language masterpiece follows Li Yuanni, a mother living in the city of Tangshan with her two kids. Life is good until a devastating earthquake tears through the city, destroying everything in its path. Li soon discovers that her children are trapped beneath a concrete slab.

Breaking it would be dangerous since only one child can be saved. The rescue workers ask Li who she’d like to save and she chooses the boy. Luckily, the girl survives after being left for dead and is later adopted by another family. While the boy grows to be a disappointment, the girl becomes a doctor and moves to Canada.

6 The Chain Reaction (1980)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

The plot in the Australian indie film revolves around an engineer named Heinrich Schmidt who works at a nuclear facility. When an earthquake hits rural Australia, a massive radiation leak occurs at the facility, posing a danger to the groundwater.

Heinrich tries to warn the public but his superior wants the leak to be covered up. Heinrich’s conscience doesn’t allow him to accept the cover up so he flees the facility, getting himself injured in the process. On his way to warn the public hired guns begin to hunt him down.

5 Trap (2015)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

The Filipino film centers on the survivors of the Super Typhoon Haiyan which was one of the most powerful cyclones ever recorded in history. The cyclone ended up killing a total of 6300 people in the central region of the Philippines in 2015.

The movie follows the survivors as they try to go back to their normal lives after the disaster. Several real-life victims were interviewed before the making of the film. Trap also received a standing ovation at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival.

4 Stranded (2001)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

The 2001 Spanish film is actually set in the year 2020. It follows seven astronauts in the Ares spacecraft who are looking to land on Mars. However, an error occurs, causing the small landing craft of the spacecraft to crash and kill one of them.

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The five other members of the crew get stranded inside the landing craft, forcing the pilot of the Ares craft to go back to earth to seek help. The problem is that help cannot arrive until after 26 months yet the crew have supplies that would only last a few months.

3 Vajont (2001)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

Italian film Vajont tells the story of one of the worst disasters in the country’s history where a massive landslide caused water from a giant hydroelectric dam to overflow. The high-pressure water ended up washing away a number of small towns and villages.

Events in the film are based on the news accounts and book by the investigative journalist Tina Merlin. The movie also premiered at the same location where the disaster took place, with many of the survivors invited to attend.

2 Land Of Oblivion (2011)

As The Light Goes Out 10 Best Foreign Disaster Films

The Chernobyl disaster has been explored extensively in Hollywood but French film Land Of Oblivion (La Terre outragée) gave it a fresh outlook. In the movie, a firefighter named Pyotr who has just had a wedding sees his joy cut short when black rain drops begin falling from the sky.

Pyotr who lives near the Chernobyl nuclear power plant is summoned to help contain a fire that has just occured. The situation goes from bad to worse. Some people refuse to leave the area while others end up losing loved to ones yet they are unaware what is going on.

1 As The Light Goes Out (2014)

In the Hong Kong-Chinese film, two firefighters who are siblings are forced to spring into action when a liquor warehouse gets engulfed in a huge inferno on the night of their boss’ retirement. All indications show that the inferno will spread to a natural gas power plant nearby.

The firefighters thus find themselves in a race against time to make sure the fire doesn’t spread to the whole of Hong Kong. The film was nominated for plenty of wards in China, though it didn’t receive the same recognition abroad.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/as-the-light-goes-out-best-foreign-disaster-films/

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