8 Best Disaster Movies To Watch If You Loved Greenland

Fans of disaster movies like Greenland have plenty of choices to check out, including the upcoming sequel. Greenland was a surprising hit even amid the pandemic lockdowns, and the disaster film is getting a follow-up in the form of Greenland 2: Migration, which revisits John Garrity and his efforts to protect his family in a comet-ravaged world.

Disaster movies have existed long before Greenland, but Gerald Butler's big-scale story and smaller emotional focus take important lessons from what came before to deliver an emotional riff on the genre. If you loved Greenland's balance between the massive scale of disaster movies and a resilient and tragic humanity, make sure to check out these films.

Deep Impact (1998)

Similar to Greenland's use of comets to cause mass destruction around the world, but retained focus on the people trying to survive the crisis, Deep Impact's massive scale makes it a great peer to Greenland. Both movies see rocks descending from space and crashing into the planet, causing global catastrophes.

What makes Deep Impact a more great counterpoint to Greenland than something like Armageddon is the way the Morgan Freeman-led film deals with the gravitas of the situation without sacrificing the focus on humans caught up in the chaos. The tragic core of both films separates it from their more spectacle-driven brethren.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

The Day After Tomorrow takes early 2000s fears about global warming and amplifies them through the blockbuster machine, all while highlighting the sheer danger of the elements in a way Greenland replicates. While The Day After Tomorrow's ecological escalation may go further than Greenland's more grounded approach, both films use the story reflect on families amid catastrophes.

The Day After Tomorrow's central dynamic between a father and son is similar to the way Greenland grounds the chaos in John's efforts to save and be reunited with his family. Both films use a very human story as a means of keeping the over-the-top moments from overwhelming the narrative, keeping the audience engaged on an emotional level.

Children Of Men (2006)

While the disaster of Greenland may be more visually arresting than the slow-burning end of humanity in Children of Men, the Clive Owen sci-fi film is a great tonal pairing with Greenland. Both movies take their typically bombastic genres and explore them from a more gritty and grounded perspective, both action-wise and in character-driven ways.

Children of Men's other big tonal connection to Greenland is the way it highlights the ways humanity can be challenged and transformed by the catastrophe. While Children of Men spends more time mired in the darker elements of the storytelling, both films have a dark view of humanity that won't dismiss nobility, but doesn't shy away from cruelty either.

2012 (2009)

One of the biggest disaster movies ever made, 2012 is a grim adventure movie that uses the globe-trotting plot to showcase just how destructive the natural end of the world may be. 2012 uses some of the most impressive visual effects of the era to create a version of the world that is falling apart at the seams.

The disaster scenes in 2012 took the massive horrors of the concept and amplified them in a way only blockbusters can. While Greenland doesn't push the world to the brink quite as hard, they share a fascination with the end of the world and the lengths people will go to save their families amid the chaos.

The Wave (2015)

The Norwegian disaster film has a lot in common with Greenland, preferring a more grounded approach to the concept. The Wave follows a geologist named Kristian who is separated from his family amid a tsunami striking an idyllic northern tourist spot. Similar to Greenland's focus on a family struggling amid a catastrophe, Kristian's arc is a fitting counterpart to John.

Submitted in 2015 as Norway's contender for the Best Foreign Film at the Academy Awards, The Wave feels like the middle-ground between The Impossible and Greenland. If you're a fan of Greenland and Gerald Butler's performance, you'll also likely enjoy Kristoffer Joner's swing at the same genre.

Geostorm (2017)

Gerard Butler had already gotten some experience in the disaster movie genre thanks to Geostorm, which makes for a decent companion piece to Greenland. When a set of climate-controlling satellites malfunctions and causes a massive global disruption, erratic weather patterns threaten to wipe out humanity.

While the film wasn't well-received by critics and flopped with audiences, Geostorm is at least a good showcase of what Butler could do in the disaster movie genre. Fans of Greenland will find the DNA of what Butler uses to fuel his performance in the 2020 film, and should have fun with the over-the-top effects of Geostorm.

Thirteen Lives (2022)

A disaster movie with a clear eye on the potential cost of every move made, Thirteen Lives is a harrowing tale with a lot thematically in common with Greenland. While the global scope of Gerald Butler's film may dwarf the more intimate focus of Thirteen Lives, Ron Howard's film is just as focused on the specifics of rescue and survival.

Recounting the true events of the Tham Luang cave rescue, Thirteen Lives has a blunt appraisal of the danger of the situation and an eye on the emotional weight that underlines every decision. It all adds a clear emotional edge to the heavier thriller elements, something Greenland also mines to good effect.

Greenland 2: Migration (2026)

While it may seem obvious, anyone who liked Greenland definitely needs to check out Greenland 2: Migration. Dealing with the aftermath of the disaster that rocked the world and wiped out most of society, Greenland 2: Migration revisits the Garrity family as they try to endure the challenges — both natural and human-made — that threaten their continued survival.

Intense when it needs to be and creative with its dangers, the thing that makes Greenland 2: Migration so effective is the way it escalates the danger of the previous film without taking away from the emotional heart. Greenland's look at a flawed but resilient humanity is expanded upon well by Greenland 2: Migration.