It could be argued, that MAN OF STEEL is such a movie. What's lacking in most of those spectables is a sense of progression. It is, after all, the hardest thing to do. The stakes have to be raised each time the opponent (in this case nature) attacks our ensemble of heroes. MAN OF STEEL has fight sequence after fight sequence. It all looks gorgeous, but there's no progression and therefore it groes tiresome. Likewise, Roland Emmerich's 2012 exists of a number of sequences where we see our heroes running and flying off in a plane, always escaping their doom in the final second. They repeat this over and over again. All that changes is that they go for a bigger plane each time.

Sven, your comments put a spotlight on a key issue related to any story, but in particular big spectacle movies such as disaster films: The importance of having a small story against the backdrop of the BIG STORY. And not just a small story, but one with an authentic emotional core to it, something a script reader can find some emotional resonance with. Otherwise, as you note, all the pyrotechnics become just so much noise, and grow "tiresome." This is a major concern I have with any big superhero movie as I walk into the theater. I know I'm going to get eye-popping visuals. But what am I going to FEEL? Which characters, if any, will I find something genuine to IDENTIFY with? It's interesting to note that the marketing campaign for "Pacific Rim" just came out with their 3rd and final trailer. And as the headline in /film said yesterday, "This one focuses on humans." That right there highlights the whole issue: They don't start with human characters, they start with the whammo factor. Months and months of energy pushing that. Then a scant 10 days or so before the movie comes out, now they toss in the human factor. I really hope "Pacific Rim" does well for a bunch of reasons. If it does, I'm willing to bet one reason why it develops legs and has a sustained run is because screenwriters Beacham and del Toro did a good job servicing the small stories against the canopy of the BIG STORY.

Another disaster movie is This is the End, which is in theaters now. It also is a comedy, a buddy movie (which I guess is actually the basis of the story) and a thought-provoking moralistic tale. I think disaster movies not only deal with our fear of death but, on the flip side, also explore what it is about our life that gives it meaning.