LAST UPDATED: 11 December 2022
“So, what you’re telling me is that there’s something out there in space. You don’t know what it’s made of but you’re pretty sure it’s headed toward Earth. It may break up and burn off but you don’t know exactly where. It may change course and miss but you don’t know exactly when. Well, I’m grateful for all the expert advice.“
A Fire in the Sky
(1978)
A chronological list of every asteroid and comet impact movie and TV drama ever made. All of them. A fanciful claim, perhaps, which may be as farfetched as some of the drama on the list — but there are 105 titles on this list. In some, the threat may be a planetary body that is not technically an asteroid or comet, but a threat to Earth nonetheless. Links are to Amazon, IMDb, iTunes, Netflix, YouTube, Internet Archive, some other film archive, or the film company website.
Click here to view an A-Z with plot summaries
1910s
The End of the World aka The Flaming Sword (1916) [Silent film]. Danish Film Institute | Film Archive | DVD
1930s
The End of the World aka La Fin du Monde (1931) [French film]. Clips with commentary
1950s
When Worlds Collide (1951). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US — collisional threat is a rogue star (in the book, a planet)
The Adventures of Superman: “Panic in the Sky” (1953) [S2 Ep 12]. Watch UK | Watch US
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger: Bobby’s Comet aka Menace from Outer Space (1954). Watch UK | Watch US | YouTube
Rocky Jones, Space Ranger: Crash of Moons aka Crash of the Moons (1954). Watch UK | Watch US | YouTube
Warning from Space aka Uchūjin Tokyo ni arawaru (1956) translated as Spacemen Appear in Tokyo. Watch UK | Watch US | Japanese Trailer | Internet Archive
The Monolith Monsters (1957). Watch UK | Watch US | Internet Archive
The Day the Sky Exploded aka La Morte Viene dallo Spazio (1958) translated as Death Comes from Outer Space. Watch UK | Watch US | Internet Archive
The Lost Missile (1958). Watch UK | Watch US | Internet Archive — collisional threat is a “missile-like” unknown (I included it anyway)
1960s
Gorath aka Yōsei Gorasu (1962) translated as Ominous Star Gorath. Trailer | DVD | Internet Archive | Clips on YouTube
The Day of the Triffids (1962/1981/2008). Watch 1962 | Watch 1981 | Watch 2008
Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet aka Planeta Bur (1965) translated as Planet of Storms. Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
The Green Slime aka Ganmā Daisan Gō: Uchū Daisakusen (1968) translated as Gamma 3: Great Space War. Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US | Internet Archive (original Japanese version)
1970s
A Fire in the Sky (1978). Watch — one of the best, in my humble opinion
Meteor (1979). Trailer | Watch UK Watch US
1980s
Night of the Comet (1984). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
The Curse aka The Farm (1987). Trailer | Watch — and see remakes of the same story The Colour Out of Space (2010) and Color Out of Space (2019)
Mobile Suit Gundam: Char’s Counterattack (1988). Watch
1990s
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman: “All Shook Up” (1994) [S1 Ep 12]. Watch UK | Watch US
Without Warning (1994). Watch YouTube | Watch Amazon
Sliders: “Last Days” (1995) [S1 Ep 3]. Watch UK | Watch US
The Simpsons: “Bart’s Comet” (1995) [S6 Ep 14]. Watch UK | Watch US
The Cusp (1996). Watch
Asteroid (1997). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Doomsday Rock aka Cosmic Shock (1997). Watch
Starship Troopers (1997). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
The Fifth Element (1997). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US — collisional threat is a big ball of evil
Armageddon (1998). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Deep Impact (1998). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Meteorites! (1998). Watch
Pete’s Meteor (1998). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Tycus (1998). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Futurama: “A Big Piece of Garbage” (1999) [S1 Ep 8]. Watch UK | Watch US
Judgment Day (1999). Trailer | Watch (YouTube) | Watch UK | Watch US
The Last Train aka Cruel Earth (1999). Watch
2000s
Evolution (2001). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Stargate SG-1: “Fail Safe” (2002) [S5 Ep 17]. Watch UK | Watch US
Undead (2003). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Post Impact (2004). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
The West Wing: “Impact Winter” (2004) [S6 Ep 9]. Watch UK | Watch US
Deadly Skies (2006). Watch UK | Watch US | DVD — and its alternative cut is Force of Impact aka Ultimate Limit (2006), same plot, different love interest
Earth Storm (2006). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Force of Impact aka Ultimate Limit (2006). Watch UK | Watch US | Watch (You Tube) — and its alternative cut Deadly Skies (2006), same plot, different love interest
Meltdown: Days of Destruction (2006). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Anna’s Storm aka Hell’s Rain (2007). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Danny Phantom: “Phantom Planet” (2007) [S3 Ep 12–13]. Watch UK | Watch US
Futureshock: Comet Impact (2007) aka Impact Earth (2008). Trailers
The Apocalypse (2007). Watch
The Sarah Jane Adventures: “Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?” (2007) [S1 Ep 7–8]. Watch
The Super Comet (2007). Trailer (ZDF) | Part 1: The Impact | Part 2: On a Strange Planet | Parts 1 & 2 Amazon — an absolute must-see
Before the Fall aka Tres Días (2008). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Impact (2008). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Total Eclipse aka Fall of Hyperion (2008). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Fish Story (2009). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US | Internet Archive | Song — how can such a great film not reach anybody?
Meteor (2009). Watch UK Pt 1 | Watch UK Pt 2 | Watch US
Polar Storm (2009). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
2010s
Axis: First Shift (2010). Watch
Meteor Apocalypse (2010). Watch UK | Watch US
Meteor Storm (2010). Trailer | Watch UK
The Colour Out of Space aka Die Farbe (2010). Watch YouTube | Watch UK Amazon | Watch US Amazon — and see other versions of the same story Color Out of Space (2019) and The Curse (1987)
Apocalypse, CA (2011). Trailer | Watch US
Collision Earth (2011). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US — collisional threat is Mercury
Melancholia (2011). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
The Onion News Network: “Asteroid Heads to Earth” (2011) [S2 Ep 1]. Watch UK | Watch US
The Size of Texas (2011) [3m short]. Watch — best appreciated by watching Armageddon first
Wizards of Waverly Place: “Wizards vs Asteroid” (2011) [UK: S4 Ep 17; US: S108 Ep 3]. Watch UK | Watch US
Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (2012). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Blaze TV: Asteroid! (2013) [3m short]. Watch
Stonado (2013). Watch UK | Watch US
These Final Hours (2013). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Apocalypse Tomorrow aka Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse aka Zodiac: Signs of Destruction (2014). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Asteroid vs Earth (2014). Watch UK | Watch US | DVD
Icetastrophe (2014). Watch UK | Watch US
Mutant World (2014). Watch UK | Watch US
Asteroid: Final Impact aka Asteroid Impact aka Meteor Assault (2015). Trailer | Watch
Earthfall (2015). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Impact Earth (2015). Trailer | Watch
One-Punch Man: “The Ultimate Disciple” (2015) [S1, Ep 7]. Watch UK | Watch (DVD) | Watch US
You, Me and the Apocalypse (2015). Watch UK | Watch US
The Expanse (2015-2022). Watch UK | Watch US — weaponised asteroids in S2 (Ep 4/5); S4 (Ep 10); S5 (Ep 4), but most of S5 is relevant, too
Doomsday: 10 Ways the World Will End (2016) [Ep 1: “Killer Asteroid”; Ep 3 “Rogue Planet”]. Clip Ep 1 | Clip Ep 3 | Watch UK | Watch US — a dramatized documentary
Hope (2016) [7m short]. Watch — an excellent short film
Ice Age: Collision Course (2016). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Resignation (2016) [13m short]. Watch
Your Name aka Kimi no Na wa (2016). Trailer | UK (subtitled) | UK (dubbed) | Watch US — a wonderful anime film
Gli Asteroidi aka The Asteroids (2017). Watch UK | Watch US
Origin (2017). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Seven Minutes to Closing (2017) [14m short]. Watch — another great short film
Salvation (2017-18). Trailer S1 | Amazon UK S1 | Amazon US S1 & S2 | Netflix S1 & S2
Tik Tik Tik (2018). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Color Out of Space (2019). Watch UK | Watch US — and see earlier versions of the same story The Colour Out of Space (2010) and The Curse (1987)
The Wandering Earth (2019). Watch — collisional threat is Jupiter
2020s
Asteroid-a-Geddon (2020). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Collision Earth (2020). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Greenland (2020). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Meteor Moon (2020). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Asteroid (2021). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Don’t Look Up (2021). Trailer | Watch
Flyby (2021) [13m short]. Watch
How It Ends (2021). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US — the only socially-distanced one
Moon Crash (2022). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US
Moonfall (2022). Trailer | Watch UK | Watch US — collisional threat is the Moon (aka an alien megastructure)
And that’s a wrap for IMPACT! (the Index of Moving Pictures about Asteroid and Comet Threats) that lists every asteroid and comet impact disaster movie or TV drama ever made. If you want more, read the really long version, or read the article that covers asteroid mining in the movies, or if you want something completely different there’s an engaging little story about some problems on what is clearly a unique P-type asteroid, called A Day on the Asteroid (2009) (Trailer | Watch).
If you notice any errors, omissions or dead links, or have any other comments, please get in touch.
You must be logged in to post a comment.