# Best movie explosions! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596 "2005-12-01T19:25:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/1 "2005-12-01T19:25:08Z")
Everyone knows, a movie isnt worth a goddamn without an explosion every ten minutes. Here, in no particular order, are my top five movie blasts. 1: Opening credits, Die Hard With a Vengeance. I ha never seen an explosion like this, gritty, realistic, scary as hell. Out of nowhere, a building is reduced to rubble in a cloud of dust and glass. Vehicles are proppelled into the air (another first for me) as shocked pedestrians look on… Proof that CGI doesnt cut it when it comes to BLOWING SHIT UP. 2: Ultimart blowout, Gross point Blank. This is a bit more old school, a classic big fireball. This gets my vote for the events before and after: The look on Cusacks face when he sees the plastique in the microwave, to the hurt reaction of the most ungrateful clerk ever. Rewind. Rewatch. 3: Boiler meltdown, Metropolis. When watching a ninety year old movie, maybe you dont expect great effects. Or rather, you appreciate that they were “impressive in their day”. so when the boiler reaches a dangerous pressure early on in this '20s classic, the best you hope for is a big gust of steam, and the piano music to get more frentic. Which is why your jaw drops when the boiler goes nuclear, destroying the room and catapulting men every direction. Light years ahead of its time, impressive even today. 4: For Mathilda… Leon/ the proffesional. Not to spoil too much, but the payoff in this classic is suberb: a huge fireball blasts out of an alley and down the street as the camera races along beside it to capture its fury, throwing cars and SWAT members around like toys. All explosions should be like this. 5: The deeping wall goes up, The Two Towers. They didnt have gunpowder in those days. Or, in this land. Or whatever. What was that they put in the hole? A big ball? Thats what saruman was playing about with earlier, he filled it with some black powder… no, i missed that, I was in the john. Who’s this lad coming now, with the torch? Determined, isnt he? Whats he going… Good jesus. The second time I watched TTT in the cinema, I specifically turned and watched the audience at this moment, just to see 700 mouths fall open at once. Well, thats my lot. Anyone else got a favourite explosion? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/2 "2005-12-01T19:31:26Z")
\*\*The Mouse that Roared. \*\* You see a shot of the quadrium bomb going off, presumably destroying the Earth and all its inhabitants. Then a narrator comes on and says, “Ladies and gentlemen, this is not the end of the film. However, something like this might easily happen, and we thought we should put you in the proper mood. And now, back to our story.” Then they return to the chase. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/3 "2005-12-01T20:01:46Z")
Not a movie or a real explosion but: The Simpsons - demolition of Burns Casino “All right! Here comes the implosion!” “IMPLOSION!!! But I thought you said …” [Hotel explodes sending debris all over the place] ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/4 "2005-12-01T20:14:46Z")
The end of _Zabriskie Point_. My favorite movie explosion ever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/5 "2005-12-01T20:28:12Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Not a movie or a real explosion but: > The Simpsons - demolition of Burns Casino > > “All right! Here comes the implosion!” > “IMPLOSION!!! But I thought you said …” > [Hotel explodes sending debris all over the place] Also, every time a baby carriage goes over a cliff or a car hits a speed bump it explodes. I love that running gag. The Death Star was pretty cool, I must admit, both before and after it was enhanced with the fire ring. The explosions in _Saving Private Ryan_s final battle sequence were spectacular, especially in Dolby theater. I loved the realism of the dirt being kicked up and the craters when they were finished and ear drums being stopped up, etc… Coolest IMplosion, of course, is the collapse of the grand staircase dome in TITANIC. ---
**Author:** ![Malodorous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47774/32.png) [@Malodorous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malodorous)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/6 "2005-12-01T20:32:09Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > The Death Star was pretty cool, I must admit, both before and after it was enhanced with the fire ring. Destruction of Alderan was pretty shocking when I was a kid watching Ep IV. How often to movies blow up a whole planet. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/7 "2005-12-01T22:02:36Z")
After stealing the gummi Venus de Milo, Homer, with Marge, runs like hell out of the candy convention, chased by an angry mob of candy manufacturers. Thinking fast, he mixes a bag of pop rox with a can of Buzz cola, throws it into the mob. Giant fireball and hilarity ensues. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/8 "2005-12-01T22:19:28Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > After stealing the gummi Venus de Milo, Homer, with Marge, runs like hell out of the candy convention, chased by an angry mob of candy manufacturers. Thinking fast, he mixes a bag of pop rox with a can of Buzz cola, throws it into the mob. Giant fireball and hilarity ensues. See you in hell, candy boys. I also like the explosion at the beginning of Die Hard with a Vengence. By the same token, the bus blowing up in The Seige was pretty good. Also, another Bruce Willis movie, but in The Fifth Element, the explosion on the hotel/spaceship was, IIRC, the largest indoor explosion ever. ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/9 "2005-12-01T22:33:40Z")
From 1 to 3. The destruction of the: White House, Empire State Bldg & Capitol Records Bldg in ID4. ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/10 "2005-12-01T23:24:15Z")
> [@adam yax](#): > > Also, another Bruce Willis movie, but in The Fifth Element, the explosion on the hotel/spaceship was, IIRC, the largest indoor explosion ever. This is my understanding, too. Anyone hazard a guess as to the largest on-screen explosion ever? A real one, not alderaan blowing up. Clue: its in a really shitty movie. ---
**Author:** ![duality72](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duality72/32/3910_2.png) [@duality72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/duality72)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/11 "2005-12-01T23:43:44Z")
The airstrike on Col. Kurtz’s compound at the end of the 35mm version of _Apocalypse Now_. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/12 "2005-12-01T23:47:05Z")
Well, I’m gonna limit my selection to real pyrotechnics. Anyway, my top 3: 1. The carpet-bombing of the railroad yard by allied planes early in _The Train_. The French National Railways graciously donated a large locomotive shop facility slated for demolition. It got blowed up real good. 2. The triggering of the booby-trapped oil pumping facility near the end of _The Road Warrior_. Stuff goes flying every which way, including a large chunk of metal which lands uncomfortably near the camera and appears to have gone quite a lot further than the filmmakers expected. 3. Blofeld’s lair inside a Japanese volcano goes up at the end of _You Only Live Twice_. Aside from the autogyro _Little Nelly_, the best thing in a really rather silly movie. Honorable mention: not really an explosion per se, but the ep of \*Mythbusters where they tried to sandwich a car between two semitrucks colliding at a closing rate of 80MPH. That was pretty cool. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/13 "2005-12-01T23:51:35Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > This is my understanding, too. Anyone hazard a guess as to the largest on-screen explosion ever? A real one, not alderaan blowing up. Clue: its in a really shitty movie. The Burt Reynolds stunt-man flick _Hooper_? ---
**Author:** ![bubastis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d07c76/32.png) [@bubastis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bubastis)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2005, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/14 "2005-12-01T23:57:50Z")
Wow, I really forgot another grat explosion: The bridge gets taken out in Apocolypse Now. Consecutive dum-dum-dum-dum mortars followed by the wooden bridge disintegrating into splinters. Out-fucking-standing, team. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/15 "2005-12-02T00:15:41Z")
One of my favorites is in _Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid_ when Butch and Sundance are standing in front of a boxcar that contains a safe full of money. They’ve lit the fuse on what they hope is enough dynamite to open the safe; in fact the entire boxcar is abruptly blown to matchsticks, knocking the two to the ground and scattering money all over the place. Sundance: Think you used enough dynamite there, Butch? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/16 "2005-12-02T00:18:19Z")
All the heads in _Scanners_. The Nostromo in _Alien_. The Enterprise’s saucer section in Star Trek III. Gene Simmons in _Wanted: Dead or Alive_. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/17 "2005-12-02T00:45:09Z")
The Orlando City Hall in _Lethal Weapon 3_. AFAIK, the only movie explosion that destroyed a real building and not a mock-up or a ficticious one. I agree with _Die Hard With a Vengance_, now more than ever having seen how they did that. Word is Bruce is working on #4, I wonder if they’ll try to top that. Best explosion that never happened: the chateau in _The Dirty Dozen_. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/18 "2005-12-02T00:52:44Z")
> [@bubastis](#): > > This is my understanding, too. Anyone hazard a guess as to the largest on-screen explosion ever? […] Clue: its in a really shitty movie. Is it in _Stealth_? I remember reading that they set off some ridiculous number of drums of gasoline up in Alaska in what seemed to be a sort of “fuck you” to evironmentalists, since they’d been bitchslapped in court for flying jets at low altitudes over an Australian national park. I don’t expect to ever see it, though. Another shitty movie has what I suspect is the best movie explosion _ever_ in it: _Swordfish_. That opening explosion had me primed for a fantastic cinematic experience. Awesome! If I didn’t waste my time with the rest of the movie, I’d have been well-satisfied. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/19 "2005-12-02T01:49:07Z")
The nuke in _T2_. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596/20 "2005-12-02T02:02:30Z")
Back in the late nineties, I forget what had happened. Maybe I’d been dumped or something. I’d had a shitty week. So I dragged my friend Paul to see John Woo’s latest movie. After the previews ended, I turned to him and said, “I don’t care how crappy this movie is, as long as shit blows up good.” Cue the explosion, timed **exactly** right, and having nothing to do with the rest of _Broken Arrow_. It was a crappy movie, but I didn’t care. Daniel [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-movie-explosions/333596.md?page=2)