get off
the nuclear
warhead i was doing that guy from that
movie you know slim pickings where he
rides it all the way in the nuclear
warhead now welcome to watch mojo and
today we're counting down our picks for
the top 20 nuclear bomb scenes in movies
until i'm certain my team can't hold it
i will not order a nuclear strike
against the civilian population if we
don't hold them here we lose everything
for this list we'll be looking at the
scariest most intense and maybe even the
funniest movie scenes involving nuclear
bombs the bomb doesn't have to go off so
long as it's an integral part of the
scene which of these is your favorite
let us know in the comments below
number 20 the avengers
can anybody copy
i can shut the portal down do it no wait
stark these things are still coming i
got a nuke coming in it's going to blow
in less than a minute this team really
has their hands full if they're not
saving new york from an invasion of
chittori they're attempting to defuse a
potential nuclear attack fearing the
chittori invasion the world security
council launches a nuke at manhattan
director fury
the council has made a decision i
recognize the council has made a
decision but given that it's a
stupid-ass decision i've elected to
ignore it what results is pure action
cinema iron man intercepts the nuke and
uses it to destroy the chittori
mothership
the spectacle is fantastic but what
works best here is the emotion tony is
fully aware of the danger and calls
pepper to say goodbye but to no avail
robert downey jr is superb conveying
fear anxiety and eventual heartbreak
with nothing but his facial expressions
number 19 american assassin we've seen a
ton of nuclear detonations on screen but
few that have occurred underwater
american assassin tried doing something
a little different and it worked out
wonderfully we take out his boat it'll
detonate
if it goes off above the water line
disaster we fall out all over the
mainland after killing ghosts rap drops
the nuclear bomb into the water and it
goes off in a spectacular display the
new creates a massive hole in the ocean
causing nearby ships to break apart and
even generates an enormous tidal wave
that engulfs everything in its path this
is great entertainment and the idea of
doing it in the water was fresh and
ingenious if we don't engage that
guarantees detonation i understand
there's a risk but this is the best
chance we've got number 18 the divide
most movies work their way up to a
devastating nuclear attack the divide
opens with one as the film begins new
york city is slammed by numerous nuclear
explosions the image is a startling one
a large mushroom cloud rises from the
impact zone dust billows through the
streets and the apocalyptic yellow skies
sparkles with lightning
as this is a low budget movie we don't
see much of the attack itself rather the
movie switches focus to the immediate
aftermath and panic however this is a
welcome shift as it horrifyingly depicts
the fright and hysteria that accompanies
a disaster it's a haunting opening to a
haunting movie
after a blast everything gets vaporized
and sucked up into the atmosphere
and it rains back down to earth
number 17 when the wind blows a
heartbreaking piece of animation when
the wind blows follows a loving elderly
couple who attempt to survive in a
nuclear-ravaged england the story takes
place during the soviet afghan war and
presents an alternate reality in which
england was hit by a nuclear bomb an
enemy missile attack has been launched
against this country
it is estimated that the missiles will
arrive in approximately three minutes
jim and hilda hide in their makeshift
shelter while the world ending
destruction occurs outside said
destruction is both gorgeously animated
and tragically evocative depicting
images straight out of a cold war
nightmare the movie portrays a real-life
fear through the magic of animation and
it does so in strikingly vivid fashion
[Music]
number 16 testament nuclear movies were
very popular back in the 80s as cold war
fears plagued the collective mind of
america testament is one of those movies
depicting a small suburb in the midst of
a nuclear event the bombing scene is
ingeniously filmed favoring realism over
cinematics
this is san francisco
we have lost our new york signal radar
sources confirmed the explosion of
nuclear devices
there in new york
and up and down the east coast the
weatherly family experiences the bombing
through the likes of distressed news
anchors the emergency broadcast system
cut electricity and air raid sirens this
is a petrifying scene that scares the
viewers through authenticity this is how
a good number of americans would
experience a nuclear strike not through
a massive mushroom cloud but through
sheer panic and a frightening disruption
of everyday routine
[Music]
number 15 terminator 3 rise of the
machines we thought that terminator 2
gave the story a happy ending we were
wrong one of the most surprising aspects
of terminator 3 is the incredibly gutsy
and dour ending jon and kate are sent to
crystal peak which is believed to be
connected to skynet however they quickly
realize that it's a military fallout
shelter and that they were sent there
for protection why did he lead us down
here
to live
as they make this realization the world
is bombarded with skynet's nuclear
strikes and judgment day officially
begins it's a stellar twist that
contains some shocking visuals and
nicely places jon on his predetermined
path as a military leader what the hell
is happening
who's in charge there
i am
number 14 by dawn's early light this
movie was released in may of 1990 and as
such is one of the last of the
aforementioned cold war movies it's
based on william proc now's novel
trinity's child which accurately depicts
the consequences of a nuclear war
between the united states and the soviet
union
we have a preliminary missile trajectory
moving north northeast from turkey to
the soviet border sir
the movie features a number of nuclear
blasts including one that hits the white
house and blows out its windows another
forces down the president's helicopter
which causes many to presume that he's
dead the limited tv budget does what it
can with the visuals but our
imaginations are more than capable of
filling in the nauseating details
[Music]
they're dead
everybody you got that they're dead
number 13 independence day this
over-the-top classic is fondly
remembered for the alien attack sequence
in which the ufo beams decimate numerous
american landmarks but it also contains
some killer nuclear bomb sequences in
the first a nuke is dropped on an alien
spaceship above houston we are on
station and awaiting instruction roger
brake formation hit to target
the explosion is magnificent but it
fails to destroy the ship in the second
a nuke is deployed in the alien's
mothership and the entire thing erupts
in a brilliant flash of blue lights this
is pure summer blockbuster escapism
featuring a nuclear bomb some hilarious
banter and a masterfully filmed escape
sequence that leaves viewers
white-knuckled and smiling it's a
legendary ending to a legendary movie
[Music]
number 12 armageddon this is perhaps the
michael bayes of all the michael bay
movies a humongous asteroid is headed
straight to earth so nassau trains a
group of oil drillers to become
astronauts sends them into space and has
them drill a nuclear weapon into the
core of the asteroid it's ridiculous and
it's tons of fun
yeah one more thing um
none of them want to
pay taxes again
[Music]
ever
[Music]
harry stays behind to activate the nuke
saving the world just in the nick of
time the resulting explosion is
awe-inspiring and it elicits loud cheers
from both the audience and the
characters in the movie but we are also
wiping away tears as harry's goodbye to
his daughter grace is enough to make
even the toughest among us we it all
combines to create a majestic and
unforgettable climax
colonel willie sheriff united states air
force man
requesting permission to shake the hand
of the daughter
of the bravest man i've ever met
number 11 the sum of all fears for this
jack ryan reboot ben affleck took over
the role from harrison ford and his task
with stopping a fascist from starting a
nuclear war he has a bomb built in
secrecy and drops it on baltimore in an
attempt to frame the russians look i'm
losing you i'll call you back
[Applause]
[Music]
the entire sequence is filled with great
tension and the resulting destruction is
nothing short of harrowing thanks to the
movie's high budget we are given various
spine chilling sites a hospital blows up
and sends all the employees flying cars
are violently knocked off roads and
jack's helicopter is thrown out of the
air
it's a very impressive sequence and it's
arguably one of the best moments in the
jack ryan franchise
number 10 broken arrow john woo
certainly knows how to direct an action
sequence christian slater plays riley
hale an air force pilot who must contend
with john travolta's vic
deakins is extorting the american
government with two nuclear weapons hale
recovers one of the bombs and stows it
down an abandoned copper mine where it
proceeds to detonate
the plan mostly works as the explosion
causes the ground to shake and ripple
and a vast sinkhole is created near the
mine shaft an approaching helicopter is
also disabled and it explodes in a
gigantic fireball the scene contains
some accomplished filmmaking and stunt
work and travolta choose this scenery as
the bad guy what's not to love s-e-m-p
electromagnetic pulse nuclear bass sends
it out for miles everything electronic
shuts down including choppers and radios
number nine indiana jones in the kingdom
of the crystal skull whatever your
thoughts on the scene are this could
very well be one of the defining moments
of 2000 cinema indiana jones is
kidnapped by kgb agents but eventually
escapes and makes his way to a model
town this town is being used for atomic
testing and india is right on time
[Music]
fearing the imminent blast indy hides
inside a lead-lined fridge and is sent
hurtling through the air as the nuclear
bomb strikes the scene is filled with
some terrific visual effects as the
shock wave obliterates houses and sets
nearby mannequins on fire it looks
suitably apocalyptic especially when
indie climbs out of the fridge and gazes
upon the towering mushroom cloud steven
spielberg knows how to bring the
spectacle
[Music]
number eight the dark knight rises
there's nothing like a good heroic
sacrifice to make us tear up realizing
that there's no stopping bane's bomb
batman decides to sacrifice himself for
the good of gotham he attaches the bomb
to the bat plane touchingly reveals his
identity to gordon and flies over the
water to his presumed doom hero can be
anyone even a man doing something as
simple
and reassuring as putting a coat around
a young boy's shoulders
to let him know the world hadn't ended
of course the bat isn't really gone but
that doesn't quell the power of the
scene like all of christopher nolan's
best work this sequence combines
breathtaking filmmaking with an
undercurrent of rich emotion and it
makes for an amazing conclusion to his
historic dark knight trilogy
[Music]
that's detonation
it's out over the bay it's clear of the
city
number seven the wolverine this movie
begins with a bang quite literally it
opens in august of 1945 shortly before
nagasaki is decimated by the atom bomb
logan is being held as a prisoner of war
when fat man is dropped on the city
[Music]
the event is shown in explicit detail we
see fat man quickly falling towards the
ground and we see the colossal explosion
and mushroom cloud that results from it
the scene also contains some
pulse-pounding tension as the dust cloud
quickly travels toward logan and ichiro
and forces logan to take some drastic
measures that leave him literally
scarred
the visuals are sensational as is the
cacophonous sound design now this is how
you open a movie
number six barefoot gen while we're on
the subject of hiroshima and nagasaki
let's discuss barefoot gent this is an
anime from 1983 that follows gen nakaoka
during the bombing of hiroshima
[Music]
and what results is one of the most
imaginative sequences ever seen in an
anime animation can do wondrous and
lushly imaginative things and this
sequence gets incredibly stylish the
visuals are boundless in their
creativity and they also pack a
devastating emotional punch the scene is
unbelievably graphic and disturbing
conveying a sense of nightmarish
surrealism that live action simply can't
capture you're gonna need some eye
bleach after seeing this one
[Music]
number five godzilla king of the
monsters godzilla has a long history
with nuclear weapons and radiation but
we've never seen anything quite like
this godzilla king of the monsters ramps
up the action to enjoyably absurd
heights and features a highly memorable
sequence involving a nuclear warhead to
bring godzilla back to full hp sarazawa
sacrifices himself and quite literally
detonates a nuke right next to the
resting behemoth
the scene features some amazing sights
and is suitably epic in scale with
godzilla city and the underwater
explosion being genuinely stunning it
looks cool it sounds cool and it's a
definite high point of the godzilla
franchise
[Music]
number four the day after this
apocalyptic television film from
nicholas meyer is historic capturing a
62 share and over 100 million viewers
its subject matter was topical and it
touched on collective fears that
hundreds of millions were experiencing
the man on the radio said there might be
a war
he's saying how we should unplug all our
radio
and tv and stuff
there's not going to be a warrant
the attack segment is especially brutal
depicting a realistic sense of
pandemonium and destruction that would
occur with a nuclear strike it is
impeccably acted in shot featuring high
production values and plenty of
unforgettable imagery the visceral
impact of the sequence lingers long
after the credits of rolt and it serves
as a perfect representation of that
distinctive cold war paranoia
number three threads this movie aired on
the bbc in september of 1984 and earned
instant acclaim for its production
values and harrowing realism threads
accurately examines nuclear war and the
resulting fallout and the initial
bombing scene is particularly
distressing
[Applause]
watching this can make viewers feel
genuinely stressed so perturbing are its
visuals chaotic editing and sound design
movies like this aren't designed for
entertainment this was a warning and a
superbly effective warning at that
luckily the horrors of this scene never
came to fruition during the cold war but
it was a very real and very unnerving
possibility
number two terminator 2 judgement day
james cameron is a masterful filmmaker
and this is arguably one of his greatest
sequences and that's saying a lot sarah
suffers a nightmare in which she
envisions judgment day she's watching an
innocent day at the park when a nuke
strikes los angeles
[Music]
the visual effects and cinematography
throughout the scene are astonishing the
events are lit with an eerie and
apocalyptic orange glow and we watch in
horror as buildings and vehicles are
ripped apart like paper and that's
nothing compared to the unimaginable
horrors back at the park we can't
imagine the terror of nuclear
devastation and hopefully this is the
closest that we'll get it's plenty close
for us thank you very much god you think
you're safe and alive
you're already dead everybody him you
you're dead already this whole place
everything you see is good
before we continue be sure to subscribe
to our channel and ring the bell to get
notified about our latest videos you
have the option to be notified for
occasional videos or all of them if
you're on your phone make sure you go
into your settings and switch on
notifications
number one dr strangelove okay enough of
the disturbing stuff how about some
comedy well black comedy involving
nuclear weapons in the end of the world
but comedy nonetheless
gentlemen you can't fight in here this
is the war room stanley kubrick's
masterpiece ends in memorable fashion
with kong riding the hydrogen bomb down
to its target it's an iconic image and
also a gloriously bizarre one following
some further hilarity in the war room
the movie ends with a montage of real
nuclear bombs destroying the world while
vera lin's will meet again plays over
the footage it's one of the most
startlingly impactful endings in movie
history and its sardonic qualities could
only come from the genius mind of
kubrick
[Music]
did you enjoy this video check out these
other clips from watchmojo and be sure
to subscribe and ring the bell to be
notified about our latest videos