One highlight of any big-budget action movie is an epic explosion. It has reached the point where it almost became a running joke, with people walking away from an explosion in slow-motion, never bothering with the blast behind them. However, when done right, a giant explosion in a movie can really heighten the enjoyment factor of any action extravaganza.
This is true whether the explosion is CGI or a real explosion pulled off by experts using practical effects. It is also one of the most expensive things to put in a movie, regardless of whether it is real or computer-generated. But, when done right, fans will always remember those epic moments.
Fight Club (1999) - Explosive Finale
While it is not a giant explosion with people fighting to survive, the explosive finale of Fight Club featured a series of epic explosions that tied up the story perfectly. Throughout the entire movie, the Narrator never knew what was going on, but his clarity at the end came just as his plan came to fruition.
As he stood in a highrise with his love interest Marla, they watched as all the other highrise buildings blew up around them, destroying the city and bringing down the capitalist society.
Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen (1996) - Egyptian Ruins
Michael Bay movies are known for their epic explosion sequences but he's used them so many times in movies that they are rarely epic anymore. However, there are a couple of explosions that stand out from the rest of his movies, including the Egyptian attack in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.
The scene saw robots battling, military troops trying to fight, and a few human civilians trying to survive. What resulted was an airstrike that caused an explosion that at one time held the Guinness World Record for the largest explosion with actors present.
The Dark Knight (2008) - Hospital Explosion
While not as big as the explosion in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Christopher Nolan's explosion in The Dark Knight was more epic thanks to the fact it felt more personal and wasn't just a major effects showcase. Also, just like Michael Bay, Nolan likes to do these explosions for real.
Joker, arguably one of Batman's greatest villains, walked out of the Gotham General Hospital and tried to blow it up. After struggling, he finally got the bomb to detonate and the entire hospital came down as Joker escaped in a school bus.
Speed (1994) - Bus Explosion
In 1994's Speed, Keanu Reeves is on a bus that a terrorist placed a bomb on. If the bus drops below 50 miles per hour, the bomb detonates and kills everyone on it. Reeves played an LAPD officer whose goal was to prevent this from happening.
In the end, he saved the passengers, but not the bus. Not only does the bus explode, but it does so in epic fashion, crashing into an airplane, causing both to go up in flames in multiple explosions and finishing things off in truly epic fashion.
Die Hard 2 (1990) - Plane Explosion
In 1990, Bruce Willis followed up his star-making turn in Die Hard with the sequel Die Hard 2. One of the most-watched scenes in the original Die Hard featured an explosion on the roof of the high-rise building the hostages sat in. However, the second movie one-upped that and created an explosion even more epic.
Instead of a building, Willis's John McClane was on a plane with terrorists. He ended up escaping, and then, as the bad guys flew off, Willis opened the fuel tank and lit a match.
V For Vendetta (2006) - Parliament Explosion
The one way to make an epic explosion even better is through the use of music. In the alternate history movie V for Vendetta, director James McTeigue did just that. The revolutionary, known as V, planned to bring down the fascist rule in the United Kingdom. He did this on Guy Fawkes Night when his disciple Evey blew up the Parliament building. In the end, the entire Parliament exploded, with Big Ben blowing up while the 1812 Overture played over the explosion.
The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996) - Bridge Bomb
There might be a point where explosions become too much, and the 1996 Renny Harlin movie The Long Kiss Goodnight dialed things to eleven, creating one of the most extreme explosions ever committed to film. The explosion takes place in the Niagara Falls International Bridge leading into Canada.
A bomb is on the bridge and both heroes, Geena Davis' Charly, Yvonne Zima's Caitlin, and Samuel L. Jackson's Mitch need to escape. Charly opens fire on the terrorists and jumps into Mitch's car, and the bomb then goes off and everything explodes. The explosion travels down the bridge, blowing up one thing after another as Mitch tries to drive through the explosions and falling debris to escape.
Independence Day (1996) - White House Destroyed
The original Independence Day film may have been just a bit goofy, but it's easily one of the greatest alien invasion movies of all time. In it, the visitors threatened the people of Earth with an attack, giving them a ticking clock. When the time ticks down, they attack, blowing up buildings across the world. This includes the famous moment where they blast the White House, and it explodes in the night. The massive explosion is by far the most iconic scene in the film.
Bad Boys (1995) - Hanger Explosion
Before Michael Bay became known for his explosions, he perfected it in one of his earlier movies, Bad Boys. Moviegoers had not grown jaded to Bay explosions yet, and, when a gunfight took place in the airport hanger, no one had any way of anticipating what would come next.
There were a ton of clues that it was coming, with flammable containers everywhere. But, when Bay blew up the hanger, Bad Boys was like nothing audiences had ever seen, presenting one of the most intense action moments from the Bad Boys trilogy.
Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Tanker Explosion
There are epic movie explosions, and then there are epic movie explosions. There is not a scene in any movie with a more epic explosion than the one in Mad Max: Fury Road. This is the tanker explosion and took place during the giant chase scene through the desert.
There was a spectacular moment that contrasted the size of the explosion when Tom Hardy floated in front of it on a pole. Done entirely via practical effects, director George Miller blew the entire tanker up, albeit with the main actors added to the shot after the fact.