The house exploding in “Zabriskie Point” (1970). Michelangelo Antonioni is not synonymous with action. But his five-minute sequence — a woman imagines a cliff-side house exploding — repeats from countless angles, then lapses into slow motion, then layers on a score from Pink Floyd.
The napalm drop in “Apocalypse Now” (1979). Jaw-droppingly big. But Robert Duvall does love the smell of napalm in the morning.
3. The house explosion in “Kiss Me Deadly” (1955). A suitcase opens, a woman screams, a light glares, a woman catches fire, a house explodes.
The shark exploding in “Jaws” (1975). Roy Scheider squints, takes a final shot at the oxygen tank in the fish’s mouth. One word: chunks.
5. The bridge exploding in “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957). Shot, Alec Guinness slumps sideways and falls on the detonator. The movie’s bridge took eight months to build.
The Death Star exploding in “Star Wars” (1977). Though even better is the half-second of anticipation before it happens.
7. The concluding rooftop explosion in “White Heat” (1949). James Cagney empties his gun into propane tanks, shouting “Top of the world!”
8. The military base exploding in “Commando” (1985). Ah-nold pulled the trigger. Who cares if everything looks made of balsa wood (and probably was)?
The White House exploding in “Independence Day” (1996). The much-repeated image that launched a blockbuster.
The gas station exploding in “The Birds” (1963). A man is attacked while pumping gas, which flows over to a fellow striking a match.
11. The exploding FBI helicopter in “Die Hard” (1988). Or as the deputy police chief quips, “We’re going to need some more FBI guys.”
The exploding fat man in “Monty Python’s the Meaning of Life” (1983). He can’t eat another thing. He eats a mint (it’s wafer thin) anyway.
13. The exploding hangar in “Stealth” (2005). Bad film, but the title jet’s escape — a fireball of flipped trucks — is hard to argue with.
14. The exploding bridge in “True Lies” (1994). “Da bridge is out!” Ah-nold shouts. Seven-Mile Bridge in the Florida Keys, spectacularly tossed.
The slow-motion explosion in “The Hurt Locker” (2009). Every detail is noticed. The ground seems to breathe, rocks rise, rust on a car vibrates.
Robert DeNiro exploding on Joe Pesci in “Raging Bull” (1980). Bobby strolls through the apartment, grabs Joe, tosses him through a window.
The nuclear explosions in “Dr. Strangelove” (1964). Slim Pickens famously rides an H-bomb, cueing “We’ll Meet Again.”
18. The exploding plane in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” (1981). The conclusion of Indy’s tarmac fight with the big Nazi. Notice the propellers spiraling off.
19. The exploding head in “Scanners” (1981). A man concentrates hard. Guy beside him twitches, explodes.
The hospital explosion in “The Dark Knight” (2008). Brach’s candy factory on Chicago’s West Side, doubling as Gotham General Hospital.
