- 7 weeks ago
Duck and cover from these explosive cinematic moments! Join us as we count down the most mind-blowing, intense, and downright heartbreaking nuclear bomb deaths in film history. From heroic sacrifices to nightmarish visions, these scenes capture the terrifying power of atomic destruction in unforgettable ways.
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00:00Gentlemen, you can't fight in here, this is the war room.
00:03What is going on here? I demand an explanation.
00:05Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:07Today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 mind-blowing, intense, or downright heartbreaking nuclear bomb deaths in movies.
00:13Duck and cover from spoilers.
00:22Number 10. Scramble for Survival. The Divide.
00:25The Divide is inarguably a grim flick from the opening punch to the gut.
00:30We've got to go. No! No! No!
00:34Come on, Eva!
00:37Come on! Hurry!
00:39One moment New York is alive, the next it's swallowed by a blinding flash.
00:43A nuclear bomb blooms overhead, sending shockwaves ripping through skyscrapers as chaos erupts.
00:49Come on, Eva! We don't have time! We don't have time!
00:57Come on, Eva!
00:58The visual destruction is terrifying enough, but it's the confusion and raw desperation of those trying to survive that makes you feel the intensity of it all.
01:05The few who survived the first blast barely reach safety before a second one follows.
01:09Look in the air!
01:11Go inside!
01:12Open up!
01:13Open up!
01:13Open up!
01:13Open up!
01:14Open up!
01:14Open up!
01:14Open up!
01:15Open up!
01:16Open up!
01:17Open up!
01:18Open up!
01:18Open up!
01:19Open up!
01:19We don't see it, but we know that anyone outside is toast.
01:22That shift from normalcy to total annihilation coupled with human selfishness is so jarring that it makes this hook haunting.
01:29Number one rule, no one opens that door until the radiation clears.
01:36You understand me?
01:39Number nine, Harry's Sacrifice, Armageddon.
01:42If I do this, I'm going to want to take my own men.
01:44You got it.
01:45So you're saying you'll help us?
01:48Yes, sir.
01:50It takes extraordinary courage to sign up for a mission as dangerous as the one in Armageddon.
01:54Drilling into an asteroid hurtling toward Earth is risky enough, but sacrificing yourself for the mission?
01:59That's beyond courage.
02:00You swear on your daughter's life, on my family's, that you can hit that mark.
02:05I will make 800 feet.
02:08I swear to God I will.
02:10When things go wrong, Harry's stamper makes an unthinkable choice.
02:14Tricking his daughter's fiancee, AJ, into safety, he takes his place, knowing fully well he won't return.
02:19You go take care of my little girl, ma'am.
02:22That's your job.
02:25I've always thought of you as a son.
02:28In that moment, it's not just humanity he's saving, but his daughter's chance at a future.
02:32His final goodbye through a video link is gut-wrenching.
02:35Grace, I know I promised you I was coming home.
02:39I don't understand.
02:41Looks like I'm gonna have to break that promise.
02:44Then comes the explosion, a mix of fiery light and silence that's both devastating and beautiful.
02:49Sacrificing your life for love and duty is pure selflessness, which is why Harry's death is so powerful.
02:54Colonel Willie Sharpe, United States Air Force, ma'am.
02:57Requesting permission to shake the hand of the daughter of the bravest man I've ever met.
03:03Number 8, Town Center Blast.
03:05Aliens vs. Predator Requiem.
03:07After a pred-alien crash lands into the small Colorado town of Gunnison, things spiral out of control.
03:12Eddie?
03:13Arcee, we'll saw it up again tomorrow.
03:16My husband and my son are out here somewhere.
03:21A lone predator arrives to clean up the mess and things get even bloodier.
03:25Desperate to contain the chaos, the US military makes the ultimate call, total annihilation.
03:29Colonel, where's the air lamp?
03:32Sheriff, we are 10 miles out.
03:35Hold your position.
03:36Over.
03:37Colonel, we're here.
03:39Over.
03:40By that point, xenomorphs are everywhere.
03:42Humans are dying left and right and the predator and pred-alien are locked in a brutal fight.
03:46You're not leaving without him.
03:48You have to go.
03:49You'll make it.
03:52Despite the hopelessness of the situation, you can feel the dread settle as the military strikes.
03:57There's no countdown, no heroics, just a cold decision to erase an entire town.
04:01Imagine hoping to be rescued only for a bomb to hit and vaporize everything in seconds.
04:05It's downright brutal.
04:06You bastards killed the entire town.
04:08Just following orders.
04:10Get down your weapons.
04:11Number 7.
04:12Nagasaki, the Wolverine.
04:13Go!
04:15Go!
04:17That was a B-29, Bob.
04:19There's no eye running what's coming.
04:21The bombing of Nagasaki remains one of history's most harrowing moments
04:24and the Wolverine gives us more than a peek into that horror.
04:26It begins during World War II, with Logan held in a Japanese prison camp near Nagasaki.
04:31Better off down here.
04:33Hey!
04:35I'd hurry if I were you.
04:37As the siren wails and two B-29 bombers approach, what looks like an idyllic town is obliterated
04:42in a blinding flash, shockwave and firestorm.
04:45Young Officer Yashida panics as the sky burns bright and the entire camp is heavily damaged.
04:50But Logan manages to shield Officer Yashida from the blast, enduring unimaginable agony thanks
04:55to his healing powers.
04:56The sequence may stretch believability, but it cuts really deep because of its reference
05:00to a real tragedy.
05:01No pain?
05:03You have no pain.
05:06Plenty of pain.
05:09No pain.
05:10Number 6.
05:11Nightmare Surrealism.
05:12Barefoot Gen.
05:13While the Wolverine offers a powerful glimpse of the Nagasaki bombing, Barefoot Gen makes you
05:25feel Hiroshima's agony.
05:27The animation doesn't hold back in capturing the horror of one of history's darkest days.
05:37Gen and his tight-knit family are simply trying to survive when a bright light turns their
05:41world to ashes.
05:42What follows is a haunting depiction of Hiroshima's bombing, with people vaporized, mutilated,
05:46and separated from their families.
05:48AI!
05:49My brother!
05:50My brother!
05:51My brother!
05:52My brother!
05:53My sister!
05:54Hi!
05:55My brother!
05:57My brother!
05:58Through the eyes of six-year-old Gen, the unimaginable becomes painfully real.
06:03He and his mother may have survived, but their world is gone.
06:06I didn't want to leave.
06:09Get away the Gacha and my mother!
06:12I didn't!
06:13I didn't want to leave!
06:14I was so good!
06:16The once blue sky bleeds red, the city lies in ruins, and silence replaces screams.
06:20It's so traumatizing that it'll leave you shaken.
06:23The face of your father, your sister, and your brother who killed the war, I'll see you again soon.
06:31Number 5. Sarah's Dream, Terminator 2, Judgment Day.
06:35I have detailed files.
06:36I want to know everything.
06:39What he looks like, where he lives, everything.
06:44We can't blame Sarah Connor for attempting to kill Dyson after that horrifying dream about Judgment Day.
06:49It's not the kind of nightmare you could just shake off and move on from.
06:52Hey, let's try this one.
06:57Hey!
07:00There we go.
07:01In Terminator 2, Sarah dreams of a sunny playground turned into ashes as the bomb hits.
07:06Children laughing one second vaporize the next.
07:09She watches in terror as the blast wave engulfs everything, including herself.
07:12In a panic, they try to pull the plug.
07:16Skynet fights back.
07:18Yes, it launches its missiles against the targets in Russia.
07:21It's horrifying, visceral, and one of the most haunting depictions of nuclear destruction ever put on film.
07:27Yet despite all her efforts to stop the nightmare from coming true, fate had other plans.
07:31Mom!
07:32Help me.
07:33Help me.
07:35Help me.
07:37Get out of the way, John!
07:40Chill!
07:41In Terminator 3, Rise of the Machines, Judgment Day finally arrives, and humanity faces the full weight of the apocalypse.
07:47I should have realized our destiny was never to stop Judgment Day.
07:53It was merely to survive it.
07:55Number 4.
07:56Dr. Serizawa's Sacrifice
07:58Godzilla King of the Monsters
07:59One person's selfish decision can put the world in jeopardy, while another risks everything to save it.
08:04Emma wouldn't have wanted that, even to save her life.
08:08Well, it wouldn't be the first time Emma put all of this before herself, or her family, would it?
08:13That's the heart of Michael Dougherty's 2019 monster epic.
08:16After Emma awakens Monster Zero, chaos erupts as Godzilla battles the three-headed Ghidorah.
08:21Desperate to end it all, the US launches the Oxygen Destroyer, a weapon that seemingly kills Godzilla instead.
08:26With humanity on the brink, Dr. Serizawa makes the ultimate sacrifice.
08:29When you surface, the motor skills are going to start to fade, but I put a heliox mixture in the tank, which should help you stay stable a little longer.
08:39He journeys deep underwater to detonate a nuclear bomb, restoring Godzilla's strength.
08:43It's an unexpectedly touching moment as he bids goodbye to his friend before that bright light engulfs him.
08:48He is the key to it.
08:54Take care of them.
08:55I.
08:56His sacrifice echoes his father's belief in using science for redemption, not destruction.
09:01Serizawa's act defines true heroism, what beats giving everything for the world's survival.
09:05Let's make him proud and not screw this up.
09:09How did he, uh...
09:10By saving us.
09:11Number 3.
09:12The Bomb Ride.
09:13Dr. Strangelove.
09:14Well, shoot.
09:16We ain't come this far just to dump this thing in a drink.
09:21What's the nearest target opportunity?
09:23Was it excitement or sheer madness?
09:24We've not seen anyone face death with such wild enthusiasm, but Major T.J. Kong takes that to a whole new level.
09:30Stay on the bomb ride, boys.
09:31I'm going to get them doors open if it hairlips everybody on Bear Creek.
09:35After the bomb bay door is damaged, Kong sits on one of the bombs trying to repair it, only to end up riding straight to his doom.
09:41Cowboy hat in hand, he whoops and hollers like he's at a rodeo, joyfully waving as he plummets into nuclear oblivion.
09:46It's both hilarious and deeply unsettling.
09:48A perfect showcase of Stanley Kubrick's twisted genius.
09:51Only he could make the end of the world look like slapstick brilliance.
10:03With a scene like this one, it's no wonder Dr. Strangelove remains one of the greatest dark comedies ever made.
10:08Sir, I have a plan.
10:12Monsieur, I can watch!
10:18Number two, Oppenheimer's vision, Oppenheimer.
10:21Not all your creations will make you proud.
10:23Some will haunt you forever.
10:24Just ask J. Robert Oppenheimer.
10:25When I came to you with those calculations, we thought we might start a chain reaction that would destroy the entire world.
10:34Christopher Nolan's biopic, The Bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, is tastefully glossed over.
10:39Instead, Oppenheimer is reluctantly but triumphantly delivering the announcement in an auditorium, when he sees the intense bright light of the bomb.
10:46It's too soon to determine what the results of the bombing are, but I'll bet the Japanese didn't like it.
10:54The excited crowd is then ravaged by the blast, their thunderous applause suddenly silenced by a single shriek.
10:59The sequence powerfully captures the brilliant scientist's guilt over the carnage he's forced to romanticize, and fear that the weapon could be turned on his own people.
11:07I just wish we had it in time to use against the Germans!
11:10Killian Murphy's phenomenal expressions say it all, but actually seeing what he sees reminds us of the dangerous game this world is playing.
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11:40Number 1. The Wipeout. The Return of the Living Dead.
11:43There's zombies all over the cars outside.
11:45Gotta find a way through, but there's no other way.
11:48Once we're in the car and moving, I think we'll be alright.
11:51Imagine fighting off unstoppable zombies and then this happens.
11:54Our heroes in The Return of the Living Dead have just barricaded the door thinking they might actually survive as they finally reach the military.
12:00Yeah. I don't know, it's weird. These people seem to say they've been waiting for this to happen.
12:05Apparently they got some sort of a contingency plan to deal with it.
12:08Well, that's great!
12:09What is this plan?
12:11Then they hear the dreadful whizzing sound cut through the night sky.
12:14It's not rescue, it's a nuclear bomb.
12:16Spectacular results, sir. Very close to optimal placement.
12:20Well, sir, only 20 square blocks destroyed. Less than 4,000 dead, General.
12:25In an instant everything in the town, living, dead, and undead is wiped off the map.
12:29But even that isn't the end. The explosion releases toxic rain, spreading the very infection the military tried to destroy.
12:35No, no, we wouldn't want that to happen, sir.
12:37No, sir, this hasn't been very pleasant for anyone.
12:40Thank you, sir. Good night, sir.
12:44The so-called solution only ensures the nightmare starts all over again.
12:47Isn't that darkly hilarious?
12:49Which nuclear bomb scene resonates with you the most?
12:51Let us know in the comments below.
12:53God blesses you.
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