15 Most Awesome Explosions In Movie History

7. Die Hard

Die Hard Bruce Willis
Fox

The earlier Die Hard movies are an absolute goldmine of awesome explosions, and there are like three scenes from Die Hard 2 alone that very nearly made the cut here.

But the edge has to go to John McTiernan's iconic original and its magnificent explosion atop the Nakatomi Plaza, with terrorist mastermind Hans Gruber (an incredible Alan Rickman) detonating the roof at the precise moment that John McClane (Bruce Willis) leaps from it.

It's an insane fireball, and because that's not exciting enough, it also leads directly to the gut-wrenchingly suspenseful beat where McClane is nearly pulled to his death by a dislodged fire hydrant. Phew.

Compare this to the gawdy digital explosions of the later Die Hard movies, which are just nowhere near as engaging on a visceral level.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.