The Statue of Liberty has had a prominent place in movie history and here are the most moving moments of the Statue in science-fiction films.
Today is the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Statue of Liberty in New York. Back on October 28, 1886 the old girl was introduced to the world by President Grover Cleveland. Since then, the statue has been a symbol and beacon of hope for millions. It’s also been trashed by every disaster known to man.
Here are the top eight cameos of the statue in science-fiction cinema as she’s been frozen, decapitated, blown up and neuralyzed.
8. Superman IV (1987)
When the clone of Superman known as “Nuclear Man” started destroying the world in Superman IV:The Quest for Peace he took out the Great Wall of China and the Eiffel tower, but he really crossed the line when he picked up the Statue of Liberty and started flying away with it. The horrible special effects of him flying through the city and change in scale from shot to shot almost makes us forget we’re supposed to be watching a Superman film. When the fight is over Superman puts her back on her pedestal.
We all cheered. Then, we remembered we were watching Superman IV. We were sad again.
7. Spaceballs (1987)
In Mel Brook’s rather lame parodies of space films…Star Wars really…the evil leader of Planet Spaceball sets out to steal the air from Druidia using the massive “Spaceball One.” In the final scene the ship transforms into a giant cleaning lady called “Mega-Maid” and sucks the air with a vacuum. When the ship is destroyed the hand and head land on the shore and parodies the final scene from Planet of the Apes.
If there are ten funny scenes in Spaceballs, this is number eight.
6. Men in Black II (2002)
In the movie Men in Black II the two heroes Jay and Kay realize that the entire city has seen evidence of an alien spaceship. This goes against their mission to hide evidence of aliens from Earth. What do they do now?
Turns out the statue’s torch is really a giant neuralyzir. They “flashy thingy” the city and wipe out the memory of thousands of citizens. Nice to think that the statue serves a dual purpose, but it does make you wonder about the ones looking in the other direction.
5. Cloverfield (2008)
Cloverfield was a disaster film shrouded in secrecy with only hints what it was going to be about. In the most striking scene the monster decapitates the statue and the head goes flying into the street.
When it came to rest facing the camera we all gave a collective gasp of “Oh man. This is bad.”
— MOVIECLIPS.com
4. The Day After Tomorrow (2004)
In the only disaster movie based on global warming the Eastern seaboard is flooded and subjected to a sudden cold front.
In a symbol of the end of the world, the 300 foot statue is dwarfed by the wave of a huge mega-tsunami. When the hero goes to find his son he passes the frozen remains of the statue poking out from the snow.
It seemed hopeless, and seeing her like that made us all wonder if the world would ever be the same again.
3. Deep Impact (1998)
In another disaster film, the world is destroyed by a 7-mile wide comet. The impact creates a massive tidal wave that destroys the Eastern coastline.
As the camera goes under the water we see the head of the Statue of Liberty floating along the streets of New York. Truly a sad testament to the end of humanity as we know it.
2. X-Men (2000)
The statue became a major plot point when it turns out Magneto’s plan to turn the international group of delegates into mutants involved trapping Rogue to the torch. When the X-Men go to save her a series of fantastic battle erupt inside the old girl.
There was a spectacular fight scene between Wolverine and Mystique. On the other hand, there was that awful joke Storm told about how you kill a toad. As we all groaned she fried Toad with lightning. The final fight between Sabretooth and Wolverine on the head goes down as one of the greatest fights in movie history.
— MOVIECLIPS.com
1. Planet of the Apes (1968)
This is the most iconic scene in movie history. The big twist ending that Heston Taylor hadn’t been on an alien planet after all. Heston sets off with his girlfriend to explore the world. Riding on horseback to the beach he comes to the horrifying truth on the beach as we see a crown in the foreground.
Faced with the undeniable truth that he was on an Earth destroyed by nuclear war he collapsed to the ground a broken man. Heston gave the immortal line “I’m back. I’m home. All the time, it was…We finally really did it. You maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, d**n you! G** d****d you all to h**l!”
The camera pans back and Lady Liberty had never looked sadder. Nothing left but the top half buried in the sand. Broken and decayed. Truly a sad moment.
The most moving Statue of Liberty moment in all of science-fiction films.
The Statue of Liberty by movieclips
Which is the most moving scene of the Statue of Liberty to you?
<span class="dsq-postid" data-dsqidentifier="41396 ">3 Comments
Nice! I would have had Ghostbusters II in there as well…
Ghostbusters is a good one! The song was awesome too.
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the statue of liberty was also moving in doctor who