The 10 Most Destroyed Cities in Movies, Ranked

One of the most important pieces of a kaiju or disaster film is that it often requires a massive city to destroy, because this is how the destructive capabilities of the threat are showcased. It wouldn’t exactly be very impressive if King Kong ravaged his way across a bunch of corn fields, now would it? Because of this, filmmakers must decide on a city that not only makes sense story-wise, but that allows room for lots of eye candy visuals.

Unfortunately, filmmakers tend to go for the same cities over and over again, usually due to a variety of factors. Sometimes this is due to recognizable landmarks, a city’s overall fame in the world, or cinematic scope. It’s gotten to the point where some have taken it upon themselves to list which cities are most likely to be reduced to rubble in cinema… kind of like the following list, which details this exact topic.

10

Chicago, USA

Times destroyed: 6+

Chicago, Illinois, sits on the shores of Lake Michigan, and is a metropolitan centre known for its skyscrapers and iconic skyline. Lots of movies are set in Chicago, but only a few have actually decide to off the entire city by having it serve as the backdrop for some sort of sci-fi battle. So far, this has only happened in about six films, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s quite a bit more than pretty much any other city in the world.

Most notably, Chicago is positively annihilated in Transformers: Dark of the Moon, directed by Michael Bay. Here, the villainous Decepticons do battle with the valiant Autobots, which are supported by humanity. The towering robots bring buildings down with their firepower and strength, and it’s honestly a feast for the eyes. There are a couple other movies in which Chicago bites the dust, but the number is small in comparison to other metropolitan areas in the world.

9

Washington, DC, USA

Times destroyed: 10+

Washington, DC is the national capital of the United States of America, and is where the federal government runs the country. Even though it’s not the largest city in America by a mile, it is one that’s rife with symbolism. Because it’s arguably the most important governmental city in America, it is often attacked by numerous forces in at least ten films. For example, there’s Roland Emmerich‘s White House Down, where the US Capitol and the White House is bombed and attacked by a group of armed mercenaries.

On the other hand, there’s also Independence Day (coincidentally also directed by Roland Emmerich), in which the White House is turned into ashes by an invading alien force. But in this film, they don’t only focus on Washington, and reduce numerous world capitals and heritage sites to cinders, so at least there’s that. Whatever the cause, this federal capital is usually destroyed to express symbolism of America itself being hurt, and feels a bit more impactful than most other American cities that commonly get burned in movies.

8

Hiroshima, Japan

Times destroyed: 12+

In contrast to some of the other films on this list, any time Hiroshima is destroyed in a film, it’s almost always due to war. That’s because Hiroshima was destroyed for real in 1945, when the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the city during the final days of World War II, in an effort to get the Japanese Empire to surrender. Lots of movies have come out depicting the events of that fateful day, some of them with horrifying accuracy.

Films depicting Hiroshima’s destruction range from live-action war propaganda films to animated war films like Barefoot Gen, which paints a haunting picture of atomic warfare. Usually, whenever Hiroshima gets flattened, it’s never done with excitement or pure sci-fi thrills, just harrowing reminders of a dark part of both Japanese and American history, in a catastrophic event in which tens of thousands of people lost their lives.

7

Berlin, Germany

Times destroyed: 12+

Hiroshima and Berlin are tied in terms of how many times they are destroyed in cinema, with each being destroyed about 12 times. Like Hiroshima, any time Berlin gets annihilated in film, it’s pretty much always due to war rather than alien invasions or natural disasters. This is due to the Battle of Berlin in 1945, the final battle between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany, wherein Germany was forced to surrender, ending the Nazi regime.

The destruction of Berlin can be observed in numerous films, most famously the 2004 flick Downfall, which stars Bruno Ganz as Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, in the final days of the Third Reich. The good news is, the Battle of Berlin is a moment of triumph for the Allied Forces, defeating tyranny and ending fascist rule in Germany, so it’s much easier to watch Berlin get destroyed than it is to watch Hiroshima get destroyed. Even though many suffered immensely during the Battle of Berlin, it was at least blown up via conventional means rather than atomic warfare.

6

London, UK

Times destroyed: 13+

London is one of the most recognizable world capitals–it’s the home of the British Royal Family, and to some of the most famous landmarks in the world, like the London Eye, Big Ben, and Buckingham Palace. This sprawling metropolis has also served as the setting for numerous disaster and sci-fi films, along with a few action and horror flicks. Whether it’s thrilling zombie movies like 28 Days Later or mediocre action flicks like London Has Fallen, London has been destroyed at least 13 times, in pretty much every way imaginable.

London getting destroyed is actually a surefire way to make a movie seem more unique or interesting–there’s only so many times one can watch an American city get levelled before they get bored. Even though disaster films set in London aren’t always as popular as their American counterparts, they still provide a unique change of pace while still capturing the scale of the calamity thanks to the overall size of London as a whole.

5

Paris, France

Times destroyed: 14+

Paris, France is known as the “City of Lights,” and is widely considered to be among the most romantic places in the world. It’s a hotspot for art and culture, containing some very famous museums and art galleries, in which reside some of the most famous artifacts in the world, including the Mona Lisa, which sits in the Louvre Art Gallery. But if there’s one thing that movies following the destruction of Paris consistently do is showing the collapse of the Eiffel Tower. This isn’t the case for all 14 films that Paris is destroyed in, but it is the case for a lot of them.

This kind of makes sense, because the Eiffel Tower is one of the most famous landmarks in the world, and is a marvel of human architecture, so seeing it come crumbling down is a sight that captures the tragedy of the event. But as for other films, such as Edge of Tomorrow, centring on the casual obliteration of the French metropolis works just fine, even without the Eiffel Tower burning to the ground.

4

San Francisco, USA

Times destroyed: 17+

San Francisco is a coastal city in California that has been annihilated in at least 17 movies, ranging from sci-fi flicks like Terminator Genisys to space operas like Star Trek: Into Darkness. There are some recognizable icons in San Francisco, most notably the Golden Gate Bridge spanning the San Francisco Bay, which almost always ends up collapsing in films where the rest of the city serves as a backdrop to be destroyed.

Though San Francisco is a relatively small city compared to some of the other ones on this list, its picturesque skyline and seafront make for a stunning backdrop, emphasizing the tragedy of its destruction. In any event, San Francisco is a little more interesting than some other settings, but it’s ultimately not an unpopular one with the amount of films it’s been flattened in.

3

Tokyo, Japan

Times destroyed: 25+

Tokyo is the most populated city in the world, and has been obliterated a whopping 25 times on camera. Of course, over half of these are due to the king of the monsters, Godzilla, beginning with the original Godzilla film in 1954. Many of the early Godzilla films were Japanese originals, all released by Toho, and so, it’s only natural that filmmakers would place Godzilla in the city to capture how big and destructive he really is.

Godzilla still occassionally pops back to Tokyo to leave his giant footprints in the infrastructure even in modern day, but he isn’t the only one to wreak havoc in the world’s most populous city. Yet, he is the one who is most synonymous with the fictitious event, especially with how many films he’s appeared in. In any case, it’s a nice change of pace from all the US cities that get destroyed over and over and over again.

2

Los Angeles, USA

Times destroyed: 27+

Honestly, whenever Los Angeles is destroyed in film, it’s usually a matter of convenience. Sure, the place is one of the most famous cities in the world, but it’s also a popular choice in disaster films because most films like that require a huge budget and big film studios, most of which are located in Hollywood, which is part of Los Angeles. This means it’s easier for filmmakers to shoot on location since said location is basically in their own backyard.

As a result, Los Angeles has been utterly obliterated in at least 27 movies. This can be caused by natural disasters, such as the abnormal shark-laden hurricanes in Sharknado, to alien invaders like in the sci-fi action film Battle: Los Angeles. Whatever the cause of the destuction is, it’s one of the most popular picks for a reason, though this reason is likely due to ease of access rather than world-renowned landmarks.

1

New York City, USA

Times destroyed: 69+

Everyone probably expected the Big Apple to take the number one spot. Seriously, who hasn’t seen a film where New York gets levelled for one reason or another? Sometimes it’s by alien invasion or giant monsters like in Cloverfield, other times it’s due to natural disasters. So why exactly is New York the number one most destroyed city in cinema? Well, it’s likely due to a combination of factors. For one, New York is home to a lot of iconic American monuments and landmarks, including the George Washington Bridge, the Statue of Liberty, and the Empire State Building, which are almost universally recognized due to their immense size.

When these mighty buildings or icons are toppled, it sends a distinct message about the scale of the calamity, whatever the calamity may be. On top of that, it’s one of the most populated cities in the world, which helps the event feel more climactic in its implications of a sky-high death toll. For these reasons and more, New York City has become disaster movie central, and is almost guaranteed to be featured in pretty much any sci-fi movie in which a city needs to be levelled.

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