Theme: Mass Destruction Spectaculars

Mass Destruction Spectaculars refer to works that present stupendous displays of destruction on screen – buildings being demolished, things blown up, assorted natural disaster phenomena. The cause of this can be anything from alien invasion to giant monsters and Transformer robots.

The earlier antecedents of the mass destruction spectacular came in Japanese Monster Movies, while the puppet tv series of Gerry Anderson were famous for blowing things up. The genre gained momentum with the Disaster Movie, which depicted protracted mass destruction alongside the dramas of people caught in its midst or trying to prevent it. The mass destruction spectacular gained its true feet with the CGI effects spectaculars of the 1990s and beyond.

Mass Destruction Spectaculars are generally conducted on huge budgets, although there are also examples down the other end of the scale as per many Japanese Monster Movies and the B-budgeted cable disaster movies of the 2000s onwards.