11: Die Hard 2 (1990)

11: Die Hard 2 (1990) Yippie-kay-ay, motherfucker!
Renny Harlin's wildly over-the-top action sequel finds Bruce Willis watching the villains escape in a 747 at the film's end. Luckily for him, the plane is leaking fuel, so he insouciantly tosses a lighter and his trademark one-liner at the fuel trail and destroys the aircraft. Aviation fuel is almost impossible to ignite by such methods, and a burning trail could never catch up to a jet airplane taking off at nearly 200mph, but never mind - compared to the earlier 'ejector seat' gag, the science of this sequence is rock-solid.

Impact: The plane's destruction is such an outrageous and implausible spectacle that you can't help giving in to the cheer-moment and the sheer audacity of the film-makers. Earlier implausibilities in the movie will already have sent anyone with a vestigial critical faculty to the refunds booth at the box-office, so there was no-one to spoil the party when McClane blew the plane.

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