4: Bridge On The River Kwai (1957)

4: Bridge On The River Kwai (1957) - Whoops.
We are only one of the legions of sources to note that the bridge over the Khwae Yai river (then known as the Mae Klong) was never actually destroyed, despite the explosive finale to David Lean's hit film. Estimates for the cost of the bridge in the movie vary between £125,000 to over a million pounds, and it was destroyed on March 10, 1957 in the presence of the Prime Minister of Ceylon, where the movie was filmed. The bridge had taken eight months, 500 workers and 35 elephants to build. Producer Sam Spiegel had the multiple reels of footage of the explosion flown out on five different planes to minimise the chance of losing the shot or having to re-stage it. Wise, as one reel went missing, prompting a world-wide search, though it eventually turned up on the tarmac at an airport in Cairo.

Impact: Oddly enough, the impact of the explosion is largely ironic, if not comedic, as Alec Guinness, now practically a collaborator with his captors and determined to stop the sabotage, ends up shot and falling on the detonator. This mirrors the detonation cause in Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (#16), and even for a fictitious gag, it's a bit anarchic for 1957.

Click here to return to Top 20 end-of-movie explosions

Top 50 movie special effects
Top 24 worst special effects of all time
Top 25 fictional ads in sci-fi movies
Top 50 sexy sci-fi costumes