Destruction
As a famous landmark, destruction of the statue has been to symbolize the end of mankind. In addition, it is often used on websites and images related to global warming. The table below lists some examples of movies which feature the statue destroyed.
| Year Film was Released | Film | How it is destroyed | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1933 | Deluge | The statue is surrounded by a tsunami. | |
| 1961 | The Day the Sky Exploded | The statue is seen on the DVD cover, a sign of humanity coming to an end. | |
| 1968 | Planet of the Apes | The statue is seen half buried in sand, Astronaut Taylor sees it and realizes he has been on earth the whole time. | |
| 1970 | Beneath the Planet of the Apes | The half-buried statue is again seen at the beginning of the film. | |
| 1979 | Meteor | The statue is seen when the meteor fragment enters New York City. Although its destruction is never shown, this scene shows that the statue might have been destroyed by the meteor fragment. | |
| 1981 | Escape from New York | The statue's head is seen decapitated and in the streets of New York City on the poster. However, it is intact in the film. | |
| 1983 | 2019, After the Fall of New York | The statue is seen abandoned on Liberty Island. | |
| 1985 | National Lampoon's European Vacation | Griswold family returning to U.S. sees the Statue of Liberty. Clark accidentally opens cockpit door while searching for a bathroom, bumps pilot, and causes plane to hit the statue's torch, damaging it. | |
| 1987 | Superman IV: The Quest for Peace | Nuclear Man lifts The Statue of Liberty from her pedestal and hurls her towards Metropolis. Superman catches and re-attaches her to her pedestal. | |
| 1989 | The Abyss *Special Edition* | The statue is nearly threatened by a tsunami, but is ultimately not destroyed. She is incorrectly depicted facing the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. | |
| 1989 | Ghostbusters II | The statue is brought to life by the Ghostbusters to help save New York City. After she helps, she is seen lying on the street. At the end of the film, she is rebuilt. | |
| 1995 | Batman Forever | It says Gotham on the crown. Its head is damaged by the helicopter. | |
| 1996 | Independence Day | The statue is seen after the satellite crashes into the mother ship and the camera points at her tablet to indicate July 4, Independence Day. The statue is also seen being covered in the shadow of an alien destroyer that arrives in New York City. After the aliens destroy New York City, the statue is seen toppled into the river. | |
| 1997 | The Fifth Element | The statue can be briefly spotted as the spacecraft takes off over New York Harbor. The oceans have receded drastically so that the pedestal under the Statue of Liberty, roughly five times as tall as it currently is, is now connected directly to the mainland. | |
| 1998 | Deep Impact | The statue is toppled by a tsunami created from an asteroid impact. The severed head is pushed into the streets of New York City. It is mentioned in the DVD commentary that two airplanes were originally going to be hit by the tsunami at the same time the statue was, but removed during production. | |
| 1998 | Earthquake in New York City | In this documentary, the torch of the statue collapses during an earthquake. | |
| 1999 | Aftershock: Earthquake in New York | The statue is destroyed by an earthquake. At the end of the film, it is shown being rebuilt. | |
| 1999 | Futurama episode "When Aliens Attack" | The statue is seen being covered in the shadow of an alien destroyer that arrives in New York City. After the aliens leave Earth, there is a shot of the torch of the statue collapsing, due to it being damaged by the invasion. | |
| 2000 | The Busy World of Richard Scarry episode "The Big Apple Christmas Caper" | The statue is depicted as a pig. A giant magnet rips the crown and torch off. Later, the torch and crown fall into the streets of the city after the villain with the magnet is defeated. In an error of continuity, the torch and crown are seen to have fallen on top of skyscrapers, and the spire of the Chrysler Building is shown to have fallen onto the head of the statue, serving as the "new crown" of the statue. | |
| 2001 | A.I. Artificial Intelligence | The statue is seen submerged in the ocean up to the bottom of her torch due to global warming. | |
| 2004 | The Day After Tomorrow | The statue is hit by a tsunami and is later shown to have frozen due to global warming. | |
| 2004 | Godzilla: Final Wars | The statue is seen destroyed after Rodon destroys New York City. | |
| 2005 | Category 7: The End of the World | The statue is hit by a tsunami and destroyed by tornadoes due to global warming. The torch is ripped off by a tornado and thrown into the streets of New York City, narrowly killing some main characters (Tommy Tornado and Faith Clavell). | |
| 2005 | The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy | Seen in the Vogons constructor fleet. | |
| 2006 | Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut | Superman is kicked into the torch of the statue by General Zod, destroying it. The destruction is later reversed when Superman turns back time to repair the damage caused by the 3 Supervillains. | |
| 2006 | Disaster Zone: Volcano in New York | The statue is seen several times in the skyline, but is not destroyed. A fishing boat is blown up by a volcano in the harbor very close to the statue at one point. | |
| 2006 | Children of Men | In an advertisement stating that the whole world was destroyed due to infertility except Britain, the statue is seen being destroyed in a nuclear bomb attack in New York City. | |
| 2008 | War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave | The statue is destroyed on the DVD cover. | |
| 2008 | Life After People | The statue is seen decaying over time. First, the torch, head, and tablet would fall into the river. Then the whole statue would collapse as nature takes over Liberty Island. | |
| 2008 | Aftermath: Population Zero | Same as Life After People | |
| 2008 | Cloverfield | The statue is decapitated by a giant monster and the head is thrown into the streets of New York City. The decapitated statue is later seen from the Brooklyn Bridge. | |
| 2008 | Disaster Movie | One of the movie's posters depicts the statue wearing scuba gear while being hit by a tsunami. This is a parody of The Day After Tomorrow's poster. | |
| 2008 | NYC: Tornado Terror | A tornado forms over the statue, ripping the torch and tablet off. | |
| 2008 | Lost City Raiders | The statue is submerged due to global warming. | |
| 2008 | Wall-E | The abandoned statue is seen at the end of the movie after the Axiom starliner lands back on Earth. | |
| 2009 | 2012 | The statue is destroyed by a tsunami in Charlie Frost's video. | |
| 2010 | Skyline | The statue is seen when the alien destroyer abducts people in New York City. |
Read more about this topic: Statue Of Liberty In Popular Culture
Famous quotes containing the word destruction:
“Though castles topple on their warder’s heads,
Though palaces and pyramids do slope
Their heads to their foundations; though the treasure
Of nature’s germens tumble all together,
Even till destruction sicken—answer me
To what I ask you.”
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616)
“We are heading towards catastrophe. I think the world is going to pieces. I am very pessimistic. Why? Because the world hasn’t been punished yet, and the only punishment that could be adequate is the nuclear destruction of the world.”
—Elie Wiesel (b. 1928)
“Postmodernity is the simultaneity of the destruction of earlier values and their reconstruction. It is renovation within ruination.”
—Jean Baudrillard (b. 1929)