How did they film the nuke explosion in Broken Arrow?
In the film Broken Arrow, a nuclear weapon is set off underground in an abandoned mine.
Here is the scene:
I'm interested in two points in this clip:
First at 0:33, you can see the ground sink as it falls into the mine shaft. (I'm not worried about the explosion - that looks like a typical petrol & explosives set up. It's the ground falling in that interests me.)
Then at 0:55, you can see the ground rippling and moving as it comes up behind and under the Jeep.
The first one looks quite realistic - as if they really did set off explosives underground.
The second also looks realistic, but could be a miniature or CGI.
Is there any information on how those effects were achieved? Did they actually set off a big underground explosion, or was it miniatures and standard small blasts?
Best Answer
The initial ground sink (circular) after the explosion sets off is clearly CGI. Usually production teams would have wanted more shots if the ground sink was really made. Instead, the sink is shown just in 2 shots, Once as the blast goes off (covered with dust) and the other time from an eagle eye view for a brief 2 seconds each.
The EMP PULSE thus generated gives rise to a ripple, is not CGI The rippling ground effect is not something new. I believe the ground tremor pulse has previously been used in the movie 'Tremors' (1990). It is possible to setup the ground with loose sands and grass, and a chain to drag from under the sand. I say this because, the shot was not shown wide-angle, nor the arch-angle of a shockwave was shown from the eagle view. You can notice that, as the pulse approaches the jeep from behind, the jeep is empty with dummies and it's nothing but a skeleton model of the jeep. But no miniatures seems to be used.
Pictures about "How did they film the nuke explosion in Broken Arrow?"
How many missing nukes are there?
To date, six nuclear weapons have been lost and never recovered.Where was the Broken Arrow filmed?
Filming started on June 6, 1949. It was primarily shot on location in northern Arizona, approximately 30 miles south of Flagstaff. Apaches from the Whiteriver agency on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation played themselves.How many Soviet broken arrows were there?
As the U.S. and the Soviet Union developed and enhanced their arsenals during the Cold War arms race, both experienced a number of nuclear accidents. Since 1950, the Defense Department has reported 32 Broken Arrows. Three of the most notable U.S. incidents involving thermonuclear weapons are detailed below.Can a nuke explode by itself?
If the sphere of explosive were set off by an accident, it would not explode uniformly and would not compress the plutonium enough to cause a nuclear detonation. But it might set off a fast chain reaction short of a full-scale explosion - a reaction that would generate deadly radiation and spread radioactive debris.Broken Arrow (1/3) Movie CLIP - Nuclear Boom (1996) HD
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Images: Photography Maghradze PH, Алесь Усцінаў, Erik Mclean, Karolina Grabowska