Decades Later, This Movie Cliché Still Captivates Us!

In both movies and TV shows, this is how it’s done!

When a hero sets off an explosion—be it a building, a car, or anything else—they stride away just seconds before the blast occurs, walking calmly toward the camera and continuing in slow motion without ever looking back at the explosion.

There’s no flinching, no shaking, not even a slight reaction. Occasionally, you might see them casually remove their sunglasses or crack a small, amused smile, but they never turn back!

Indeed, as proclaimed a few years ago by the American music group Lonely Island in a song dedicated to this classic Hollywood trope, “Cool Guys Don’t Look At Explosions“.

This stereotype of the hero (often muscular) who walks slowly away from the audience with a massive explosion behind him has become a true Hollywood convention. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly when this trend began, but it can be traced back to at least the 1970s (such as Tony Anthony in the spaghetti western Hang ‘Em High), the 1960s (with Natalie Wood in Inside Daisy Clover), or even, as some suggest, the 1950s (with Kirk Douglas in Paths of Glory).

Regardless, there are countless examples in both films and television shows that have replicated this phenomenon. From Iron Man to Wolverine, The Dark Knight, Die Hard, Hancock, Robocop, Man on Fire, or Breaking Bad, the list is endless (as the video montage above shows), and let’s be honest, we never tire of it!

What’s your favorite scene of this kind?

(Re)discover the trailer for “Wolverine”…