Watching vehicles crash or getting blown to bits in movies is one of the greatest pleasures in the world of cinema. Their occurrences require a formula that even the simplest of people can get behind. Car explodes; Audience claps and cheers! Who doesn’t love that?
Because people love to watch the destruction of vehicles, a UK-based automotive website, Scrap Car Comparison, took the time to add up which directors ruined the most cars in their films.
It wasn’t a scientific study, but the results are good enough for our purposes. The folks at Scrap Car Comparison say they sat down and watched the filmography of some of the world’s “most popular action directors.” From there, they tallied the number of cars each director has either damaged (something like a bullet-hole in the bodywork or a broken side mirror) or completely destroyed.
There are quite a few very big names on this list. In fact, just about everyone is a big name here. However, a few that are indeed missing from this article are directors like Kathryn Bigelow and Quentin Tarantino. They’ve each destroyed a dozen cars in their films.
15. George Miller – 18 Cars
I really thought Mad Max would have been the film to have killed more cars.
14. John McTiernan – 21 Cars
I wonder if they counted Die Hard’s exploding tank? I sure hope so. That was badass.
13. James Cameron – 25 Cars
If only there were cars in Avatar. Maybe Cameron’s number would be higher.
12. Edgar Wright – 25 Cars
The only thing that has aged worse than the cast of Baby Driver are the cars in it, apparently.
11. Chad Stahelski – 30 Cars
The cars killed John Wick’s dog, they must be destroyed.
10. The Wachowski Sisters – 45 Cars
If you destroy a car in the Matrix, does it really count? I guess so!
9. Paul Greengrass – 51 Cars
You go, Paul Greengrass!
8. Steven Spielberg – 60 Cars
My favourite Spielberg movie was responsible for killing two cars. It’s still excellent.
7. Richard Donner – 61 Cars
‘80s action is the best action, because it’s pure and uncut. Just lot of explosions and other practical effects.
6. John Woo – 77 Cars
Is this the only Audi TT ever destroyed in a movie? It has to be, right?
5. The Russo Brothers – 80 Cars
Honestly, if you total up all the cars that are destroyed when these Marvel superheroes destroy entire city blocks, the number is probably a lot higher than just 80 cars. But, who is going to take the time to do that? Not me.
4. Christopher Nolan – 83 Cars
The best way to make the Batmobile look even cooler is to make sure that every other car on Earth is destroyed. It makes sense.
3. John Landis – 120 Cars
Nearly half of the cars destroyed by John Landis happened in just one scene: the infamous Blues Brothers 2000 pileup which involved 50 cars. It actually holds the Guinness World Record for the largest car pile up in movie history. You’re welcome for that little factoid.
2. Justin Lin – 135 Cars
It’s no surprise that the guy who directed the bulk of the Fast and Furious franchise is second on this list. I mean they are movies about cars, after all. At least I think so. I’ve only seen Tokyo Drift.
1. Michael Bay – 354 Cars
I mean, really, who else could be at the top of this list? Bay has averaged 24 damaged or written off vehicles per movie. It’s a truly impressive pace. He killed an astonishing 155 cars in just five Transformers movies. He’s 219 cars ahead of second place. He’s lapped the field and then blown it up for good measure.