The Greatest Weapons of Mass Destruction of Sci-Fi Film

Whether they are needed to liquify our armies or level entire cities, sci-fi film's mega-weapons showed us how to reign global destruction supreme
By SFMZ Webmaster

Keeping in theme with our previous sci-fi list 'The Greatest Hand Weapons of Sci-Fi Film,' we decided to expand on the checklists of doom by upgrading on a Herculean scale with sci-fi movie weapons packing an almighty powerful punch. In the new millennium, the abbreviation WMD became a common insert in post 911 era news media, but long before that, sci-fi film has served up a maelstrom of annihilation for decades now.

From the late 1800's to the 2000's, the discovery of X-ray, radioactivity, and laser beam technology has spawned a cornucopia of super-weapons used by aliens, usually with the most popular motive in sci-fi films - mankind's incendiary extermination. From our own discoveries in science and technology, the fictional appendages were soon to follow such as death rays, mega-laser blasts, particle beams, walls of fire, or radiological / biological / chemical mass detonation.

If aliens really did set out to exterminate us in the real world, it may not be as we expect, or at least not from what we have been shown in the movies. We may never even know what hit us, such as an atmospheric gas targeted for humans only. We slip into a deathly void quietly in the night without even a token of resistance. Not much action there for sci-fi filmmakers to sink their hooks into for entertainment purposes.

Can't have that, many of the Hollwood films have assured us that when the galactic gangsters come to take us out, it will be a grandoise spectacle filled with flaming carnage. And of course our egos prevents us from even entertaining the notion that humans would quietly curl into fetal position at the first sight of the alien aggressors.

In many sci-fi films, there's usually a band of human heroes stepping up to go toe to toe (or maybe toe to tenacle?) with the extra-terrestrial bullies. Mankind's cosmic pistoleros are often portrayed as going down in flames with their six-shooters / phasers blazing while striking a heroic pose much like the John Steuart Curray painting 'Tragic Prelude" showcasing Abolitionist John Brown's immortal stance.

With the above in mind, filmmakers made sure their sci-fi green meanies were equipped with fiery super-weapons so powerful, you would think the universe is filled with alien pyromaniacs. We asked site visitors to bring forward their suggestions for this list. We cherry picked their offerings to come up with the greatest WMD's of sci-fi film.

Sure there may be others that are much more destructive such as the Solarbonite in Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space. But it's only described in the movie, we never see it in action. Some could talk a good show, but we picked these towers of power because of their popularity, sheer coolness, and we actually got to witness their devastation. In no particular rank order, here are memorable creations of combustion that thrilled us movie-goers with many years of inferno glory.

The Death Star from Star Wars

Jumping straight to the low hanging fruit, Star Wars' Death Star would probably be one of the firsts of anyone's list. Some could argue that the Emperor's Ultimate Weapon may not be the supreme power of all sci-fi movie kingdom, but there is little doubt that it warrants the label of most famous sci-fi film mega-weapon.

Try to recall your very first viewing of Star Wars when Obi-wan uttered the famous line, "That's no moon." What followed was an overload of visual intimidation experienced like no other sci-fi film. And of course we later found out this metallic wrecking ball of worlds would soon line up it's cross-hairs on the peaceful planet Alderaan. Like an angry God hovering over it's planetary prey, the Death Star unleashed it's omnipotent laser blast resulting in instantaneous obliteration.

From that first display of power, the Death Star is rightfully classified as an indisputable Destroyer of Worlds. Actually, to be more accurate, Destroyer of World since the only other firepower action we saw from this Rondure of Ruin was in Return of the Jedi when it fired off a couple of token rounds, pulverizing Rebel ships.

The Dreadnaught from Star Wars

We're not done with Star Wars yet. The standard Imperial class star destroyers look like tugboats next to The Dreadnaught or Super Destroyer. Darth Vader's 'The Executor' was a super destroyer that appeared in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

The Dreadnaught's firepower was so feared, the Rebel forces only means of defense was to park themselves close to this massive construct in hopes to prevent it from locking on to a target. Despite it's potential destructive abilities, we saw little of it's master blasters in action in the movies, but it did provide a fantastic fireworks display from it's own demise when it crashed into the second Death Star.

GORT from The Day The Earth Stood Still

Perhaps a more fitting title for this movie would be 'The Day The Robot Stood Still.' Because when this big boy is not in action, it just stands in place. And then stands some more. Just when you think it's done just standing there, it stands some more. However, once you get a peek of his crimson glow oscillating optical, that's your queue to pound pavement to make as much distance possible between you and this alien techno-cyclops.

In the 2008 remake, the new millennium GORT dissolves into a bazillion little watcha-ma-call-it mecha-termites that devour anything and everything, pretty much like those nasty buggers in Stephen King's The Langoliers.

In the 1951 version, the ancestral GORT blasts a cartoonish beam of light, turning our armies into a bright glow then a fade out elimination - ahhh, the movie magic of the fifties!

The Red Matter from Star Trek XI

Talk about concentrated destruction! Red matter is a rare isotope that can create black holes. Romulan villain Nero used red matter to create a black hole in the center of Vulcan, causing the planet to implode. The twisted irony there is that it was actually the Vulcan Science Academy that created the artificial substance. Now that is nailing the cosmic nail in your own coffin.

Galactus from Fantastic Four Rise of the Silver Surfer

In the comic book universe, Galactus is known as The Devourer of Worlds. A fitting title considering this Cosmic God hops around the universe literally gobbling up planets. At the very beginning of the movie is when we saw his lone display of power when he sucked the life out of a vibrant planet and turned it into a charred sphere.

The Tripods / Ships from War of the Worlds

How would you like your destruction served, with legs or without legs? Both models plowed a trail of devastation, scarring the Earth every which way.

Without Legs: I do believe this is the only movie alien spacecraft that has an Up Periscope . . . and it's death beam resembles the exhaust of a bottle rocket. But don't let the 1953 version of WOTW's glaringly obvious miniature models fool you. These hovering vessels flattened Washington D.C., Paris, London, and many other major cities within days.

With Legs: Bloody vines spreading all about in your living room? Man, I hate when that happens. After a half century of waiting to attack us again in Spielberg's 2005 version, apparently the Martians haven't improved much in battle strategy.

The new millennium version of the WOTW ships popped out of the ground and vaporized hordes of humans into party confetti. . . Advice for the Martians: On your upcoming third attempt to conquer Earthlings, here's a tip for success. Bring along a few doses of Sudafed.

The City Size Ships from Independence Day (ID4)

There are three places in time you would never want to be standing in fictional and non-fictional realms. In downtown Nagasaki, Japan, August 9, 1945 when 'Fat Man' dropped in to say hey; standing in the thick of the Siberian woods when Tunguska made it's grand meteoric appearance on June 30, 1908; and July the 2nd on the roof of a skyscraper in the movie Independence Day holding a sign that reads 'Welcome to Earth.'

When the alien's ship from ID4 opened it's aperture to unleash a nova hot laser beam upon the citizens of Earth, the lucky ones were turned into crispy critters instantly - they hardly knew what hit them. The unlucky ones further away, witnessed a radius spreading mushroom of incineration that would fill your britches with foam.

Not only did these 15 mile wide ships boast city-flattening fire power, they also had a defense shield that could deflect a nuclear explosion. Despite their utlimate offensive weapons and impregnable defense, all we had to do to take them out was send in a burnt out alcoholic pilot . . . . go figure.

The Death Blossom from The Last Starfighter

The Death Blossom is like a berserker in space, it destroys everything in it's blast radius. You just to need to make sure you notify your fellow pilots within the vicinity before activating the spinning havoc of destruction. You got to love this: You are battling Ko-Dan fighters and you eventually run out of ammunition. Now realistically, the opponent would turn you and your craft into itsy-bitsy lifeless pieces floating eternally in space.

But this is the magical universe of sci-fi movies. With a flip of a switch, you activate the Death Blossom, pretty much wiping out the rest of the Ko-Dan fighters. How's that for having a dubious ace up your sleeve! The bonus prize for this unique sci-fi WMD? It can be yours too if you practice hard everyday on your video gaming, boys and girls.

Sci-Fi WMDs Worth a Mention

Other sci-fi WMD's that deserve a worthy mention include: Mr. Shadow from the Fifth Element - A dark asteroid with indomitable power. Apparently Mr. Shadow has a flair for theatrics considering he can turn into a flaming skull just before its victims are incinerated.

The underwater Alien's in The Abyss were able to create mega-size tidal waves, but we really see very little of their weapons in use. And if small alien nukes mushrooming in jungles and such are your thing, then the Predator's self-destruct mechanism would certainly fill that bill.

Of all the WMD's we have seen in sci-fi film, perhaps the Star Wars saga contained the most, including the Ion Cannons and Jango Fett's Acoustic Bombs, just to name a couple. This is probably not a fair comparison considering the Star Wars saga had nine movies to showcase its inventory of WMD's.