List of films featuring the destruction of art and cultural heritage
This is a list of films that portray the destruction or vandalism of art and cultural heritage in museums and other settings.
Date |
Title |
Country |
Notable artworks depicted as vandalized or destroyed |
|---|---|---|---|
1989 |
Batman |
USA |
Figure with Meat by Francis BaCon is spared by the Joker (comics), but The Blue Boy and other paintings by Edgar Degas and Rembrandt are vandalized by the Joker and his goons, who splash paint across the canvasses and knock sculptures to the floor. |
1996 |
Mars Attacks! |
Several international landmarks are destroyed during the Martians' initial attack, including Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower, the moais on Easter Island, and Mount Rushmore. (Mount Rushmore is not completely destroyed; the heads of the presidents are replaced with Martian ones). |
|
1997 |
Bean |
UK |
Whistler's Mother by James Abbott McNeill Whistler |
1999 |
Cradle Will Rock |
Man at the Crossroads by Diego Rivera (portrayed by Ruben Blades) is destroyed. |
|
1999 |
The Thomas Crown Affair (1999 film) |
San Giorgio Maggiore at Dusk by Claude Monet is pushed out of its frame and treated rather roughly when it is stolen from the Metropolitan Museum of Art by Thomas Crown (portrayed by Pierce Brosnan). Later the painting is returned to the gallery, apparently unscathed, despite being doused with fire sprinklers. |
|
2001 |
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider |
The Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap appears to suffer serious internal damage, particularly Ta Prohm. |
|
2002 |
Man at the Crossroads by Diego Rivera (portrayed by Alfred Molina) is destroyed. |
||
2009 |
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra |
The Eiffel Tower is destroyed by nanomite warheads. |
|
2014 |
Muppets Most Wanted |
Several artworks are stolen, and some busts are destroyed. |
|
2014 |
Monuments Men |
Portrait of a Young Man by Raphael is destroyed in a fire. Note: the actual fate of this painting, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, is unknown. |