FIREWORKS IN MOVIES!
- Jul 1
- 6 min read
Updated: Jul 2
The 4th of July is right around the corner, and you know what that means: fireworks. Lots and lots of fireworks. Maybe you're headed to a big show—something elaborate and professional over Navy Pier here in Chicago, or bursting across the sky above Grant Park while a John Philip Sousa march blares in the background.
Or maybe it's a baseball game, and the fireworks fly after the final out. That’s all great—classic, beautiful, family-friendly explosions in the sky.
Then there's the other kind of fireworks show: the neighborhood stuff. You know the kind. M-80s, cherry bombs, bottle rockets shot out of questionable PVC tubes. Smoke bombs, sparklers, snakes. People blowing up garbage cans. Firecrackers going off until your dog is permanently traumatized.
There’s always one neighbor who goes way too far—setting off fireworks at 3am on July 7th just because they “still have a few left.” It's chaos. It’s madness. It’s America.
Now, I’ve never really been a “fireworks guy.” When I was a kid, I had friends who were way into it. They’d sneak over the border to Indiana, load up on the illegal stuff, and go to town blowing up fruit, mailboxes, whatever was handy.
Me? I watched, I laughed, I appreciated the spectacle, but I never had the urge to light the fuse myself. Still don’t. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate a good fireworks display—especially when it’s on screen.
Movies love fireworks. And not just for the obvious reasons. Sure, there are the big, beautiful displays that serve as a backdrop for a kiss or a moment of cinematic awe. But filmmakers have also used fireworks in weirder, more ironic, sometimes tragic, sometimes hilarious ways.
Fireworks can be romantic, explosive (duh), dangerous, celebratory, even mournful depending on how they’re framed. They can signal joy or chaos or a metaphorical meltdown. They can be subtle or bombastic. Either way, when used right, they’re unforgettable.
So, in the spirit of the season—and because the skies over Chicago are about to be lit up like a Michael Bay dreamscape—I’ve put together a list of my 10 Favorite Fireworks Scenes in Movie History.
These aren’t necessarily the most obvious picks. I’ve left out the stereotypical ones you might expect: no Mulan, no Super 8, no Final Destination 3 (even though that one is wild), no Mary Poppins or Cape Fear.
There’s a beautiful fireworks moment in Sunrise from 1927, and The Fisher King has one too, but they didn’t make the cut either. This list is personal. It’s subjective. It’s mine. These are the moments where fireworks in film blew me away—sometimes literally, sometimes emotionally.
So here they are, from # 10 to # 1, My All-Time Favorite Uses of Fireworks in Movies.
Light the fuse, step back… and enjoy.
BEST FIREWORKS SCENES IN MOVIES (in order of preference):
Brian De Palma’s Blow Out is a stone-cold masterpiece. One of the bleakest, most emotionally devastating endings in film history. John Travolta holding Nancy Allen’s lifeless body in his arms as fireworks explode in the sky around them—pure, brutal irony. It’s beautiful and horrific at the same time.
The Liberty Day fireworks celebration becomes a twisted visual counterpoint to a tragedy. The joy and color in the sky contrast so deeply with the heartbreak on the ground, it’s almost unbearable. It’s De Palma’s best movie—yes, better than Carrie, Casualties of War, Scarface, The Untouchables—and this final moment is a sucker punch of emotion and cinematic power. Fireworks have never felt so tragic.
Yeah, I said it. Jackass: The Movie is brilliant. I love it. The shows, the movies, the anarchic, insane spirit of it all. And one of the greatest recurring bits in the whole Jackass canon is Bam Margera tormenting his poor parents.
The fireworks-in-the-bedroom prank is legendary. They’re sound asleep, and BAM!—Bam’s inside lighting Roman candles and M-80s right INSIDE their bedroom. You see the flashes lighting up through the curtained windows. It’s hilarious. It’s juvenile. It’s genius. A real-life use of fireworks that’s as cinematic and perfectly timed as any scripted scene. This is pure chaos art.
Greg Mottola’s Adventureland is one of the best coming-of-age movies of the 2000s. The vibe, the music, the melancholy nostalgia—it nails what it feels like to be 22 and stuck in a weird in-between place.
Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart have a quietly lovely chemistry, and their romance starts to really blossom during this beautiful fireworks scene. The use of Crowded House’s Don’t Dream It’s Over? Inspired. Magical. Melancholy. This isn’t just a pretty fireworks moment—it’s emotional, romantic, wistful, and unforgettable. A perfect use of music and light.
George A. Romero—God rest his genius brain—returned to the zombie genre with a vengeance in Land of the Dead. In this film, fireworks are used not for celebration, but as tactical distraction. The humans use them to mesmerize the zombies—who, tragically, are still drawn to the beauty of the lights in the sky because they remember what it once meant to be alive.
It’s haunting. It’s sad. It adds this unexpected dimension of pathos to the undead. And visually, it’s mesmerizing. Leave it to Romero to turn a fireworks display into a poetic zombie lament. Fireworks as memory. Fireworks as manipulation. Incredible.
The Alfred Molina scene. You know the one. Dirk Diggler and company in a sweaty drug deal gone wrong. Sister Christian blares on the stereo. Tension builds. And then—POP! POP!—some maniac in the background keeps lighting firecrackers. It’s maddening. It’s nerve-shredding.
The fuse keeps burning, and you’re just waiting for everything to explode. And it does. It’s one of the most brilliantly edited, acted, and sound-designed sequences in movie history, and the firecrackers make it unforgettable. Paul Thomas Anderson is a genius, and this scene proves it.
Now let’s go old-school. Hitchcock. Cary Grant. Grace Kelly. Fireworks over the French Riviera. Romance, suspense, elegance—it’s all here. Grace Kelly in that stunning white dress, standing in the glow of bursting fireworks, is one of the most iconic and gorgeous images in all of classic Hollywood cinema.
The scene is sexy, suggestive, and visually luscious. Hitch was playing with innuendo, imagery, and glamour here like only he could. It’s not just fireworks—it’s cinema fireworks.
This one’s criminally underseen. Kevin Costner’s best performance. Period. Before the Oscars, before Field of Dreams, there was this heartfelt, bittersweet road movie. Directed by Kevin Reynolds (also underrated), Fandango is funny, sad, and full of heart.
There’s a fireworks scene that starts off gleeful and goofy—just guys blowing stuff up—but quickly morphs into something darker, more symbolic. The fireworks start to feel like an omen, a premonition of the war and death some of them are heading into. The joy turns to dread. And it’s absolutely brilliant.
Fireworks as revolution. Fireworks as a symbol of defiance. The explosive finale of V for Vendetta—a movie that still resonates like a punch in the gut—is spectacular and emotional. It’s an anarchist’s dream set to Tchaikovsky, and it works on every level.
The visuals. The message. The symbolism. Everything. It’s not just about blowing things up—it’s about blowing up a system. A righteous, cinematic explosion.
I’m not kidding. Joe Dirt is great. It’s hilarious, it’s weird, it’s way smarter than people give it credit for, and David Spade is totally dialed in. The fireworks scene in Joe Dirt—where Joe schools everyone on the difference between snakes, sparklers, and whistling bungholes—is iconic.
The fact that he of all people is a fireworks expert makes it that much better. It’s ridiculous. It’s redneck. It’s brilliant. And it cements Joe Dirt as one of the greatest mulleted philosophers of our time.
Yeah, I know—this one shows up on everyone’s list. But that’s because it’s that good. The fireworks scene during Bilbo’s birthday party in Fellowship is pure movie magic. Funny, whimsical, charming—Gandalf’s fireworks light up the sky in Middle-earth like a mythical Fourth of July.
It’s the perfect tone-setter for the whole trilogy. Giant dragons in the sky, hobbits laughing and ducking from fireballs—Peter Jackson nailed it. You can’t do a fireworks list without it.
There you go—10 explosive, unforgettable, sometimes hilarious, sometimes heartbreaking fireworks scenes from the movies that did it best.
Some are obvious, some are deep cuts, but they all left an impression. And hey—if your personal favorites didn’t make this list, drop me a line at nick@nickdigilio.com and let me know what you’d add.
Until then, have a great 4th of July… and maybe try not to blow your fingers off.
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