This Is Why Real Explosions Don't Look Like Those in Hollywood Movies

Real explosions can be a bit of a letdown, so Hollywood has some tricks up its sleeve.
Derya Ozdemir

Action music starts playing, a character turns their back to a building or a car with a sinister look on their face, and a flaming ball worthy of space rockets engulfs the screen as it all blows up. We all know and love these cheesy Hollywood scenes, but have you ever wondered how realistically they represent a real explosion? Chances are you've probably haven't seen that many real-life explosions in your lifetime, but don't worry, people of the internet always come to the rescue.

In this video, renowned YouTuber Tom Scott explores why real explosions don't look like those in the movies, at all. He brings in an explosives engineer to talk about Hollywood movie explosions, and the video gives you a new perspective in the sense that most movie explosions are engineered with little tricks to make them look more fiery and impressive than they would look in real life. But how? You can learn about the techniques Hollywood uses in the video above. Enjoy!

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