Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
The Damage: Yet more proof that closures on the Underground are a bad idea, a Martian ship is revealed during construction work at Hobbs End station. Psychic powers then send violent winds through the streets, obliterating buildings and controlling people’s minds. The chaos is curtailed by the judicious application of a crane, sparing Big Ben from further demolition.
Destructometer: 3/10
The Day the Earth Stopped (2008)
The Damage: Six hundred and sixty-six giant robots land on Earth, eviscerating its main cities. Top of the list? Los Angeles, but London gets a look in, with brief scenes of the mechs marching through the city’s buildings towards the Gherkin – and, inevitably, sticking it to the London Eye.
Destructometer: 7/10
The Battle of Britain (1969)
The Damage: Burning buildings and red lights show the impact of the Luftwaffe’s bombing of London, but the sheer scale of the devastation is best communicated by grand aerial shots, with tiny blasts dotting the landscape of the massive metropolis.
Destructometer: 8/10
The Lost World (1925)
The Damage : A brontosaurus races through London in this silent adventure, knocking over a statue and demolishing one building until it finally reaches Tower Bridge – where its weight causes the middle to collapse. It then swims peacefully down the Thames back home, accompanied by a cheerful piano soundtrack. London’s desolation has never seemed sweeter.
Destructometer: 5/10
Thor 2: The Dark World (2013)
The Damage: What looks to be an alien ship plows through Greenwich, razing the grounds and magnificent pillars of the Old Royal Naval College. Whether anything else in the capital gets its Ass-gard kicked remains a mystery for now. But judging by tradition, Big Ben should be worried...
Destructometer: 7/10
