Hollywood’s Exploding Cars Take Art, Science — and Mortars

In Hollywood, trashing cars takes tradecraft.

Photo: Andrew Tingle

In Hollywood movies, the smallest fender bender can trigger an inferno. But in the reality-based world, a car doesn’t usually explode—even if you drive it off a cliff or shoot the gas tank. Blowing up a vehicle is deceptively difficult.

Need to blow the doors off a van? Remove the hinges and mount mortar launchers inside. Flip a flaming car? Cut out the floor and weld in a hydraulic lifting system, then park over a steel plate to avoid just punching a hole in the ground. Two-story fireball? Add a half gallon of “dry fireball mix.” (Ingredients? A trade secret.)“It takes at least 200 man-hours to prep for something that lasts four seconds onscreen,” says Drew Jiritano of DJFX, the special effects company behind the pyrotechnics in Jason Statham’s latest thriller,Safe. “There’s an absolute science.”

Things get really tricky when people need to be close to the action. Fluids and anything that might turn into shrapnel are removed. The trunk is packed with mortars and explosive powder, and the seats hold trays of flammable liquid. The whole thing is detonated electrically via 50-foot-long cables.

Sure, you could do the entire explosion digitally, but the audience would know, Jiritano says. “Everything about a fireball is sexy and beautiful.” To prove it, he blew up a Jaguar XJ6 for us—and even provided a Sandra Bullock-look-alike to push the button.

See for yourself in the video below.