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Impressive Pyrotechnics: Difference between revisions
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[[Stuff Blowing Up]] on TV and movies are usually large, visually impressive fireballs, that appear to be fueled by gasoline, propane or another similar such fuel, even when the object in question [[Made of Explodium|has no right to explode]] ''[[Rule of Cool|at all]]'', much less spectacularly. Sometimes they are (or include) a shower of sparks.
In reality, a fireball is often a minor part of an explosion (though not always, as is the case with incendiaries, like phosphorus, uranium, gelled fuels like napalm, etc). The real devastation from an explosion often comes from the force (overpressure) of the blast and the flying debris and shrapnel. Very rarely will explosions look like what they do in real life, an expanding cloud of dust and debris with very little
The explosions also burn at a ridiculously slow rate, which conveniently enables one to [[Outrun the Fireball]].
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Oh, and fireballs in space. Perhaps some chemical mixtures can make fireballs in a near vacuum, but it's unlikely most space explosions are like that.
Occurs in 90% of all onscreen explosions.
If you turn this trope [[Up to Eleven]], then [[You Can See the Explosion from Orbit]].
Compare [[Koosh Bomb]], [[Every Car Is a Pinto]].
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== Live
* Demonstrated in an episode of ''[[
** Of course the proper one ''did'' have a very impressive fireball of its own. You just needed to watch in [[Slow Motion]] to really appreciate it.
** They also tested whether [[wikipedia:Tracer ammunition|tracer bullets]] + petrol tank = boom. The answer? Sort of, but not really an explosion, so much as just a fire. But a bad guy in a movie is unlikely to be using tracer bullets, especially since [[SoCalization|most movies take place in Los Angeles]], and tracer bullets are illegal in California.
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* [[Professional Wrestling]] must have an infinite budget supply for this...
* The ''[[Scrubs]]'' episode "My Unicorn" parodies this when an explosion occurs after ''a toy airplane crash''.
* Any kind of [[People in Rubber Suits|monster]] in
* ''[[Der Clown]] -- Payday'': {{spoiler|The explosion of the aircraft at the end suggests that the plane was filled with fuel from wingtip to wingtip, including the entire fuselage behind the rear cockpit wall}}, so huge is the fireball.
** Didn't from quarter to half of the series in any given season contain [[Every Car Is a Pinto|some]] or [[Misguided Missile|other]] fireworks?
* Much beloved of Jeremy Clarkson on ''[[Top Gear]]'', which earned him the ire of co-presenter James May when he set off fireballs while May was trying to film an ad for a tame diesel Volkswagen Scirocco.
* ''[[Stargate SG-1]]'' featured plenty of explosions, but happily mocked the need for bigger explosions with each season in one episode. No matter how large the special effects team made their fireballs, the director constantly demanded larger, requiring increasingly elaborate setups to get the desired effect.
== Video Games ==
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[[Category:Spectacle]]
[[Category:Stuff Blowing Up]]
[[Category:Tropes Examined by the Mythbusters]]
[[Category:{{PAGENAME}}]]
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