The Irresistible Urge to Destroy New York on Screen
By Sewell Chan
December 26, 2007

What is it with all these movies showing New York City utterly obliterated? Paramount Pictures has begun an aggressive advertising campaign for “Cloverfield” — a film being released on Jan. 18 and produced by J. J. Abrams, the creator of the television series “Alias” and “Lost” — even while trying to maintain an air of mystery around it.

The ads show a beheaded Statue of Liberty in the foreground, with a ravaged skyline in the background. The official plot synopsis does not give much away: Five young New Yorkers throw their friend a going-away party the night that a monster the size of a skyscraper descends upon the city. Their video camera documents their attempt to survive the most surreal, horrifying event of their lives.

The movie trailer is only slightly more informative. It suggests that the movie is told, in the style of “The Blair Witch Project,” from the perspective of a video camera found at “Incident Site U.S. 447,” an “area formerly known as ‘Central Park.’” Scenes of an invisible monster wreaking predictable mayhem, hapless soldiers trying to respond and panicked city residents struggling to survive follow in quick succession.

To be sure, movies showing New York being destroyed are nothing new — and have a long history in cinema. (New York Magazine’s Vulture blog recently had an item on the Top 10 movie destructions of New York.) But the resilience of the urban-destruction theme seems notable — and, after a brief post-9/11 lull, the theme seems more prevalent than ever. In an insightful 2005 op-ed essay in The Boston Globe, the architectural historian Max Page argued that fantasies of New York’s destruction are actually vital to the city’s success.

The New York Times
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I would agree, it's as if the movie moguls wanted to 'shock and awe' the audiences with impending doom. That must sit real well with the populace. I mean, enough of these disaster movies, don't they have a real script anymore?

(As the director says) OK, let's blow this up, I want to see total destruction with blood and guts strewn all over the place. Enough of this garbage! It would almost seem that they were in cahoots with the terrorists or trying to get more armed forces recruits. Come on man, enough is enough!

Unfortunately, millions of people go to see these movies and they make (literally) billions of dollars for the studios.

That's why there are independent films.

I've noticed it more and more after 9-11 myself... maybe just because it strikes a nerve. The Day After Tomorrow, I am Legend, etc all have done. They even do it in TV in Heroes where a Nuclear bomb hits NYC.

Huge events or huge things on films are drawing huge audience these days.

To name a view:
"Dante's Peak", "Volcano", "Independence Day", "The Day After Tomorrow", "War of the Worlds",
"Transformer", "I am Legend"

The "Independence Day" and "War of the Worlds" has both huge event and huge things.