The phrase “Nuked the fridge” temporarily replaced “jumped the shark” as the moment a fairly entertaining film or television show finally gave up trying to make sense and careened off of the rails into distasteful camp. It refers to the scene in Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull where our hero (played by Harrison Ford) survives a nuclear detonation by hiding in a lead-lined refrigerator. The appliance is tossed half a mile by the blast. Our aged adventurer emerges from the rubble no worse for wear.
But Reel Physics, a Web series linked by Badass Digest, analyzed the scene and came to the conclusion that Jones actually could have survived the blast if he in fact stashed his arthritic body in a lead-lined fridge. Their theory also takes into account the weight of the appliance, which would contribute to the forces that would help Jones survive the blast and the toss. So science proves that nuking the fridge is an accurate stunt. Put that in your pipe and smoke it, George Lucas haters! Watch the full analysis in the video below:
Of course, proving something could happen doesn’t mean that it should happen. The shot of Indy’s fridge outrunning both a car AND the nuclear blast helped the sequence look corny. And 1,000 scientists could tell me that Mutt Williams (Shia LaBeouf) actually can swing with digital monkeys and land in Cate Blanchett’s car, and it wouldn’t stop me from calling that sequence the most embarrassing scene ever included in a Spielberg film. Seriously, how did he sign off on that? But until then, Lucas and Spielberg have been vindicated … at least, until a fifth Indiana Jones movie eventually reaches theaters some day.
