Most Expensive Scenes In Hollywood

I don’t know about you, but when I go to the cinema, I want to be impressed. I deride your namby-pamby low-budget films. Give me huge explosions, massive stars and thousands of extras any day. Below are the five most expensive Hollywood scenes we could muster, ’cause all you need is one epic scene to reel in the punters.

Most expensive fight scene – Matrix Reloaded (2003) – $40 Million 

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Are you surprised? I was. I must admit I’d forgotten about this nugget of early noughties dystopia. The fight scene in question, in case you need reminding, is when Neo takes on hundreds of Agent Smiths in a CGI-fuelled extravaganza.

This 17 minute fight scene cost the makers a whopping $40million, around 40 per cent of the budget for the whole movie. I dunno about you, but I thought it dragged a bit towards the end there. Better off cutting it to a nice round ten minutes and saving themselves a few bob, I think. But then they wouldn’t have this wonderful accolade. Swings and roundabouts, hey?

Most expensive bond movie – Skyfall (2012) – Budget $200,000,000 (estimated)

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The 23^rd instalment in the James Bond franchise also has the honour of being the most expensive one ever made. And after being delayed by almost four years, the cost better be worth it! Skyfall pips other Bond movies with their expensive car chases, women painted gold and gun fights due to its director’s decision to build an entire country pile from scratch. And then blow it up. As you do.

Javier Bardem, who plays baddy Silva, was banned from smoking on set in case he accidently started the fire earlier than planned. After all, no one likes a premature explosion.

Most expensive explosion – Pearl Harbor (2001) – $5.5million

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Love it or hate it, despite its huge historical inaccuracies,MichaelBayknows how to shoot an explosion. The scene in which the Japanese attack involved the destruction of six ships, all of which measured between 400 and 600 feet. In numbers the short sequence took 12 camera teams, 7,000 sticks of dynamite, 2,000 feet of primer cord and 4,000 gallons of gasoline. Then add in a month’s preparation and you have a bill of $5.5million. And if that’s not enough to make your eyes water, throw in all the other fight scenes and the stunning costumes. Who cares about historical accuracy when the cast look that good?!

Most expensive cast list – The Longest Day (1962) – $725,000

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They don’t make them like they used to. While you may think He’s Just Not That In To You, Valentine’s Day or the Expendables would be chockablock with big name stars you’d be wrong. The Longest Day had 20 major stars including the likes of Sean Connery, John Wayne and Richard Burton (I won’t name them all, that would take forever!). And, where you get big stars, big price tags are sure to follow.

All of the actors were paid $25,000 for their cameos. All apart from John Wayne who – thanks to an inferiority complex – was paid $250,000 in 1962. That makes the final bill $725,000, the equivalent of $10.8 million now. Pricey!

Most extras in a film – Ben Hur (1959) – 50,000 people

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You probably don’t remember this epic film hitting the cinema but the budget for extras must well and truly have been blown. As well as the huge cast of Romans and gladiators, there were 50,000 extras. All in full costume and makeup. Rumour has it that actresses Martha Scott and Cathy O’Donnell spent an entire month in full leper makeup due to the time it took to get everyone ready to shoot. Something like that is really gonna impact your social life…

Honourable mention – Ghandi (1981) – 300,000 people

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Although the film Gandhi is not thought to be the most expensive anything, it certainly deserves some credit for its amazing funeral scene. While Ben Hur had 50,000 extras throughout the movie, Gandhi boasted a whopping 300,000 extras for the funeral. Beat that!