We're well into the summer blockbuster season now, and when you think of summer blockbusters, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Yes, it's the big bangs, the loud booms, the total kablooheys! Here's a look back over ten of our favorites:

THE DARK KNIGHT
Putting aside some questionable plot-holes (for someone who's making this up as he goes along, The Joker sure does seem good at sneaking HUNDREDS of explosives into a building for a controlled detonation) and rumours that the ignition was delayed, leading to Heath Ledger ad-libbing the bit with the detonator, this is still a pretty awesome explosion. It's made all the cooler than it was done in one long take.

THE HURT LOCKER
Probably the most realistic explosion on this list, The Hurt Locker went on to swipe some Oscars away from under Avatar's nose with it's realistic portrayal of bomb disposal experts working in Iraq. Things we're never quite as tense as they were for the opening scene where Guy Pearce finds that even his heavily armoured suit isn't enough to fully protect him from what was in store.

INDEPENDENCE DAY
Director Roland Emmerich knows his way around destroying stuff – The Day After Tomorrow, 2012, the upcoming White House Down – but his first proper call to arms was when he wrecked most of America in a single blow thanks to some pesky aliens and their even peskier death rays. Entire landmarks gave way to a wall of fire that went on to engulf entire cities, even if they could be outrun by a dog.

STARSHIP TROOPERS
This sci-fi/action flick had more than its fair share of big bangs, but the one we're talking about involves a fleet of starships arriving to blanket the bug's planet with napalm, wiping out thousands of them in one go. It's number eight on the video below, and on the big screen it was a thing of awe and wonder to behold. Take that, bugs!

STEALTH
Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination, but far more enjoyable that it's been given credit for. Jessica Biel, Jamie Foxx and Josh Lucas are hunting down a plane with its own A.I., and after a lot of fun but empty action sequences, we get round to this. 500 gallons of gasoline later, and a dozen jeeps and one giant air hanger are left in pieces.

SWORDFISH
Another not-that-great movie that's still kinda fun, most people probably remember this as the movie that Halle Berry got paid $250,000 to take her boobs out. The runner-up in their memory would be this awesome Matrix-inspired explosion, with the camera spinning 180 degrees in slow motion around a human ball-bearing bomb.
Watch Clip Here

TERMINATOR 2: JUDGEMENT DAY
One of the best action movies of all time, and director James Cameron sure does know how to blow stuff up pretty. T2 has more than it's far share of awesome bangs – with the Cyderdyne building explosion coming in a close second – but the best has got to be Linda Hamilton's nuclear apocalypse nightmare.

TROPIC THUNDER
For a while Apocalypse Now was going to be on this list, but instead we went with the piss-take version, that completely shows up the lunacy of having such a massive portion of your budget dedicated to something that could so very easily go wrong.

V FOR VENDETTA
Whereas most movies end with explosions because that's what blockbusters require of them, V For Vendetta was absolutely ONLY supposed to end in a hail of bombastic landmarks and fireworks. Natalie Portman rocks a shaved head as Hugo Weaving brings about the end of a fascist rule in an alternative vision of Great Britian.

SPECIAL MENTION: MICHAEL BAY
We couldn't get it down to just one big bang to separate from the rest of his Bayhem. Love him or hate him, the man sure does like to exploderize things.