The Statue of Liberty - on the Screen
76A visual history of the Statue of Liberty as depicted in the movies.
Some quick facts: The sculptor was Frederic Bartholdi. The statue was completed in Paris and shipped to New York in 1885. The statue was unveiled on what used to be called Bedloe's Island in October 28, 1886. The island was renamed Liberty Island in 1956. The statue, not including the pedestal is 151ft high. The height from pedestal to torch is 306ft. The statue weighs 225 tons. The statue's title - Liberty Enlightening the World.
Poster artwork for Escape from New York (1981), it looks spectacular but the Statue of Liberty remains intact in the movie. I wonder if the makers of Cloverfield were influenced by this poster?
One of the earliest disaster movies, Deluge (1933). The United States is hit by a massive earthquake, and a tsunami floods New York.
Directed by Alfred Hitchcock, Saboteur (1942) has an exciting climax with hero Robert Cummings confronting villain Norman Lloyd on Liberty's Torch,
Planet of the Apes (1968). "Damn you all to hell!" One of the great shock endings in cinema history, Taylor (Charlton Heston) discovers that the Ape planet is our Earth two thousand years in the future.
Superman the Movie (1978). Superman takes Lois Lane for a flight round Metropolis. The Statue of Liberty also appears in Superman III and is nearly destroyed by Nuclear Man in the horrendous Superman IV.
Remo (1985). Remo Williams (Fred Ward) fights a bunch of thugs on top of the statue, which was surrounded by scaffolding for much needed restoration work at the time.
Ghostbusters II (1989). The Statue of Liberty is brought to life to fight evil thanks to the Ghostbusters.
Batman Forever (1995). Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones) flies a helicopter, with Batman (Val Kilmer) on board, straight into the statue. They both survive to fight another day.
Judge Dredd (1995). The 3rd Millenium and Earth is mostly a barren wasteland, here the statue seems to have been moved into Mega City One. Sylvester Stallone is Joseph Dredd, the toughest of the Street Judges and he is The Law!
Independence Day (1996). Look at this! This is what happens after a devastating alien invasion, it's terrible! But luckily for mankind the alien invaders were using Apple computers to control their ships...
Deep Impact (1998). Here we go again, a huge asteroid hits the Atlantic Ocean creating a thousand foot high tsunami (is that even possible?) which destroys Manhattan and the statue is the first to go of course.
X-Men (2000). The X-Men battle Magneto at the Statue of Liberty at the climax of the movie.
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001). The future and thanks to global warming and melting icecaps only the torch of the Statue of Liberty is visible. I wonder if it's still a popular tourist destination?
The Day After Tomorrow (2004). More extreme weather this time it might be happening now, global warming is causing all kinds of catastrophe's worldwide. New York gets flooded by yet another massive tsunami, the statue miraculously survives this event but is soon caught in a sudden deep freeze. These things happen fast in the movies.
Cloverfield (2008). A mysterious monster knocks the statue's head flying across New York and into a city street. Nothing in the film is explained, will there be a sequel? I wish there was one and lets have a good look at the creature this time, with less of that headache-inducing shakycam please.
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Interesting hub! The Statue of Liberty is the perfect image to show in movies to inform the viewer where the scene is taking place.
Thanks for that bit of info Nickalooch! I was wondering about that.
And thank you YadiraE.
No problem. They hoped that viewers would see the resemblance to the Escape poster. So you did. lol
Great images and references. Thanks!
I appreciate you visiting my hub of Liberty. :)
Hmmm. I wonder which use of The Statue of Liberty you mention is my favourite.....hmmm. Hahaha. :) I think we all know. It would be my favourite even if you hadn't mentioned it.
Hello Flora, hmmm I know it's not Cloverfield... let me see aah it's Ghostbusters no wait.. Saboteeeuur. Love that ending with Lloyd hanging over the torch, his sleeve tearing...
The Majestic Grey Lady seems to take a licking but she sure does fill a scene...she's a great actress...Oscar!Oscar!.;-))
Yes they're always knocking her down but she's always up, ready and composed for the next film, what a pro!
Thanks for commenting Acer, it is appreciated amigo.
The funny thing about a lot of those pictures is that in some of the films where she has been knocked over, somehow the crown spikes have become bent. How that would happen to stone I don't know!
I like articles like this.
Thanks for commenting Rain Defence, much appreciated.
Fron what I've read the statue is hollow with a steel framework, her skin is made of copper!
Steve, really interesting hub and the photos are amazing. Off to read your Great Escape hub now, how'd I miss it? I'm getting some weirs 'unfollow' stuff happening over the last few days, I've probably pressed the wrong key somewhere...voted up!
Hey thanks Jools, this hub idea popped into my head late last night and I rushed to finish it while I was still interested in it. Another day and I would have found something else to do. :)
The idea came from screenshot quizzes I used to compile on my old movie forum, where the screenshots would have a specific topic and members had to guess which films they came from... aah memories.
Fun idea for a hub. You reminded me of a lot of scenes I'd forgotten about. Nice research. Great pictures.
Rob
Thanks Rob, glad you liked it.
Wow I had no idea that the Statue of Liberty had been such an important part of so many movies. I would say my favorites are from the Planet of the Apes....and what a way to end a movie....as it allows the audience to figure out the ending just as Charlton Heston is learning the truth as well....one of the best endings ever....I still do not understand the Tim Burton ending of his Planet of the Apes.
Remo Williams....I love how they took something that was really happening(the touch up job she was getting in real life) and included it in a movie. Remo Williams was directed by the same guy that directed many James Bond movies and the hope was it would start a new franchise....The name is Williams, Remo Williams...just does not have the same ring to it.
And rounding out my third favorite would be Hitchcock's Saboteur...a great finale and one he would repeat in North by Northwest.
Very interesting about the poster for Escape To New York and Cloverfield....it seems that the producers of Cloverfield did use the poster as an inspiration.....which seeing the head of the Statue of Liberty bouncing down the street in Cloverfield is one of the better parts of that movie.
A very interesting and fun hub that you have created, Steve. Voted up interesting and useful.....did the movie Splash have a Statue of Liberty scene....oh never mind that is movie that stars the actor we do not mention....lol.
great hub!!!! remo williams i thought i was the only one who saw that movie lol
Hello, great visuals of the Statue of Liberty. Good research to find those. I guess the Statue is like the watch, Timex I believe it is - she "takes a licking and keeps on ticking." My favorite scene is Independence Day. It seemed so claustrophobic with the ship blocking just about everything. Because of you and Cogerson, I'm going to watch Saboteur before the week is out. Thanks for sharing the article.
Cogerson, Optimus, Cyndi10, thanks for the comments, they are appreciated.
Cogerson, a hub gallery on Lady Liberty was overdue even if she is shown battered or frozen or submerged and her head used as a football by invading monsters. :)
I did leave a couple of films out, Splash was one of them, the only shot I wanted to use from that film was Daryl Hannah out of the sea and nekkid but you could barely see the statue (who groaned?).
Optimus (I'll bet that's not your real name!) I was a fan of Remo in my video renting days, Fred Ward as Remo and Joel Grey as Chiun made a great team. Shame there wasn't a sequel.
Cindy, hi, Saboteur is worth watching, it has one of Hitchcock's favourite themes, an innocent man on the run from the cops and trying to catch the real perpetrators.
I had to look up Deluge as I had never even heard of the movie before your hub. As for Batman Forever, I have no recollection of that scene, granted it has been many years since I have seen the movie. The rest of the movies you mentioned I vividly remember each of them.
I agree with you about Splash you barely see the Statue of Liberty....and there were much better things to look at in that scene.
Funny! At least three of us saw Remo Williams - it was on late-late one night when I was babysitting... what can I say. The books were better. Great hub!
Cogerson, I have a murky grainy copy of Deluge on avi format, where I got it from I can't remember but it is rare. It probably never gets shown on TV. I wouldn't be surprised if youtube has the entire film for viewing.
Men in Black II was another I didn't include, I couldn't get a good shot of the statue.
RedElf, thanks for commenting. I've never read the books, The Destroyer series, there were over a hundred titles last time I looked!!
Hahaha, wow, I thought I was the only one who remembered "Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins!"
I am sure your copy of the Deluge is very rare....I have never even heard of avi format. As for Men in Black II that movie was so forgettable I do not really remember anything about it other than it was really really bad and very short.
Cogerson, avi or AVI is a video file format for computers, like MKV, WMV and MPEG. You've heard of Quicktime surely? Apple movie trailers in quicktime? No I'm not speaking another language! ;)
I'm surprised Remo hasn't been re-optioned for more big screen shenanigans, problem is if I remember the movie the hero did not use guns, his body was his weapon and he could dodge bullets. Todays young moviegoers weaned on violent computer games might not accept a hero who doesn't have an uzi in each hand and a bazooka strapped to his back.
Nickalooch Level 6 Commenter 5 months ago
the part in Cloverfield was inspired by Escape from New York.JJ Abrams and the director pointed that out after the first trailer i believe