The “nuke the fridge” scene from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is considered to be one of the most ridiculous moments in the whole franchise, but parts of it are actually scientifically accurate. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull catches up with Indy circa the Cold War as he races Soviet forces to uncover an ancient artifact with ties to extraterrestrial life. Along the way, Indy finds himself stranded on a nuclear bomb testing site and has to figure out a way to survive the impending explosion.
There are a few ludicrous sequences in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Indy’s estranged son Mutt Williams swings through the jungle like Tarzan, backed up by an army of CG monkeys, and the big finale sees a flying saucer returning to outer space. But no scene is more widely ridiculed than the scene in which Indy escapes from a nuclear blast by riding it out inside a fridge. The term “nuking the fridge” was coined as an alternative to “jumping the shark.” The scene isn’t 100% scientifically sound, but it’s more accurate than it seems.
Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull’s Fridge Scene Is Largely Ridiculous
George Lucas, the creator of the Indiana Jones franchise with a story credit on Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, has insisted that Indy’s chances of surviving the nuclear explosion in the fridge are 50/50 (via /Film), but that claim has been heavily disputed. Even if Indy would be protected from the explosion inside a lead-lined fridge – which is, of course, debatable – there’s nothing in the fridge that would protect him from the force of being hurtled through the sky in a metal box. The fridge is shown to fly at the same speed as the nuclear shockwave (about 784 miles per hour), so death by whiplash is highly likely.
A study by Overthinking It listed all the ways that Dr. Jones should’ve perished when he was launched through the air inside a fridge: suffocation, lethal acceleration, crushed under the shockwave, crushed on re-entry, scorched by molten lead, scorched by incendiary air. This study determined that for the fridge to be accelerated by the blast to the speed seen in the film, it would have to be so close to the detonation point to be instantly obliterated. There’s no scientifically sound way to survive this scenario.
What Indiana Jones’ Nuke Explosion Actually Gets Right
While the notion of surviving the explosion in a fridge is wildly unrealistic, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull does get some things right in its depiction of the explosion itself. Nuclear weapons physicist Greg Spriggs gave the scene a three out of 10 rating for accuracy. He complimented the film’s portrayal of “a very intense thermal pulse” and an immediate burst of prompt radiation “coming off of the fissioning process.” Spriggs said that the mannequins would’ve been incinerated much faster. He praised the film’s accurate depiction of the positive phase of the shockwave, but added that the negative phase is missing.
