This piece contains spoilers for Men In Black 2 and The Planet of the Apes.The Statue of Liberty is an internationally recognized piece of architecture. With its turquoise hue, she looks over the ocean and her city, standing proudly and quintessentially American (aptly, for a movie about an American landmark, every single addition on this list comes from the USA).

Too often forgotten, however, is that the statue’s origins hail originally from France, creating an oxymoron of patriotism for the country and an appropriate metaphor for any travelers approaching New York City’s shoreline. In the world of film, a towering figure so distinctly human as the Statue of Liberty has naturally been utilized, ripely mocked, and repeatedly destroyed on more than one occasion. Below, our list charts some of the best.

MOVIEWEB VIDEO OF THE DAY

Men in Black 2 (2002)

     Columbia Pictures

With the whole of New York City having witnessed a genuine spaceship leave Earth in Men in Black 2, (not to mention the millions of people who saw an alien blow up above their heads), a giant cover up operation will need to be planned and executed. Fortunately for the titular men in black, the Statue of Liberty holds in it a huge Neuralyzer capable of wiping all of NYC’s residents’ collective memories. Pretty handy for a crack team that definitely don’t exist.

“Homer’s Barbershop Quartet,” The Simpsons (1993)

     20th Television

We’d like to dedicate this next number to a very special woman. She’s 100 years old, and she weighs over 200 tonnes. As the Be Sharps go on tour in the first episode of The Simpsons’ fifth season, they are brought to New York. In appreciation of the statue, Homer can’t help but give her a shout-out. A patron takes Homer literally though and jumps into the harbor, believing that this enormous woman will devour us all. Maybe she still will… Only time will tell.

The Simpsons has actually featured the Statue of Liberty in 11 episodes (including a late season delight, The Fool Monty) and two special shorts.

Cloverfield (2008)

     Paramount Pictures

Most famous now for its vague but inviting marketing in the build-up to release, the trailer for Cloverfield showed a handheld camera documenting some kind of attack in New York City. Cloverfield’s really not a very good movie, but the blasé attitude from the monster to destroy such an iconic character like the Statue of Liberty is a neat moment in this movie that taps into America’s post-9/11 fears.

Batman Forever (1995)

     Warner Bros.

While no, this technically isn’t the Statue of Liberty (as we’re in the very fictional town of Gotham City), Joel Schumacher’s comic book landscape has its own Libertas in this fun-as-Hell cold open. While Batman Forever is genuinely reviled and known as The Dark Knight’s on-screen low point, this fun opening scene pitches Batman (Val Kilmer, taking over from Michael Keaton) against new villain Two-Face (Tommy Lee Jones).

With goons, a bank vault, boiling acid, and Batman dangling from a helicopter, the hero and villain brawl as the chopper blades cut across the face of an uncannily familiar statue.

Superman (1978)

As Superman meets Lois Lane for the interview of the decade, he proves exactly how super he is. Viewers fell in love with Superman just as Lois does here, while she is given her own tour of Liberty Island — from 100 feet above. You’ll believe a man can fly as Lois is whisked around the island from above, finally making the statue feel small for once. Simultaneously a statement of Superman’s own foreign roots and new home in the United States of America, one worldwide icon circles another.

The Day After Tomorrow (2004)

     20th Century Studios

What kind of list including national monuments would be complete without Roland Emmerich destroying them and cackling behind his monitor? As the tsunami heads for New York in The Day After Tomorrow, the waves reach the top of the Statue of Liberty, clashing and colliding with her face.

The Day After Tomorrow famously used Lady Liberty on the film’s poster, showing the Statue of Liberty’s hand as the only thing above a snowy wasteland as everything has frozen over. So horny for destruction, this isn’t even the first time that Emmerich has wrecked the statue, with Independence Day also showing the monument on its side following the alien attack.

X-Men (2000)

     20th Century Fox

Pinning its final battle of good vs evil in the very head of the statue, marvel (!) at Wolverine’s clash atop New York’s skyline as he barely clings on. Physically slicing parts of the statue’s head while Magneto completely destroys the torch entirely, the Statue of Liberty plays such a fun role in this finale.

As one of the very first mdoern superhero movies to start the trend, X-Men was confident and cool and has absolutely remained as such. Feeling like an absolute lifetime ago since this film was released, the more recent Logan in 2017 came full circle when they directly referenced the battle in a nice nod to the series’ roots.

Godfather: Part II (1974)

In The Godfather: Part II, a young Vito Corleone, having fled Italy and now crammed in a ship packed with immigrants, rises for the sight of the Statue of Liberty. Believing in the American dream, the statue watches over them as they arrive. Their clothes are tatty, they’re packed in, and they’re cold, but the statue hints at hope of a new life in the greatest country on Earth.

In a fantastic education in editing, the immediate next scene sees Vito and his fellow travelers now in America, in a stuffed and unwelcoming check-in control. Having had to quarantine for three months having been diagnosed with smallpox, Vito stares out his window at the statue once more.

Ghostbusters 2 (1989)

Ghostbusters 2 gets such a bad rep, and it really shouldn’t. In one of the coolest moments in American cinema, the team have managed to animate the Statue of Liberty through music — in this case Jackie Wilson’s (Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher. It’s not the Stay Puft marshmallow man from the first film, but in terms of American iconography on screen this one is up there, and Ghostbusters 2 should be revisited by any naysayers.

Planet of the Apes (1968)

In what is probably the greatest twist of all time, Charlton Heston’s astronaut escapes along the beach in the finale of Planet of the Apes. Having proven how much better he is than his sentient ape captors, he rides along on horseback with his new-found flame. But all is not as it seems in this classic film co-written by The Twilight Zone’s Roger Serling.

With clues throughout the film that something is awry, the consistently tricksy Doctor Zaius warns that what is out there won’t sit well. Revealing that the Statue of Liberty sits abandoned and aged, Taylor (Heston) realizes that he’s been on Earth the whole time, having simply traveled forward in time. No wonder the ending is such a killer.