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nuke the fridge is a colloquialism used to refer to the moment in a film series that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense, and it becomes apparent that a certain installment is not as good as a previous installments, due to ridiculous or low quality storylines, events or characters.

the term comes from the film indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, in which, near the start of the movie, harrison ford’s character survives a nuclear detonation by climbing into a kitchen fridge, which is then blown hundreds of feet through the sky whilst the town disintegrates. he then emerges from the fridge with no apparent injury. later in the movie, the audience is expected to fear for his safety in a normal fistfight.

fans of the indiana jones series found the absurdity of this event in the film to be the best example of the lower quality of this installment in the series, and thus coined the phrase, “nuke the fridge”.

the phrase is also a reference to the phrase “jump the shark”, which has the same meaning, only applied to a television series instead of a film series.

this phrase is not in common use.
“star wars didn’t really nuke the fridge until jar jar binks was introduced.”

“peter parker dancing around the bar in spider-man 3? kinda nukes the fridge!”

“the g-dfather: part iii nukes the fridge.”

“gremlins 2 more or less nuked the fridge.”
cinematic equivalent of the tv term “jump the shark.” it is used to refer to the moment in a film series that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense. such moments are felt to mark the beginning of a low point in the quality of the franchise, as it attempts to explore more absurd avenues. “nuke the fridge” is a reference to a scene in indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull wherein the t-tle character incredibly survives a nuclear blast by climbing into a lead-lined refrigerator. the fridge is blown hundreds of feet into the sky, and, when it lands, indiana jones opens the door and walks away completely unscathed and apparently unaffected by any radiation sickness that would surely result from being in such close proximity to a nuclear blast.

the phrase was coined by disappointed imdb users on the indiana jones 4 message board at that website who believed that the franchise had, in fact, nuked the fridge, and that this scene in particular marked its turn for the worse.
“man, when peter parker started doing the emo dance in spider-man 3, that franchise officially nuked the fridge.”

“aliens?! oh g-d, did indiana jones just totally nuke the fridge or what?”
nuke the fridge is a phrase with a meaning similar to jump the shark. it is used to refer to the moment in a film series(usually a half-serious genre) that is so incredible that it lessens the excitement of subsequent scenes that rely on more understated action or suspense. such moments are felt to mark the beginning of a low point in the quality of the franchise, as it attempt to explore more absurd avenues.

the term comes from the film indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, in which, near the start of the movie, harrison ford’s character survives a nuclear detonation by climbing into a kitchen fridge, which is then blown hundreds of feet through the sky whilst the town disintegrates. he then emerges from the fridge with no apparent injury. later in the movie, the audience is expected to fear for his safety in a normal fistfight.

fans of the indiana jones series found the absurdity of this event in the film to be the best example of the lower quality of this installment in the series, and thus coined the phrase, “nuke the fridge.”

the phrase started on the imdb message boards and can now be found across the internet including youtube, wikipedia, and facebook.
“when george lucas introduced jar jar binks in phantom menace star wars really nuked the fridge.”

“predators and aliens in the same movie? now they’re really nuking the fridge.”

“i hope indiana jones 5 doesn’t nuke the fridge like part 4 did”
a colloquialism used to delineate the precise moment at which a cinematic franchise has crossed over from remote plausibility to self parodying absurdity, usually indicating a low point in the series from which it is unlikely to recover. a reference to one of the opening scenes of indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull, in which the t-tular hero manages to avoid death by nuclear explosion by hiding inside a kitchen refrigerator. the film is widely recognised by fans as a major departure from the rest of the series both in terms of content and quality.
guy 1: “wow. did you see the new indy movie? what the h-ll was that? it was like i was having some kind of flu induced absurdist nightmare.”

guy 2: “yep… did or did not that series permanently nuke the fridge?”

guy 1: “oh, totally nuked the fridge! but i guess spielberg is happy as long as he has the money of the people who trusted him.”

guy 2: “guess so…”