Nuking the Fridge is a colloquialism used by U.S. Cinema critics and fans. It has a meaning similar to jumping the shark.
It is used to denote the point in a movie or movie series at which the characters or plot veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Films that have "nuked the fridge" are typically deemed to have passed their peak, since they have undergone too many changes to retain their initial appeal, and after this point critical fans often sense a noticeable decline in their quality.
It is considered as the movie correspective of what Jumping the shark means for television.
The term is an allusion to a scene in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of the Indiana Jones series, when the title character Indiana Jones is literally hit by a Atomic Bomb blast while hiding inside a refrigerator in a desperate attempt to escape a nuclear test facility. The fridge is hurled several miles through the sky, and tumbles hard to the ground. The scene was considered so preposterous that many believed it to be an attempt at outdoing the over-the-top action of the classic introduction sequence of the series.
Nuke-the-fridge moments may be scenes like the one described above that finally convince viewers that the film has fundamentally and permanently strayed from its original premise. In those cases they are viewed as a desperate and futile attempt to keep a series fresh.
Origin
The phrase refers to the opening scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, first worldwide released on May 22 2008. The infamous scene was seen by many as betraying the normal half-serious tone of the series, by introducing an element of cartoonish factuality and typical excess.
The first public use of the phrase as a direct metaphor is reported to have been on May 24, 2008, on IMDB boards by user beachedblonde.
The phrase has been used more recently outside the realm of popular culture, representing anything that has reached its peak and has turned mediocre. If one thinks a stock or a sports team or a subcultural phenomenon has reached its peak, for example, one can say that it has "nuked the fridge."
It is used to denote the point in a movie or movie series at which the characters or plot veer into a ridiculous, out-of-the-ordinary storyline. Films that have "nuked the fridge" are typically deemed to have passed their peak, since they have undergone too many changes to retain their initial appeal, and after this point critical fans often sense a noticeable decline in their quality.
It is considered as the movie correspective of what Jumping the shark means for television.
The term is an allusion to a scene in the 2008 film Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull of the Indiana Jones series, when the title character Indiana Jones is literally hit by a Atomic Bomb blast while hiding inside a refrigerator in a desperate attempt to escape a nuclear test facility. The fridge is hurled several miles through the sky, and tumbles hard to the ground. The scene was considered so preposterous that many believed it to be an attempt at outdoing the over-the-top action of the classic introduction sequence of the series.
Nuke-the-fridge moments may be scenes like the one described above that finally convince viewers that the film has fundamentally and permanently strayed from its original premise. In those cases they are viewed as a desperate and futile attempt to keep a series fresh.
Origin
The phrase refers to the opening scene in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, first worldwide released on May 22 2008. The infamous scene was seen by many as betraying the normal half-serious tone of the series, by introducing an element of cartoonish factuality and typical excess.
The first public use of the phrase as a direct metaphor is reported to have been on May 24, 2008, on IMDB boards by user beachedblonde.
The phrase has been used more recently outside the realm of popular culture, representing anything that has reached its peak and has turned mediocre. If one thinks a stock or a sports team or a subcultural phenomenon has reached its peak, for example, one can say that it has "nuked the fridge."
Examples of a film franchise nuking the fridge:
Star Wars - Jar-Jar Binks says "Ex-squeeze me"
Matrix - When 100 Agent Smiths attack a CGI Neo spinning around on a pole
Spider-Man - When Peter Parker turns Emo and starts dancing around a bar
Batman - When Batman has to fend off a bunch of glowing neon-painted hooligans to rescue Robin after he stole the Batmobile
Star Wars - Jar-Jar Binks says "Ex-squeeze me"
Matrix - When 100 Agent Smiths attack a CGI Neo spinning around on a pole
Spider-Man - When Peter Parker turns Emo and starts dancing around a bar
Batman - When Batman has to fend off a bunch of glowing neon-painted hooligans to rescue Robin after he stole the Batmobile
by Heyitsbeth May 26, 2008
Get the nuking the fridge mug.His wife hadn't been to the store all week and the fridge was totally empty, so Matt got to empty fridge her last night.
by KingKongDongII January 15, 2012
Get the Empty Fridge mug.Related Words
by Lukens August 3, 2005
Get the Where's the Fridge mug.When you lube up your genitals and then take out the middle bearing of a Fidget Spinner then slide it onto your genitals and spin it until you cum.
by Salmon_Slapper May 24, 2017
Get the Fidget Spinner Masterbation mug.answer to any question that one
A:doesn't know the answer to
B:doesn't want to answer for the purpose of keeping the asker in the dark about information
C:wants to give a fake answer to for comedic purposes
A:doesn't know the answer to
B:doesn't want to answer for the purpose of keeping the asker in the dark about information
C:wants to give a fake answer to for comedic purposes
(example for A)
teacher- "What's the exact population of Uzbekistan?"
student- "on top of the fridge
(example for b)
kid- "hey yo ma what am i gettin fo christmas?"
ma-"on top of the fridge"
(example for c)
Guy 1- "Hey dude when's the band meetin up to play the gig at the coffee shop?"
Guy2- "On top of the fridge."
teacher- "What's the exact population of Uzbekistan?"
student- "on top of the fridge
(example for b)
kid- "hey yo ma what am i gettin fo christmas?"
ma-"on top of the fridge"
(example for c)
Guy 1- "Hey dude when's the band meetin up to play the gig at the coffee shop?"
Guy2- "On top of the fridge."
by loginabox22 November 22, 2009
Get the on top of the fridge mug.A phrase meaning you are very busy. Commonly used phrase that originated before the refrigerator just came out and was still not in common use. People used to still salt their meats and put them in top of the refrigerator. This of course took a lot of time, considering there was a refrigerator that would do the same thing right under your meat. Thus, a person that would salt theyre meats on their fridge instead of put them in their fridge was very busy.
Not to be confused with "ham in your fridge," meaning someone just has ham in their refrigerator, which can be quite delicious.
Not to be confused with "ham in your fridge," meaning someone just has ham in their refrigerator, which can be quite delicious.
Yo, I can't go out for dinner. I have a lot of ham on my fridge, plus I have a lot of ham in my fridge from thanksgiving, so I'm gonna have some that shit
Aight, dawg. Hopefully you can remove some ham from yo fridge.
Aight, dawg. Hopefully you can remove some ham from yo fridge.
by jewses christ December 3, 2009
Get the ham on my fridge mug.Term originated by bike mechanics, for the force of nature that causes small objects dropped in the vicinity of a refridgerator to be drawn underneath it, out of reach of human hands. Valuable items and irreplaceable mechanical parts are particularly prone to fridge suck.
Person #1: Can you hold on this vitally important bush while I grease up the flange? Don't drop it, it'll get caught in the fridge suck.
Person #2: Sure, I- Oh. Bugger. Did you see where it went?
Person #2: Sure, I- Oh. Bugger. Did you see where it went?
by greaseforbrains May 30, 2006
Get the fridge suck mug.