From Michael Bay to Christopher Nolan, which movie directors have wrecked the most cars onscreen?

"The Matrix" directors, Lana (middle) and Lily Wachowski are 10th in the ranking of filmmakers who have wrecked the most cars in their movies, according to research from Scrap Car Comparison. Image: Thomas Samson/ David Odisho / Anne-Christine Poujoulat / AFP©

There's no shortage of action scenes in the movies, from explosions and car chases to fights of all kinds. And some directors are especially reckless when it comes to cars. A study has looked at the big-screen's dangerous moviemakers to find out which ones caused the most onscreen damage.

Some directors are well-known for their action movies. Michael Bay stands out in particular as the director who has wrecked the most cars onscreen in his movies, according to a study conducted by the UK comparison site, Scrap Car Comparison.

The study counted the number of cars that were damaged, either by bullet holes in the bodywork or by broken windows, as well as those that were totally destroyed by explosions for the purposes of a movie. The study focused only on scenes that were used in a movie's final cut, and not during other takes filmed during production.

By selecting the most popular action movie directors according to IMDB in February 2023, the study identified the "most dangerous" filmmakers in terms of the number of cars they have wrecked onscreen. The director of the "Transformers" movies, Michael Bay, comes out on top with 354 cars wrecked, 279 of which were totally destroyed and 75 were damaged. In second place comes Justin Lin, the director of the "Fast and Furious" franchise, who has 135 destroyed and damaged cars to his name. John Landis, the director of "Beverly Hills Cop 3," comes third with 120 vehicles wrecked.

Looking solely at damaged cars, Christopher Nolan and John Woo come second and third in the ranking, with 44 and 38 cars respectively.

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Surprisingly, despite the impressive action scenes in the Marvel movies, the Russo brothers only rank fifth overall with 80 destroyed and damaged cars. The same goes for Chad Stahelski, director of the "John Wick" movies, taking 11th place in the top 15 with 30 cars wrecked.

Top 15 directors having wrecked the most cars in their movies—including damaged and destroyed vehicles (rank, director, number of damaged or destroyed cars)

1) Michael Bay - 354

2) Justin Lin - 135

3) John Landis - 120

4) Christopher Nolan - 83

5) The Russo brothers - 80

6) John Woo - 77

7) Richard Donner - 61

8) Steven Spielberg - 60

9) Paul Greengrass - 51

10) Lana et Lily Wachowski - 45

11) Chad Stahelski - 30

12) Edgar Wright - 25

13) James Cameron - 25

14) John McTiernan - 21

15) George Miller - 18