Let’s set the stage: you and your friends are at trivia night. It’s the final round, and right now your team is few hundred points ahead, but The Movie Nerds aren't far behind; one missed question can mean the difference between life and death. The category for the final round is announced: "Movies That Broke World Records." You breathe a sigh of relief - this will be easy. You know that Gandhi broke the record for most extras in a single film, or that Swearnet - not Wolf of Wall Street - contains more f-bombs than any other movie. Hell, you even know that Russian Ark holds the record for the longest single-take steadicam shot at 87 minutes. You lean over to your friends and confidently assure them that victory is in the bag.

But then the trivia master asks the final question: “Which film broke the record for ‘highest value of vehicles destroyed in the making of a movie?’”

Your stomach drops, your blood runs cold - you don’t know the answer. Maybe it’s a Transformers movie? Or maybe a Nolan flick, considering his love for practical effects. Time is running out, and your team is looking to you for the winning answer. You take a deep breath and respond with your best guess: Mad Max: Fury Road.

ERRRR. The buzz of defeat rings out. But not all hope is lost - the rival team still needs to answer correctly. But their spokesperson smugly stands and responds with the correct answer: Spectre. They win the game, and you’ve let your team down.

Fortunately, this doesn’t have to happen to you, so long as you keep reading. Impress your friends with your newfound knowledge, and reign victorious at your next trivia night: here are twelve movies that broke some truly bizarre and oddly-specific world records.

12 Man of Steel - Most Property Damage in One Superhero Movie

The climactic battle in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel generated a lot of controversy due to the sheer and absolute destruction suffered by the city of Metropolis at the hands of Superman and General Zod, which saw the vaporization of entire city blocks and massive (unseen) civilian casualties. Fans felt betrayed by Snyder’s portrayal of Superman, who seemingly abandoned the iconic hero’s commitment to protecting innocent lives in favor of leveling buildings and snapping necks (well, just one neck).

In fact, the level of destruction in Man of Steel was so catastrophic and absolute that Guinness awarded the film the record for “most property damage in one superhero movie,” estimating a total cost of damages in the range of $750 billion. (And this doesn’t account for the total annihilation of Krypton, or the devastation wreaked upon Smallville.)

11 Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie - Most Dogs Attending a Film Screening

On September 24th of this year, Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie broke the incredibly-specific (but apparently competitive) Guinness World Record for “most dogs attending a film screening.”

As part of a promotional event, Paramount hosted an outdoors showing of the new Paw Patrol movie, inviting audience members to bring their furry friends with the hope of besting the previous record of 199, achieved during a screening of A Dog’s Way Home in 2022 (prior to that, The Secret Life of Pets 2 held the title). The event was a success: 219 dogs were in attendance, earning Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie the world record.

10 Casino Royale - Most Cannon Rolls in a Car

Casino Royale, Daniel Craig’s first outing as James Bond, was a tremendous hit with audiences and critics, and set the stage for a (mostly successful) 15-year stint as the world-famous spy. The film features some incredible action sequences, but one scene in particular contains a death-defying stunt that inadvertently broke a very specific Guinness World Record: “most cannon-rolls in a car.”

The scene in question comes towards the end of the film’s second act: Vesper Lynd (Eva Green) has been kidnapped by Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), and Bond gives chase in his trusty Aston Martin. But during the high-speed pursuit, Vesper is left in the middle of the road, forcing Bond to swerve out of the way, resulting in a record-breaking seven rolls. (The previous record was six, achieved by a Top Gear stunt driver.)

The stunt team broke the record by utilizing a specially-designed and modified Aston Martin equipped with a nitrogen cannon that violently propelled the car - and stunt driver Adam Kirley - into the air. Casino Royale's stunt coordinator Gary Powell, who designed the maneuver for the film, later explained how they achieved the stunt:

"We rehearsed the stunt several times driving test cars, which were a similar weight to the Aston Martin, at 80mph towards a 10in ramp. That worked very well, causing the cars to flip over at least five times in rehearsal. But we knew, due to the design and suspension of the Aston Martin DBS, it would probably level itself out in mid-air…When we came to filming the stunt on the night, as suspected, the Aston Martin DBS leveled itself out in mid-air refusing to flip over…Adam, the stunt driver, had to drive the cannon-fitted Aston at high speed and hit the release at exactly the right moment, resulting in the record breaking stunt."

9 Pirates - Most Expensive Movie Prop

Controversial director Roman Polanski has made a name for himself with such classics as Rosemary’s Baby, Chinatown, and The Pianist. And while he may be a very accomplished dramatist, comedy is far from his strong suit. Case in point: his critically-maligned adventure comedy Pirates, which starred Walter Matthau as Captain Red, a thieving buccaneer on the hunt for Aztec treasure. The movie was a major box-office bomb, but it does have one thing going for it, and that’s holding the Guinness World Record for “most expensive movie prop.”

For the film, Polanski commissioned the construction of a full scale replica of a Spanish galleon. According to Guinness’s site, the total cost came in at $10,271,100, making it the most expensive prop ever built exclusively for a film production. (Although “prop” is used loosely here, as the ship also doubled as a set.) Regardless, Pirates proudly continues to hold the record to this day.

8 Postcards from Rome - Longest Time Spent Running in a Film

Postcards from Rome is a hard film to find any information on. According to the AV Club, the movie is a "comedic historical documentary" directed by and starring Giulio Base. Filmed in a single take, Giulio sets out on a morning jog with his dog through the streets of Rome, ruminating on the city’s lively present and rich past as he makes his way from St. Peter's to the Appian Way. And in the process, Giulio broke the Guinness World Record for “longest time spent running in a film.”

The movie spans 82 minutes, and according to Guinness, Giulio spends approximately one hour, fourteen minutes, and ten seconds of that runtime…well, running. It doesn’t seem like anyone has even seen the movie (save for the Guinness representative and the 17 people who rated it on IMDb), and Giulio’s main reason for making it seems to have been solely to achieve this incredibly niche record. But to his credit, he successfully achieved just that.

7 The Last Movie - Longest Pre-Credit Sequence

Following the success of his counter-culture directorial debut Easy Rider in 1969, Universal gave Dennis Hopper $1 million and complete creative control over his next film, which eventually became The Last Movie. Filmed on location in Peru, Hopper directed and starred as Kansas, a disenfranchised stuntman who begins a filmmaking-centric cult among Peruvian natives following the completion of his most recent film.

The Last Movie was a critical and commercial failure for the studio, resulting in Hopper going into his own self-imposed exile from Hollywood for the next eight years. Though the film may not be nearly as revered or well-known as Easy Rider, The Last Movie does have one thing that film doesn’t: a Guinness World Record for the “longest pre-credit sequence in a film.”

Hopper’s film contained a total of 59 speaking roles, not to mention the crew and slew of extras. All in all, the pre-credits last for more than thirty minutes. Whether this was a purposeful design choice by Hopper, who was well-known for his loose and experimental style, or just a happenstance born out of contractual obligations is unknown, but it’s a unique badge of honor nonetheless.

6 The Other Side of the Wind - Longest Production Cycle for a Live Action Movie

The production on Orson Welles's film The Other Side of the Wind was a prolonged and complex process that spanned 48 years, earning the film the unique honor of holding the record for “longest production cycle for a live-action movie.”

Filming on The Other Side of the Wind began in 1970 and continued intermittently until 1976, when filming officially ceased. The unconventional production faced numerous financial challenges and was plagued by various setbacks, including legal disputes and issues with investors. The story utilizes a film-within-a-film narrative, which follows the last day in the life of an aging Hollywood film director (played by Jack Huston) as he hosts a private screening party for his latest yet-to-be-finished project. The film was shot in an unconventional documentary style featuring a rapid-cutting approach, not unlike Welle’s direction on his pseudo-documentary F for Fake.

The film’s financial constraints and frequent shut-downs led to incomplete scenes and a lack of continuity. After Welles's death in 1985, the footage remained in legal limbo. But production entered a new phase in 2014 when Peter Bogdanovich and Frank Marshall (both of whom have roles in the movie), bought the rights to the footage and worked to complete the film using Welles's notes. In 2018, The Other Side of the Wind was finally released on Netflix, nearly 50 years after production first began.

5 The Junkman - Most Destructive Chase Sequence

In 1974, H.B. Halicki wrote, directed, produced, and starred in the “car chase extravaganza of the 1970s,” Gone in 60 Seconds. But Halicki, who also performed his own death-defying stunts, wanted to up the ante for his next picture. Eight years later, Halicki did just that with the release of The Junkman, which continues to hold the Guinness World Record for “most destructive chase sequence” more than forty years later.

The record-breaking chase scene was meticulously planned by Halicki, and featured the destruction of more than150 vehicles, including but not limited to: two Cadillac Eldorados, two Chrysler Magnums, numerous boats, trucks and motorcycles, and two aerobatic planes. Halicki nearly died numerous times during the film’s two-year production, but he was committed to bringing maximum car carnage to the big screen.

Although Guinness still recognizes The Junkman as the current record holder on their website, The Matrix Reloaded may be the unofficial leader, as 300 vehicles were destroyed during the filming of the highway chase sequence.

4 The Shining - Most Takes For One Scene (with Dialogue)

Stanley Kubrick has always been known for his intense and meticulous direction, especially during the production of his now-classic horror film The Shining. So much so, in fact, that Kubrick managed to earn a Guinness World Record for “most retakes for one scene with dialogue.”

The scene in question is the one where Dick Hallorann sits down with Danny Torrance and explains to him what the shining is, and how the two of them share the ability. It’s less than five minutes long, and according to the film’s Steadicam operator Garrett Brown, required more than 158 takes to get right.

It’s worth noting that the “with dialogue” distinction is important here, as Charlie Chaplin’s silent film City Lights actually holds the record for “most retakes for one scene.” Said scene involved star Virginia Cherrill saying only two lines of (inaudible) dialogue: “flowers, sir?” But Chaplin - perhaps even a bigger perfectionist than Kubrick - forced Cherrill to repeat those two words more than 342 times.

3 Antz - First Use of Digital Water

Antz, the 1998 computer-animated comedy, was historic for a few reasons: it was Dreamwork Animation’s debut film production, and was the first film to use digital effects to realistically recreate the properties of water, earning it a Guinness World Record for…well, being the first movie to use digital water.

According to Guinness, prior to Antz, computer-generated fluid effects were typically drawn, frame by frame. That’s because realistic water effects require powerful, physics-based computer simulations based on detailed studies of fluid dynamics. At the time of the film’s release, this sort of technology was only available to the scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where they were studying the flow of particles after a nuclear strike.

Technology has improved drastically in the 25 years since Antz’s release, and the film in general looks quite dated and honestly, a little cheap. But at least it will always have that record.

2 A Noise From the Deep - First Custard Pie Thrown on Film

A Noise From the Deep, an obscure ten-minute short film from 1913 starring Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, may not be in the pantheon of great silent films, but it does hold the unique distinction of being the proud owner of an inexplicably strange Guinness World Record for featuring the “first custard pie thrown on film.”

The scene in question is about as self-explanatory as the record’s description: in it, star Mabel Normand smacks co-star Fatty Arbuckle square in the face with a custard pie. The “pie in the face” became a recurring joke in subsequent comedy shorts, but posed some unique technical problems. According to Guinness, real custard pies would fall apart in the air before reaching the target’s face, requiring custom-made “ballistic pies” that were made with double-thick crust and a flour-infused filling to maintain structure. The pies even came in two different flavors: blackberry if the pie recipient had light-colored hair, and lemon if they were brunette (this was so the colors would pop more in black-and-white).

Of course, A Noise From the Deep continues to hold the record - no film can be the “first” in pie-throwing anymore. But in 1927, another short film - Laurel & Hardy’s The Fight of the Century - attained its own piece of pie glory when it earned the Guinness World Record for “most people in a custard pie fight in a film.” More than 3,000 pies were thrown in faces that day, and nearly 100 years later, no movie has even come close to breaking that record.

1 Spectre - Largest Film Stunt Explosion

The long-running James Bond franchise can fill an entire article with all the Guinness World Records it has earned, but Sam Mendes’ Spectre earns a special place in the 007 Hall of Fame for breaking a whopping SEVEN Guinness World Records.

For starters, Spectre earned the record for “most expensive vehicles used in a movie car chase.” The record-breaking scene - the midpoint chase sequence through Rome - features only two vehicles: Bond’s Aston Martin DB10 – a non-production model, of which only 10 were made specifically for the film - valued at $4.6 million, and Mr. Hinx’s Jaguar C-X75, another specially produced super-car with an estimated value of $1 million. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Spectre also holds the record “highest value of vehicles destroyed in the making of a movie,” with a jaw-dropping $48 million worth of cars utterly demolished during the film’s production.

Moving on to the famous spy himself, Daniel Craig became the highest-paid actor to ever play James Bond thanks to Spectre, earning a staggering $39 million for his role in the film. Even adjusting for inflation, Craig comes out on top. What’s more, Spectre broke the record for “most expensively dressed character in a movie,” with Bond’s high-end wardrobe coming in at a total cost of nearly $60,000 (which doesn’t include jewelry or other fanciful accessories).

But Spectre is perhaps best known for breaking one massive record, and that’s for “largest film stunt explosion” (not to be confused with “most high explosives detonated in a single film take,” which was earned by No Time to Die). The explosive destruction of Blofield’s lair required a whopping 8,418 liters of kerosene and 72 pounds of powder explosives to pull off, and had a total yield of 68.47 tonnes of TNT equivalent. (It’s worth noting that Michael Bay disagrees with this ruling, and believes his film Pearl Harbor actually contains the largest stunt explosion in a film.)

Upon release, Spectre also held the records for “longest Bond film” and “most expensive Bond film,” but was usurped in both categories by its follow-up, No Time to Die.