DELUGE

Spike:

I want to Save The World.

 

Buffy:

You do remember that you're a vampire, right?

 

Spike:

We like to talk big — Vampires do. 

"I'm going to Destroy The World." 

That's just tough guy talk. 

Strutting around with your friends over a pint of blood. 

 

The Truth is, I like This World. 

You've got... dog racing,

Manchester United. 

 

And then you've got People.

 

Billions of people, walking around

like Happy Meals with legs. 

 

It's alright Here. 

 

But then, someone comes along with a vision,

with a real... passion for Destruction. 

 

Angel could pull it off.

 

Goodbye, Piccadilly.

Farewell, Leicester bloody Square. 

You know what I'm saying?

 

Older Than Television:

In the 1933 film Deluge, New York City is flooded.

The Empire State Building is knocked down by the wall of water,

but the Statue of Liberty remains standing.

 

Played straight in The Day After Tomorrow, where pretty much every New York City landmark survives the flooding of the city and the subsequent hard freeze.

 

Roland Emmerich confided that the Statue of Liberty would be turned over by the force of the massive amount of water flowing around it but said he wanted to create

a symbol of American values that stood up to the forces.

 

 

In the movie version of Logan's Run,

when Logan 5 and Jessica 6 reach the ruined city, we know its Washington DC

because the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, and National Archives are still standing.

Vine-covered and weathered, but still standing.

 

In Resident Evil: Extinction,

Las Vegas is buried in sand, but the monuments of the strip are still there and 

 

Downplayed example in 1983's The Day After.

Towards the end, Dr. Oakes is wandering the ruins of what was Kansas City,

and finds the stump of the Liberty Memorial tower;

some of words on the monument are still visible even though the tower itself is gone.

 

Independence Day creates a "Funny Aneurysm" Moment at one point in a shot of a devastated New York City.

The World Trade Center is still standing, with only a few large chunks ripped out of it here and there.

 

Also, most everything in Los Angeles is reduced to rubble except the scorched and battered but still recognisable palm trees.

Note: Less silly than it sounds: They evolved to stand up to regular hurricanes, after all.

To let you know that yes, that was Los Angeles.