Terence Stamp as General Zod in ‘Superman II’ (Warner Bros. Pictures)

On Friday, the director Roland Emmerich returns to his roots by unleashing another movie in which, among other scenes of massive devastation, D.C. suffers the complete or near-complete demolition of its most famous landmark. Emmerich’s latest, White House Down, is the second movie to be released in 2012 in which the executive mansion is besieged and captured by terrorists. And while it is unlikely that Emmerich will let the terrorists prevail in the end, trailers and images of White House Down suggest that the White House is in for a beating when the film opens. So, in anticipation of Friday, DCist is recounting some of the most memorable instances of the White House being trashed, torched, and vaporized.

Movie: Superman II

Year: 1980

Director: Richard Donner-ish

Cause of White House destruction: General Zod, Ursa, Non

Even 30 years ago, the White House was a fortress protected by gatehouses, fences, Secret Service agents, and Marines. But that garrison was hardly a match for three Kryptonian exiles made invincible and all-powerful by the rays of our solar system’s yellow sun. With Superman deciding to de-power himself and turning full-time into Clark Kent so as to enjoy the affections of Lois Lane, not even an additional regiment of U.S. Army soldiers hoisting rocket launchers and barricaded behind sandbags are enough to stop Zod (Terence Stamp) and his minions. The three Kryptonians make quick work of the White House’s protective measures, making it from a skylight to the Oval Office door in less than 45 seconds. And while the building remains standing, it takes heavy fire from a barrage of gunfire and bodies chucked around by Zod’s team. The Kryptonian invasion is so overwhelming, it takes barely another minute before the president is on his knees, muttering “Oh, God.”

Zod.