They are rarely as wet 'n wild as they used to be - certainly as far as indices futures are concerned - unless some plonk hits the wrong number in the excitement of it all and spikes the market - which has happened a couple of times in the past 10 years but is pretty rare.
The financial press pick up on the dates and try to create the 'ooooh factor' but 99% damp squib versus roller-coaster. All it does is magnify their tabloid appeal and ability.
There is also a reasonable spread as to when expiry happens, smi was 0730 - 0830 ish this morning, FTSE is at 10:30, Dax is 12:00 S&P was affectively closed last week, there are just the real die-hards still in the frame for the Mar contract.