Most Breathtaking Special FX movies of all time

ID4 made $400+ million... domestically...how was it a bad Sci-Fi movie? Will Smith added great character and comic relief to the movie.... it wasn't as good as i thought it would be, but nothing close to disappointing..

my vote goes to matrix trilogy fav fx scence was the freeway chase in matrix reloaded.

underworld for the lycans(warewolfs) very good affects and to walk in those suits must have been hell

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You Can Not Kill What You Did Not Create

^^true the lycan costumes were very good and different from most werewolf costumes and they had equal parts of man and wold and not just this big hairy thing on stilts

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Undercoverlovers 100 REDUX

I have to admit that I was fooled by that scene. First time I saw the bit when Trinity drove opposite the rest of the cars and weaved in and out of them, I thought that was real

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"When I was younger, I always wanted to be somebody. Now that I'm older, I realise I should've been more specific."

Okay, not a movie, but I vote for Kerner Optical - The guys who brought you Darth Vader and much, much more.

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If the brain were so simple we could understand it, we would be so simple we couldn't. Lyall Watson

Im not going to post any movies but I will say four words "Guillemo del Toro films". BEST. Special. FX. EVER!

Dead Alive is probably the most impressed I've ever been by gore FX, and the amazing variety of it too.

As for strictly realistic gore... Martyrs was pretty effing hard to watch at times due to how believably it portrayed the effects of torture on the body.

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#31 on SC's Top 100 Mofos list!!

Jurassic Park deserves mention if it has not already.

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Fear and Loathing in MoFo... The Gunslinger 45's Top 50 Favorite Films

In the 10 Ring: Gunslinger45's reviews

Pans Labyrinth was awesome

Ray Harryhausen was a model making fx genius . When I was a kid those films entranced us - when you think of all the amazing monsters - Medusa, dinosaurs, giant bees and scorpions, Cyclops, the skeleton battle, and my favourite - the awakening of the bronze giant Talos on the beach in Jason and the Argonauts . Fantastic!

I did my own CG list a while back and Jurassic Park topped it.


JP still fools me today. Sure a couple scenes are noticeable these days, but the Rex attack is mixed CG and Puppetry and still gets me every time.


I'd also say Starship Troopers CGI is up there with the best.


Practical effects, surprise surprise... RoboCop. Has anyone ever done a better makeup job than Bottin did on Robo's head and face when he takes the helmet off?

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Botin was the MAN. Yeah, great job on Robocop and many other flicks.

Meanwhile, for CGI, it has to be:

The Life of Pi (Lee, 2012)

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All of the effects in the Rings trilogy are incredible but Minas Tirath and the Black Gate in Return of the King always give me goosebumps. I'm still kicking myself for not seeing it in theaters.

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You will find that if you look for the light, you can often find it. But if you look for the dark, that is all you will ever see.
Iroh

His five-headed Hydra is still one of the highlights in special effects history, as far as I'm concerned. It must have been a daunting task animating that.

Great picks from all of you and the obvious choices are the correct choices so I can't really argue with any of them but the two movies that stand out for and have stood the test of time in terms of special effects are: Terminator 2 and The Matrix.

Let's start with T2, this was actually the first Terminator movie I watched and had yet to experience the far more chilling T1 (T12 is still the superior film though). Anyway, back on track, T2 showed on TV and my dad recorded, since it was shown past my bed time, I must have been 8 or so at the time and when I finally got to watch it, it totally blew my mind. The action was so visceral and the visuals were slicker than anything I had ever seen.

CGI wasn't the beast it is now and I think summer blockbusters have become diluted due to it's consistent and often unnecessary use but back then it was a novelty. The subtlety of use was also exceptional, giving the audiences just enough to make a world cyborgs seem realistic. The SWs prequels that followed can take a cue from Cameron and T2.

With The Matrix, I have the exact same feelings, clever and subtle use of CGI, crafting quite possibly the most stylish action movie of them all. Bullet time was given a major face lift and the fight scenes were dramatic and visually stunning. The sequels fell apart with the overuse of CGI, some of which just hasn't stood the test of time.

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"Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn"

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Yes! I wish I could like this post again lol Pi is just awesome visually, alongside Gravity, some oft he best and most realistic of CGI in recent years.

I remember watching it in cinema, 3d, huge screen and finally felt that 3d wasn't just being used as a gimmick in this one. I felt a real emotional connection...and that tiger, I know it was partly real but most of it was CGI and i twas jaw dropping, I remember my sister asking me afterwards if that was a real tiger throughout lol

Space Odyssey was late sixties right? Hasn't aged at all. Front screen projection fantastic.

watching it in modern times and seeing the scenes when the actors are walking upside down and then the right way up...I still have no clue how they made it like that. Great stuff.

The pacing of the movie does feel a tad odd nowadays.

To be honest I still think "The Battle of Endor" is the best Space battle scene ever filmed and it's over 30 years old, and they used ****ing models.

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T2 was the first thing I remember being amazed by. When the T-1000 walks out of the truck explosion *boom*.

Jurassic Park really showed me what the future had in store for movies and how imagination now had the tools to be transferred on screen.

As of now, the slo-mo scenes from Dredd are on top of my list. I don't know exactly why, but it made feel like I was on the stuff when I saw it.