Most Breathtaking Special FX movies of all time

Now, you're probably thinking. What the heck? There are tons of movies out there with AMAZING special FX. Well, I want you to name the most superb special fx gigs and stunts and visual arts, etc. you've seen out there! When i mean special FX, i mean like visual arts, superb stunts, interesting camera angles, make-up crews, etc. etc. I know this is very vague, but there is a lot of room for discussion here.

These are probably the most amazing special fx movies i've seen:

-LOTR series(Peter Jackson's vision is just superb and his amazing visual arts team brought it to life)
-Matrix series(this movie brought a new era to special effects; classy martial arts stunts, and captivating camera angles brought this series to be the most well-known special fx movies ever)
-I, Robot(pretty great special effects to make robots seem realistic)
-Terminator series(the whole special FX crew in the making of this series have brought so much realism in movies.....making cyborgs seem real, making obviously impossibe stunts look possible, and just bringing a whole aura of special FX possibilities)
-Harry Potter Series(ok ok! i know what your thinking now....what the heck is a kiddy movie doing in this category of special FX? well....harry potter was an amazing adaption from book to screen. This movie has proven that very complex, yet interesting novels CAN be turned into movies with breathtaking special FX. but it cannot be overdone, or the whole book------>screen process would be pointless.)
-Kill Bill Series(I mentioned this one because Quentin Tarantino shows us a unique still of making movies. He has taken classical kung fu scenarios, and mixing it with japanese martial arts stunts, and somehow incorporated sphaghetti western genre with the two. He has proved that there is a new 'kind' of style out in the movies. Besides, he has shown us very cool camera shots, and different color masks. Like in that scene where Uma Thurman is fighting all the crazy-88's....the colors change from normal color, to magnificent blue color, and then to a red kind of 'killing' color. )
-Star Wars(one of my best favorite series of all times. Even for an old time back then in the late 70's, George Lucas was still able to make it all so REALISTIC for us.....the outer space fighting scenes, the famous 'lightsaber' battles we'll never forget, the amazing explosions, the large-expanding war scenes and battles between the Galactic Empire and the Jedis. Anyway, it was a movie for real special FX geeks. lol)

Thats all i can think of now......i hope many more of you have more followups to the greatest special FX movies of all times.

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Good idea!

The most amazing film to ‘look’ at will always be Fritz Lang’s Metropolis. It blows my mind to think that in 1927 someone could have the vision and stamina to create a world that was so utterly unlike anything anybody else could envision. It breaks my heart whenever I think of the lost footage that can never be recovered; almost an hour’s worth in all.

F/X nowadays is nothing special. Hollywood has unloaded so many poor scripts on the general public, only to polish them up with special effects, that I’m completely desensitized to all of it. I’d much rather watch a film that’s smartly written with witty and unique dialogue, even if the entire film consists only of two people talking in an elevator, than another movie like Troy…all flash, no substance. There are, however, exceptions:

I remember when Jurassic Park first hit the theatres. I went with my brother on opening day. The only clips of the film that I had scene up to that point, where the special effects were showcased, was the herbivores grazing. When the T-Rex came into the picture, I was hooked. Now it’s one of my favorite action movies of all time. I know it’s a weak script made from a fun book, but I don’t care…it looked that good, and the action scenes were terrific.

Now, it’s primarily the older flicks that make me say, “Ooh...Aah”. The Wizard of Oz is a movie that still can bring out the childlike wonder in me. It is such a lovely film. It really is one of the best at making an entire story seem dreamlike. Amélie is another one that creates that sensation in me. It’s almost surreal.

Yet, Star Wars will always be the movie that stunned me more than any other concerning its visual style and F/X. I was eight years old when it was originally released back in the seventies. It was so vastly superior to anything else out there, that it was impossible for even the most finicky audience to reject it. Think of it this way; It was double feature night when I saw Star Wars the first time. Logan’s Run was the second movie of the night…a great film, but no Star Wars when it comes to F/X.

But I’m not seeing all these snazzy movies with child eyes anymore. Perhaps if I was…

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The best fx in a movie without a doubt,LOTR everything IS PERFECT!!
Then Terminator 3:Rise of The Mahines-I have watched this movie and never seen a flaw.
Charlie's Angels:Full Throtle-yes I know its all fake and completely impossible but the effects are right on.


Stunts:LOTR(The Movies are Just PERFECT)
Kill Bill(PERFECT)
The Matrix Trilogy
Terminator 3:Rise of the Machines

Makeup:
LOTR(I WILL SAY AGAIN PERFECT)
Predator(For back then it still compares with todays standers)
Terminator Trilogy

Okay Effects:
The Matrix Trilogy-yes the effects are breathtaking but I have watched this so many times each time I start to see more and more animation-Dont get me wrong the fx are awesome but when I think of PERFECT effects this isn't one-yes the highway chase in pt2 is great and alot of other stuff is too,but one particular scene when Neo fights All The Smiths more and more I see the 'Animated Characters" come out.

Final Destination2These affects are great,there are only a couple flaws that make this not be one of my PERFECTS but still best gore overall


No one please don't take offence this is my opinion...

All for Now...

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I thought 2001 was pretty good for its day. I do agree with LordyLord that Metropolis was great i love it.

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Special FX well its gotta be

Star Wars movies
Terminator Trilogy
Matrix 2 and 3


this is not one of my favorites but it has some cool fx

The Day After Tommorow

Lord of the Rings, Terminator 2 and 3, Jurassic Park are the main movies I think of when I think of perfection within CGI.

T2 and JP hold their ground strong when it comes to modern technology. Countless films emerge boasting CGI that doesn't even compare to these aged predecessors.

The key to the four films above is that they take the time to match the CGI elements perfectly with the real elements. All too often does the lighting and color balance on a CGI element not match up with that of the real and it is that glaring difference that painfully hurts a movie. That and a lack of texture to the CGI.

The Burly Brawl in Reloaded is horrific. I can't believe they butchered that scene so painfully. They at least got lucky with Keanu since he has such a plan, textureless face, but even still the level of realism is blaringly absent.

The Star Wars originals were, IMO, flawless. Because again they perfectly matched the fake with the real. The two new episodes look like utter junk to me. The lighting and color balance on all the CGI is entirely lackluster, giving everything - characters and world - a cartoonish look. No one ever buys cartoons as reality.

No one ever thinks of special effects necessarily being present in an animated film, for the whole film is effect, but the Korean visual masterpiece Wonderful Days has the finest animation ever imagined. Wonderful Days seamlessly blended hand animation, with CGI, and small scale models. The end result is something you have to bare witness to to understand its beauty. Wonderful Days is quiet possibly the only movie that has ever made my jaw bottom out of comprehension as to what I was taking in. The visuals are, for lack of a better word, breathtaking.

What you see in the LOTR series is just flat out impressive, but what you see in Wonderful Days is mesmerizing.

Just check out the posters and you'll get an idea as to the beauty this futuristic film conveys. http://amazon.imdb.com/title/tt0353014/posters

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the burly brawl was kinda bad but the scene in Matrix Revolutions when Neo punched Smith in the cheek looked like a cinematic from a video game... but the overall fight looked somewhat cool

Jurassic Park 1+2= The Dinosaurs look real (perhaps not as much in TLW as in the first JP, but still amazing). The textures are realistic and the movements are believable, something which has only been matched in the last few years in the odd shot in AOTC, some of the better scenes with Gollum in TTT and ROTK, and a surprisingly high number of shots featuring the skeleton pirates in POTC.

Star Wars Trilogy= I wasn't alive when ANH was first released, but when I first saw it in '95 on video, I was amazed. ESB and ROTJ still do that to me. Sure there's the odd moment when the limitations of Stop Motion are apparent, but then you get the moments like the Asteroid field chase and the Battle of Endor, both in space and on the ground (the AT ST's still look better than most things we see these days).

Pirates of the Caribbean= Damn those pirates looked real at times

There WILL be more, I just can't think of any more off the top of my head.

[EDIT]Sooner than I thought...

Terminator 2= It's been mentioned enough times now so you get the idea...

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Ill add the day after tomorrow as well.
Now I haven't been able to watch for flaws but what I saw was superb

Blade Runner - excellent effects and some great stuntwork, also good makeup.
Edward Scissorhands - great makeup effects, both making Edward and creating the look of the film
Terminator series, Jurassic Park, Edward Scissorhands - excellent sculpting on all (not coincidentally, as these titles all share at least on sculptor).
Pyro - Dawn of the Dead had some great explosions. I especially loved the gas station at the beginning.

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i know what your talking about. i think some parts in spiderman two looked really bad with the CGI. like when Dok oc kidnaps aunt may and then him and spiderman are falling off the building and fighting in the air. the CGI looked really fake there.

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parting of the red sea in both the ten commandments and in the prince of egypt

the matrix trilogy was my favourite.

the first one is the one that sticks out coz this was the movie to have this sort of effects.

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Totally the matrix-cept the third one got on my nerves with too many effects

Jurassic Park, not too keen on the rest but the first one was excellent.

LOTR: when you see the big armies for the first time it was like 'whoah'. Very cool. The makeup on every single orc was very impressive, each one looked different and unique.

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The LotR stuff gets a nod, and I was blown away by the first Matrix when it came out.

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VISUAL FX- (Stand back in awe of the meticulous planning & wonder how they did it.)
Fritz Lang's METROPOLIS
Merian C Cooper & Ernest B Schoedsack KING KONG
Harry Haussen's JASON & THE ARGONAUTS
Ridley Scotts BLADE RUNNER
Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey
George Pal's THE TIME MACHINE
George Lucas- STAR WARS original trilogy
Juenet & Caro's CITY OF LOST CHILDREN


CGI EFFECTS-
Bryan Singers X MEN
George Lucas' STAR WARS-ATTACK OF THE CLONES
Peter Jackson LOTR
James Cameron THE ABYSS

Make Up-
John Landis AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON
Franklin J Schaffer's PLANET OF THE APES
Sam Raimi's EVIL DEAD
Peter Jackson's BRAINDEAD
Peter Jackson's LOTR
George Lucas STAR WARS original trilogy

Stunts-
Peter Yates BULLITT
Spielberg's RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK
James Bond LIVE & LET DIE- most all teh bonds have top notch stunts
Howard Hawkes RED RIVER- most westerns had overly keen stunt man without much safety
Robert Clouse's ENTER THE DRAGON
The BABYCART/SWORD OF VENGENCE/SHOGUN ASSASIN series

Those are a few off the top of my head that I am always in awe of.

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Starship Troopers goes on my list and I'm a little ashamed I didn't put it on there the first time.

The effects in this movie rival any recent attempts at the same thing. The transition between CGI and Animatronics is so seamless. Paul Verhoven has a real taste for how to effectively use CGI, regardless if you like his movies or not.

Hell when there were commercials for DVDs and how they boast superior image and sound quality...what space clip did they show? Starship Troopers reigns.

I just got done watching Immortel, a french movie that blended live action with cgi in a manner I don't think I've ever seen done before.

Sure Star Wars has done it...but not with the same impact this movie did it. The plot was pretty...confusing? but visually it was fascinating to watch.

It's amazing no one has mentioned Independence Day. Although a terrible "Sci-Fi Movie", and merely a shadow to the greatness of the original War of the Worlds, its effects are without a doubt unbelievable. I remember watching that movie in theaters. I was like, "Wow." Then ofcourse, Will Smith entered the movie and everything pretty much went south from there but that one scene when they blew up the Empire State Building is just unforgettable. Absolutely amazing. But the movie itself was quite a large dissapointment unfortunately.

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I'd say T2 or T3: Rise of the Machines any day of the week...

did you know that in the scene where they are unscrewing the Terminators head to reset his chip to learning mode in the Special Edition, Linda Hamilton's twin was brought in to shoot that scene... in order to get the effect of having the Terminators head hollow, the mirror in this scene is fake...Arnold is on the other side of the table...and the Terminator closest to the camera is a dummy... the camera moves around the dummy and there are two shots of Sarah Conner...1 is the real Linda Hamilton and the other is her twin... talk about great special effects... that is just brilliant!