Gotta give a shout out to Captain Marvel (1941). Republic Pictures had the Lydecker brothers, who got better effects than the big studios we’re achieving. The flying sequences are quite good. Indeed, I don’t think they were topped until Richard Donner directed Superman in 1978.
Look to your sun for a warning! Look to your sun for a warning! I can do an almost-perfect imitation of Paul Frees' voice doing the alien message from Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, complete with the extra wow & flutter. (One of many worthless abilities I have.) That's a fun film. I need to watch that again. Yes, I have to say there's something to the idea that Harryhausen's creatures did show the feelings and imagination of the artist, and something does get lost in the "perfectness" of CGI creatures. Famously, Harryhausen saw Jurassic Park back in 1993, and at the time he said it had the greatest dinosaur visual effects of any movie ever made. But I think he was bewildered by the increased role of CGI and digital composites as the decade went on, and he later said that he felt that CGI had "robbed fantasy and science fiction films of their humanity" (or words to that effect. I see what he means, but I think there are some extraordinary films made in the last 25 years where the effects compliment the story and don't take over the experience.
Not terribly far in the past, but my vote goes to the T-1000 in Terminator 2. As far as being groundbreaking at the time, working perfectly with the story, not being overused, and looking totally realistic, it’s still the best use of CGI in film in my opinion.
I think it's by no coincidence that writer/director Jim Cameron changed the entire VFX business not once but three times: 1) the water cephalopod creature in The Abyss in 1989 (the first time a CGI creature was composited with live action people in 3-dimensional space; I don't count the stain-glass demon in Young Sherlock Holmes) 2) the robot creatures in Terminator 2 in 1992, the first time a CGI human was used in dozens and dozens of scenes, plus the T1000 "liquid mercury mode" morphing. I totally agree that the "robot through the jail bars" scene created a huge buzz with audiences, and it was a jaw-dropping moment 20 years ago. I actually prefer some of the more-subtle stuff, like the robot killing the mom in the kitchen, or the famous truck chase with the kid on the bike (which had a combination of real shots with stunt drivers, rear-screen with actors, and CGI replacements). The whole film is a technical tour-de-force. and 3) the vast amount of digital VFX done in Titanic (1997), including the first (to me) convincing digital water and putting hundreds of digital people on a sinking ship, plus the famous 360° movement around Leo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet on the bow of the ship. All three movies really changed the VFX business and raised the bar far beyond anything people imagined. And I'd say all three films hold up really well today. Even if you think they're bad as films, I think they're all extremely well-made.
I think a lot of the effects in Metropolis have held up quite well. In fact, many of the silent film special effects look pretty convincing. That scene when Chaplin is roller skating, blindfolded, next to a balcony with no rails comes to mind...
I was going to mention Harryhausen, but was glad someone finally did. I agree his effects have a magic to them and are an integral part of the film.
When I first saw Titanic, I just figured that they filmed the water using another ship and then matting it in. It never occurred to me that it was digital water, until later when I was reading about the SFX shots for the movie. I thought how they did the engine room was very impressive.
Yeah, the guys at Digital Domain killed themselves trying to satisfy Jim Cameron's VFX demands. There were combinations of real and digital water throughout the show. Cameron proved to be so difficult, that even though he owned half the company, they basically threw him out when the film was completed and got rid of him.
Practical effects in films peaked at this point. The Empire Strikes Back remains a visually stunning film (and we've had a thread to that effect about it), but Blade Runner, Star Trek II and ET all have great effects that still work today. That was a great time to be a kid going to the movies. As for Jurassic Park, it's a combo of practical effects and CGI, which I think gives it that sense of reality that so many all-CGI films lack.
The airplane miniatures flying over Hollywood and the ferris wheel/amusement park scenes in Spielberg's 1941 from 1979, are amazing.
Effects in movies used to have individuality, personality and craftsmanship... all seem gone with big budget CGI now. Are there really young people who look back at something we here all love and knock it for being imperfect or having flaws? I find a lot of silent and early sound comedies to have some really surprisingly effective if low budget effects! Yet, at one time all anyone was supposed to do was show the entire thing at the wrong speed and laugh at how crude it all was and how could anyone sit through it. I thought we had gotten beyond that thankfully, but I guess there are always going to be people at different stages of 'evolution' in what they can appreciate perhaps. From The Monkees aren't a real 'pop' group, to actually these guys were all pretty talented and the music was still quality, to this old stuff is corny and limited compared to the newest auto-tuned boy-band/girl-band/j-pop/k-pop stage extravaganza?
I’m always stunned at how great matte paintings worked, whether Star Wars or something like this from black narcissus. When done right it’s absolutely stunning and a simple concept.
Headed by Spielberg. It was a foursome. It's hard to imagine but there is no second unit photography on this picture. Every frame was directed by Spielberg himself. He vowed to never do that again, but it really shows!!!
Spielberg said something in an interview to the effect that the movie would have been much funnier had he been able to concentrate solely on directing and letting others oversee the second unit stuff and the models, rather than doing everything himself. He took a break after 1941, before filming Raiders of the Lost Ark .
