Best CGI in a film?

101

2x G.N. Sweepstake Winner, Apprentice Winner 2013
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
8,794
Location
Somewhere between a rock and a hard place.
What are your opinions on the best CGI in a film?

I know Avatar or Lord of the Rings might come up a fair bit but they were set in fantasy worlds and not really the thing I'm looking for.

I mean the kind of CGI where something needs to blend in with the real-world environment e.g. I remember being quite struck with Superman Returns (granted it was a pretty poor film but the visuals were really well done IMO).

Thoughts?
 
Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean?

pitc01.jpg
 
As I recall, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park looked pretty damn good, especially given that the film was made nearly twenty years ago!
 
Count Orduck said:
As I recall, the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park looked pretty damn good, especially given that the film was made nearly twenty years ago!
Click to expand...

Aye good shout. It's effects still stand up to most of the dumb-ass CGI fuelled blockbusters you see every summer. The bit where the T-Rex goes after the jeep is one of the best chase sequences in cinema.

Terminator 2 was ground-breaking at the time, Gladiator's Rome & collosseum scenes are amazing. From recent memory I thought Sunshine was very clever in it's use of CGI for a lower budget film. Big budget I thought King Kong was pretty spectacular.
 
I watched Lord of the Rings recently and to be honest the CGI hasn't aged well. It's over 10 years old now but I was surprised at how bad it was by today's standard.
 
2001 and T2, each time I watch, I find it incredibly how little each has aged. Blade Runner too.
 
Transformers is mind-boggling CGI throughout, even if the films aren't great.

The end scene in the maelstrom in Pirates of the Carribean: At World's End is just incredible too.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes too - you forget you're even watching CGI which is surely the ultimate goal.
 
Pexbo said:
I watched Lord of the Rings recently and to be honest the CGI hasn't aged well. It's over 10 years old now but I was surprised at how bad it was by today's standard.
Click to expand...

Can't say I've heard that one before, why do you say that?

I'll admit I think they over-saturated the colors at times, to create an 'other worldly' feel, but I thought the CGI in that trilogy was great.
 
I think you can certainly see how far on CGI has come since LOTR when re-watching it now after watching stuff like Avatar and Planet of the Apes in HD.

Bladerunner is still amazing.

Regarding recreating Bogarts face, they could do that now already quite easily, but that type of thing is a little tasteless.
 
It's hard to overlook Avatar, even though you're asking about non-fantasy films. I didn't like the actual story much I have to say, but it was so impressive to watch.
 
101 said:
They've done CGI transfers very successfully in the past e.g. the twins in The Social Network and Arnie's face on a body double in Terminator 4.
Click to expand...

Tron: Legacy was quite something. Jeff Bridges was completely CGI
 
The scene in Back To The Future where his hand starts to disappear, that was brilliant.
 
Terminator 2 - Still blows me away considering how long ago it was made!
 
The Matrix when it came out was groundbreaking effects. It still looks awesome by today's standards. District 9 is good in some aspects - the aliens are very well made. But some of the weapons effects are a bit fake-looking.

Beowulf for the worst CGI reward considering when it came out.
 
Jurassic Park, The Thing, Alien and Aliens all to this day have the greatest special effects. Puppets, costumes, and machinery are the way to go.

As for CGI, Inception and the Matrix movies are a great shout.
 
Terminator 2 and Jurassic park for me. They look great even today and looked phenomenal at the time.
 
There are a bunch of average/big budget films that don't get mentioned even though they all have great CGI. Transformers. Star Wars I-III (might not count because it's not the "real world"), Avengers, Harry Potter etc. You might differ on how good these movies are but they do have very good CGI.

Avatar is the one that blew my mind in the cinema. Excellent CGI that manages to get you enthralled by it and take your mind of the story. Does not work at home.
 
You're idiots. They used real dinosaurs in Jurassic Park.
 
It was models for some of the close-ups alright, but there are scenes where it can only be CGI.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.