Top 10 Landmark CGI Movie Effects
#10- Goodbye Miniatures "The Last Starfighter" (1984)
Top 10 Movie Goodbye Kisses
Booting up our list is the groundbreaking film that was first to ditch miniature models in exchange for computer animation. Used for the vehicles, spaceships and planets shots, the effects were blended with live-action with a multi-million dollar CRAY XMP-2 super-computer. The process required two years to animate 25 minutes worth of CG effects. That’s how you get a Scientific and Technical Academy Award, in case you were curious…
#9- Glass Knight “Young Sherlock Holmes” (1985)
Top 10 Sherlock Holmes Portrayals
It may seem elementary now, but this murderous stained glass Knight was the first ever-3D character to appear in a feature film! It was created to terrorize old priests by the Pixar group, yes THE Pixar group, using a then revolutionary motion blur technology and cutting edge 32-bit RGBA paint system.
#8- Genesis Effect “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” (1982)
Top 10 Memorable Movie Sound Effects
You would expect us to include some Star Wars action, but instead we’re giving the nod to the very first CGI sequence ever used in film. This one-minute "Genesis effect" showcased the McGuffin’s ability to reanimate a dead planet thanks to 32-bit fractal and particle effects through paint software created by the then subdivision of Lucasfilm, you’ll never guess, Pixar.
#7- First Animal “Labyrinth” (1986)
Top 10 Worst CGI Movie Effects
While Jumanji was the first film to showcase a gaggle of CGI animals, the first quote on quote “realistic” computer animated animal was actually in this Jim Henson classic. Used for its memorable opening credit sequence, this digital owl may be dated by today’s standards, but was an important step in the evolution of CGI as a cinematic tool. Surprisingly, no CGI was used for David Bowie’s hair.
#6- Advanced Motion Capture “Avatar” (2009)
Top 10 Motion Capture Performances
Believe it or not, this film was an idea in James Cameron’s head since the early 90s, but he had to wait for the technology to catch up! Using photorealistic computer-generated characters through new motion-capture tech, innovations included skullcaps with cameras that captured a perfect rendition of the actor’s eyes and facial expressions. The immense rendering was done through a server farm’s 35,000 processor cores transferring 17Gb of data per minute.
#5- Dinosaurs “Jurassic Park” (1993)
Top 20 Scientific Inaccuracies in Jurassic Park
This film marked a major turning point for computer-animated imagery, fiercely taking it out of the novelty stage! Hollywood had previously considered CGI largely unproven. However, it was Industrial Light and Magic that created the 80 seamless effects shots, which allowed for full-size dinosaurs to move freely in ways not possible with animatronics. In light of it’s success, Hollywood made CGI a staple of modern cinema, and stop motion became all but extinct.
#4- Motion Captured Gollum “The Lord of the Ring Series” (2002)
This revolutionary effect, courtesy of Weta Digital, brought the one of the most precious elements of Tolkien’s fantasy epic to life. While the trilogy is packed with then-new technology, the most notable effects used to created Gollum, thanks to the newfound ability to capture the Andy Serkis’ physical performance, complete with his own facial features. This involved pioneering the use of key framing and digital rotoscoping by a large fellowship of animators. Totally worth it.
#3- First Water Effect “The Abyss” (1989)
Top 10+10 Practical Movie Effects (Most Realistic / Horror)
This is the effect that marked the first major mainstream shift away from traditional and cell based animation. Here, director James Cameron decided to trust the creation of these water-based aliens to Industrial Light and Magic. The result was a program used to create liquid with kinetic properties capable of mimicking faces. It took six months to create 75 seconds of CGI, talk about submerging yourself in a project.
#2- T-1000 “Terminator 2” (1991)
Top 10 Movie Scenes You Didn't Realize Were Practical Effects
It’s impossible to think of landmark visual effects without this Academy Award winning spectacle! Despite it’s low-tech era, director Jim Cameron decided to one up his previous effort, and showcases a villain dependent on a new variation of the then famous liquid effect. The result was convincingly liquid-metal, shape-shifting antagonist. A jaw dropping feat, it guaranteed that Industrial light and Magic would remain legendary for their cutting edge modeling, morphing and animation work for decades to come.
#1- Light Cycles “Tron” (1982)
Top 10 Famous Movie Scenes WITHOUT Special Effects
Whizzing into the top spot on our list are the iconic vehicles of the computer world. A massive groundbreaker, these bikes appeared within 20 minutes of footage. Astonishingly, they were created with only 2Mb of Ram and 330MB of hard drive space. All this during a time when people still thought pong was an accurate tennis simulation. Simply put, without Tron, movies would look much more practical today. Agree with our list? Which CGI effect do you consider the most important landmark of them all? For more entertaining top 10s, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.
1
0
flagged
0
0
flagged