Top 20 Worst CGI Movie Effects of All Time
#20: Russell Franklin’s Death
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“Deep Blue Sea” (1999) Samuel L. Jackson deserves better than this. This sci-fi horror flick is about a group of scientists looking for a cure for Alzheimer’s, which results in the creation of super intelligent sharks, so you know there’s going to be some campy fun - but this is just inexcusable. What is, admittedly, a surprising death, is simply ruined by the looks of this shark and the clearly CG’d Jackson. The computer spurt of blood only adds to the fakery, making “Jaws”, released almost 25 years earlier, look that much better. What could have been a horrifying scene instead leaves people laughing.
#19: Basically Everything
“Justice League” (2017) We’ve never seen a $300 million movie look like this. With that kind of money, we expected literal magic. Instead, we got a film that consistently looked like a video game cutscene. For one thing, it’s very obvious that most of the action was shot on a green screen. We saw more convincing green screen work back in 1999. There’s also the fact that both Cyborg and Steppenwolf looked really unbelievable, with the latter being particularly offensive. And finally there’s the infamous case of Henry Cavill’s CGI-ed face, which was rightly mocked and memed to oblivion. By all accounts, “Justice League” was a total dud.
#18: Breath
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“The Social Network” (2010) We can’t think of anything more pointless than wasting money on CGI breath. In one scene in “The Social Network,” Mark and Eduardo are talking outside in the cold, resulting in some ridiculously distracting CGI breath. On the DVD commentary, director David Fincher explained that they actually shot the scene in the freezing cold and he wanted to honor the actors’ commitment by adding in some breath. Bad, bad decision. We would have preferred nothing at all. It’s not like anyone would have cared that the scene was breathless. It’s a glaringly obvious flaw in an otherwise excellent and gorgeous movie.
#17: Han Solo Meets Jabba the Hutt
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“Star Wars Episode IV - A New Hope” [Special Edition] (1997) The classic “Star Wars” is not without its faults. Well, that’s not entirely true; at least this scene wasn’t in the original 1977 version. It wasn’t until the 1997 re-release in theaters that audiences saw this scene for the first time, and it was even further “improved” in the 2004 DVD release. Suffice it to say, audiences were not exactly thrilled. Shot in the ‘70s with a human playing Jabba, the scene was cut from the original release. But with George Lucas re-inserting the scene 2 decades later with a CGI Jabba, it all looked highly artificial next to the human Harrison Ford. Many of the effects from the ‘70s looked better than this new Jabba did. They seriously thought having Han digitally walk on Jabba’s tail would be a good way to deal with the revised Jabba design of “Return of The Jedi”?
#16: Mary Jane the Monster
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“Scooby-Doo” (2002) In this 2002 live-action adaptation of the famous “Scooby Doo” animated series, Scoob and the gang travel to an island to investigate strange goings-on. In this scene, Mary Jane is riding ATVs with Shaggy and Scooby when her head hits a branch, causing her face to become monstrous, complete with green eyes and stretchy skin. The green eyes look bad enough, but it’s the skin stretch that needs the most work, as you can clearly see where Isla Fisher’s real face stops and the CGI takes over. Still, this is probably scary for the kids at least.
#15: Transformation
“Ghost Rider” (2007) This Marvel IP was always going to be a tricky production, what with the flaming skull and what not. It seems like a tough thing to pull off with practical effects, and the CGI needs to be convincing for it to work. Unfortunately, the CGI was not convincing, despite the $110 million budget behind the movie. The first transformation scene is particularly disappointing. The initial screaming bit comes across decently, despite the awkward CGI smoke and cheesy fireball effects that fill the screen. But then we see the CGI flaming skull, and that just completely ruins both the scene and the rest of the movie. It doesn’t look cool or scary— instead, it’s giggle-inducing.
#14: Exploding Shark
“Jaws 3-D” (1983) “Jaws” is one of those perfect movies that absolutely did not need a sequel. This being Hollywood, however, they pumped out increasingly lower quality sequels, resulting in the critically panned “Jaws 3-D.” It’s difficult not to shake your head at the entire climax of this flick. It begins in laughable fashion, with the shark floating through the water, shattering the fake glass, and breaking all the laws of physics by immediately stopping in its tracks. And then we come to that amazing explosion, which sees CGI blood and organs flying towards the camera in an instance of 3D that’s hard to forget - but not in a good way.
#13: Space Monkey
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“Lost in Space” (1998) This sci-fi adventure, which follows the Robinson family as they emigrate to a nearby star system, was adapted from the 1960s TV show of the same name; however, the series probably had better special effects than this. The main detractor is an alien primate that’s adopted as a pet and that also looks hard to believe. It appears as though the actors had little to work with, and the integration could have been improved; so much so that it’s difficult not to be distracted from the action of his scenes. This is one interstellar journey that could’ve done with a higher budget.
#12: Power Plant Overload
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“Escape from L.A.” (1996) Making back only half of its budget, this sci-fi action flick’s failure could arguably be due to its special effects. A sequel to the 1981 original, “Escape from L.A.” sees the return of Snake Plissken as he recovers a dangerous device from the City of Angels. This scene is particularly noteworthy thanks to a clearly fake submarine, and it doesn’t get much better from there. The crash into the building is more likely to have people likening it more to the effects of a cheap video game, not to mention the disproportionately large and very fake looking shark. Maybe they should have left the original alone.
#11: The Red Cape
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“Spawn” (1997) In one of the movie’s more infamous scenes, Spawn bursts through the ceiling and descends with a flurry of his red cape. And let’s not mince words here - the cape doesn’t look good. And points in the filmmakers’ defense: this was 1997, and billowing items are notoriously hard to animate. But still, it’s there and they did it, so it’s fair game. And it’s not like “Spawn” was made on the cheap, either. It was produced for between $40 and $45 million. That’s nothing compared to modern superhero films, but it’s not a small budget. The movie has its fans and its merits, but the visual effects are certainly not one of them.
#10: Bond Surfs a Tidal Wave
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“Die Another Day” (2002) In this Bond flick, a supervillain uses a giant mirror satellite to reflect solar energy onto Iceland. This energy beam is used to break up a glacier, and it forces Bond to surf away from the destruction on a massive tidal wave. Is it any wonder that Bond was rebooted after this? Even by the silliest of Roger Moore standards, this scene is pretty ridiculous. It could have made for good, cheesy entertainment had it not been for the abysmal CGI work. “Die Another Day” was released in 2002, when large-scale CGI work was really starting to take off. And despite the movie’s $142 million budget, they couldn’t even generate a convincing green screen effect. It didn’t impress then, and it certainly doesn’t now.
#9: Snake Attack
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“Anaconda 3: Offspring” (2008) Here, it’s the very snake from this made-for-TV horror movie’s title that leaves us in stitches. The sound effects actually sound somewhat good, and the POV shots establish a decent sense of terror, but that terror quickly subsides when we get a better look at what they’re trying to pass as a serpent. While it’s supposed to be intimidating, we can only laugh at the lighting, video game-like movement, and the lack of realism when it appears. Giant snakes may be scary for some; but we don’t think they actually were for many people who watched this movie.
#8: Wolverine’s Claws
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“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” (2009) With the “X-Men” name behind the movie, it seems like a given that there’d be some great science fiction-oriented special effects in here. But sadly, ‘twas not the case for this 4th installment of the series. Instead, we get claws that look like this and CGI that only take us away from the story that much more quickly. The claws are very clearly not coming out of Wolverine’s hand, but are instead superimposed over actor Hugh Jackman’s real hand. We should also mention the ladder scene, which makes little sense and doesn’t fare much better. These efforts certainly do not match such a high budget film.
#7: The De-Aging Effects
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“Tron: Legacy” (2010) Back in 1982, “Tron” blazed a trail and became one of the first Hollywood blockbusters to utilize large-scale CGI. Nearly thirty years later, “Tron: Legacy” was released and proved that it still had a long way to go. Funnily enough, it wasn’t the digital world that was the problem, but simple human faces. Jeff Bridges was de-aged for the film, and the results aren’t in the least bit convincing. They veer into the Uncanny Valley, looking much like video game faces superimposed over the real actors. Which they essentially are. This might make sense within the context of the movie, but it doesn’t really matter. It’s still distracting.
#6: The Freddy Caterpillar
Top 10 Worst CGI Movie Effects
“Freddy vs. Jason” (2003) The last thing we expected from “Freddy vs. Jason” was a hookah-smoking Freddy caterpillar, but what do we know. The caterpillar appears to Bill, the movie’s resident stoner. And while the scene is clearly meant to be goofy, that doesn’t forgive the CGI work on display here, Nothing about the Freddy caterpillar looks good, especially when it reaches behind itself to grab a hookah out of nowhere. The movement isn’t convincing, and it’s made even worse by sharing the screen with a human actor. And just when you thought it couldn’t get any more ridiculous, the caterpillar forces itself down Billy’s throat, and the visual effects work proves scarier than anything else in the movie.
#5: Parallax vs. Green Lantern
“Green Lantern” (2011) With a $200 million budget and the DC name behind you, you would think we would get some decent special effects. Well, think again. Parallax, the main villain of this superhero flick, looks terribly goofy and fake, and it doesn’t help that Green Lantern himself looks like a video game character half of the time. They even had to use computer effects for the eye mask Hal Jordan wears when he becomes the Green Lantern! Couldn’t they have just slapped a real mask on him? Lead actor Ryan Reynolds himself has mocked the film’s effects - albeit in the voice of another super hero - but that’s gotta count for something.
#4: Langoliers Attack
“The Langoliers” (1995) This TV miniseries, released as a film on home video and based on a Stephen King novella, about a group that finds themselves in another dimension, should have a terrifying finale, but its CGI completely takes us out of the horror. Not only do the Langoliers themselves look completely goofy as monsters, but you also can actually see the pixels and raw animation. Even the runway becomes CGI, and it looks like an old pixelated PlayStation game. The eating of the scenery could use some work too, as it looks more like it’s simply erasing the scenery rather than eating it. The master of horror deserves better.
#3: Liu Kang’s Transformation
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“Mortal Kombat: Annihilation” (1997) Based on the famous video game series that depicts people literally ripping each other apart, this martial arts movie is bound to be a little corny. This particular scene depicts Liu Kang’s Animality, in which he shape-shifts into a creature to finish off his opponents. Unfortunately, it looks as unrealistic as it sounds. The actual transformation looks incredibly fake against the real actor, and the actual beast itself, while supposed to be intimidating, simply comes across as laughable. It almost looks like paper against the backdrop; actually, they might as well have done it that way and saved some money.
#2: Birds?
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“Birdemic: Shock and Terror” (2010) We’re not going to say this is the worst movie ever made, but there’s no denying the fact that multiple people have certainly said so. Bless James Nguyen for trying, though. This romantic horror flick has been compared to the works of Tommy Wiseau and Ed Wood, with most critics taking utter offense to the movie’s visual effects. “Birdemic” was reportedly made for just $10,000 and it shows - complete with bird sprites that do not contrast well with the wider image and move in exceedingly awkward and unrealistic ways. If you’re going to make a movie for $10,000, do something original. Don’t try to do what Alfred Hitchcock already did decades before.
#1: The Scorpion King
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“The Mummy Returns” (2001) “Birdemic” has the excuse that it was made by an amateur filmmaker for $10,000. “The Mummy Returns” was directed by Stephen Sommers, distributed by Universal, and made for nearly $100 million. To this day, The Scorpion King continues to be cited as the most laughable bit of CGI ever seen in a blockbuster production. Everything about it is goofy: from the way the Scorpion King looks to the way he’s integrated into the live-action shots and the way The Rock’s face has been video game-d. It’s a shame too, because the introductory silhouette shot looks really cool and menacing. And then it moves. We love “The Mummy” movies, but this is hard to forgive.
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