Fav. special effect in a movie?

[rook]

Mine has got to be the frog scene in magnolia. I love that scene so much.

Just curious what yours is....

-rook

[surf]

my latest is in the Island, most of the cg scenes :)

[Blaine]

LOTR. Which one? Take your pick, there are so many good ones.:beer:

[Erik Olson]

Future LA in Blade Runner. Analog baby... nice and analog.

e

[mmm]

1) The T-rex attack in JP1 - Looks perfect even today!

2) The Breaching of the Helm's Deep walll in LOTR2 TTT. Perfectly CG enhanced 1/4 scale miniature.

3) Shuttle dock in "2001". Still outstanding, nearly 40 years on! (Apart from the computer displays.)

[J.R. Hudson]

The Rex Attack in Jurassic Park is one of cinemas greaest effects achievment. I still am amazed every time I see this scene. This same topic was at dvinfo and this was my answer:

- Close Encounters - the U.F.O.'s
- Jaws - Not just the shark, but that damn shark fin. (I was like 5 years old)
- Temple of Doom - The mine car chase
- Jurassic Park - the first time the Rex comes out to play
- Star Wars - the opening shot of the Star Destroyer also flying through the trench
- Empire Strikes Back - the AT - AT's, the Asteroid sequence
- Return of the Jedi - the bumrush of tie fighters in the final battle
- Titanic -
- The Matrix - Bullettime
- Black Hawk Down - the first black hawk that is shot down (CGI)
- Gladiator - The coliseum shot as they enter for the first time
- The Two Towers - Gollum
- Dawn of the Dead - The opening shot as Anna drives past the exploding
gas station from the car that hit's it
- Sin City - The entire process. Entire films can be officially be made in my
garage.

[J.R. Hudson]

The Rex Attack in Jurassic Park is one of cinemas greaTest FX achievments. I still am amazed every time I see this scene. This same topic was at dvinfo and this was my answer:

- Close Encounters - the U.F.O.'s
- Jaws - Not just the shark, but that damn shark fin. (I was like 5 years old)
- Temple of Doom - The mine car chase
- Jurassic Park - the first time the Rex comes out to play
- Star Wars - the opening shot of the Star Destroyer also flying through the trench
- Empire Strikes Back - the AT - AT's, the Asteroid sequence
- Return of the Jedi - the bumrush of tie fighters in the final battle
- Titanic -
- The Matrix - Bullettime
- Black Hawk Down - the first black hawk that is shot down (CGI)
- Gladiator - The coliseum shot as they enter for the first time
- The Two Towers - Gollum
- Dawn of the Dead - The opening shot as Anna drives past the exploding
gas station from the car that hit's it
- Sin City - The entire process. Entire films can be officially be made in my
garage.

[surf]

LOTR. Which one? Take your pick, there are so many good ones.:beer:


LOTR??? I have got asleep in the first 50 minutes... then I have given up watching it...

[J.R. Hudson]

You don't dig LOTR surf ?

[Jeremy Ordan]

While Hudson seems to have taken most of the good ones, I'm going to go a different direction.

The first time you see the brontesaurus in Jurassic Park is incredible. Like when it jumps up on it's hind legs to grab the leaves off the trees. That is incredible and was like every childhood fantasy I ever had come to life, almost tear inducing.

I will say the Independence Day blowing up buildings also, and pretty much any big summer blockbuster (take your pick).

[Aaron Marshall]

You don't dig LOTR surf ?

It's ok surf, I didn't dig LOTR's either. I thought it was ok. It may have even been well above average, but nothing mind blowing.

T2 - T1000, still looks incredible
Interview with the Vampire - Very subtle, yet gorgeous
The Dark Crystal - the destruction of the skekses castle, awesome movie overall
Burton's Sleepy Hollow - the headless horsemen rising out of the tree of the dead

[TheMacB]

anything in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. CGI just bothers me. when special effects can be done in the camera that is what makes a good film.

[wcs]

I really enjoy the one-shot in Ocean's Twelve where dusty's car gets blown up.

Other than that, I'd agree with JP1 and Eternal Sunshine. Some of the computer effects in Sunshine don't hold up perfectly (the falling cars, notably), but it's still a spectacular visual achievement.

[surf]

You don't dig LOTR surf ?

I was expecting a good film, but what I saw, was only an average film-start, which was very long, long, long...

[Yas Kassana]

Mine has to be Blade 2, when he jumps from the balcony all the down and shoots the vamp.

[Erik Olson]

I've said it here before, but, in Forrest Gump in all the scenes where Lt. Dan's legs are removed.

These shots are a much more remarkable use of the motion control rig developed for Back to the Future II and III. They stand out because they don't stand out at all.

When I saw it, I was like... "oh s***, what happened to Gary's legs!?"

e

[mmm]

I've said it here before, but, in Forrest Gump in all the scenes where Lt. Dan's legs are removed.

These shots are a much more remarkable use of the motion control rig developed for Back to the Future II and III. They stand out because they don't stand out at all.

When I saw it, I was like... "oh s***, what happened to Gary's legs!?"

e

True. There are a few bits in Forest Gump where the SFX are really effective.

Zemeckis does some great effects in all his films - some really amazing camera movements. The whole joy was lost with "Polar Express" though, because you knew everything was CG.

[xl70e3]

To add to the many good examples above:

Explosion in the opening scene of SwordFish - WOW
Godzilla (1998) - MASSIVE, yet realistic; almost perfect CGi. They don't do it as carefully these days...
King Kong (2005) - The ape is ALIVE
Chronicles of Narnia - Aslan

[Erik Olson]

I really don't understand why Polar Express got the attention it did. Like Tom Hanks needed to be made more stiff through "the miracle of computer animation".

I thought the characters looked, and more specifically, moved, like crap. Lame, lame lame!

e

[KingVidiot]

Hard to be succinct on this huge topic...

Head Shots -

Dawn of the Dead (78) - Housing project shotgun blast (they used a real shotgun)
*Savini is the man*

Scanners - head scanned and blown, nice face flap
*what can you say... it's Dick Smith*

CG -

T2 - liquid metal
Abyss - static tidal waves and fluid tentacle
Lord of the Rings - Gollum is still the best vactor (virtual actor) to date
*WETA kills ILM*
King Kong (05) - T. rex family vs. Kong, move over Jurassic Park
*WETA is still king*

[CallaghanFilms]

For Their Respective Times, I Would Say:

#5 Mary Poppins - 1964 (for 64...you kidding me, every fx shot)

#4 Superman - 1978 (The first time he takes off in the Fortress of Solitude & the "can you read my mind" love flight with Lois.)

#3 King Kong - 1933 (Kong on the Empire State Building)

#2 Jurassic Park - 1993 (T-Rex with Dr. Grant and his flare)

#1 Star Wars - 1977 (The Falcon's jump to lightspeed & the Battle of Yavin scenes)


Honorable Mentions:

-Blade Runner (establishing cityscape)
-The Empire Strikes Back (the Hoth battle scenes)
-E.T. (the flying over the moon sequence)
-Return of the Jedi (speeder bike chase)
-An American Werewolf In London (the werewolf loosed on the busy street)

[Matthew B. Moore]

A lot of Asian stuff has been catching my eye over the past 2 years. Nice blendings of green screen, 3D and mad layering from hell.

"Cassern" has a fantastic opener.
"Natural City" has some cool stuff as well.

The one that kicks all of the ass is the first 20 minutes of "Night Watch".
The effects aren't big and bad, they are just really cool and very well done. "Night Watch" is one of those movie that I can't get enough of. If you haven't seen it, find it!
It's Russian and should be in the states by now.

[eignacio]

When I was a kid, the one's that WOW'd me were.
1. Clash of the Titans - Pegasas, Medusa, etc.
2. Jason and the Argonauts - Giants, creatures, skeletons fighting, etc.
3. Back to the Future - car disappears with flaming tracks left behind.

[skital]

A lot of the scenes from Starship Troopers.

[ecarr]

i have to agree with bullet time. thank you, john gaeta.

the cursed pirates in the moonlight from pirates of the caribbean were pretty kickass, too.

oh, and one more: GOLLUM

[jamestmather]

The momma in "throw momma from the train"...uh, that was an effect right?

[Brandon Rice]

Gollum in LOTR. And Kong in King Kong.

[surf]

well, I think the whole Titanic is awesome (although some scenes look today a bit funny)