Jaw dropping special effects

R

RockStar

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Well, Knowing left me with a few unforgettable visuals/sequences. Some people thought they were nothing special, I though they were chilling.
 
The Mummy (1931) - make up wizard Jack Pierce transforms Boris Karloff into the wrinkle faced Imhotep and into the centuries old Mummy.

King Kong (1933) - they've tried guys in suits and it looks like CGI in Peter Jacksons upcoming Kong but nothing beats the 10 lb. puppet brought to life by Willis O'Brien. Watch as Kong battles: dinosaurs, men and finally WWI era bi-planes to protect Ann Darrow and then cry as Kong plummets to the New York streets.

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933) - Fay Wray beats on Lionel Atwells face as he carries her to his waxworks. Finally, amazingly, his face cracks and falls off revealing a horribly scarred visage that causes Fay to scream and faint.

The Exorcist - where to start: Reagan's 360 headspin, the pea soup, the "Help Me" that scratches itself on her stomach (from the inside!). I remember when this came out. No one had seen anything like this.

Dawn of the Dead (1977) - from the amazing exploding head 10 minutes in to the various wounds suffered by the zombies and humans a like Tom Savini really earns his money.

The Thing (1982) - this movie got squashed by E.T. at the box office but The Thing features some the most amazing make up effects ever captured on film. From the first transformation in the dog kennel to the jumping blood during the blood test this is Rob Bottin's finest work ever.

Jurassic Park - forgetaboutit! The first time the T. Rex rips through that fence and proceeds to show everybody just who the boss is is a truly awesome movie moment. I still get chills.

Jurassic Park: The Lost World - ok. this movie has two sequences that are awesome: the stegosaurus herd that crosses the stream and the end sequence that features the T. Rex family, a herd of stegosaurs and, finally, a pteranodon that flies at the camera and perches on a tree branch.
 
I have to add Cloverfield to this thread. I wasn't sure how the action/effects was going to translate considering the hand held, "personal cam" shots, but my goodness! They delivered, the monster looked scary as hell, the action made me jump, it was FELT real.

Awesome job.
 
I just watched my DVD of The Mummy and I feel guilty of neglecting this movie... This one had so many great special effects and all for a $80 million budget, pretty good since it had more than 120 shots of pure speciall effects.

Another one is Jumanji. This one had many cool looking stuff, the lion looked real and the water scene where the flood hits the streets was impressive.
 
I know exactly what you mean! It was definitely edge-of-your-seat material. I also thought that the iceberg looked very realistic and the actual crashing was extremely well done.
 
The Matrix, of course, when it first came out. I remember at that time, everyone was buzzing about it. The Matrix was so original and cool how they could get CGI a guy bending backwards and show the bullets in slow motion. :lol: Now it's overplayed to death, but watching the original Matrix effects still has that sense of "that is so frickin awesome!"
 
I'm sure they were. I didn't particularly pay attention. I'm terrified of tornadoes, so as soon as they started to form I kinda peered away and only glaced at the screen until they were gone.
 
Totally agree.

LOTR did a great job with the epic battles as well, and for its time, The Perfect Storm looked great
 
*whispers to herself* "if Shr approves I'm doing well" :D

:wiggle:

I wanted to add that the "Reapers" from Blade II were really well done. The way their jaws opened was awesome. But that's more technical/make up ground than CGI. But still, looked great.

Also, how could I forget... ID4, those explotions, the space flight, the aliens... Man!
 
Totally agree.

LOTR had some hugely epic battles that looked quite nice and props to perfect storm, for its time, that movie had wonderful effects.
 
I found the tornadoes in The Day After Tomorrow fairly unrealistic. But that's just me. Not easily pleased. But I loved the water scenes. Makes Deep Impact look so dodgy. :lol:

But I'm going to be original, and give a nod to Titanic. That made me sit totally still in my chair. I was afraid to move when the ship split in half, like I was actually on there! :lol:
 
The Perfect Storm was pretty good effects, as well as the LOTR films, and Harry Potter and the Goblet of fire wasnt too bad of effects.
 
The Day After Tomorrow definetly made me cringe. The effects may have been a little too realistic for me. The movie had me near an anxiety attack.

Twister is another movie I probably can't watch anymore.

I get a little antsy about tornados, big water (waves or floods), and angry dogs.

I love Titanic. The boat and when it started to sink was excellent. I felt like I was watching the real thing happen.
 
As for recent movies, I would definitely say LOTR was phenominal (I'm sure I spelled that wrong....:oops:) It's funny when you think about how much of that movie didn't even really exist during filming, only in CGI.

I was also amazed at the Final Fantasy movie - every little detail was so meticulously put together, it was insane.

BUT, I definitely have an appreciation for my favorite classic movies, whose special effects don't compare to what can be done today, but stand alone in their own right... like Alien, Close Encounters, etc.
 
ladder 49 and backdraft, the fire and explosions in the movies was truly amazing....

the day after tomorrow has some cool stuff too..
 
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