Well it's a little late for Saturday morning, but Saturday night is better than nothing. Once again, Sebastian Cordoba and our friends at TheVine have come through with the goods. This time, it's the top 10 worst special effects in movies. I'm glad to see Lucas Films represented in this list, they truly do suck, although I loved the Yoda fight scene when I first saw it. After seeing the rest of the 'new' StarWars, I'm not so sure.
James Cameron’s
Avatar has what are undoubtedly some of the greatest special visual effects in recent memory, if not all time. The ability to create such realistic looking creatures and worlds must truly be celebrated, regardless of what you think of the film.
I have long been a sceptic of the CGI obsessed era we live in as the over-reliance on the digital medium has drained many a good film of visual character and depth. My initial excitement soon turned to sheer panic as I saw an industry that seemed to be oblivious to the trite they were putting out. To quote the great Quentin Tarantino, “This CGI bullshit is the death knell of cinema. If I'd wanted all that computer game bullshit, I'd have stuck my dick in a Nintendo”.
The downfall began in the late eighties and early nineties thanks to movies like
Jurassic Park. Computers seemed to broaden the boundaries of visual storytelling and most effects companies put down the latex and clay in favor of a mouse. The once charming and perfectly acceptable use of miniatures and rubber masks was supplanted by digitally enhanced creations that were sometimes astounding but more often than not lamentable.
We have looked back at the worst CGI creations put to celluloid. These filmic instances add insult to injury as millions of dollars were poured into a subpar final product that made us long for the days of stop-motion and puppets. It’s easy to pick on the films of yesteryear but everyone involved in these disasters should have known better.
10. The Sharks in Deep Blue Sea (1999)
You know you’re in trouble when twenty five years before Steven Spielberg with a malfunctioning animatronic shark did a better job than you.
9. Hulk in Hulk (2003)
Here’s a tip, if you have doubts that what you’ve created might not look real enough to be on the big screen, don’t put it in the midday sun for half of the film!
8. All the werewolves in An American Werewolf in Paris (1997)
Without a trace of CGI
An American Werewolf in London still stands up after all these years as a terrifying little horror flick. Not so much this dud.
7. Scorpion King in The Mummy Returns (2000)
Keep your eyes peeled for an awful looking version of The Rock in full CGI glory.
6. Dinosaurs from Sound of Thunder (2005)
A big budget catastrophe, I’ve seen Discovery docos from the '90s with more convincing dinosaurs.
5. Monkeys in Jumanji (1995)
Why not use the real thing? They don’t even look like monkeys.
4. Garfield in Garfield (2004)
The worst thing about this is that they didn’t get him right. Some things should stay in two dimensions.
3. Yoda in Star Wars Episode II (2002)
It’s easy to hate George Lucas for Jar Jar but his greatest crime was taking the much loved Yoda, making him fight and turning him into a CGI mess that was void of the charm of the original. I mean he was the greatest Jedi because his strength was not to fight. Am I the only one that was deeply upset by this?
2. Werewolves in Twilight: New Moon (2010)
Totally unconvincing given the insane budget they had, I feel a Twihard backlash coming...
1. Jabba the Hut in Star Wars Re-release (1997)
George Lucas is bat-shit insane. It looked horrible back then, it’s just depressing now. Keep your eyes peeled for the rock bottom moment as Han walks over Jabba.