• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Best movie visual effects of the pre-CG era?

Status
Not open for further replies.
N

NLB2

Banned
Liono said:
It's hard to avoid Jurassic Park-- for me at least, even today i'm just amazed.
Click to expand...
Yeah, those were pretty good men in costumes...

2001. As said above. Beautiful models. Very cool colored oils.
 
D

Doc Holliday

SPOILER: Columbus finds America
Empire Strikes back, Return of the Jedi

Blade Runner

ALiens

Legend

Willow

Raiders of the lost ark

Gremlins

Terminator

Total Recall

American warewolf in london
 
L

Liono

Member
NLB2 said:
Yeah, those were pretty good men in costumes...
Click to expand...
malcolm-trex1_max.jpg


Wonder who they got to fill out that one....
 
L

Liono

Member
Chipopo said:
Lioni, read the thread title a bit slower.
Click to expand...

Yeah, i'm wrong. I remember seeing all those stan winston puppets in the making-of features and just assumed. Still a huge achievement for '93.
 
W

whytemyke

Honorary Canadian.
I'm pulling out a sleeper, although I'm not sure if it'll count.

Top Gun.

The fact that they filmed every single aspect of that movie using real fighter pilots, with all those crazy fighter jet scenes, and only one pilot died in the making of it is simply incredible.

It's not really special effects, though, because it's using real shit. But I'm putting it in here because if it was done today, they'd use special effects (see: Behind Enemy Lines). So yeah, Top Gun was amazing visual effects.
 
B

bionic77

Member
Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi, Aliens, Bladerunner, and the Abyss.

Superman was amazing for its time, but it looks so dated now. The titles I picked hold up really well even today.

I actually think the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi dvd release look better then the garbage prequels. I think they added some cg in those to make them look so good though.
 
H

Hitman

Edmonton's milkshake attracts no boys.
I second Robocop!

For it's time ED-209 looked sweet. But let's pretend he was'nt in it, the Robocop costume is the best looking robot/cyborg on film ever.
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
Hitman said:
For it's time ED-209 looked sweet. But let's pretend he was'nt in it, the Robocop costume is the best looking robot/cyborg on film ever.
Click to expand...

Oh yes the Robocop costume is smokin', but where I disagree with you is that ED-209 looked sweet, because I saw the movie in the theater when it was released, and it was ridiculous. It's a outrage to stop-motion!
 
K

kumanoki

Member
Jotaro said:
Oh yes the Robocop costume is smokin', but where I disagree with you is that ED-209 looked sweet, because I saw the movie in the theater when it was released, and it was ridiculous. It's a outrage to stop-motion!
Click to expand...

Don't you dare say an unkind word about stop-motion! Harryhausen was a movie GOD! (Even thought ED-209 wasn't Harryhausen...you attack the cubs, you attack the bear.)
 
H

Hitman

Edmonton's milkshake attracts no boys.
Jotaro said:
Oh yes the Robocop costume is smokin', but where I disagree with you is that ED-209 looked sweet, because I saw the movie in the theater when it was released, and it was ridiculous. It's a outrage to stop-motion!
Click to expand...

Okay well maybe you have a better perspective on it, I was like 6 when I first saw Robocop and ED-209 had a huge COOL factor to it. I probably would have thought it looked bad too if I was a little older.

Oh yeh, another thing I remember was Dick Jones falling from the building.. that had some pretty bad special effects in it. His arms were like 10 feet long!

Same kind of bad effects the original batman had, one scene Batman's shadow looked dranw on.
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
Hitman said:
Okay well maybe you have a better perspective on it, I was like 6 when I first saw Robocop and ED-209 had a huge COOL factor to it. I probably would have thought it looked bad too if I was a little older.

Oh yeh, another thing I remember was Dick Jones falling from the building.. that had some pretty bad special effects in it. His arms were like 10 feet long!

Same kind of bad effects the original batman had, one scene Batman's shadow looked dranw on.
Click to expand...


Funny thing dude is, I also was about 6 when I saw it in the teather. It was my first movie that I'd see in a theater.
 
H

Hitman

Edmonton's milkshake attracts no boys.
Jotaro said:
Funny thing dude is, I also was about 6 when I saw it in the teather. It was my first movie that I'd see in a theater.
Click to expand...

Wanna have sex?
 
M

Master Z

Member
I would have to say The Empire Strikes Back for the best use of models and matte paintings ever. Close second goes to Aliens imo.
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
Hitman said:
Wanna have sex?
Click to expand...

Hey, I think it was my uncle who wanted to show it to me because I loved trucks and robots, cool stories, superheroes and animation. Others I guess, their first movie was the Disney flick with the private mouse.
 
T

Tarazet

Member
You saw Robocop when you were 6?? That's a pretty damn intense movie for a 6 year old. IIRC it just barely missed hitting the X/NC-17 mark. And yeah, my first movie was Oliver & Company.
 
S

Spectral Glider

Member
Wasn't the Abyss the first use of CG though, with that goofy water thing at the end? It had some good traditional effects prior to that scene though.
 
H

Hitman

Edmonton's milkshake attracts no boys.
Jotaro said:
Hey, I think it was my uncle who wanted to show it to me because I loved trucks and robots, cool stories, superheroes and animation. Others I guess, their first movie was the Disney flick with the private mouse.
Click to expand...

Yeh... but answer my question.
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
Spectral Glider said:
Wasn't the Abyss the first use of CG though, with that goofy water thing at the end? It had some good traditional effects prior to that scene though.
Click to expand...

It was the private mouse flick from Disney, with the Big-Ben scene.
 
A

android

Theoretical Magician
I'll have to go with Star Wars: Attack of the Clones or the Matrix ..................................... :lol

Aliens. That Queen was mind blowing.
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
sonarrat said:
You saw Robocop when you were 6?? That's a pretty damn intense movie for a 6 year old.
Click to expand...

Yes I knew it barely avoided the X-rating, but when I was young I guess I wasn't old enough to notice some of the gore. When I'd see the movie, years later, the scene with the criminal melted with acid and afterwards freaked me out. But when I saw it on DVD I found it all mellow, I guess.
 
K

kumanoki

Member
Jotaro said:
sonarrat said:
You saw Robocop when you were 6?QUOTE]

Yes I knew it barely avoided the X-rating, but when I was young I guess I wasn't old enough to notice some of the gore. When I'd see the movie, years later, the scene with the criminal melted with acid and afterwards freaked me out. But when I saw it on DVD I found it all mellow, I guess.
Click to expand...

I saw it at about the same time. It was summer of 1987, right?
Click to expand...
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
kumanoki said:
I saw it at about the same time. It was summer of 1987, right?
Click to expand...

IMDB says it was released on july 17 1987, I don't remember all the details but I think I saw it on premiere. And in Quebec and Canada, we get the movies same time as their US releases. I saw the french dub, but when I heard the english dub I found Robocop sounded even more ridiculous. But I like all the filthyness and witty replies that were lost in translation. :)

That's fun, the dude who dubs the acid-melted criminal also dubs Adam Sandler. :lol
 
C

ConfusingJazz

Member
Spectral Glider said:
Wasn't the Abyss the first use of CG though, with that goofy water thing at the end? It had some good traditional effects prior to that scene though.
Click to expand...

The first movie to heavily invest in cgi was Tron, followed a couple years later by The Last Starfighter. The Abyss won the first Oscar using cgi however.

My pic would have to be 2001, still looks very good after all this time.

EDIT: here is a cool little timeling of cgi, so double check before you put any answers here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_CGI_in_movies
 
J

Jotaro

Banned
Hitman said:
Yeh... but answer my question.
Click to expand...

I want to understand it's irony before I do. If there was any serious in it, no because you're a guy, and you also seem to be pernicious based on some of your previous posts I randomly checked. ;)
 
P

Prospero

Member
Not yet mentioned in this thread--the first three Star Trek movies. The models in those films are unbelievably detailed.

I still don't know how they did the bit with the exploding Genesis Planet at the end of STIII.
 
O

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Jotaro said:
This is because Scott and his team used remaining parts from Aliens. :)
Click to expand...

didn't they use the millennium falcon as a building in one shot?
and aliens came out liek 5 years or so after blade runner :p

but both are awesome :D
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

[NY times] Is the Awkward ‘Diversity Era’ of Hollywood Behind Us?
Opinion 2
71
5K
Futaleufu replied
Mass Effect 5 won't dabble with stylised visuals like Dragon Age: The Veilguard, director says. Will have the "mature tone of the original trilogy".
Game Dev 2 3 4
173
9K
KiteGr replied
Grok AI now available to add instant context to any posts on twitter / X, and you don't need a subscription
2
71
4K
LegendOfKage replied
The Order 1886 is still and will always be among the best looking games
Opinion 2 3 4
166
10K
Hoddi replied
Rose Tint my GAF (aka, Why do we thrive on Negativity?)
2
67
3K
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt replied
Top Bottom