What older movies made a good use of either side stepping special effects or have effects that somehow still hold up today? Why are they good movies?
Would Aliens be acceptable here?.The practical effects were incredibly well done as were the matte paintings.
The Thing. Effects hold up astonishingly well today.
Wizard of Oz sepia “filter” fits in here?
I’m also going to in honesty pick Brazil (1985). It still holds up really well.
Jurassic Park comes to mind. The scene with the raptors in the kitchen uses a mix of puppets and CGI.
Lord of the Rings.
I was kind of shocked how well Flight of the Navigator held up when I rewatched it for the first time as an adult a couple of years ago. The effects used for the ship were great.
It was a favourite growing up (up there’s with Explorers, The Goonies to me back then), I hadn’t watched it in decades till a few years ago. I also thought it held up really well. Besides the exterior spaceship there’s minimal effects anyways (plus cute aliens of course which were practical) it’s more an odd buddy (new friend?) comedy. I still thought what was there was for the ship effects held up better than expected for the time.
Course may be rose tinted glasses and all, but I really enjoyed it last time still, plus time travel is always awesome.
2001 looks awesome still, despite being a space film from the 60s
Off the top of my head:
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Pan’s Labyrinth (CGI augments excellent practical effects)
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Ghostbusters (1984)
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The Cell (CGI augments excellent set and costume design).
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The Abyss (1989)
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Interstellar (had to check if this was CGI).
With research: Speed and The Edge of Tomorrow are fun. Also, I am annoyed at myself that I forgot Aronofsky’s the Fountain — a beautiful, painful film.
Practical scenes with mentioning:
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That one scene in Chinatown, “they lose their noses!”
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That one scene in Boogie Nights, “I’m a big bright shining star.”
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That last arrow in Throne of Blood
The Abyss holds up fantastically for being from the 80’s.
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Tron. Vector graphics and filters gave a better effect than any of the weak sequels.
Forever underappreciated. They were hiring research professors at universities to do that stuff. It was so cutting edge that it was actually experimental.
And they got disqualified from the Oscars “because they cheated” – the following year there was a brand new nomination category for computer generated effects…
Just like the monkeys in 2001. They were so good, the Oscar jury thought they were animals instead of actors.
Tremors.
Great practical effects for the time the movie came out. Further, they were very clever about only showing you the worm a few times. Screamers style graboid rooster tails during chases was campy, but just the right kind of campy.
Do not talk to me about anything after tremors 3 because none of that shit is Canon imo. Honestly tremors 3 was the beginning of the end but ill still always love them assblasters
Just compare Gladiator vs Gladiator 2 to see how awful CGI is today vs what could be achieved using it modestly before.
12 angry men.
Came here to mention this.
The way Lumet uses camera angles to create tension and reinforce the personalities of the characters, especially how he makes the room look smaller and more claustrophobic as time moves on, is simply masterful.
I did not expect the viewing journey when I started to watch it. I was so impressed!!
Who Framed Roger Rabbit is a masterpiece of clever tricks, superb acting, and professional animation.
The Thing still has the best practical movie monster effects I have ever seen. And the most upsetting.
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon is a breathtaking film that uses wirework choreography to transport you into a storybook fantasy.
+1 who framed Roger rabbit. The performance and eye contact is unreal. Watch Disney new vfx remakes, no one can match that.
Matrix 1. Other than some CGI, it doesn’t have so much special effects as much as it has special camera tricks.
How dare you, matrix does not qualify for old movie yet. Right? Right???
Anything before the year 2000 is old. Ask any Gen Z/Alpha.
probably the best simpsons quote ever
Older than LOTR and has aged better, in my opinion.
I agree. Even when it was new and I went “wow look where the technology has gone!” I still felt that it was insufficient and would age. Honestly the movies are fantastic until they try to show giant orc armies and then it’s a bit MEH.
Barry Lyndon.
Kubrick managed to make every single frame look like a period painting, and used Zeiss 50mm f/0.7 lenses, originally built for NASA to photograph the dark side of the Moon, to film scenes by candlelight (granted, even with that lens he had to use lots of special candles with three wicks to get enough light; if I recall correctly some actors ended up with thermal burns from the radiated heat).
