The special effects in these revolutionary sci-fi films opened our eyes to new possibilities.
Sci-fi films and special effects have gone hand-in-hand for over the last 120 years.
Thats the biggest reason why this journey has to begin withA Trip to the Moon.
More importantly,King Kongs effects team found ways to convincingly insert actors into those stop-motion shots.
In its day, those scenes felt like witchcraft.
Today, examining the work that went into those shots invokes a similar feeling.
In the long term, it inspired generations of disaster films, sci-fi epics, and revolutionary TV shows.
Godzilla (1954)
Interestingly,Godzillacould be considered a kind of accidental entry to this list.
Initially, VFX director Eiji Tsuburaya desired to shootGodzillausing extensive stop-motion animation.
Unfortunately, the time and money required to do so proved prohibitive.
The results were extraordinary.
Audiences in 1968 had never seen such incredible concepts conveyed in such a way.
That technique evolved to become what we now refer to as CGI.
Those brief sequences caused audiences everywhere to gasp, pause, and ask, How did they do that?
Even still, you have to be impressed with the magnitude ofTrons technical accomplishments.
However, theBlade Runnerteam took things to a new level.
The effort was considerable, but the results are worth it.
Few films come close to challenging the beauty ofBlade Runners sci-fi cityscapes.
However, that shouldnt diminish the fact thatThe Thingis still widely considered thepinnacle of practical effects.
These effects are truly timeless in a way that invokes the very concept of movie magic.
Most of the time, the most popular contribution to that discussion is Terminator 2.
Thats hardly a coincidence.
The eternal highlight of that approach is the T-1000.
Modern wisdom tells us you do so through extensive use of computer-generated imagery.
Audiences were simply wowed, and industry professionals everywhere were forced to catch up with a bold new world.
The Matrixfeatures significantly more CGI shots than the films weve discussed so far.
Its also a notable box office bomb.
Even so, this movie kicked off an ongoing fascination with navigating the uncanny valley via film.
The reality ofSky Captains ambition proved to be incredibly complicated and expensive.
The results are…mixed.
Its also one of the few films in the history of movies to undeniably justify its 3D gimmick.
