Top 10 Movie Scenes You Didn't Realize Were Practical Effects
Top 10 Movie Scenes You Didn’t Realize Were Practical Effects
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Why accept computer-generated imagery when you can have the real thing? Welcome to WatchMojo and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Movie Scenes You Didn’t Realize Were Practical Effects. For this list, we’re looking at scenes from films that feature heavy practical effects work, with special attention going to the ones that are the most unbelievable.
#10: Rey’s Bread
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“Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens” (2015)
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One of the reasons that the seventh volume in the Skywalker Saga made audiences so nostalgic was its implementation of practical effects. Rather than an overreliance on CGI like the prequel trilogy, “The Force Awakens” went to painstaking measures to return to the series’ roots. In this scene, Rey adds some powder to a bowl of water and it puffs up into a piece of bread. Though it would have been easy to animate the seconds-long effect, special effects supervisor Chris Corbould claimed in an interview that it took three months to figure out the logistics. Small moments like this illustrate just how committed the team was to recreating the magic of the original trilogy.
#9: The Thing
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“The Thing” (1982)
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John Carpenter’s 1982 horror gem is a master class in practical effects technology, to the point that we can’t choose any moment to single out. The titular “Thing” is an alien being that has the ability to disguise itself as other organisms, as well as mutate into a grotesque monstrosity. There are multiple iconic scenes, which were created with a combination of puppetry, machinery, and sometimes even gelatin! Upon release, the movie was criticized for its overly gory effects, but in later years it was re-examined and hailed as a cinematic landmark in practical effects. It just goes to show that even revolutionary filmmaking isn’t always understood in its time.
#8: Mangled Metal
“Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991)
For a near-indestructible android, the T-1000 sure gets pretty messed up throughout the course of “T2.” In order to portray the disfigured android, the effects team used molds of actor Robert Patrick’s face and body to create various wearable suits and puppets. The most elaborate effect is the freestanding puppet of the android’s exploded form, which has less than a minute of screen time before plunging into the lava. It’s a true technical marvel that the team was able to turn foam into an unsettlingly deformed hybrid of metal and flesh, and we can’t imagine this nineties action spectacle without its gloriously uncanny effects.
#7: Baby Joel
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“Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind” (2004)
Michel Gondry’s trippy drama used a variety of methods to portray Joel’s journey through his own frenzied memories, but a scene from his childhood stands out as one of the most impressive. Joel is a toddler in this memory, so he becomes very small, while Clementine takes on the role of his mother. In order to make Jim Carrey appear smaller, the set and camera angles used forced perspective. The shots with the two characters together are downright mind-boggling, and yet they’re entirely unedited. For a film that relies so heavily on visual storytelling, this attention to detail proves that some stories demand to be told on film.
#6: Catching the Food
“Spider-Man” (2002)
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Although the visual effects in Sam Raimi’s “Spider-Man” were revolutionary, one of its most memorable moments used no CGI at all. In a display of his newfound powers, Peter catches a slipping Mary Jane and promptly catches her tray and food—all in one hand. In the DVD commentary, special effects artist John Dykstra explained that Tobey Maguire actually caught all of the props on the tray, and it only took 156 takes. The stunt was almost cut from the movie, and we’re glad it was kept in, because it’s one of the film’s most enduring images.
#5: The Plane Ride
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“Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation” (2015)
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You would think that after four movies, the “Mission: Impossible” franchise would start to rely on an overabundance of green screen. But in fact, the fifth installment features one of its most impressive tricks. In the scene where Ethan Hunt leaps onto an ascending plane, Tom Cruise was actually suspended from a moving plane. It took eight tries to get the perfect shot, and the plane would reach heights of five thousand feet while shooting. Although Cruise would later jump out of a flying plane in “Mission: Impossible — Fallout,” we have to award the spot to the scene that still gives us goosebumps.
#4: Crashing the Plane
“The Dark Knight Rises” (2012)
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Leave it to Christopher Nolan to up the ante from hanging Tom Cruise off the side of a plane. In the opening scene of “The Dark Knight Rises,” Bane’s goons hijack a plane from above using a larger aircraft, blow off the tail end, and drop it from the ground. While the interior scenes were shot on a sound stage, four stuntmen were tasked with rappelling down to the lower aircraft and attaching the cables mid-flight. Naturally, the destructive scene was shot over an unpopulated area, so that the falling debris would be a safe maneuver, but even so, the sheer scale of the scene is a worthy way to begin the concluding chapter to the “Dark Knight” trilogy.
#3: The Guitar
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“Mad Max: Fury Road” (2015)
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When the “Mad Max” franchise returned to theatres in 2015, it was hailed as an action masterpiece with too many set pieces to count. Although the film was stuffed to the brim with insane imagery, the flame-spewing guitar is what stayed with audiences the most. Standing atop a fully functional sound system on top of a moving truck, the Doof warrior shreds his working guitar, shooting real flames into the fray. Director George Miller was insistent on portraying this maneuver with practical effects, and the intricate device paid off in spades, leaving us with the most iconic moment of the series.
#2: Destruction
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“Independence Day” (1996)
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One of the most staggering cinematic moments of 1996 was seeing the disturbingly realistic explosions of major US cities. The effects wizards pulled this off by creating elaborate miniature models of the White House, the Empire State Building, various aircraft, and cityscapes. They also utilized some tricky camera work to make the explosions appear to be coming directly towards the audience. When comparing the original to its lackluster sequel, which was released twenty years later, it proves that sometimes all the CGI in the world can’t make for quite as compelling of a visual as the real thing. Before we reveal our top pick, here are a few honourable mentions: The Car Roll “Casino Royale” (2006) Arc Reactor “Iron Man” (2008) Dust Storms “Interstellar” (2014)
#1: Anti-Gravity Fight
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“Inception” (2010)
Including honorable mentions, this entry marks Christopher Nolan’s third film on this list. And that goes without even mentioning the dazzling café explosion sequence from the same film. The acclaimed director pulled off his most impressive effect in this scene, which showcased a faceoff between Arthur and a group of projections in a rotating hallway dreamscape. Reportedly inspired by an effect from “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the scene took weeks to shoot on a massive rotating set and required pitch-perfect choreography to pull off. The resulting visual is stunning, cemented Nolan as a master of the craft, and maybe someday we’ll be able to pull our jaws off of the floor. Maybe.