Top 20 Movies With Special Effects That Aged Well

Talking animals have come a long way. This visually lush nineties film uses effects by Jim Henson's Creature Shop, among others, to bring its farm animals to life. The VFX studio, Rhythm & Hues, overlaid CGI animation over the live-action footage. The development team also studied real-life animal behavior to make the animatronics look as convincing as possible. They even used real-life piglets as models. It took years for this film to even reach production. The results were worth it, winning an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. “Babe’s” attention to detail changed talking animal films for good.

You wouldn’t think this tale of an eventful life would require much CGI. However, when Forrest Gump meets the likes of John F. Kennedy and John Lennon, the results are astoundingly convincing. To do this, the special effects team at Industrial Light & Magic integrated Tom Hanks’ Forrest with archival footage using CGI and a blue screen for Hanks. Other examples of CGI magic include the scene at the March on Washington, where real-life extras were multiplied by camera to create the illusion of thousands. This seamless blend of modern real-life footage and archival ones is a clear winner. Literally: The movie won an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, as well as other awards.

Transformation sequences are always a great opportunity to display great visual effects. When David is bitten by a werewolf, it triggers his own grisly transformation. This scene alone took a whole week to film, although preparations began for months. To create David’s wolf self, the team took molds of actor David Naughton’s arms, legs, and feet. The werewolf look was then achieved with detailed makeup by Rob Bottin and his team. The design itself, however, was conceived by Rick Baker before he left production. The werewolf suit was commandeered by an operator on a wheelbarrow-like structure. It’s a great example of all the magical things practical effects can do. And all before CGI.

Sci-fi films have a long history of pushing special effects technology to the limits. One film in particular, directed by Luc Besson, is proof of this. “The Fifth Element” created its futuristic New York with its flying taxi cabs with the help of artists and over 8,000 drawings. The designs were conceived by Jean-Claude Mézières and Jean Giraud. To bring Besson’s interplanetary world to life, a mix of live-action, models and props, pyrotechnics, creature effects, and digital software were used. Not to mention the two hundred alien designs done by artists around the world. It’s a monumental achievement.

Part of what makes “Close Encounters” such a unique special effects picture is that it doesn’t throw special effects at the audience every minute. Rather, director Steven Spielberg keeps many of the film’s otherworldly elements clouded in mystery. Then when the alien mother ship finally does show up, Spielberg doesn’t disappoint. This science fiction classic’s visual achievements are only matched by its masterful storytelling. Much like Spielberg’s “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial,” it continues to convince the world that we aren’t alone in the universe.

Even in today’s technologically advanced world, it’s impossible to watch Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis” without saying, “Wow.” Every second of this film is a technological wonder, crafting a stunning dystopian future that would influence filmmaking visionaries for decades to come. Believe it or not, much of the film heavily used miniatures to bring this daunting city to life. Through some crafty camera tricks and the Schüfftan process, there’s rarely a second of disbelief. Coming out towards the end of the silent era, “Metropolis” remains a perfect example of how this visual medium can make dreams come true.

When it comes to practical effects wizardry, this is still a gold standard. Winning an Academy Award for Best Makeup, the film’s special effects team took three months to make the titular fly. Or rather, several flies, as Seth Brundle slowly undergoes seven stages in his transformation into an insect, with the final form being called the Brundlefly. The team used a combination of prosthetics, a full bodysuit for actor Jeff Goldblum, and two puppets, one depicting the living Brundlefly and the other its corpse. The result is gruesome and gross even to modern standards, which shows that practical effects can be the most convincing of all.

You wouldn’t expect a late ‘90s romp as corny and over-the-top as “Starship Troopers” to age especially well. Yet, director Paul Verhoeven of “RoboCop” and “Total Recall” found a strong balance between prosthetics and computer-generated effects, envisioning a wild 23rd century. Earning an Oscar nomination for Best Visual Effects, “Starship Troopers” also delivered some of the coolest giant bugs ever put on screen. There are a few effects here and there that look like something out of a multimillion-dollar B movie. Given this space adventure’s goofy nature, however, that’s actually pretty fitting.

Another sci-fi classic in terms of special effects, Roland Emmerich’s alien invasion film still impresses with its special effects. For the film’s famous White House explosion scene, the special effects team used miniature models and motion-control cameras, as well as pyrotechnics. Shooting the miniature models, with around 4,000 elements, took nine months with four camera crews. They then combined the footage digitally in post-production. They even invited fifty members of the press to witness the explosion of the White House model. The actual aliens were designed by Patrick Tatopoulos using bodysuits. It’s an explosive show.

Another Academy Award winner for Best Visual Effects, this early James Cameron film is a largely overlooked gem. But the film is no slouch in the effects department, holding its own even against the achievements of “Titanic” and “Avatar.” With almost half of the principal photography taking place underwater, the film’s team had to train a whole week to film in the main water tank. A combination of real submersibles and mock-ups was used. The alien was created with a mixture of computer graphics and stop-motion animation. For its eerily sinuous water tentacle, Industrial Light & Magic created it via computer graphics. It’s a marvelous achievement.

The eighties and nineties were one thing. For effects from the thirties to come out this good is a miracle. It’s all thanks to Arnold Gillespie, in charge of miniatures and mechanical effects. To create the tornado, he used a piece of muslin cloth suspended from a steel gantry and connected to a rod. The flying monkeys were actually men on piano wires. Where the film shines best of all is in the beautifully intricate makeup, particularly with the Scarecrow, Tin Man, and the Lion. While this classic film’s effects are definitely recognizable as such, they are all the more astonishing considering no computers were involved. They never take you out of the movie at all. Now that’s movie magic.

No special effects list would be complete without this classic sci-fi film. The film used fiberglass and hen’s eggs for the alien eggs. The facehugger alien was designed by Dan O’Bannon, based on the artwork by H. R. Giger. It is a puppet with the proboscis made out of sheep intestine, and the corpse was made out of fish and shellfish. It’s the famous chestburster scene that still wows, designed by Giger himself. The scene was accomplished by shoving a puppet through a fake torso, replete with fake blood from squibs. The alien’s tube-like design was inspired by Francis Bacon’s 1944 painting. Similar effects were employed in the film’s sequel, “Aliens.” Yet, nothing beats the iconography of this first installment.

When we think of game changing, special effects blockbusters, “Star Wars” immediately comes to mind. Audiences are still in complete awe of the original trilogy’s handmade set pieces, costumes, and props. You could argue that some of the creatures and locations don’t look as polished as those in modern sci-fi blockbusters. The galaxy George Lucas created is booming with so much personality, however, that it practically feels inhabitable. If only Lucas hadn’t taken us out of the experience with CGI in the special editions.

This film has the distinction of having one of the most beautifully designed sci-fi cities. Influenced by Fritz Lang’s “Metropolis,” this film’s futuristic Los Angeles was created using matte paintings and models, as well as smoke effects. Over 90 special effects shots were done for the movie, though only a fraction of them were retained. The Spinner was a miniature model, built in four different sizes. The effects were so impressive that author Philip K. Dick, whose novel the film was based on, claimed they were just as he had imagined it. You can’t get higher praise than that.

Rob Bottin strikes again with the effects of this sci-fi horror film, directed by John Carpenter. For the titular creature, Bottin conceived of an ever-changing alien that imitates the form of other living beings, shying away from the usual “man in a suit”-style of effect. The Dog-Thing was made from a hand puppet sculpted in clay. The Norris-Thing’s “stomach mouth” was accomplished by using a double amputee with prosthetic arms. For the insides, a mix of creamed corn, microwaved bubble gum, mayonnaise, and K-Y Jelly were used. Some stop-action animation was even employed during the Bear-Thing scene. These effects are still wonderfully realistic.

Sci-fi just keeps on winning. This modern-day classic never wears us out with its slick, crowd-pleasing special effects. One of them, known as “bullet time,” was conceived by John Gaeta, inspired by Otomo Katsuhiro’s “Akira” and director Michel Gondry’s music videos. The bullet time effect was made with a combination of time-slice photography and a high frame frequency of 12,000 per second. Stunts such as the helicopter crashing into a building were done via digital compositing. The visual effects team came to pioneer Universal Capture, recreating characters, actions, and locations digitally. It’s a stunning feat; and of course, it won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects.

Combining animation and live-action is now a standard part of special effects in filmmaking. One of the most seamless examples has to be this marvel. Directed by Robert Zemeckis, the cartoon and real worlds do not so much collide as much as coexist in seamless realism. The animation team made sure the animated characters’ interactions with their live-action environments were as real as possible. To achieve this, the animated designs were given depth through the use of shadows, highlights, and tone mattes. Even the opening cartoon took nine months to animate. The results are still jaw-dropping, even decades later.

Where the original “Terminator” has a couple of moments that look kind of cheesy, director James Cameron nearly perfected his vision with “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.” This sequel most notably employed landmark computer-generated imagery to give the T-1000 his liquid metal appearance. Of course, the film didn’t solely rely on CGI either, utilizing practical effects and puppets you’d never believe weren’t computerized. It may be a movie about killer cyborgs, but nothing about “T2” feels artificial.

Much like “Back to the Future,” many of the innovations in “2001: A Space Odyssey” have yet to become a reality. Some of the technology looks pretty dated too. While that admittedly takes us out of the illusion a little, we’re still totally blown away at how Stanley Kubrick pulled off such a technical extravaganza in 1968. Where most sci-fi movies at the time looked blatantly phony, Kubrick settled for nothing less than state-of-the-art production values. Marking one of the first times the audience really felt like they’d been teleported to outer space, this film’s revolutionary effects remain a major step forward in cinematic evolution.

When the park opened over two decades ago, the world was treated to the most realistic and badass dinosaurs cinema had ever seen. Hell, you could argue that they’re still the greatest dinosaurs ever put on film. Demonstrating the full potential of CGI, Steven Spielberg brought these savage beasts back from extinction. “Jurassic Park” additionally made impeccable use of animatronics, constructing a life-sized T. rex that continues to thrill audiences of all ages. Watching the film, you rarely know what’s handcrafted and what’s computer-generated. All we know for sure is that the end product is almost 100% authentic and enthralling.


Which other older film still dazzles you with its amazing effects? Let us know in the comments down below!