Visual effects have always been a part of the cinema. It started out as lighting and some very low-tech pops and fizzles, and now movies are huge productions filled with binary code illuminated as dazzling imagery of aliens, dinosaurs, and galaxies far, far away.
Let's take a look back at the most important visual effects movies of all time. Specifically, the movies that best used visual and special effects to enhance the future of the cinematic experience.
Sometimes the best visual effect is the one the audience doesn't realize is there. This isn't always the case though, as a visual effect can be obvious, yet just as impactful. From Steven Spielberg to the Wachowski Brothers brothers, visual effects have been used in all sorts of ways.
Here' a look at the most influential visual effects movies of all time, just as the most visual effects heavy movie ever, Skyline, with over 800 VFX shots, hits theaters November 12th. The directors of Skyline have their hands in two of the movies on this list, which is a testament to Skyline's potential.
Honorable Mention | District 9
I'll just say it right up front, District 9 is the exemplification of how special effects can seemingly go unnoticed when they are excellent in execution. Upon finishing District 9, most have a tendenancy to think there weren't a whole lot of visual effects shots in the movie. Then, upon reflection, the realization you just watched a sci-fi drama that was littered with VFX shots sets in. It's so well done and executed that the effects on-screen are seen more as characters that a "cool shot". It's the perfect example of how special effects can move beyond an explosion or a space fight into a new area of cinema. VFX shots not only enhance the movie, they can actually make the movie. Special effects can push the emotional buttons of real human beings in the audience, when done correctly. District 9 is one of the best and most recent examples of this feat.
7 | Toy Story
It's so obvious you could miss it. When you think upon the best movie experiences of the last five years, chances are it's a Pixar movie. All of which started with Toy Story. It was the first full-length CGI animated feature film. The first fully CGI movie was also a Pixar production, Luxo Jr., which is the source for the iconic lamp Pixar sequence before each film (just for trivia's sake). A-list actors, a hilarious and heart-warming script, and it's all achieved with stunning visual effects on-screen. In some ways, the only reason it doesn't top the list is precisely because it is entirely CGI. The hardest thing to pull off is incorporating VFX shots and real life, which is a challenge that Toy Story didn't have to deal with. Toy story still propelled technology forward by leaps and bounds, but it's impact on cinema is much more profound than that. The arc of Toy Story'sinfluence is best showcased with Up. Up was one of, if not the best movie of 2009. Toy Story laid the foundation for everything that Pixar has done since, and it will stand as a crowning achievment in the history of film.
6 | 300
It's not the first movie that comes to mind in terms of visual effects, but 300 advanced cinema with a sharp thrust forward, much in the same way Star Wars has -- no exaggeration. A plethora of movies have followed suit in the graphic novel style (Sin City) and it sparked a new idea in movies: It can be cheaper to do a visual effects heavy movie. Rather than shoot on location and pay the entire cast and crew travel expenses, overtime, and buffet tables for lunch, they just shot it all in a studio and did the work in post-production. With the help of visual effects, 300 went from a cool action flick to a phenomenon filled with visual flair. It propelled both Gerard Butler and Zack Snyder into the movie stratosphere, and it's impact on film in general can't be overstated. This was also a project of Skyline directors The Brothers Strause, and their effects company Hydraulx.
5 | Tron
In many ways, Tron is the first "visual effects" movie of all time. Where Star Wars pushed the limits of what you could do with real objects (models and puppets), Tron was the pioneer of using the early forms of CGI. Sometimes, as the filmmakers will let you know, they cheated. However,Tron still stands a piece of cinema that will forever be a cult classic, and a step forward for technology. Since Tron Legacy comes out this December, and is looking as if it could potentially crack its way onto this list, it's a perfect time to pay homage to a true first in the history of movies. Go back and watch it now, and you'll see why it doesn't quite make the upper echelon of influential visual effects movies. The effects are more dated than others on the list, and in the end, it was the first of it's kind, but certainly not a masterpiece. It deserves to be honored for it's originally and pioneership, though.
4 | Jurassic Park
For whatever reason, names like George Lucas and the Wachowski brothers are most commonly linked to special effects, and rightfully so. Steven Spielberg though, deserves as much or more credit to advancing the technology as Lucas and others. Specifically with Jurassic Park, Spielberg was able to prove that visual effects could be used to enhance a movie's realism. Instead of shooting a big explosion or a bunch of dinosaurs on a steady cam stampeding through the forrest, Spielberg upped the ante. He wanted dinosaurs to litterally jump over the actors on-screen, while using a hand-held camera, shaking and moving with the action. Feats like this help to make you forget the dinosaurs aren't real -- which is part of the movie's genius as well. The matching of visual effects to plot makes Jurassic Park a crowned jewel of cinema. It also paved the wave for some of the more underrated visual effects work of the last decade inWar of the Worlds. Think about it: Where else do you see an alien's reflection off of a car? Only Spielberg does it. He uses the world around us to further make the visual effects appear natural on-screen, and he deserves some heavy props
3 | Avatar
In a few years, Avatar could be the most impactful film of all terms in regards to visual effects. Not in regards to the wonderful shots of Pandora, or the motion capture technology used to flawlessly show emotion on an 8-foot tall blue Na'vi. No, it's claim to fame is it's 3D technology -- duh. The best thing about Avatar and 3D isn't the spawn of terrible 3D adaptations it created (and will create) in the immediate years following its release (a time period we are currently still in). Rather it's the decade after it's release that will be filled with filmakers realizing you have to shoot in 3D to make a good 3D movie. James Cameron's hard stance on this fact is what will prove to be the lasting impact Avatar. The Strause Brothers also had a play in the visual effects of this one.
2 | Star Wars
Really, the entire Star Wars saga deserves to be included in this slot. If you had to decide though, the franchise bookends with the two most important movies. Episode III: Return of the Sith is a visual effects juggernaut. It propelled technology forward once again, proving that you don't have to have much of anything real on-screen besides the actors. As Hayden Christensenproved, sometimes it's better if the characters aren't real actors. But as we all know, it's the original Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope, that started it all. Up until Lucas's masterpiece, no one believed you could show spaceships shooting lasers in space. You certainly couldn't have a movie that is made up of nearly 80% of people in costumes, and 25% of characters being puppets. The movie is so influencial, some parts can't even be touched -- like the opening credits. This is why Star Wars is so important: Star Wars even advanced the technology of opening credits. You can see this inflluence in movies like Easy A's opening credits, which is attempting comedy, but still benefits from the landmark of Star Wars. Lucas's effort changed the landscape in so many ways, it's often easy to draw a line between pre-Star Wars and post-Star Wars cinema.
1 | The Matrix
Oh the blasphemy. Nothing can top Star Wars, right? Well, if there is one movie that does, it'sThe Matrix. The list of achievements is staggering. First and foremost is the smorgisboard of VFX shots that weren't just done amazingly, but actually invented for the movie. The technology used in the Revolutions in the car chase scene is currently in use for an HP printer commercial -- that's quite an influence for almost a decade later. The original takes the cake because of two words -- bullet time. It is the most immitated VFX shot of all time. There wasn't a movie five years after the release of The Matrix that didn't somehow incorporated this type of shot into the action. Most only showed to prove The Matrix as a masterpiece, as immitators couldn't ever live up to the original.
