Which 'older' CGI/ Visual FX still hold up really well today?

[UltraMario9]

Matrix Revolutions alone had far more impressive VFX than the Star Wars prequels and still looks great

[levcore]

I always found the Burly Brawl in Reloaded really impressive just for how ambitious it was, even if the tech wasn't there yet. The sheer audacity of the sequence and inventiveness with the CG camera moves, love it.

[smithb]

I rarely have issue with any effects from any era. Whether it be dinosaur(s) from the silent Lost World or Beast from 20,000 Fathoms or Jurassic Park. Doesn't matter if it is stop motion, optical, robotics/puppetry, live creatures on a toy set, CGI, or a guy in a rubber suit. If it worked during the period made and/or worked for me personally, it can never appear dated or obsolete on re-watch, at least for me.

However, I never was a fan of Henson's Dark Crystal and can't watch it to this day (never liked the Muppet's either). I know many like the film. But I did enjoy Farscape.

[UltraMario9]

Originally Posted by levcore

I always found the Burly Brawl in Reloaded really impressive just for how ambitious it was, even if the tech wasn't there yet. The sheer audacity of the sequence and inventiveness with the CG camera moves, love it.

Agreed 100%

I always looked at it as "Well, it's set in a virtual reality. Looking like a video game is kind of appropriate if you think about it."

It also reminds me that hyper-stylised films like Speed Racer and 300 will age pretty well because of the perfect (IMO) execution of the filmmakers' intent.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by UltraMario9

Agreed 100%

I always looked at it as "Well, it's set in a virtual reality. Looking like a video game is kind of appropriate if you think about it."

It also reminds me that hyper-stylised films like Speed Racer and 300 will age pretty well because of the perfect (IMO) execution of the filmmakers' intent.

Yeah and after bullet time had been copied to death they really needed to take the action to the next level. Movies these days are full of big CG action scenes with digital characters smashing the crap out of each other and Reloaded was really paving the way for the fx we all enjoy today.

[78deluxe]

Originally Posted by Bluyoda

Thanks for the lesson. And they would be if released today, as the resolution alone is very poor (probably around 1k), and some of the compositing of the raptors in the kitchen doesn't hold up either. When it leaps onto the kitchen counter, its feet seem to be detached from the surface it's supposed to be on.
Don't get me wrong, I love the VFX of JP, and what they did was absolutely groundbreaking, but they would be obsolete and disappointing, etc. if released today, as they didn't even have muscles flex under the skin, no transluceny, surface scattering, etc., all the things that we have taken for granted in newer VFX creatures.
We can always just agree to disagree, you know?

I own it in 4K and 3D (with a 65 inch OLED that can handle both formats), and while the transfer isn't the greatest thing I've seen. At no point in watching the movie in either format am I concerned at all with the VFX.

Watching the more recent versions, I'm actually more distracted by the VFX since the story doesn't give me enough to hold on to.

[trevanian]

Originally Posted by levcore

I always found the Burly Brawl in Reloaded really impressive just for how ambitious it was, even if the tech wasn't there yet. The sheer audacity of the sequence and inventiveness with the CG camera moves, love it.

See, and that is where I was probably most PO'd. They basically used a technique that was just sort of serviceable for BACKGROUNDS in the first one and brought it front and center. Result -- plastic-waxy fake faces everywhere, nothing remotely photo-real. It's kind of the 21st century version of what Terry Gilliiam complained about in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, when ILM had to do matting over white backgrounds and it was a huge lose in those shots. Gilliam said they should have stuck with environments that allowed such trickery, like starfields.

To me, the MATRIX sequels just look like previs in the character battle scenes. Biggest disappointments of the century for me, and that includes Bond and Trek. Though scripting is probably a bigger problem than fx to be honest.

[TheWildWhelk]

The Fifth Element - there's not a single duff shot in the entire film, and it's some of the best work that Digital Domain have ever pulled off.

Fifth Element Taxi Chase - YouTube

[L-Rouge]

I think Starship Troopers captured my imagination as strongly as it did as a teen.

I watched Dante's Peak the other day and I thought the Pyroclastic clouds where very effective still. I really like that film.

I think the opticals for Star Trek The Motion Picture are still incredible. The cloud effects, and of course the Enterprise is the best looking in this film.
I find 2010 The Year We Make Contact beautiful as well.

[levcore]

To be fair the pyroclastic clouds in Dante's Peak are practical special fx, physically done, rather than CGI or VFX.

[CreasyBear]

Originally Posted by levcore

To be fair the pyroclastic clouds in Dante's Peak are practical special fx, physically done, rather than CGI or VFX.

They're all visual effects, buddy. Special effects typically means effects done on set with actors or extras. Visual effects, even before the CGI era, meant models, miniatures, opticals, matte paintings, and stop motion done on a separate unit or in post.

[levcore]

Originally Posted by TheWildWhelk

The Fifth Element - there's not a single duff shot in the entire film, and it's some of the best work that Digital Domain have ever pulled off.

Fifth Element Taxi Chase - YouTube

Yeah The Fifth Element still holds up very well, although i thought even at the time, that it has a fairly modest amount of VFX shots for a big space adventure. The hover car chase sequence is about the only big VFX/ CGI heavy set piece.

[ChainsawJedi]

Originally Posted by UltraMario9

Matrix Revolutions alone had far more impressive VFX than the Star Wars prequels and still looks great

Should've gone to SpecSavers.

[ChainsawJedi]

Originally Posted by trevanian

To me, the MATRIX sequels just look like previs in the character battle scenes. Though scripting is probably a bigger problem than fx to be honest.

The Matrix films are dung.

[ChainsawJedi]

Originally Posted by levcore

You're joking, the majority of the VFX work in King Kong is spectacular. It won the Academy Award for visual fx, so to say they're awful is... hyperbolic.

I don't give a tinker's cuss for awards; even a cursory glance at the scene in Kong where the humans are being chased is proof enough of who the joker is round here. And it ain't me, sunshine.

[levcore]

Lol we'll agree to disagree

[ChainsawJedi]

Originally Posted by CreasyBear

Firstly, they pretty much went straight from LOTR to Kong without a break and Kong...

Aw, diddums; so with an extended tea break you're saying Weta would have been up to the challenge? The film's an embarrassment, a laughing stock. Kudos to anyone who can sit through that turgid mess more than once.

[levcore]

Damn, that hyperbole

[chip75]

Originally Posted by levcore

To be fair the pyroclastic clouds in Dante's Peak are practical special fx, physically done, rather than CGI or VFX.

Like CreasyBear posted, they'd fall under the compositing category of VFX. Practical would imply they were shot during production and not post-production (or outside live-action shooting).

[levcore]

Originally Posted by UltraMario9

Matrix Revolutions alone had far more impressive VFX than the Star Wars prequels and still looks great

Matrix Revolutions and Return of the King came out around the same time, which has the more impressive vfx I wonder?