Fok

I know CGI has changed the movie industry for the better. However there are some movies that go overboard, a good example is Ep1 and 2 compared to the original trilogy.

QuiGonJosh

Mummy Returns

EP1 & 2 are perfect examples of how to use CGI...especially for a movie that size and the worlds it takes place on...

Corvin

Torque's climatic ending was pretty much all CG, and not impressive work, either. So recently, I'd say Torque relied a bit too much on computers.

And while generally I'm a fan of the work in The Matrix: Reloaded, I felt that the two parts in the Burly Brawl where Neo takes flight ever-so-briefly were a bit forced, and better transitions certainly could have been made without the use of CG.

lesterlong

Matrix Reloaded
Matrix Revolutions
Blade 2
Mummy Returns
Hulk

The Antipodean

I'd say Episode I and especially Episode II went too far into the CGI for me. It just seemed plastic and fake.

Compare to LOTR, where it's pretty seamless and never seems like showing off, and Lucas' techniques seem rather clunky now IMHO.

DonnachaOne

Movies that use cgi.

Seantn

Hey, you should do stand up.


Movies that use CGI for wire removal, fixing little things here and there...That's fine, there's no problem with that. But I get the feeling that many use it just cause they can, not cause they need to. I'd say Episode 1 and 2, Mummy 1 and 2, and especially ANACONDA.

PalmerJoss

I'm not gonna start another Lucas vs LOTR thing here, but I have to say that I really disliked the visual effects for Star Wars Ep 1 and 2. Nothing looked real, it just looked as if everyone was walking around in a painting.

beefjerky

That is laughable.

Jackskeleton

I would have to agree with that comment beefy, LOTR was very obvious when you watch it.

I'll go with FINAL FANTASY: THE SPIRITS WITHIN as using WAAAAy to much CGI..

Breakfast with Girls

Fixed.

fumanstan

There's quite a difference between using too much CGI and using bad CGI. I thought the Mummy Returns was fine... until they left the end unfinished and laughable. For the Matrix sequels... i think they were just fine. Simply because i don't see how many of the things could be done without the use of CGI.

Giantrobo

The Hulk?

I would say not enough CGI....more HULK less drama

devilshalo

Star Wars: A New Hope - The Special Edition

caiman

Wow. Um, hmm.

No.

TCG

although i like the movies, i agree.

there is a clip from one of the ep. 2 docs. where natalie portman is running around a blue stage, and she feels rididculous, and starts laughing. Lucas tells her it will look better in the finished film. this is one of the reasons why some of the acting is so wooden: many of the sets have to be 100% imagined! it must be very tough for most actors (but Chris Lee does it well, as usual).

Shannon Nutt

It looks like the upcoming Van Helsing is going to overuse CGI.

I'm guessing it's prohibitively expensive to do now - but I wish someone would go back to the old-fashioned way of blue screen and models...they looked SOOOOOOOO much better on the big screen. More "realistic", in my opinion.

Groucho

I think you guys would be shocked when you found out how much of Episodes 1&2 involved model work and other "old-fashioned" practical effects.

Michael Corvin

I was going to start a poll the other day about this. Or a thread at any rate. I was wondering what director everyone believes uses the most convincing/effective use of CGI.

My vote goes to Robert Zemeckis(Forrest Gump, Contact, Cast Away). He uses CGI a lot, but most of it is subtle and rarely takes you out of the film. I all actually does serve the story.

Thoughts?

BigPete

I honestly consider Ep1 & Ep2 to be by far the worst CGI offenders, so much so that I cannot watch more than a few minutes of them. There are certain characteristics/flaws of CGI that I find, for lack of a better word, visually offensive - while other quirks I can dismiss entirely. Ep1 & 2, unfortunately, were crafted such that they fall almost entirely within the former category while The Mummy, for example, falls much more into the latter.

Ever since seeing the screen size caluculator in the HW forum, I have been thinking about the THX requirements for screen size -- I wonder if it is possible that some movies were never intended for the small screen. When you can see and focus on everything without having to move your eyes, perhaps certain flaws such as charater position, being off-model, gross movement errors, and plastic sheen become much more pronounced. On the big screen, where your eyes are constantly darting to grasp the whole picture, perhaps the mind does not have the time to pick up those flaws to the same extent. Or maybe it's just a matter of analog vs digital presentation. Who knows.

Giantrobo

Same thing with Underworld(dvtalk's most hated).

They used very little CGI.

DarthVong

Godzilla (American Remake)

Coral

Definitely Episode 1 and 2, along with the FOTR and TTT (haven't seen ROTK).

So much GCI that I begin to feel claustrophobic when watching it.

Inverse

"Using too much CGI" is not an issue. The issue is bad effects, however they were created.

Gyno Rhino

I didn't feel that the LOTR films used too much CGI.. Up until the third installment.

The first one I thought was the perfect balance between CGI, miniatures, blue screen work, and full-size. The third has some scenes that remind me of Matrix: Reloaded, though (i.e. - Legolas and the Oliphaunt)