PacMan2006

What are you top 3 special effect sequences in a movie? They cannot be an all CGI movie like Final Fantasy. I know people will want to say Lord of the Rings or Hulk because they are fresh in your mind, but try to remember other great ones also.

For me, it's hard to only do three. These aren't my definitive, but these three rank in order for me and stick out in my mind.

1) Any shots of Dinosaurs, especially the T-Rex, in Jurassic Park

2) Terminator 2's T-1000

3) The shot when Tom Cruise gets blown off the helicopter onto the back of a moving train in Mission Impossible.

Yours?

Matthew Chmiel

Not in any specific order...

- Matrix Reloaded and the 18 minute scene on the freeway. The best thing I have EVER seen on an eight story IMAX screen.

- The attack on Pearl Harbor in, well, Pearl Harbor.

- Any shots of the bugs in Starship Troopers. The film might be 7 years old, but it still supports the GREATEST blend of live action and CGI ever in the history of film.

TCG

i have to agree with T2, and Jurassic Park. after that, it's really tough:

does ben-hur count? and Vader vs. Luke in ESB is also awesome.

Groucho

Matrix Reloaded and Matrix Revolutions. Effects so good that they can never be copied.

Kashmir

Air Force One taking off in Independance Day
Battle of Helms Deep in The Two Towers
Highway scene in Matrix Revolutions

Mountain Biker

Blade Runner
Starship Troopers
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Tarnower

1. Ship going breaking in two and sinking in "Titanic."
2. First glimpse of T-Rex breaking fence in "Jurassic Park."
3. Battle of Minas Tirith in "LOTR: Return of the King"

El-Kabong

03) Although the T-Rex eating the car is indeed grippnig, I'm going to have to go with the Big Dino Reveal. The very first time that we see them, you have to admit that "Oh my GOD - these are Dinosaurs!" No stop motion, no minature trickery, but living, breathing you could believe that they were actually there Dinosaurs.

02) I think the liquid metal T1000 walking out of the fire was a "Holy SHIT" moment, that Ah-nold had suddenly been one-upped in the Bad-Ass department. That was a real 'Clean-up on aisle 7' moment for me.

01) The opening of Star Wars. Now, you have to remember waaaay back in 1977, we'd never seen anything like that before. So when the Blockade Runner whooshed overhead, everyone went "Gee, that's kind of cool". Then the Star Destroyer showed up and everyone in the audiance dropped a load in their pants.

costanza

strange brew

nice effects eh!

Mr. Cricket

I have to agree with some of the ones mentioned already. But one I'd put in my top three is the awesome scene in The Thing when Norris' head pulls itself of his body and sprouts legs and takes off. The special effects in that film are still impressive to this day.

Andalusia

"Tron", pretty cool for its time.

"Jurassic Park"

Any Ray Harryhausen film, but esp. "Jason and the Argonauts".

Matthew Chmiel

Groucho, you so crazy.

karnblack

Helicopter crash in The Matrix.

Stained Glass Knight in Young Sherlock Holmes.

Jackie Chan in any of his Hong Kong movies after the Wei Lo era.

jaeufraser

My fave scene? Well, when Ripley enters the Queen alien's chamber in Aliens. I just remember thinking holy shit, that's freakin incredible. Then it starts walking around and then...fight with a power loader! Damn, that stuff was incredible back then, but it's still damn impressive.

BlackBeauty92

not even today's CGI can top that

my pick would be:
1. Night of the living dead 1990
"head to rock/thomb" scene... bad effect doll, but it still makes me crinch everytime i see it

2. Bad Boys 2
"freeway chase" damn that was fun

3. john carpenter's the THING
again, the "running away head" scene... marvelous, simple marvelous

beefjerky

Blade Runner - When Gaff and Deckard are flying to the police station. CGI cities still can't elicit the sense of wonder that the city in Blade Runner did.

Jurassic Park - The Brachiosaurs.

Matrix Revolutions

eedoon

Yep. Although I never saw Star Wars in the cinema until the "Greedo Shoot First Edition" come out, that particular scene is still amazing even for today's standard.

QuiGonJosh

1. Star Wars Saga (Best use of Special Effects ever!)
2. 2001: A Space Odyssey (still the most realisitic space film ever!)
3. Matrix Revolutions (Just wow!)

Terrell

Not in any order, but it's gotta be these three for me!

- Space battle in Return of the Jedi. The single greatest action sequence I've ever seen, still. The way William's music work within the scene. Nothing in the new SW trilogy, LOTR, or Matrix equals it. The space battle in Star Wars comes close because of the trench run and the suspens and drama that was set up perfectly.

- The T-Rex attack on the jeep in Jurassi Park.

- The water tentacle in the Abyss.

DealMan

Most of the good ones have already been said, but I definitely agree with:

The Thing - the defibrillator scene all the way until "You gotta be ****in kidding me!" part, brilliant.

Starship Troopers - pretty much the whole movie

The Two Towers - Helms Deep

Return of the King - charge of the Oliphants

Simpson Purist

1. 2001 - The bone turning into the spaceship
2. Star Wars - The Tantive IV being chased by a Star Destroyer
3. Jurassic Park - First wide shot of the Brachiosaur

Scot1458

#1 Star Wars It was magic back in 77.

#2 Forbidden Planet Some of the most beautiful matte paintings ever done, the whole movie is an A+ espeically in effects.

#3 Seventh Voyage of Sinbad First scene of the Cyclops. Nuff said.

#4 King Kong

talemyn

1) Anything in ROTK that happens at Minas Tirith, especially the city itself and the charge of the Rohirrim.

2) Most of Jurassic Park, but particularly, the first shot of the dinosaurs.

3) The bugs and their mix with live action "stuff" in Starship Troopers.

Excellent for their time . . . Star Wars, Tron, and Dragonslayer.

Inverse

I have to say I'm surprised by all the brachiosaur love here. That big reveal was in my opinion the weakest FX shot of the whole movie, with the big guy looking noticeably fake. I'll praise the T-Rex and the raptors to the skies, but that brachiosaur was poorly textured and poorly lit.

Likewise, both the Abyss water tentacle and the T-1000 have dated badly. Sure, at the time doing shiny liquid stuff was cutting edge, but when you get right down to it ... how cool is shiny liquid stuff, really?

My list:

-Just about any Gollum scene in TTT or ROTK.
-The opening star destroyer pursuit shot in SW. As folks say, one of the most memorable openings ever.
-The gas station bird attack in The Birds, culminating in that great aerial shot/matte painting.

with honorable mention to....

-The NYC of the 5th Element. Didn't like the movie, but when we first saw the city I said, "Cool, it's Trantor with taxis!"
-Fred Astaire's dancing-on-the-ceiling-bit in Royal Wedding (a trick Kubrick would borrow for 2001.)
-The opening battle in Master and Commander--absolutely great special effects. Why? Because you simply accept it as two ships fighting, not as special effects at all.

DeputyDave

No particular order:

Plane crash sequence in "Alive"

Monster effects in "Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger" (Hey, I was 8 years old!)

Tom Savini getting his head blown off in "Maniac'