I thought the Hulk looked like crap, so it being nominated would be disappointing for me.

Academy Announces Films in Competition for Visual Effects Oscar


Beverly Hills, CA - The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced the seven films being considered for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 76th Academy Awards®.

The films in consideration are listed below in alphabetical order:

"The Hulk"
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King"
"Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World"
"Peter Pan"
"Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl"
"Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines"
"X-Men 2"

Fifteen-minute clip reels from each of the seven films will be screened for the Visual Effects Award Nominating Committee on January 21. The members will then nominate three of these seven films for Oscar consideration.

The finalists will be announced along with nominations in 23 other categories on Tuesday, January 27, at 5:30 a.m. PST.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2003 will be presented on Sunday, February 29, 2004, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland® and televised live by the ABC Television Network at 5 p.m. PST, beginning with a half-hour arrival segment.


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No Matrix???? Wow

OK, I understand many people didn't like the sequels this year, but that is just wrong--especially by all accounts since I heard virtually nothing but complaints about Hulk's SFX. I also neglected to mention that the T3 effects were actually quite good even if they weren't standout. POTC doesn't belong on there.

The pathetic Matrix backlash reaches it's zenith.

Yes it does. POTC most certainly deserves to be on the list, as well as the Hulk. POTC had among the most seamless vfx I've seen this year. So did Master & Commander. Both had better FX than the Matrix Sequels. Hulk, which is no doubt the most insanely and technically difficult CG creation ever attempted, much less pulled off successfully, definitely deserves to be on the list. It's a phenomenal technical acheivement, whether you liked the results or not. The industry professionals sure know that.

You're forgetting one thing. VFX professionals in the VFX industry are the ones who vote on these. They know what they're doing. They know what deserves a nom and what doesn't. Maybe if Joel Silver and John Gaeta kept their damn mouth shut rather than running off about how they were the greatest thing since sliced bread, maybe they would have sneaked a nomination.

Dude, give it a rest. The FX work in AOTC was phenomenal. So was TTT. But both had a few seams. TTT has some unconvincing miniatures as well as some shotty bluescreen. AOTC's main problem was Lucas used to much. Still incredible FX worthy of an Oscar. Matrix should not have beaten TPM though.

I couldn't agree more. Although I disagree with it being a terrible movie. Thought it was a very good movie.

I have to agree with POTC's effects just being average. I mean it was a cool flick but the effects weren't anything that seemed so great in my eyes. I much prefer X2's effects over POTC's. X2 to me had the most seamless effects this summer. Minus a few shots everything was prettys seamless in that movie and I wouldn't mind X2 getting a nod for it's achievements. But we all know that ROTK will win because well the effects in ROTK were just mind blowing.

Matrix got shafted. Hate the sequels or not, you still can't deny those fx.

Agreed. That movie gets my vote.

Not mentioned yet but (and here I have to admit I saw it),
Bad Boys II had such quality CGI that I had no idea until I watched the second disc of the DVD release.

For example- the Ferrari on the Highway scene is almost all CGI (except close-ups)! Looks very real

There were a few others that blended so well I didn't even think how they did it- the goal of any visual effects.

ROTK, bar none.

-The Minas Tirith establishing shot with Galdanf riding up to the top....Holy Dogshit.

taking down a Mumakil in the background (easy to miss and one of the most amazing things in the film.)

-The charge of the Rohirim- tell me you didn't get choked up.

But, the best shot in any movie anywhere this year.... My God, that is one scene that is going to go down in history. With that one shot, a perfect combination of miniatures, CGI and location work, Jackson has made a name for himself.

For me, ROTK easily. The scale, the scope, the artistry. I'm just curious what you guys considered some of the 'bad' shots? Don't get me wrong, not being confrontational here- you are entitled to thinking ROTK had some flawed effects. To me, everything looked very tight and polished.

Revolutions floored me with the amount and intensity of the effects. I remember thinking "my god, that must've been expensive" some time around when the big drill thing falls and breaks through the layers of zion. But I still think some of the shots looked awful- the mechs etc. Also, the movie was just terrible (IMO)

I'm glad others agree with what I've thought for a while- the effects work in Master/commander is some of the most 'seamless' I've seen in a long long time. Very good stuff. But I think a lot of credit has to go to Peter Weir for his decision not to have any obvious CGI 'money shots' that's so common these days. (example: the 'san francisco' and 'arriving in harbor' shots in Last Samurai)

I agree with whoever said AOTC looked 'animated'. It reminds me of those old cheesy PC game cinema sequences where they've hired a semi-famous/has been actor in an attempt to help sell their title- everything is so obviously bluescreened (AOTC is much higher quality of course). Very memorably bad is the scene where Yoda, Windu, and Obi-Wan were walking down a hall at the jedi temple- horrible looking stuff.

POTC, I've only seen it once a while back and don't remember any effects being particularly memorable.

Just came back from ROTK again. Shelob is still the best vfx not only of this year, but of all time.

Surprised that the Matrix Sequels were not on there, but the rest of the films on the list were worthy, even PotC. Still need to see Peter Pan and T3, but the few minutes I have seen of each, the effects look pretty damn good. RotK had some excellent shots, but I also thought it had some very sub-par shots that would hurt it in this category (same thiing for Hulk). M & C, PotC and X2 were much more consistent w/ their F/X throughout the respective films, imo.

I would say that the animation of Legolas is slightly below average in all three features. His body seems to lose its skeleton from time to time.

I understand what you mean there. He is clearly CG in those action sequences. I have no qualms with how he animates though. I think the slightly 'off' look of his movement was intentional to suggest his unnatural way of 'action'(mounting a cave troll, climbing a mumakil etc) movement being that he's an elf. There are plenty of CG doubles throughout all three movies but I don't think anyone ever complains about any other shots.

The Matrix movies win hands down for me, and the fact that neither of them are even considered is ridiculous. POTC was impressive, but nothing great.

It's a crime that they're overlooked/ignored.

ROTK
Matrix(s)
M & C

would be the top three effects movies of the year for me.

I'm surprised the matrix wasn't listed, personally I think RotK will win and it will be well deserved. Even though the effects are great, I think PotC was listed just because it's Disney

I heard somewhere that to be considered for a VFX nomination the studio has to submit the film for consideration, something that WB didn't do this year. That's why Revolutions isn't nominated.

That sounds plausible- in which case it's their(WB) own fault. Otherwise there's just no way you recognize Peter Pan, Pirates and T3 for outstanding visual effects in place of the Matrix.

Source? I think this is somewhat unlikely, especially in light of all the lip-service Joel Silver paid to the movie and its visuals. Considering Warner's thin slate of successes this year, you'd think they would push for any and every nomination they could possibly get.

I too believe that one of the reasons no Matrix film was nominated was the fact that John Gaeta shot his mouth off from here to there, boasting about how seamless the CG "Burly Brawl" fighters were (they weren't...it was obvious who was CG and who wasn't) and bitching about how everyone had "stolen" their visuals for homage/parody/rip-off (as if the Matrix didn't have an unusually high number of simularities with Dark City, including many of the effects). Nobody confused the effects in The Matrix with those in Deuce Bigalo: Male Gigalo, but apparently Gaeta forgot the old adage "Imitation is the sincerest form of flatterty."

I wish I still had the actual magazine interview, but when you state to the public about Reloaded "Now, nobody is going to be able to copy us because we're so much more advanced than everybody else" (this is paraphrased, but tonally correct) you can't rely on those accused "copy-cats" to nominate you come December. Also, the effects community is a close one, and many people bounce from project to project, studio to studio. If you insult your so-called "competitors", in the long run you probably will be insulting your own co-workers. Bad call...

bar none: Peter Pan takes the cake in my opinion. My jaw was on the floor. The action scenes were top notch and the effects did their job to convey a fantastic world, the flight into Neverland and the the blazing face in the sun were breathtaking. I really want this to win.

in regards to the shoddy shots in ROTK...a couple of shots of Legolas on the Oliphunt...and mainly some pretty bad composite work...

That shot didn't look perfect, but it looked 200% better than anakin on that antelope thing in the field in Episode 2.