10 Great Movies With Terrible CGI
How did these films get away with CGI this bad!
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00:00 So, until recently, computer-generated imagery was mainly used for movies that focus on action,
00:06 fantasy, or super-heroics. But, as cinema keeps on evolving, so too do the tools of
00:11 the medium. In today's world, green screen, motion capture, and CGI are used more than
00:16 ever.
00:17 But what's interesting about this development is how you can usually tell if a movie is
00:20 good or not based purely upon the quality of their special effects. If the computer-generated
00:24 imagery is unpolished, it's a sure sign the film isn't up to snuff.
00:28 But every now and again, a movie will come along that the whole world will fall in love
00:32 with despite the fact that the VFX really aren't up to standard. And that's what we're
00:36 here to talk about today. I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 Great
00:40 Movies With Terrible CGI.
00:42 10. Deep Blue Sea
00:44 In Deep Blue Sea, a group of marine explorers battle a school of super-intelligent sharks.
00:49 Now based on that storyline alone, you'd assume that this would be a dumb B-movie in the same
00:53 vein as Birdemic or Maximum Overdrive, right? But even though Deep Blue Sea could have been
00:58 trashy schlock, it's elevated by an excellent cast, including Samuel L. Jackson, LL Cool
01:03 J, and Thomas Jane. On top of that, it's got some genuinely great jump scares, including
01:08 when Stellan Skarsgard's character gets his arm ripped off by a great white. But let's
01:13 not forget what Deep Blue Sea is best remembered for, which is after Jackson's character gives
01:17 an uplifting monologue, a shark comes out of nowhere and rips him to pieces. Because
01:22 you genuinely don't see it coming, this moment is regarded as one of the best jump
01:25 scares in cinema.
01:27 That's why it's rather ironic how the film's defining moment happens to have the worst
01:31 special effect. Not only does the computer-generated shark look like it's composed of rubber,
01:36 Jackson's CG counterpart looks hilariously unfinished and contorts its limbs like a ragdoll
01:41 rather than a human being.
01:42 9. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
01:45 Contrary to popular belief, there was way less computer-generated imagery in Harry Potter
01:50 than you would actually believe. Many moments that seemingly rely on CGI use alternative
01:54 SFX like scaling, animatronics, puppetry, green screen, wire work, and forced perspective.
02:00 The reason why the directors of the franchise limit digital effects is because they're
02:04 expensive and time-consuming. But another reason why CGI wasn't commonly used is that
02:09 it makes everything look a bit crap, especially in the first film.
02:12 In Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry and Ron get into a scuffle with a troll
02:16 in a bathroom. Because this is the first monstrous creature we've seen up close, this should
02:20 feel like a magical and scary moment for the viewer. But because of the ogre's janky movements
02:26 and blurred animations, he looks downright shoddy. To add insult to injury, Harry is
02:30 blatantly replaced with a CG image in certain shots, making the whole scene feel less believable.
02:36 8. Spider-Man
02:38 Sam Raimi's Spider-Man was the first movie in history to earn $100 million in its opening
02:42 weekend. Even though the trilogy ended on a bit of a downer, there are legions of fans
02:47 who prefer this incarnation of Spidey over the MCU version.
02:51 But the biggest lovers of the first film can't deny the fact that the visual effects are
02:55 subpar. Ironically, most of the worst CGI moments come from Peter Parker being, you
02:59 know, Spider-Man. When the web-slinger leaps from building to building, he looks like a
03:03 rubber man with Tobey Maguire's face stitched on. When Green Goblin is terrorizing the citizens,
03:08 his unnatural movements make him resemble a cartoon character. Even though we should
03:12 be in awe watching the wall-crawler soar through the sky, most viewers are wondering why Spider-Man
03:17 looks more like his video game counterpart than the actual video game equivalent. Even
03:21 though there are a couple of solid shots of the web-head swinging through the city, the
03:25 bad far outweighs the good. Even though the special effects in the sequel are light years
03:29 ahead in quality, this just makes the CGI in the first film look more than a little
03:33 underwhelming.
03:34 7. Rogue One - A Star Wars Story
03:37 Now Star Wars fanatics were so psyched to see Darth Vader in Rogue One that they never
03:41 considered the possibility that the prequel would contain other iconic figures from the
03:45 beloved franchise. So when Moff Tarkin revealed himself, viewers were blown away. Nobody expected
03:51 to see the architect of the Death Star since the actor portraying him, Peter Cushing, was
03:55 suffering from a severe case of, well, you know, being dead for 22 years. But thanks
04:00 to the wonders of CGI and motion capture, the VFX efforts resurrected the legendary
04:04 British actor, allowing him to portray his most famous role.
04:08 But with the benefit of hindsight, it seems that fans originally watched this scene with
04:12 rose-tinted glasses. Viewers got so caught up on seeing the deceased actor on the big
04:17 screen again that they didn't realize that the special effects, well, they aren't as
04:20 mesmerizing as they initially thought. Although Tarkin's facial tics and voice is spot on,
04:25 his mouth, well, it's just weird. Not only does it move unnaturally, his lips don't move
04:30 in accordance with his voice, making him look like he's being dubbed.
04:33 Now you have to commend the visual crew for pushing the effects as far as they could,
04:37 but the scenes with Tarkin prove that technology, it still isn't quite there yet.
04:41 6. The Social Network
04:43 Nobody exemplifies this philosophy that "the best visual effects are the ones we don't
04:47 notice" better than David Fincher. And viewers of the Social Network were baffled when they
04:52 learned digital trickery was used to make Armie Hammer depict the Winklevoss twins.
04:56 However, there's one visual in the Social Network that, well, just doesn't work. While
05:00 Mark Zuckerberg and Eduardo are speaking outside a party, their breath is actually all digital.
05:06 Although the visual was inserted to illustrate how cold it is, it looks like the pair have
05:09 freeze breath like Superman or Iceman. What's worse is this visual is completely inconsequential.
05:15 We can see the characters are shivering so we know it's chilly. Why did the visual team
05:18 have to force such an unconvincing effect to hammer this fact in? The sad thing is that
05:22 once you notice the CGI breath, it becomes so distracting that you don't even listen
05:26 to a word that either character is saying.
05:29 5. The Hobbit Trilogy
05:31 Now The Hobbit did not live up to Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings. Nobody is going to
05:35 deny that, nor did anybody think that it could reasonably happen. But it doesn't change
05:39 the fact that Jackson crafted a satisfying trilogy in its own right. The action sequences
05:43 in The Hobbit are innovative, the battle sequences are epic, and the performances are astounding.
05:49 Even though Lord of the Rings set the bar unnaturally high in terms of special effects,
05:52 you'd expect The Hobbit's visuals to surpass it, right? Since technology had advanced over
05:56 ten years and the prequels had over doubled the budget of its predecessor, how could The
06:00 Hobbit's CGI not be out of this world?
06:03 Ironically, the visuals are the trilogy's biggest detriment. Everything looks so artificial
06:07 that you can practically see the green screen. Instead of using CGI to add to the spectacle,
06:13 Jackson's crew here relied on the technology like a crutch, swashing every shot with a
06:17 smorgasbord of cartoonish VFX. This issue is extra noticeable when characters are substituted
06:23 for CG doppelgangers. Because their bodies just don't move in a natural way, you never
06:27 believe that they are really there for a second.
06:30 4. Forrest Gump
06:32 For the most part, the special effects in Forrest Gump are absolutely breathtaking.
06:36 Most viewers didn't have an inkling that the feather in the opening shot was actually
06:39 computer generated. People are gobsmacked when they learn that every single ping pong
06:43 ball that Forrest plays with are digital. The green screen used to depict Lieutenant
06:47 Dan without legs looks just as good now as it did back then.
06:51 But there was one special effect that, let's face it, looked bad even when the film was
06:55 released. Throughout the movie, Forrest rubs shoulders with many famous people throughout
06:59 history, including John Lennon, John F. Kennedy, and Richard Nixon. Instead of relying on body
07:03 doubles, the film digitally inserted Tom Hanks' character into archival footage to make it
07:08 look like he was meeting these historic figures. Although these scenes look convincing at first,
07:13 the VFX is all over the place when it comes to each character's mouth. If you analyze
07:17 the lips of Nixon, Johnson, or Kennedy's in these moments, they clearly don't match
07:21 with what they're saying. And sometimes digital trickery is used to make the lips
07:24 move in a certain way, which makes it look all the more superficial.
07:28 3. I Am Legend
07:30 I Am Legend takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where a retrovirus has either killed
07:35 humans or turned them into vampiric mutants called the Darkseekers. The story follows
07:40 a virologist called Robert Neville, who does everything in his power to find a cure for
07:44 the creatures to save what's left of humanity. It's common knowledge that this adaptation
07:48 is quite the departure from Richard Matheson's novel of the same name. Nevertheless, the
07:52 2007 movie's long shots and slow build-up helps to keep the viewer on edge. Unfortunately,
07:57 all that tension disappears the moment you see the Darkseekers. Their movements and facial
08:02 expressions are exaggerated to the point where they feel more at home in a comedy over a
08:06 sci-fi horror. These visual effects are so heinous that viewers couldn't understand
08:11 why the film crew didn't bring the creatures to life with actors wearing prosthetics instead
08:15 of CGI. Well, that was apparently the original plan, but during the test screenings, the
08:20 director worried that the Darkseekers resembled angry mimes, so switched to CGI at the 11th
08:26 hour. But upon watching the screen test, there's no question the original design of the monsters
08:30 is vastly superior.
08:31 2. Black Panther
08:33 Black Panther was an unprecedented success on every level. It was the first film with
08:38 a black director to earn a billion dollars, and ushered in a new age for Marvel. Although
08:42 Michael B. Jordan's Fantastic Four tanked, the young star redeemed himself in the eyes
08:46 of Marvel fans by playing one of the best villains in the franchise. All in all, there
08:51 is a lot to love about this film, but one thing that stops this film from possibly being
08:55 seen amongst the MCU greats is the rather atrocious special effects. This is ironic,
09:00 since Marvel has always prided itself with pushing visual technology as far as it can
09:04 go. After all, it was the first studio that pretty much perfected de-aging, but in Black
09:09 Panther, the VFX are astonishingly shabby, especially in the final battle. Because the
09:14 visual team only had six weeks to animate the fight with T'Challa and Killmonger, simple
09:18 things like shadows and textures were compromised. Also, it's nearly impossible to know what's
09:22 happening since the scene was really, really dark.
09:26 1. The Irishman
09:27 In terms of acting, directing, story structure, and editing, The Irishman is almost perfect.
09:32 Sadly, the de-aging effects used for Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino never stop
09:37 getting in the way of Martin Scorsese's remarkable movie. To make these actors look up to 50
09:42 years younger, each of them wore motion capture sensors on their face and body. However, the
09:47 final results look so awful that you'd swear the characters on screen are pure CG creations.
09:52 Even when the effects look impressive, the characters just don't move correctly. When
09:56 we see De Niro's character in his 30s, you just don't buy it because he moves like a
10:00 man in his 70s. If this special effect was an issue for only one of two scenes, then
10:04 viewers would be more forgiving. But since the de-aging is noticeable throughout the
10:08 entire 219-minute runtime, it stops The Irishman from being better than it should be.
10:14 The fact that there are YouTubers and freelance VFX artists who are able to create more convincing
10:18 de-aging effects for these scenes without a $200 million budget does make The Irishman
10:22 all that more disappointing.
10:23 And there we go my friends, those were 10 great movies with terrible CGI. I hope that
10:28 you enjoyed that and please let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
10:31 section below. As always I've been Jules, you can go follow me over on Twitter @RetroJWithAZero
10:35 or you can swing by Liv and Let's Dice where I do all of my streaming outside of work and
10:39 it'd be great to see you over there my friends. But before I go, I just want to say one thing,
10:43 hope you're treating yourself with love and respect, both physically and mentally because
10:46 you deserve all of the best things in life alright? And do not let anything or anyone
10:50 else tell you otherwise. You are a massive legend, I want you to go out there and utterly
10:54 smash it today, I believe in you. As always I've been Jules, you have been awesome, never
10:59 forget that and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.