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Add ‘Transformers’ to Mr. Smithee’s Top 10 FX movies
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“Transformers” has already made gobs of money — $67.6 million over the weekend; $152.5 million in North America since its late-night debut last Monday.
It’s a silly movie. But it works, partly because of lead actor Shia LaBeouf and mostly because of great special effects. The CGI is outstanding.
I remember the summer season four years ago when critics and moviegoers wailed about how computer imagery often didn’t look real enough — the obviously superimposed airborne car flying over Martin Lawrence’s head in “Bad Boys II,” the overly digitized burly brawl in “The Matrix Reloaded.”
Let me say this: the giant robotic scorpion attack in “Transformers” is one of the best FX sequences — ever.
Here’s my top 10 special effects movies of all time (and, yes, I intended to leave off “Titanic”):
1. “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” (2003). In one word: Gollum. 2. “Star Wars” (1977). Maybe it looks primitive now. But it was light years ahead of its time. 3. “Jurassic Park” (1993). Triceratops, T-rexes and raptors, oh my. 4. “The Matrix” (1999). Monster use of time-freezing photography. 5. “King Kong” (1933). Monster use of stop-motion animation. 6. “2001: A Space Odyssey” (1968). To infinity and beyond. 7. “Terminator 2: Judgment Day” (1991). Enter the shape-shifting cyborg. 8. “Aliens” (1986). Triples the fun of the chest-busting original. 9. “Jason and the Argonauts” (1963). Worth seeing for the sword-wielding skeletons alone. 10. “Transformers” (2007). More than meets the eye.
What films do you think have the best special effects?
Permalink | Comments (8) | Categories: Alan Smithee
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By trizbubbles
July 9, 2007 10:41 AM | Link to this
what about the original time machine… good for its time.
By pittsburghfan
July 9, 2007 11:03 AM | Link to this
I saw Transformers and Live Free or Die Hard on successive weeekends. I think they provide an apt contrast as to why certain special effects are better than others. In how many scenes in Transformers could you NOT tell what was actually happening? It was a lot for me. Ridiculous editing a given, but if you are going to use CGI, I should be able to see what is going on. Speed is not necessarily a good thing.
This has been going on for some time now. The first movie I really noticed it in was Gladiator where the fight scenes were undecipherable. And don’t forget all of the new Star Wars movies and the latest Pirates. Contrast that to the new Die Hard film where I knew what was going on in every frame. I think Transformers works in spite of the filmmaking, but it is a shame that Michael Bay is again going to look at the box office totals and consider it a validation of his shoddy techniques.
By CGIFan
July 9, 2007 12:12 PM | Link to this
OMG! Pittsburghfan is right on the money about Transformers. I liked the movie, however it was very confusing on the fight scenes.
By Just Enjoy the Entertainment
July 9, 2007 12:35 PM | Link to this
PittsburghFan and CGIFan…maybe you guys should get some better glasses, just watch the movie and stop trying to over analyze things.
By nitenite
July 9, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this
maybe the quick cuts in transformers were used to hide certain limitations of the CGI? I would have loved to see some wide shots of the transformers transforming.
By Eswear
July 9, 2007 1:19 PM | Link to this
Transformers was the best movie I NEVER saw. I agree with CGIFan. The fight scenes were too much. You could not tell what was what.
By JG
July 9, 2007 1:35 PM | Link to this
If you grew up in the 80’s watching the show as a kid there is no way not to like the movie. It looks as if they might make a sequel the way it ended too :)
By Mike
July 9, 2007 4:04 PM | Link to this
If you get a chance, watch HBO’s special on the making of Transformers. An insane amount of the special effects are NOT cgi. I was amazed to see how much they actually blew up, crashed, and threw around in scenes before they added cgi, if they added cgi at all. Obviously the transformers were cgi, but I would have thought that many of the wrecks, crashes, and explosions were too before I saw the special.