Popular Mechanics Top 10 F/X Movies

[Babette]

It's that time of the year when all of the "Top 10" lists come out. I thought this one was an interesting timeline of special effects in movies.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4206967.html

[Cadaverous Pallor]

Jurassic Park loses to Cliffhanger??? :mad: I get the concept, but still, you gotta be f'n kidding me.

[BarTopDancer]

I knew the Day After Tomorrow was good for something other than a campy end of the world flick.

[Alex]

In terms of total industrial impact it isn't such a stretch to think the advance in Cliffhanger has had a greater impact than Jurassic Park (digital removal occurs in movies across all genres while digital creatures are still pretty limited in their appearances).

The dinosaurs are definitely visually impressive though.

[Kevy Baby]

Jurassic Park loses to Cliffhanger??? :mad: I get the concept, but still, you gotta be f'n kidding me.JP didn't "lose" to Cliffhanger: it is a chronological listing from oldest to newest.

[Alex]

Not that it matters much then they need to swap Polar Express with The Day After Tomorrow. The latter was released six months before the former.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

JP didn't "lose" to Cliffhanger: it is a chronological listing from oldest to newest.
Ok....I'd then say that "top 10" is a misleading title for it.

I also don't get why Polar Express is on here. It wasn't the first to use motion-capture, it just used it the most. Kind of the opposite of the reason Cliffhanger was included.

Hmm, don't know why this list makes me all negative.

[innerSpaceman]

Well then, to be technical about it, the use of computers to perform camera moves for optical effects is NOT a "digital" effect. Thus Star Wars is not legitimately included.

[Alex]

It is an effect that wouldn't be possible without the intervention of computers. Is there an industry definition of "digital" special effects?

CP, they had to list Polar Express because nobody wants to be reminded of Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.

One thing I notice is how an emphasis on special effects and good movies seems to be somewhat exclusive. While many on the list are entertaining movies in a mindless way, there is only one that I would qualify as a good movie. And several that were absolutely abysmal.

[Cadaverous Pallor]

CP, they had to list Polar Express because nobody wants to be reminded of [I]Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within.Heh. Or Jar Jar Binks, for that matter.

[Gemini Cricket]

I'm surprised that they didn't include "Willow" in there. It was one of the first times the morphing technique was used...

[innerSpaceman]

They mentioned it, but used T2 as the example because it was used much more extensively and proficiently.

And yes, the industry-standard of digital effect is an image that is created using a computer. Not an image that is captured optically with the aid of a computer.

If they wanted to call the list Best Computer FX, that would be fine. But they didn't. Star Wars had NO digital effects.

[Alex]

In that case I will now cancel the subscription to Popular Mechanics I had when I was a kid (I never did, I just stopped paying them).

[Babette]

OK folks, here's another one to stir the pot! Weapons anyone?
http://www.space.com/technology/top10_weapons_history-10.html

[Kevy Baby]

OK folks, here's another one to stir the pot! Weapons anyone?
http://www.space.com/technology/top10_weapons_history-10.htmlYou raker of muck!

[Babette]

amuck, amuck, amuck

[Ghoulish Delight]

amuck, amuck, amuckI'm ashamed to admit that I got that reference.